Race Report!

I DID IT!!

This was a seriously amazing weekend. I arrived in San Francisco with the Tucson team on Friday afternoon. The weather turned out to be gorgeous: not only was it not raining, it was actually sunny and warm. We took a shuttle to our hotel in downtown SF, which was about 3 blocks away from Union Square. Andrew, who had arrived in California the previous day to spend some time with his grandparents, met me at the hotel and we walked over to the race expo in Union Square. I picked up my race bib and some free stuff, but we didn't stay very long; it was loud and crowded. I was tempted by the free manicures they were offering, but the line was long and I was tired from my morning of travel. That evening, Andrew got together with his brother and cousins, while I had a nice dinner with my parents, stepparents, and baby bro.

Saturday, we had a short team run at 7am. Ten minutes down Market Street and ten minutes back. Coach Ashley told us to pay attention to what we were wearing on this little run, and that was great advice: I'd put on running pants and a sweatshirt, assuming that because it was SF, it would be cold -- and boy was I wrong! It was only a little cooler than Tucson and much more humid. This gave me confidence that my shorts and running jersey would be plenty warm for the race the next day. Later that morning, Andrew and I had a lovely brunch with one of my former Mills professors and her husband, and then we spent the afternoon strolling around the ferry building. I had been warned against doing too much walking that day, so we didn't stay out as long as we might have. That evening, we attended Team In Training's inspiration dinner at the Moscone Center. As we approached the entrance, we could hear a great din coming from within. It turned out that all of the hundreds of TNT coaches from around the country were lining the entrance, the big staircase, and the walkway into the huge dining hall, all cheering as loudly as they could for each entering team. It was kind of spectacular. After that, the dinner and the program were very nice, but the grand entrance was my favorite part. At the dinner, I learned that we TNT participants had collectively raised over $14 million for this event. There was a speaker named John Bingham, who was pretty funny, and a guest appearance by Joan Benoit Samuelson, the first female Olympic marathon champion. My fundraising mentor, Elsbeth, had very sweetly put together goody bags for all her mentees containing chapstick, cheerios, gum, and other useful things.

Race day. I'd slept reasonably well and was less nervous when I woke up Sunday morning than I had been for most of the preceding week. The team was convening at 5:45am to walk to the race start, so I got up at 5 to prepare myself, eat, and caffeinate. There are so many little details before a long run! In spite of having set everything out the night before, I still managed to forget my watch. Andrew was going to be taking a shuttle to several different points along the race, so I left him with a few things that I might want him to hand off to me: an extra packet of Sport Beans (the little pocket of my running shorts would only hold two), my Bodyglide, and a spare pair of socks. There would be the opportunity to check a bag before the race (i.e., with stuff to be brought to the finish line), so I brought with me a bag containing a some warm clothes and flip flops to change into after the run.

The race start was in Union Square, and with 20,000 runners, it was about as crazy as you might imagine. Reasonably well organized, though. I stuck with three folks from my team who run about the same pace as I do, and we had no trouble checking our bags, making a stop at the potties, and getting to the corral area for our pace. It was packed! Shoulder-to-shoulder runners squeezed into the streets. At least all those bodies helped keep us warm as we stood there waiting to start. We could hear the starting horn at 7am, but it was a good 15 or 20 minutes of slow shuffling along before we actually got to the starting line. Andrew had staked out a good position near the starting line and I spotted him snapping photos as I began the race.

The first 4 or 5 miles were very crowded. This is inevitable for such a big race, but was probably worse than it needed to be. The purpose of having pace-based starting corrals is to make sure that faster runners don't get stuck behind slower runners, but this plan fails if people do not choose the proper corrals to start in. We passed a lot of walkers during the first few miles, and it was sometimes hard to make our way around them because there were so many people. This became less of a problem as the race went on. Annoyingly enough, I was in need of another potty stop by the time we started running, so I stopped during Mile 3. This was a necessity but also meant that I lost the group I had been running with, so I was on my own from there on out.

The first 5 miles or so felt very easy; they were mostly flat, and the excitement of starting the race was a powerful propellant. I saw Andrew again at Mile 4. Miles 6-8 got a little harder because they took us through the Presidio, which is hilly. But it wasn't too bad. There were lots of spectators cheering along the way, and TNT coaches everywhere. It was comforting to know that if I started having trouble, I could ask any TNT coach for help. I had puffy-painted my name onto my visor, so many people were cheering for me by name as I passed. Coach Ashley caught up with me during Mile 9 and ran with me for a little while, getting me over the big hill until the ocean was in sight.

I would say that the run started to feel challenging around Mile 11, which was the point at which we entered a long loop through Golden Gate Park. It was actually kind of a relief when it started feeling hard, because that is a familiar feeling to me; the run had seemed too easy up to that point. The GGP loop felt a little tedious, but I saw Andrew two more times during it (what a champion cheerer he was!). I learned later that I just missed my dad at Mile 15; he'd had to park some distance away and got there just after I had passed.

Miles 16-26 took us down the Great Highway (which runs along a beautiful stretch of ocean and beach), around Lake Merced, and then back up the Great Highway to the finish. My feet were starting to get sore on that first stretch of Great Highway, but I was doing OK. Andrew had let me know back in GGP that my family were arriving in the city, so I knew I might see them at any time. There was also lots of activity along the race course -- live music, "cheer stations," DJs, food and water booths, etc. So much for mindful running; they were definitely going with the distraction principle here.

Lake Merced started in Mile 19, and this was where the race got really tough for me. By that point, I felt like I had been running for a really long time (which I had!), my feet were hurting, and it had been 5 miles since I had seen anyone I knew. I ran into one of the Tucson coaches, Glin, just as I began the lake loop, and he ran with me for a couple of minutes and told me that this lake loop would be the hardest part of the run. He was not kidding! Lake Merced is really big, it turns out, and the roads that encircle it are all sloped. The uphills were tough at this point, but it was the downhills that were excruciating (downhills make sore parts jiggle). I was starting to feel really grumpy about this whole marathon thing when, all of a sudden in Mile 20, my mom came bounding over the grassy bank next to the road! I'm pretty sure I started shrieking when I saw her. She and my stepdad had brought their bicycles so they would have greater mobility, since the roads along the race course were closed. I ran over to the grass to give them hugs, but didn't pause too long because I knew it would be tough to get going again.

Around Mile 21, I entered what John Bingham (the speaker from the night before) had referred to as the "Bite Me" zone. This is the point in the race where you start wondering what ever possessed you to do something so crazy as run a marathon, silently cursing everyone you have ever met, and having violent thoughts toward the people who are earnestly cheering you on from the side of the road. Mile 21 was the "chocolate mile" -- squares of Ghirardelli chocolate being handed out to runners -- but for perhaps the first time in my life, the prospect of free high-quality chocolate seemed ridiculous and distasteful, offensive even. I was feeling nauseous and had to stop and walk for a couple of minutes. My mom and stepdad got me through miles 22 and 23 by frequently swooping past on their bikes and holding up awesome handmade signs. I ran into Glin again around Mile 23 and he reminded me to take some extra salt. I felt a lot better after washing down a salt packet.

Just after the 23 mile marker, the lake loop finally ended, and over a little hill (which seemed enormous at the time) I was back on the Great Highway heading toward the finish. It was a relief to be next to the ocean again because I knew this was the home stretch. My feet, ankles, and knees were hurting a lot by then, and I was just barely shuffling along -- I actually got passed by a speed-walker at one point. Another one of the Tucson coaches, Lisa, came by and ran with me for a minute. She asked how I was doing and I think I said something like "tired and sore." She was very encouraging, reminding me that the end was nearly in sight and to enjoy these last few miles. Her enthusiasm invigorated me a little bit for that final stretch. Around Mile 24, I started getting all choked up because for some reason, I realized at that point that I was definitely going to finish the marathon. This was annoying because it made it harder to breathe.

In the last mile, the street was lined with a crowd of cheerers that grew increasingly dense and loud. A TNT coach passed by me and said, "Just two more stop lights! That flashing light up ahead is the finish!" Apparently my parents and Andrew were stationed somewhere around there, but I don't remember seeing any of them. I do remember seeing the finish line, though! There was an announcer with a microphone who called out my name as I approached. And as I crossed the finish line, I was greeted by a handsome, tuxedoed SF fireman who handed me a little blue Tiffany box containing my finisher's necklace. I'm not sure what my time was, since I didn't have my watch and can't figure out how to check my official time on the race website. But I think it was in the neighborhood of 5 hours and 15 minutes.

I was very dazed after I finished. I know that I was immediately handed all sorts of things, including a mylar blanket to keep me warm and a finisher shirt. There were all kinds of people trying to give me water, which I did not want. It was a bit anticlimactic because there was no one to greet me, since family members aren't allowed in the area just beyond the finish line. So I kind of spacily wandered around by myself for awhile. Eventually I found the TNT tent, checked in, got a peanut butter sandwich and a cup of Sprite. I still couldn't find anyone I knew, and I didn't have the leg strength to walk around and look for people, so I just sat on the ground and munched my sandwich, figuring that eventually I would see someone. Eventually, I did see some of the Tucson team sitting in the tent, so I hobbled over and sat with them until my family arrived. I got to introduce my mom to the team. That was cool since this week is the 5-year anniversary of her bone marrow transplant.

I didn't feel too bad after the race. Usually, I feel a little ill after long runs, at least until after I've taken a nap, but not this time. I was just spacier than usual. My family put together a really nice celebratory dinner at my grandma's house, and my stepmom had gotten a big cake to celebrate my race and my mom's 5-year anniversary. It was a lovely way to end a spectacular day.

My legs were very sore Monday and Tuesday, but I feel surprisingly good today. So good that I kind of want to go for a run, actually. Don't worry, I'm not quite that crazy. I'll give my legs a few more days. At some point soon, I'll post some reflections on this experience and musings on what's next.

Edited to add: I was able to access my official race time! Five hours 18 minutes 55 seconds (which is equivalent to an average pace of 12 minutes 10 seconds per mile). According to Nike, I finished 2610th overall. Heck, I practically won!