NOT DEAD YET (Part 2)

Heyyyyy you came back! Always a good sign.

If you missed Part 1 of this little update, you can find it here.

Onward, shall we?

JUNE, CONT'D
When we left off, I had just run one of my slowest 5Ks ever despite not terrible training. The next race on my docket was Tracksmith Twilight 5000m on the track at Kezar Stadium on July 19th. We had a vacation scheduled for early July, so I thought, "Maybe Stow Lake was just a bad day, let me get a bit of rest and some solid speed workouts in, and then I'll run one more 5K before we leave & see where I'm at." I picked the Stars & Strides 5K in San Jose since it was July 1st & we were leaving the next day. 

Not much else of note happened in June, BUT I did make this delicious cherry clafoutis!

"Race" Report: Across the Bay 12K

I've been aware of this race in its various incarnations for the last ten years or so and always had it in the back of my mind, but never actually run it. It starts in Sausalito on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, then runs over the Bridge to finish on the north side of SF. The race has been around in some form or another since the early 80s so it's sort of a classic, but any year that I considered it, something didn't work out. Either the timing was wrong, or I wasn't into the distance, or was out of town, or just had other things I wanted to run.

This year as I put together my summer of short, fast racing, it popped up again, and I added it to my short of list of nearby events that might be fun if the timing worked out. When I decided on Wharf to Wharf as my peak race, though, my coach suggested that I not try to race Across the Bay just two weeks before because it was unlikely that I'd be fully recovered & ready to race 6 miles just two weeks later. But if I wanted to do it as a tempo workout, that was fine.

I'd gone back and forth about it because it's hard to spend money on a race, especially a local one with a route you could run any time, just to do a workout. On the other hand, the tempo workout I'd have on tap for that week was one I know I struggle with (3 x 2 miles at HM pace / 2:00 jog) and I thought that maybe the race atmosphere would keep me motivated and honest (and maybe make it more bearable). At the last minute Represent Running Race Ambassador Erin gave me a comp code she wasn't going to use, and I figured, "What the heck. Let's do this." (That would also mean getting the run out of the way early in the day, which would be nice since we had plans to spend most of the day at a birthday barbecue.)

Race Report: Bay To Breakers 12K

For those who don't know Bay to Breakers, here are the most important points:

• 12K across the city, from San Francisco Bay to Ocean Beach ("Breakers")
• 2nd oldest road race in the country (started in 1912)
• Attracts somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 participants,
• Most of whom wear a costume or at least dress up in some way, and
• Sometimes the costume is going naked.
• The vast majority don't actually run (and nearly half don't even finish)
• The race begins at 8:00 with elites from all over the world, but
• Over the course of several hours inevitably degenerates into a drunken hellscape of garbage/costume pieces, public urination, uncoordinated fisticuffs, & a handful of arrests.

The real, actual Bay To Breakers starting line.

Elsewhere on the course:

Like most other road races Bay to Breakers does have aid stations, but it also has several sobering stations for people who in the course of their 7.5 stumble across the city need to lie down until the world stops spinning or they fall asleep. Another common race strategy is to hoof it over the Hayes Street Hill to the Panhandle, then find a bar in the Haight & call it good. Basically, it's a 7.5 mile party. (Or, y'know. However many miles you make it.)

Bay to Breakers has always been one of those local color things that I've never bothered making it a point to do (sort of like Alcatraz or Beach Blanket Babylon), because I always figure, "Eh, I can do it whenever." This year, though, there was a one-day super low price sale back in October where you could register for $39 (compared to the $80+ regular price).

So I figured, what the heck? After seven years, I should really take part in this uniquely San Francisco experience at least once. However, since my core competencies lean more towards running than walking for 3 hours or drinking before noon, I decided to forgo the shall we say more "authentic" experience. Courtney & Alyssawere both running, & I was excited to get to run with them since I don't get to much anymore. Courtney wanted to try for a sub-1 hour so Alyssa & I took up the challenge.

I needed to run 16-17 miles that day, so my plan was to jog from my house to the start (about 3.2 miles) & then back home from the finish (6-7ish), which I knew would put me more or less in that range. The downside was that I basically didn't sleep the night before, so I was not feeling super great as I made my way to the start.

Jogging down Market Street toward the start at Howard & Main.
Apparently, I was not the only one with this idea.

After a lot of texting, frantic jumping up & down, & clumsily vaulting over corral barriers, the three of us managed to find each other in Corral A (theoretically the 7-8 minute pace corral, just behind the elites/seeded/sub-seeded). Sadly, Courtney had tweaked her ankle the day before & didn't want to push it too hard, so we decided to just take it easy. (And given my lack of sleep, I have to admit I was a little relieved.)

Corral A/Starting Line

We find each other!

Courtney & her November Project peeps

The weather was PERFECT race weather, ie uncomfortably cold at the start (but at least no wind!), & we huddled together for warmth until the horn sounded and Corral A began marching towards the start mat.

The first leg of the race is through sort of downtown/SoMa, & there were LOTS of people out cheering. Also lots of police on hand. We cruised along at ~9:00 pace, chatting & weaving through the crowd (though, I was pleased to find that it actually wasn't that crowded). I also saw my first naked guy at ~1.66. I did not look back when we passed him.

At mile 2, we turned on to Hayes Street & steeled ourselves for the infamous Hayes Street Hill:

This picture came from Google, not our race, but you get the idea.

Even though we weren't running all that fast, it was still a lot of work, and as always I was quite excited to see its crest come in to view. After we got back down the hill, my right foot started to go numb. I ignored it for a while, hoping it would go away on its own. When it didn't, I made us pull over for a minute so I could take my shoe off & slap some sense back into it. (This hasn't happened since Mountains 2 Beach Marathon in May 2013....Perhaps some nerve in my foot has an issue with races using the naming scheme "_______ 2/To ________"?)

We clocked our third mile through the Panhandle in ~8:35ish (slightly uphill), then entered the Park. From there, I think we gradually sped up all the way to the end (though I made us pull over twice more to deal with my numb foot, which sucked....BOOO). By the time we hit the second half of the Park, we were definitely running sub-8's, and there were even a few times when I saw 7:15-20 on my watch. Once we hit the mile 7 marker we could hear the finish line.

I didn't realize we got a medal for this race, so that was kind of a neat bonus. In general I'm not much of a medal horse, but B2B is kind of a unique, special race, so I like the idea of having a memento from it.

Post-race.

At this point the finish line was still pretty chill and sane. We got our box o' water (still don't get it), & then Alyssa & I took off on the rest of our respective long runs.

(For more Bay to Breakers pics, please enjoy this post from SFist.)

Official: 1:05:05 / 7.46 miles/ 8:44 pace
Garmin: 1:02:58 / 7.55 miles/ 8:20 pace

I know part of the reason for the huge discrepancy between these two (besides the fact that we were weaving around people all over the place & paying absolutely no attention to tangents) was the fact that I made us stop three times to deal with my stupid foot, and out of sheer habit I'm pretty sure I stopped my watch every time. So, 8:20 would be probably our average pace for the time we were actually moving.

(Of course, then, if you think about it, since we ran the Hayes Street Hill at ~9:30 pace, which is about half a mile, that means our average pace for the rest of the race (when we weren't stopped) was more like 8:15. So really, for all that we were "taking it easy," we were clearly still moving at a good clip!)

If you're curious:

Overall: 2699 out of 29970
Women: 567 out of 16076
A/G: 141 out of 2759

I was also the 1884th fastest person up the Hayes Street Hill, & 75th in my A/G group!

I don't know if Bay to Breakers will ever be an every-year sort of thing for me, but I had a good time doing it this year casually with friends. I think at some point it might be fun to try to do it for speed, though the idea of actually training for that hill kind of gives me hives.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LOGISTICAL STUFF~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Location: San Francisco, CA

Date: Third Sunday in May (May 17, 2015 this year)

Prices: I got a super early bird special deal & signed up last fall for $39, which is a heck of a deal when you consider that registration tops out on the $80s. As of May 5, it was $64 for adults & $32 for kids.

Field Size: I believe they said there were ~50,000 people registered, probably at least half of them were walking/shambling rather than actually running. Looks like there were just under 30,000 finishers.

Deadlines/sellout factor: I'd always been under the impression that this race sold out, but there was still registration at the expo so go figure. & speaking of the expo...

Expo: OMG STAY AWAY!!! It's (generally) at Fort Mason, which means:

• It's hard to get there if you don't live close-by (ie, I can drive there in 20 minutes but public transit takes an hour), and
• Traffic will suck so even if you DO drive it will take twice as long, and when you finally do,
• Parking will suck, so it will take you *another* half hour to park (there are lots, but they are generally badly managed and/or perpetually full), and when you finally DO find parking,
• It will probably be close to a mile away (but you will still take it & feel lucky).

Also, I'm sorry, but Fort Mason sucks. It's gross and nasty and basically just a big warehouse on a pier. This is why they have lots of big drinking events here, because people vomiting all over it can't really make it much worse. Yes, there are 60/40 kinda okay views of the bay, but you're going inside for an expo. If you want to look at the bay, there are definitely MUCH more picturesque spots to visit.

Finally, the expo itself, much like SFM, is a total shit show. You have to wait in a line to get in.

>
I would say the line was about a quarter mile long when I arrived.
(Though to be fair my friends who went at 9am when it opened said
there was no one there, so maybe that's the secret.)

Super crowded. Super loud. Pushy brand reps yammering at you to try this or come look at that or here's a free sample. I got very luck with my bib. There was one line for every number under 10,000, and I only had to wait behind I think two people. The rest of the tables (of which there were, I dunno, 6? 8? 10?) all had lines that stretched around the room.

>

It was the same when I went to get my shirt. For some reason the 'regular small' table had literally no one waiting, while most of the rest of the lines probably had 40-50 people in them.

I could not get out of there fast enough. When you register, there is an option to pay more ($10? $15? $20? Don't remember) to get your bib mailed to you. At the time it will seem like an exorbitant amount, but trust me. I definitely would have paid $20 to get my 2.5 hours & my sanity back.

Staging: This is by far the largest "race" race I've ever run, & definitely the first with a map showing you where to go based on your corral.

- Seeded: Sub 6 minutes per mile pace
- Sub-Seeded: 6 – 7 minutes per mile pace
- Corral A: 7 – 8 minutes per mile pace
- Corral B: 8 – 9 minutes per mile pace
- Corral C: 9 – 10 minutes per mile pace
- Corral D: 10 – 11 minutes per mile pace
- Corral E: 11-12 minutes per mile pace
- Corral F: 12+ minutes per mile pace
- Corral G: Walkers
- Corral H: Family corral

To get into the seeded or sub-seeded category, you have to have met a qualifying time in the last 12 months & submit a link so it can be verified. (They used to have them listed somewhere but now I can't find it. At least in the past, specific qualifying times have been listed for each distance & A/G group.) The rest of the corrals are assigned based on the projected finish time you enter when you register.

The Course:

It's like it says in the name: Start at the Bay, & run to the breakers.

The most notable feature of the Bay to Breakers course is the Hayes Street Hill at mile 2.

As counted by the race organizers, it's .69 miles with 201 ft of climbing for a 5.5% average grade, but in my opinion the first two blocks they count (so about .2 miles) are essentially flat. So the way I see it, it's about half a mile with ~200 ft climbing, which makes it more like 7.5% average grade. It gradually gets steeper as you go up, with the steepest part being the last block between Fillmore and Steiner streets (11.15% grade.) This is just how much of San Francisco is. Maybe you can see now why I've run several races where I've been warned about the hills and afterward been like, "Hills? What hills?"

(For a comparison of Hayes Street with other well-known hills in the road racing world, you can check out this article from Runner's World.)

The downhill on the other side is steep but mercifully short (about two blocks); when I run this hill, I like to use it as a recovery to catch my breath. After that there is a mild, just-noticeable uphill climb through the Panhandle (.75 miles?). The first half of the park is gently rolling, and the second half is a speed-friendly, gentle downhill to the ocean. (It was through this stretch that we occasionally found ourselves clocking 7:20-7:30s).

Otherwise, the the biggest issue with the course is just the nature of the event. If you're up at the front, it probably won't seem that much different than a regular road race besides a few people in costume, and if you're just walking it for the experience, you're probably not all that concerned with the course anyway.

Parking: Lololololol.

No but really. Take public transport (BART & Muni will get you pretty darn close), or get someone to drop you off semi-close to the start. (Just be sure to check road closures.)

Schwag: A reasonably cool-looking tech shirt in your choice of gray or black, and also regular cut or lady-cut:

Also, I didn't realize there was a medal until the end of the race! Generally in the past there haven't been medals. I knew they'd done one in 2012 for the 100th anniversary, but I didn't realize it had become a routine thing now.

Overall Assessment: This is definitely a fun one to do just for the experience, especially if you're a local. I don't know that I would have paid $60-$80 for it, but for $39, it was totally worth it. You just have to know that there are going to be a bunch of naked people (mostly older men) & if that bothers you, then perhaps this race is not for you.

Fleshing Out 2015........

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL!! Here's hoping you are bright-eyed & bushy-tailed & ready to greet the day/month/year. :D

(And because I am told it is the order of the day -- If you're looking for a painfully earnest, dewy-eyed goal-setting post, allow me to refer you here. That's kind of all I've got, dudes.)

Friends, I run for one reason and one reason alone, and that is for the purpose of racing the shite out of my local events. So let us talk races.

I have a few picked out for this year so far:

Jan. 18 - Foster City Ten Miler. Essentially, this race is pinch-hitting for the half marathon I really wanted to get in between Thanksgiving & NVM. On the plus side, though, woo-hoo! Trying out a new distance!

Mar. 1 - Napa Valley Marathon. This is the race I had to defer last year because of my stress fracture & am fake-racing just for like, the experience or exposure or whatever. The goal here is not to run a particularly fast race, but really just to finish at a slightly-faster-than comfortable pace (80% is the number I've been throwing around) & feel like it did not suck.

May 17 - Bay to Breakers 12K. This is the iconic SF race that I got a sweet internet deal on on Halloween. It's too short for me to actually be in shape to kick ass at while marathon training, but hopefully I'll still be able to beat all the drunk and/or naked people.*

*(No but some of the naked people are hella fast tho.)

Aug. 23 - Santa Rosa Marathon. Unfinished business. Kinda wanna blow the doors off, if my body cooperates. 'Nuff said.

I'm not ready to think much farther than August right now, but there are still a few stretches in the first part of the year where I'd kind of like to get a race in if I can. It's probably not practical to hit all of these, but here are some others I'm considering:

Apr. 12 - Santa Cruz Half Marathon. I ran the 10K here back in 2011 when I was still pretty shitty at 10K's. Part of me wants revenge for that, but knowing that I'll still be marathon training in April & not in shape to run a great 10K, I'm thinking I may go run the half instead & see what happens. It's a solid six weeks after NVM, so I could conceivably be in not-that-terrible shape, all things considered.

June 27 - Pride Run 5K. I've run this race almost every year since I've lived here. Actually in 2011 I ran the 10K which I will probably never, ever, EVER do again, but the 5K is not awful and it's for a good cause, so why not?

July 12 - Jungle Run Half Marathon. This was my first half marathon EVER back in the day (2:16 baby!!) & ever since then I've kinda had an inkling to go back & give it another shot (now that I, like, train or whatever). It tends to be on the warm side so I wouldn't expect a PR or anything, but worst case I could always treat it like I did SFM2H this past summer & do it as part of a long run.

Call me a curmudgeon if you want but I'm not setting any 2015 Goals And Resolutions^TM. In the past I've sometimes set goals like PRing certain distances, but at this point I think I've sort of picked all the low-hanging fruit there & from now on PRs are going to be incredibly hard-fought battles where everything has to go perfectly, including a lot of things I can't control.

Another popular NY goal/resolution I've seen a lot of is participating in or completing a particular distance or type of event, but for now I feel like I've done pretty much everything I have any desire to do athletic-wise in terms of just finishing & there's nothing crazy & different really calling to me right now.

If I were going to "resolve" to do anything running-wise this year, it would just mainly be continuing to do all the stuff I can control, & do it better & better & more & more consistently (sleep, strength train, eat well, do the long runs, etc.), but to me those are ongoing things I'm more or less constantly working on all the time, so it doesn't really make a lot of sense to call them resolutions or goals.

Okay fine. Pie-in-the-sky, magical dream world? I would totally finish this year with a sub-3:30 marathon, a half PR, and over 2,015 miles, and I'm certainly planning to do everything in my power to make it happen. But I also know (from experience, sigh) that life happens & there's a lot that I can't control, so if none of it happens, the world will not end. (Honestly, I'd just settle for not being sidelined/in PT for months at a time.)

Happy 2015, all!!