San Francisco runs a world class marathon. Everything from the expo, race course, spectators, volunteers, administration was top notch in my book. The race day weather was obscenely perfect for a summer marathon-60s and cloudy-I don't think the sun cracked at all that morning. The fog was a perfect blanket over the 34,000 or so runners in the marathon and half marathons.
Okay, so back to Wednesday. We got up super early, but despite that, we were almost late for our 6:02a flight out of Bradley Airport. We flew in to SFO and took BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) into the city.
We had some time to kill before our apartment was ready for us, so my wife suggested we go to Union Square and look at jewelry. It was her birthday the following day and I figured I knew where this was headed. Understand that my wife is neither extravagant nor high maintenance. She IS however, impossible to buy for, so at this point in the relationship, sometimes I just let her get what she wants and don't try to surprise her. It takes some of the fun out, but I know that way she ends up happy.
After about an hour of trying on bling, she finally chose a ring she liked. And that was that. She loved it. Her birthday week was just beginning.
The next day we rented bikes in North Beach and took a riding tour of Fisherman's Wharf and up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we rode up Lincoln boulevard so we could see the race course after the bridge. It was gnarly on Thursday. It was gnarly on Sunday.
We ended up at a vegetarian cafe in the mission called "Cafe Gratitude." It was stellar. Very homey, excellent food and service. When the waiter asked we wanted to see dessert menus, I said "of course we need to have dessert, it's her birthday." Five minutes later, the whole cafe was blaring, "They say it's your Birthday," by the Beatles, and the wait staff was seranading my mortified beet-faced better half. I have to say, that was kind of awesome. She doesn't like to be the center of attention, was briefly embarassed, but was a good sport about it.
Friday, we went to the expo. Picking up bibs, shirts, could not have been easier. It was very organized adn went super fast. We then went to check out the swag. I spent most of the afternoon at the KT booth, getting my heel taped for plantar fasciitis.
The highlight here for me was meeting Gordon and Megan at the expo. We had exchanged phone numbers before I left for California. Megan texted me that they were at the expo so they met me in line at the KT booth. It was so cool to meet these two people whose twitter and podcasts I had followed for I don't know how long. Megan had to leave to go take her son to camp so it was brief but I'm glad we had a chance for face time. I wish I had had the presence of mind to snap a photo.
My wife then met our friend Sara who was also running the first half. We had dinner with Sara and her family that night and said our goodbyes until the race.
Saturday was very chill. We just hung out a North Beach. We went to the farmer's market at the Ferry Building. We made dinner at home. Laid out our race day clothes. Very low key.
Sunday morning came and I was not stressed at all. My right arch was bothering slightly despite the tape, which while it felt great at the expo, had started to throb and burn by Sunday morning. I knew it wasn't going to be a PR day, but I didn't know how long i could hold out.
My plan going into the race was run the first half with my wife at a reasonable pace-high 10:00s. If I felt like crap, I could finish at the half marathon chute with my wife and DQ myself. Or I could continue on and see what I could do on my own.
The first five or six miles were awesome. Running the embarcadero, Fort Mason, Crissy Field, the Golden Gate Bridge were amazing. By mile 7, however, coming off the bridge, going up a hill, I felt my arches burn and my chest seared by my own heart beating inside. The longest run I had done this cycle was 14 miles. In June. I would have to dig deep just to get to 13.1. The last six weeks were spent on bikes and StairMaster, efforting to keep my legs, lungs and heart in running shape.
I pushed my wife away on mile 10 because she was coming to the sprint part of her race and I was knuckling down for a suffer fest. She looked strong as she race down the other side of Lincoln Boulevard. She finished in 2:20, and ran her second 6.6 faster than her first. She kicked ass. I would not find this out however, for a few hours.
Golden Gate Park is deceiving. it's probably about 2 miles long, but the marathon course has you in there for about 6. And that 6 is twisting and turning and going up and around Stow Lake and other crap. I wanted to quit here so bad. If I had seen someone I knew there, I would have begged them for a ride home. I was so bonked. My foot stopped hurting so much at around 11 miles because I gobbled a couple of Advil at 7. (I know, you're not supposed to. It's the only time I've done it, and I don't plan to do it again)
The Haight and Dog Patch went much better. I don't remember a ton from them other than it was straight and a net loss in eleveation. I appreciated that.
It was a great sight to see AT&T park looming in the distance at mile 25 and running right past the outfield as the end was in sight. I knew I was going to finish, even if I had to crawl. I was doing a pretty mean shuffle by then!
I labored across the finish line. 5 hours, 39 minutes. My worst marathon time ever.
I didn't feel it was a lost effort though. I was not measuring this on time. I know that I can finish a marathon, even painfully, WITH Plantar Fasciitis, on under prepared legs. And that really was my goal going in to the marathon. Back in February when I started training, I wanted at 4:20 or so marathon. Even 4:30, 5 minutes over my PR, would be good given the difficult nature of San Fran's course.
After I was visited by the Plantar Fasciitis fairy in the Spring though, I changed my goal going in to the race to "just finish."
And so I did. Marathon number 7 in the books. Not glamorous, but memorable. I cried at the end. I don't do that often. In life or in races. I was emotional at my first marathon, but that's about it. This one, I had a good old fashioned Oprah-style cry. One of the young lady volunteers by the photos was kind enough to pat me on the back as I broke down.
15 minutes later I was in the Sierra Nevada Beer garden having a cold one and it was one of the best beers I've ever tasted.
I WAS disappointed that I was so late in finishing and so completely fatigued that I could not meet Megan, Gordon, Barb and the Kings at the post-race brunch. I was so completely dead that I needed to just go home and shower and not move. I hope our paths will cross again.
What's next? Rehab for one. I will not run in August. At all. I want to get healthy again. I will cross train with bike, yoga, stairmaster, whatever I need to do, to get back to where I was a few years ago.
In the meantime, thanks San Francisco, for a painful, but memorable marathon.
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