Monday, August 25, 2008

A Belated SF Marathon Recap

It's now been about 3 weeks since the SF Marathon and I realized I never got a chance to write my race report. (I do have a great excuse! I got married and went on a honeymoon!) And to tell you the truth, I can't remember all the details of the 26.2 course or my feelings through the 4 hour race. What I do remember is this:

- It was a painful 4 hours and 9 minutes. My knees hurt like a mofo around mile 23. Due to the knee aches, I did slow down quite a bit in my last 3 miles or so.

- I really don't like running through the Potero and Dog Patch area. And no groups passed out bananas or oranges!

- The race seems lonelier than usual... and not as many spectators cheering the runners during the race. A noticeable lack of crowds especially around the Baker Beach hill area. Although, the Sports Basement cheering squad was larger than usual! I love their costumes. It made me smile right up until we hit that humongous hill to Golden Gate Bridge.

- It wasn't as cold as previous SF Marathons that I've participated. The weather was perfect, actually.

- I didn't hit "the wall"! But nonetheless, it was painful. But I didn't hit the wall!!

- It was the easiest marathon to date... and fastest recovery. It really does make a difference to follow a training schedule!!!

- Was it me or the looping around Golden Gate Park seemed excessively long and hard??

- As I was getting closer to the finish line, I remember thinking, why the hell do I put myself through this?? (A recurring thought through the race, unfortunately.) And as much as I couldn’t wait for the marathon to be over, I kept thinking, what's next? What's my next marathon??

Overall, it was a fantastic race. 4:09 is my PR to date and I am ecstatic that I was able to shave off 4 minutes from my fastest time. I'm really going to try to lose 10 lbs for my next marathon to shave off 10 minutes. I really want to run a sub 4 hour marathon next time and I feel like it's within my reach. Maybe I'll pick a more flat route, though. Nonetheless, the SFM is a great marathon. I do love running through the Embarcadero and the GGB! And the feeling after the finish line. WOW. I love that feeling. I get so emotional at the start of the race and at the end. I'm surprised I didn't cry this time!

10 comments:

  1. When's your next one? Nice report, it made me feel like I was there. I hear you about hitting the knee problems late in the game. But you had an awesome time and rocked it with a Pr just days before your wedding. Amazing!

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  2. Oh thank you!! :-) I am still hoping to get Nike Women's Marathon in late October. Which means, I need to get my butt in gear and start training! But I am signed up to run the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in San Jose on Oct 5th. Which is about a month and a half away!

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  3. those downhills were KILLER on the knees!!

    i was a little lonely for most of the race too... just in my own world without a whole lot of people around me. luckily my "fans" hehe found me a couple of times during the LONG winding around GGP which helped. it did feel like we were in there forever!

    and yes i did think that at one point... what am i doing?!?! but that all went away soon after the finish line :)

    so how are you trying to get into nike?? are you doing their group runs or something?

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  4. You should come to the Nike training runs when you're back in town! Are you definitely doing the Nike Women's marathon? BTW - I will be at the SJ RnR half as well! (But I probably already told you that)

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  5. If you want a fast, flat-ish marathon, CIM in Sacramento in December is a wonderful race. I'm thinking of doing it as my very first marathon (yikes!). Nice race report!

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  6. I hope I race as well as you did. That is awesome that you didn't hit the "wall" and that you had a fast recovery! I am sure having the wedding right after helped too! A sub 4 is definitely in your future!

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  7. Way to go! Sounds like a tough run but you got through it with a PR and that's something to be proud of alone. Can't wait to hear what's next, it's pretty funny that that's what you were thinking about too. Keep it going.

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  8. Great race. I hope to get closer to 4 hours if I can hit a good day. I think you are well in line to go under 4 hours. Pick a race and go for it.

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  9. Nice race report. I was disappointed in the crowd turnout too, and I'm glad it ended for me at GG Park.

    It's great the you were able to make a PR despite having it rough in your final miles.

    Taunya

    PS...I hope to pin my sis down about Nike tonight!

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  10. Fantastic time! I am dreaming of a time similar to that in October.

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