L
Larry McMahan
Guest
... Half Marathon and Race Report:
The Home Depot San Francisco Half Marathon in Golden Gate Park.
February 2, 2004.
[this post is way the hell long]
First some things about getting ready for the race. No not the training, I did that all wrong by
taking three weeks off in December. I had only been running seriously since Jan 1 (new years
resolutions), but more of that later.
First, due to the 8 AM start, there was no way I was going to get up at 5:30 AM to drive into the
city. So my wife and I started looking for accomodations in the city. After finding a number of
hotel rooms for nothing less than $120, and finding them all a good Muni ride away from the park, I
suggested we concentrate on finding something nearby. This was a stroke of genius or luck! We
found a Motel 2 blocks from the finish line for $60. Not bad.
We came into the city Saturday night, and wound up eating at her favorite Indonesian restaurant for
only $25. Hot damn! A chance to run in the Half, and a fun weekend in the city for under $140
(including race fee). Not bad.
Now back to the other preparation, the training. Since I had taken 3 weeks off in December, I knew I
wasn't going to break any records, even personal ones, , but since I had run 20K on Jan 4 after
the layoff, had run 25 to 30 miles a week since, and had easily run a 15 K race the previous Sunday,
I would have no problem going the distance. I was still concerned about the time. Since I had run
the previous 15K at an 8:30 pace and not really pushed it, I figured that I could run that pace for
the Half. I told my wife that my goal was to run that pace and finish in 1:52.
Next came the day of the race. Since the start line was a couple miles from the hotel, I had my wife
drop me off and go back to the hotel to park. It was the kind of race day taht you either love or
hate, 45F and a fine drizzling mist. Ground soaking wet from rain the night before. OK. I hated it
much more than I loved it, but I was not going to be put off by it.
Monika dropped me off at Great Highway and Fulton, and I waited for one of the shuttle busses with
the couple hundred people in line there. But the race people were REALLY well organized. The
busses came up 4 or 5 at a time, loaded a hundred people on, took off, and up came the next batch
of busses.
When I got to the drop off point, I began to realize how big an even it was. Even in the rain,
there were people everywhere, and most of them were wearing bibs. As I walked through the tunnel
where late registration was being done, past the place to drop off sweats, and so on, the crowd
just kept getting thicker. I guess with a bib number of 2145, I should have figured out how big it
was going to be.
By the time I made the obligatory (for me) pit stop and got to the start line, it was 20 minutes
before the race, and they were starting to make the announcements. When the guy said that it was
overcast now, but that it would be clear for the finish, I knew that he had sealed our fate. I was
right. Still, it never poured, it just kept up the fine drizzling mist for the entire time and the
ground stayed wet and in some places, slick. I reiterated my plan for a 8:30 pace for the race to my
wife, and got ready to start off.
I took at look at the 6 min and 7 min signs on the start area and mentally calculated where 8 min
would be and stood there. After a great admonishment from the starter to ignore the sirens as a
starting signal and wait for the cable car bell, he suddenly rang the bell without any preceedign
sirens, and we were off.
Ah yes, this is another place where my inadequate preperation had left me, well, inadequately
prepared. I had decided to not wear my HRM for the race. I had forgot that my HRM receiver is also
my best racing stopwatch. My regular watch does not measure laps, but I was stuck with it. I was
going to have to memorize and remember the mile splits during the race by myself. Ouch! I was
planning on the race being a physical effort, but not such a mental one!
Anyway, we took off. By my watch, it took me 36 sec to cross the start line. For the entire first
mile, it was shoulder to shoulder with no room to pass. I passed the one mile mark at 9:30. I was
one minute behind, but the racers were beginning to thin out a little. I told myself not to try and
make it up but to just get on my pace.
The second and third mile markers were 8:29 and 8:32. I felt that I was running the race I wanted at
this point. This took us out of the Park, around the panhandle and back in.
At this point, the crowd had dispersed enough that you could run more easily. The next mile was
8:13, and I had made up some time. I slowed down to take it easy, but when I logged
8:21 and still felt good I decided 8:20 was an OK pace.
At this point something amusing happened. The ground was very wet, and my feed had gotten soaked. As
I ran up alongside another runner she remarked that my shoes sounded like they were full of water.
All I could say was "you're right"!
The next two miles were downhill. When I logged 8:15 at the 6 mile marker AND I got a pace time of
8:33, I began to thing that I could make up the time and finish at a pace better than
9:30 over all. I held my pace and ran another 8:15 for mile
10. This put us out of the park and onto the Great Highway. 3 miles out, and three miles back.
Here the running was harder because the path was narrow and there wasn't room to pass or move about
freely. You had to move up on someone's shouler, let them know your presence and squeeze through.
That was more tiring.
I slowed back down to 8:20 for mile 8, back to 8:16 for mile 8, back to 8:19 for mile 10 (which
was around the turn-around) and back to 8:16 for mile 11. I think the variations were just
crowded versus uncrowded portions of the race. I told myself that at mile 11 I would try to push
the last 2 miles.
I still logged an 8:16 for mile 12. At this point, several people were passing, and I decided to
really push it. I put on my best imitation of a sprint after running 12 miles. I finshed the last
1.11 miles in 8:55. That's a 8:02 pace, not bad for the last mile. Serious negative splits.
After collecting my t-shirt, and my goodie bag, next came the really good part. I walked back the
two blocks to the room and took a hot shower before checking out. My hands were so cold I could
hardly move them, so it was quite refreshing.
So here is my log from the race:
split s-time cum-ti cum pace mile 1 0:09:30 0:09:30 0:09:30 mile 2 0:08:29 0:17:59 0:09:00 mile 3
0:08:32 0:26:31 0:08:50 mile 4 0:08:13 0:34:44 0:08:41 mile 5 0:08:21 0:43:05 0:08:37 mile 6 0:08:15
0:51:20 0:08:33 mile 7 0:08:15 0:59:35 0:08:31 mile 8 0:08:20 1:07:55 0:08:29 mile 9 0:08:14 1:16:09
0:08:28 mile 10 0:08:16 1:24:25 0:08:26 mile 11 0:08:19 1:32:44 0:08:26 mile 12 0:08:16 1:41:00
0:08:25 finish 0:08:55 1:49:55 0:08:23
A few random reflections:
11:23 pace overall. Not bad. My pace for the 15K the previous week had been 8:32. After my first
half marathon race (I've run longer, 21 miles in training, I am getting much more serious about
running my first marathon.
I am definately going to run this race again next year, rain or shine. I am also going to stay in
the same place.
My NB RC 150s which already had 420 miles on them, and which I wore for the race died. They served
me well. They will not be forgotten.
I think with the regular training since the beginning of the year, I am beginning to get a little
speed back. I am pretty sure I could do this at an average pace of 10 - 15 seconds faster in the
near future.
The race felt good, and I felt good after the race. In fact I ran a 5K the next day (today) at a
7:40 pace. No aches, no pains.
I'm happy, I had fun, I am ready to do it again.
Larry
The Home Depot San Francisco Half Marathon in Golden Gate Park.
February 2, 2004.
[this post is way the hell long]
First some things about getting ready for the race. No not the training, I did that all wrong by
taking three weeks off in December. I had only been running seriously since Jan 1 (new years
resolutions), but more of that later.
First, due to the 8 AM start, there was no way I was going to get up at 5:30 AM to drive into the
city. So my wife and I started looking for accomodations in the city. After finding a number of
hotel rooms for nothing less than $120, and finding them all a good Muni ride away from the park, I
suggested we concentrate on finding something nearby. This was a stroke of genius or luck! We
found a Motel 2 blocks from the finish line for $60. Not bad.
We came into the city Saturday night, and wound up eating at her favorite Indonesian restaurant for
only $25. Hot damn! A chance to run in the Half, and a fun weekend in the city for under $140
(including race fee). Not bad.
Now back to the other preparation, the training. Since I had taken 3 weeks off in December, I knew I
wasn't going to break any records, even personal ones, , but since I had run 20K on Jan 4 after
the layoff, had run 25 to 30 miles a week since, and had easily run a 15 K race the previous Sunday,
I would have no problem going the distance. I was still concerned about the time. Since I had run
the previous 15K at an 8:30 pace and not really pushed it, I figured that I could run that pace for
the Half. I told my wife that my goal was to run that pace and finish in 1:52.
Next came the day of the race. Since the start line was a couple miles from the hotel, I had my wife
drop me off and go back to the hotel to park. It was the kind of race day taht you either love or
hate, 45F and a fine drizzling mist. Ground soaking wet from rain the night before. OK. I hated it
much more than I loved it, but I was not going to be put off by it.
Monika dropped me off at Great Highway and Fulton, and I waited for one of the shuttle busses with
the couple hundred people in line there. But the race people were REALLY well organized. The
busses came up 4 or 5 at a time, loaded a hundred people on, took off, and up came the next batch
of busses.
When I got to the drop off point, I began to realize how big an even it was. Even in the rain,
there were people everywhere, and most of them were wearing bibs. As I walked through the tunnel
where late registration was being done, past the place to drop off sweats, and so on, the crowd
just kept getting thicker. I guess with a bib number of 2145, I should have figured out how big it
was going to be.
By the time I made the obligatory (for me) pit stop and got to the start line, it was 20 minutes
before the race, and they were starting to make the announcements. When the guy said that it was
overcast now, but that it would be clear for the finish, I knew that he had sealed our fate. I was
right. Still, it never poured, it just kept up the fine drizzling mist for the entire time and the
ground stayed wet and in some places, slick. I reiterated my plan for a 8:30 pace for the race to my
wife, and got ready to start off.
I took at look at the 6 min and 7 min signs on the start area and mentally calculated where 8 min
would be and stood there. After a great admonishment from the starter to ignore the sirens as a
starting signal and wait for the cable car bell, he suddenly rang the bell without any preceedign
sirens, and we were off.
Ah yes, this is another place where my inadequate preperation had left me, well, inadequately
prepared. I had decided to not wear my HRM for the race. I had forgot that my HRM receiver is also
my best racing stopwatch. My regular watch does not measure laps, but I was stuck with it. I was
going to have to memorize and remember the mile splits during the race by myself. Ouch! I was
planning on the race being a physical effort, but not such a mental one!
Anyway, we took off. By my watch, it took me 36 sec to cross the start line. For the entire first
mile, it was shoulder to shoulder with no room to pass. I passed the one mile mark at 9:30. I was
one minute behind, but the racers were beginning to thin out a little. I told myself not to try and
make it up but to just get on my pace.
The second and third mile markers were 8:29 and 8:32. I felt that I was running the race I wanted at
this point. This took us out of the Park, around the panhandle and back in.
At this point, the crowd had dispersed enough that you could run more easily. The next mile was
8:13, and I had made up some time. I slowed down to take it easy, but when I logged
8:21 and still felt good I decided 8:20 was an OK pace.
At this point something amusing happened. The ground was very wet, and my feed had gotten soaked. As
I ran up alongside another runner she remarked that my shoes sounded like they were full of water.
All I could say was "you're right"!
The next two miles were downhill. When I logged 8:15 at the 6 mile marker AND I got a pace time of
8:33, I began to thing that I could make up the time and finish at a pace better than
9:30 over all. I held my pace and ran another 8:15 for mile
10. This put us out of the park and onto the Great Highway. 3 miles out, and three miles back.
Here the running was harder because the path was narrow and there wasn't room to pass or move about
freely. You had to move up on someone's shouler, let them know your presence and squeeze through.
That was more tiring.
I slowed back down to 8:20 for mile 8, back to 8:16 for mile 8, back to 8:19 for mile 10 (which
was around the turn-around) and back to 8:16 for mile 11. I think the variations were just
crowded versus uncrowded portions of the race. I told myself that at mile 11 I would try to push
the last 2 miles.
I still logged an 8:16 for mile 12. At this point, several people were passing, and I decided to
really push it. I put on my best imitation of a sprint after running 12 miles. I finshed the last
1.11 miles in 8:55. That's a 8:02 pace, not bad for the last mile. Serious negative splits.
After collecting my t-shirt, and my goodie bag, next came the really good part. I walked back the
two blocks to the room and took a hot shower before checking out. My hands were so cold I could
hardly move them, so it was quite refreshing.
So here is my log from the race:
split s-time cum-ti cum pace mile 1 0:09:30 0:09:30 0:09:30 mile 2 0:08:29 0:17:59 0:09:00 mile 3
0:08:32 0:26:31 0:08:50 mile 4 0:08:13 0:34:44 0:08:41 mile 5 0:08:21 0:43:05 0:08:37 mile 6 0:08:15
0:51:20 0:08:33 mile 7 0:08:15 0:59:35 0:08:31 mile 8 0:08:20 1:07:55 0:08:29 mile 9 0:08:14 1:16:09
0:08:28 mile 10 0:08:16 1:24:25 0:08:26 mile 11 0:08:19 1:32:44 0:08:26 mile 12 0:08:16 1:41:00
0:08:25 finish 0:08:55 1:49:55 0:08:23
A few random reflections:
11:23 pace overall. Not bad. My pace for the 15K the previous week had been 8:32. After my first
half marathon race (I've run longer, 21 miles in training, I am getting much more serious about
running my first marathon.
I am definately going to run this race again next year, rain or shine. I am also going to stay in
the same place.
My NB RC 150s which already had 420 miles on them, and which I wore for the race died. They served
me well. They will not be forgotten.
I think with the regular training since the beginning of the year, I am beginning to get a little
speed back. I am pretty sure I could do this at an average pace of 10 - 15 seconds faster in the
near future.
The race felt good, and I felt good after the race. In fact I ran a 5K the next day (today) at a
7:40 pace. No aches, no pains.
I'm happy, I had fun, I am ready to do it again.
Larry