Racing Giant

August 27th, 2011.

I ran the 2011 Giant Race 1/2 marathon as my first long distance race, and up until race day, I was really intimidated. My training, whether on purpose or not, included NO distances close to 13 miles. My longest run was 8 miles in my training. On race day, I was late (as usual) and didn't have time for my pre-run routine of stretching.  I was still dead set against jogging before the run, thinking that I was giving all I had in the race, and if I ran before it, how would I finish? I pretty much went into the run cold (I was also VERY not into stretching in front of people, there were about 10,000 watching me that day), I was about 215lbs, maybe more, and like I said before, I'd never run the race distance.  Once the race got started, all I could think about was finishing. I can't really recap the feelings per mile on this race, but I know I felt good the whole time. I finished strong, felt great, and had accomplished something I never even knew I would want to do 6 months earlier. I ran 13.1 miles and finished in just under 2:20.

Photo Credit to Karl 'Doctorbrew' Doerner

Fast forward to September 26th, 2012.

I feel like I'd been prepping for this race for over a year, but really had only decided to try for a serious (and ridiculous) PR towards the end of 2011.  I always want to run races the next year for comparisons sake, and for enjoyment, and really I set the goal for 'before the end' of 2012. I thought it would be great to do it at the 2012 Giant Race. I wanted to run a sub 1:30 race.

Between the 2011 and the 2012 Giant Races, I had run several (I think 5) additional 1/2 marathons, steadily improving, and dramatically improving my time on two of them. I had run a hard and fast 15k, PR'd a 10k, ran some difficult and long distance trail runs. I ran hard in my track workouts, gradually lowering my times on the track and also in my tempo runs. I started running a minimum of 2 miles a day, every day, on Thanksgiving 2011. I wanted to drop some weight, but had set a goal of drinking 500 unique beers in 1 year in December of 2010. Just before my 1 year was up, I made my goal and started driving down my weight. In a few months, I had dropped 50lbs.

I was ready for the Giant Race.

The last 1/2 marathon I ran before the Giant Race was in June (the day after my birthday), but it was a good one. I started 7 corrals behind where I should have been for my expected finish time. You know when there is that time you CAN NOT wait to go to the bathroom? No dance can cure it, no putting it out of your mind, and for me....I won't go on course. I need those minutes to be running! It was happening whether I liked it or not. But I digress, I started running in corral 9, several minutes after the gun went off. I still finished with a PR of about 1 minute, maybe 2, under my May 1/2 marathon. The June race was a hilly one too.

Seriously, I was ready.

I was on my own for Giant Race day 2012. I wasn't running with anyone but the pacer group. I had to get up ridiculously early to avoid the Seattle fiasco (and the 'I'm not telling', San Jose fiasco), so while I did have a beer and some food late night, not as late and not as excessive as in previous races.

I've developed a pretty good pre-race routine for the night before and day of:
Eat something 'soft' late, around midnight.
I don't want to be hungry in the morning, or be digesting much food pre-race.
Drink some beer. YES, I know it dehydrates you but there is much to be said for a good, relaxing feeling the night before a race. Don't drink 10 beers, that's just dumb. Have 1 or 2 and drink some water (later).  Get up nice and early but be comfortable with your time. Stressing about getting there sucks.  My pre-race meal? A banana at home, then a brownie (gluten free of course!) and a mocha.

I'll grab the mocha and brownie the night before, toss the mocha in the fridge and then microwave it in the morning. Not the best mocha you'll ever have, but it works for me!

Registered racers were strongly advised to get to the parking lot early, or carpool. Knowing what it was like in 2011, I got to the parking lot nearly 2 hours before race time. It was a ghost town. Just my luck, I thought. I have to admit though, if you charted race day parking at almost every (popular) race out there, it would look like the chart on the right. Everyone gets there right before the race..

Getting there early is always advised, and I can pretty much guarantee that extra hour of sleep you're getting will stress you out far more than that sleep will help you for the race. So, I was there early. What do to?

Having never been that early to a race, I was in a bit of a quandry. I was half-way through my mocha, eagerly anticipating my race, and I had already prepped everything I needed to do. Sleeping didn't look promising, and I certainly wasn't going to run around for 2 hours. Oh, it was pitch dark too, but provided a very unique early morning view of AT&T Park.

So I actually just double checked all my gear, snapped a couple of pictures, and sat in my car. I was partially just trying to relax, partially watching the parking lot fill up, and also going over my 'race strategy' such as it was. Closing my eyes every once in a while...sometimes I was trying to visualize my race, other times I was trying to clear everything from my mind. I'd never had a goal so tantalizingly close, yet feeling so impossible.

I'm not always great with setting goals that seem out of reach, like a dream. Having run a 2:18 1/2 marathon the year before, I set my 1:30 goal almost as something to drive me to run harder. I don't think I really intended to make the goal at first. Just try and get close because that time is impossible. I would have to run sub-7 minute miles for 13 miles.

Post race in Seattle

I knew I was getting close though, running a 1:35 in Seattle was a great boost, and the Giant Race was much more flat compared to Seattle in June.

It's finally about time for the race to get going so I head to the start line. I actually didn't know where the line was, and realized with only about 10 minutes to go that I was pretty far back. Of course, then I had to go to the bathroom again: go figure.

Luckily I was able to get things squared away and I headed up through the crowd of runners. Going further, and further, and further...I really underestimated how many people I was behind. Having started a couple of races too far back, I wasn't really trying to make any friends getting up to the front. My projected race time had me in the 1st corral, behind the elite runners who would finish far ahead of me (the winner finished in 1:04.....ONE HOUR AND FOUR MINUTES....).

Then, I ran into an old colleague who was running his first 10k. I stopped to chat for a couple of minutes as I hadn't seen him for quite some time, but then as politely as possible, I told him: I have a race to PR :)

I finally made it up to the starting line, where I was pretty much right up front. You can see me in the starting line video (if I can find it anywhere, it seems to have disappeared!). I was ECSTATIC to see my friends Jenny and Steven at the starting line, just the kind of encouragement and distraction I needed. I wasn't super nervous but definitely benefited from the smiles and positive reinforcement of running group friends smiling at the start.

Bang goes the starting gun.

So now that I'm a few 1/2 marathons into my 'racing career', I know at least a little bit about how to start my races. I've been blessed with a steady cadence by virtue of having been in marching band for 8 years, so steady pace has never been difficult for me.

The problem I had at the beginning of this race, besides a fairly narrow starting chute, was that at a pace very close to correct for a 1:30 finish, I was pulling ahead of the 1:30 pace group. I've only had a friend truly be a pacer for me in one race, and that was not a planned thing, it just happened that way. It was a nearly 20 minute PR, and I can't tell you how valuable a good pacer is.

I've found, for me, in a 1/2 marathon at least, the hardest thing is regulating your pace for the first few miles. Those are the easy miles. I regularly train at or above 5-6 miles, and can do them pretty quickly. The trick is being able to sustain that pace, or speed it up in the last few miles.

Running in the first few miles, there were some tight spaces with racers and walkers from the 5k and 10k distances either still heading out to their turn around, or people coming back on the left side of the route. Couple that with the fact that while these races are mapped and cordoned off at most points, it's still a public area and there are pedestrians along the route too. Luckily the combination of my quick starting pace, forward placement in the corrals, and the early start time (8am), I dealt with much less of this than some other racers.

You head up the Embarcadero, and once you get up to about Fort Mason, you take a left and head up a short but fairly steep hill. I was a little surprised by this as I thought the course in 2011 stayed more flat. I had pulled probably 1/4 to 1/2 mile ahead of the 1:30 pace group, so I felt good about where I was, even if I slowed down a bit. I'm a pretty strong hill runner, as long as the up is steep and the down is more flat. Once I got over that hill, I was still cruising at a decent pace, when I hit Crissy Field.

Now, here is where I got a little frustrated. As it turns out, looking at my Garmin track, I did start out a little fast, faster than the 1:30 pace group. What they did though, was pick up speed and pass me around mile 7 or so. By the timing on the Garmin, my slowest mile(s) were  10 and 12, at a 7:09 minute per mile pace. I didn't really start feeling the pain and suffering of racing until mile 10.5, and by mile 11 I wasn't going to run another 1/2 marathon...ever.

This directly coincides with the 1:30 pace group passing me, and slowly edging out of sight. I tried to keep up, but obviously the effort level had gone up with fatigue setting in on my legs. It's still pretty rare for me to feel the burn in my lungs, especially before my legs give out (yay for not smoking). I was hard pressed to keep it together as I saw the group creep out of site.

The thing about racing is, you can trick yourself. When you hit mile 11 of a 13.1, you literally only have 2.1 miles left. All things considered, that's pretty damn short! While the last two miles were pretty painful, and I didn't really increase my speed, I didn't get any slower either.

When I was nearing the stadium, heading up the embarcadero, I had totally lost the 1:30 pace group. I had been watching my times on the GPS, and knew I was still under or right at my goal pace, but not seeing the group confused me a little. By this time, they would have already finished, probably around 1:25. I feel like if the group had run closer to their pace, or if I had someone closing out the run with me the last few miles, I would have probably cleared 1:28, if not better. That is actually my only 'gripe' with the race. I passed on having someone come out and pace me because I thought I could rely on the pace group. Well...boo hoo on me.

www.armyourfeet.com

I pressed on, knowing how close I was. I could feel the burn in my legs, my lungs ached, and I was truly ready to be done. Throughout the race, I had various thoughts on my mind, but two things occurred to me throughout:  I was SO close to my 1:30, and my 'proxy' running coach Monty (with A Runners Mind). His voice was just ringing in my ears. He's always telling me how much better I can do, how much harder I can run. I've set goals in my running that, for my training and cumulative time spent running are pretty lofty. His expectations are higher. It's part of what drives me, between him and my other 'coaches', everyone I run with has high expectations. I couldn't have done this without my ARM friends.

So I find myself at 12 miles, feet are getting achy, body is running low on fuel, but emotionally I'm up. There are always times when you have doubts, at least I do. I find that having some music in my ears to distract me from the physical pains, I can reflect mentally on what I need to do to make it. I was tempted more than once to walk during the race, but having walked before in races, it tends to hurt more than continuing to run. So you keep running.

As soon as I saw the stadium, with the masts from the sailboats on the left, I couldn't help but smile inside and push through. One advantage to running a race from year to year is that you can instantly recall how close you are with certain landmarks. I knew I was there.

While I did have to navigate through some pedestrians, there were far less than last year. I can tell you that although my GPS time does not reflect a faster pace, the last two miles I felt like I was flying.

I rounded the corner into the stadium, through the metal gate in right field and charged up the warning track around to left field. I could see the time over the finish line: it hadn't crossed the 1:30 threshold yet. I wasn't taking any chances, and sprinted across the finish line. 1:29:48. Yes, it was barely under 1:30, but.......I did it.

I have yet to encounter a feeling like finishing a race, you just feel great. Finishing by completing a goal or meeting a set time that, just a short time ago, seemed outlandish is a tremendous feeling.

I took some time to catch my breath, went through the finish area to get some food and something to drink. This is where it would be awesome to have friends waiting. I can enjoy this moment on my own, but with friends, it's amazing.  I don't carry my phone with me, or a camera or anything, so I was pretty much isolated until I got to my bag at the bag check.

I took my time, and absorbed both the achievement, and being privileged enough to be allowed on the field of the Giants, who were both one season removed, and a short time away, from winning World Series trophies. I actually went around to the outfield walls and gave them a gentle pat, around the markers for the distance from home to the wall.

As the infield started filling up (yep, we were allowed on the field this year, pretty amazing!) I eventually made my way up the steps (yeah, had to climb steps after a 1/2 marathon..woot) to the concourse area. A short line for a free sports massage? YES PLEASE. My first ever sports massage was amazing. I told the woman who was doing it: You don't have to worry about anything but my lower back/hips, my hammies, and the calves. The rest will live ;)

Now, I may have been able to run faster, I don't know. I do feel like I felt a little too good after the race to have not run all out. I credit most of that to the euphoria of running a race that I never thought I would, let alone ever thought I would run at the speed I did.

My next steps of the day were: food and beer. I met up with my buddy Karl and had some good food, good beer, and bragged about how awesome I was.

After some time, I needed to make my way to the city, so I parted ways with Karl and headed to my pals place in Mission. We were getting ready for a 5k. Hahahahahaha. Yes. I ran a 5k at 4pm, just a few hours removed from my best 1/2 marathon.

I committed to the 5k before I realized it was on the same day as the Giant Race, and wasn't going to back out of it. I might have if I felt terrible, but since I had several hours to recover, I knew it would be fine. I wasn't going to race the 5k anyway, so I just ran a nice relaxed warm down from the 1/2.

All in all, it was one of the most amazing race day's I've had. I can tell you that the previous races were all great too, this one was just special because I had been working on it for so long.

Races to me, are like places I visit: whether on purpose or not, I tend to be happy wherever I am. I've raced in the bay area, Sacramento, Eugene, Portland, and Seattle. I have yet to have a bad experience. The people, the race conditions, the course, the finish, the friends...they all combine to make this running thing amazing.

I've been running steady now since August of 2011 and I'd be hard press to find a group of more supportive, encouraging, positive and talented people. My Giant Race experience is just some more icing on the cake: the course conditions were great, the timing of each race distance worked well for my pace, the course had a lot of fans and volunteers supporting the runners, the finish line was wide open and had a reasonable amount of food and refreshments, and hey....I got a Matt Cain runner bobblehead for finishing. Why else would you want to finish the race?