2013 Giant Race

Late post, i got to get into the habit of posting.

Sunday August 4, 2013 was The Giant Race benefiting Project Open Hand.  I signed up for the half marathon, 13.1 miles.  It started at 7am, the weather was nice for running.  It was a cold morning and overcast the rest of the run, the sun never really came out.

The half marathon course is out and back loop that starts at AT&T Park and runs along the water towards the turnaround at the Golden Gate Bridge.  I took as many photos as i could on the first half, and didnt take any at all on the return run.  I wanted to run a negative split(faster second half) and didnt want to get distracted with taking pictures.  That didn't go as planned.  First half 1:02:50, second half 1:03:35.  Still got a PR for my half marathon time.  Beat my previous best(SF 1/2 marathon) by about 6 minutes.  I started to pick up the pace at mile 7.  This faster pace lasted for about 5 miles.  Around mile 12 is when i boarded "the pain train."  My legs were burning, but i knew i had to grind it out.  I knew that if i stopped running i wouldn't be able to keep my pace up.  The last mile my pace had dropped but i told myself "whatever you do, don't walk."  I finished my last half marathon of the year with a PR(2:06:25) and got the most awesome medal so far.  Next year's goal: sub 2 half!

Start line at AT&T Park

start line

Ferry Building

America's Cup Store 

Ghirardelli

First place runner on his return run at Marina Green

more America's Cup stores

Crissy Field and Golden Gate Bridge

I'll never get tired of views of the Golden Gate Bridge

Heading towards the park

Running toward the finish

Awesome finisher's medal 

Tough Mudder!

I'm sure you heard of Tough Mudder!  11.5 miles of fun in the mud with great friends, what more can you ask for?  Maybe an easier time trying to convince people to go.  Took me a few months of pestering but i'm glad everyone signed up at the end.  

Our day started early, we decided that we wanted to go in a earlier heat instead of our scheduled 12:00 o'clock.  Mostly everyone got up around 5 AM to get ready, eat, and stretch.  We even had time to do a morning walk around the house.  Left the house around 7 AM and headed to Northstar at Tahoe.  Parked onsite because my friend got premium parking passes that sold out pretty quick.  Everyone gets registered and marked up, we check our bags and we're in line for the 9 o'clock heat.  The MC got everyone pumped up and then he let us loose.

The obstacles were not that difficult, but the course with the elevation change was quite tough.  They start you off with a climb up the mountain. Its pretty much 5 miles up and 5 miles back down with obstacles in between.  These videos are taken from my GoPro on a Joby pod handheld.

Start Line

1. Blades of Glory - wooden walls set at an angle

2. Kiss of the Mud - your standard crawl in mud under barbwire

3. Arctic Enema - ice bath that will shock your body, esp once your head goes in

4. Just the Tip - traverse a wall hanging by your fingertips

5. Log Jammin - over and under a series of logs

6. Lumberjacked - climbing over raised logs

7. Trench Warfare - tunnels

8. Electric Eel - crawling through live wires, i think the squeaking are the sounds of electricity picked up by my gopro

Sandman going through

9. Berlin Walls - climbing over two sets of 12' high walls

10. Kiss of the Mud 2

11. Boa Constrictor - tunnels into water and back out

12. Funky Monkey - monkey bars over a water pit

13. Mud Mile - a series of mud pits

14. Hold Your Wood - log carry

15. Walk the Plank - jump off a plank into cold water

16. Cage Crawl - floating on your back with a cage in your face

17. Wounded Warrior Carry - carrying your teammate

18. Everest - climbing a vert wall

19. Electroshock Therapy - running through live wires

If you completed all 19 obstacles, you are part of the prestigious Club 19.  If not, then i guess we'll have to plan another trip to take care of that unfinished business.

The orange headband is now added to my collection.  Hoo-Rah!

Live Ultimate Run 2013

Late post, but better than none.

Live Ultimate Run was in San Francisco June 30th and I did the Quarter Marathon distance, 6.55 miles.  This is the first I've heard of this distance, and thought heck lets try it out and see how it goes.  I think this was the first quarter marathon distance for San Francisco.  The course was a 2 lap run around Chrissy Field area to Fort Point. The views of the Golden Gate Bridge are always beautiful and amazing.  The weather was amazing, although it felt quite hot and uncomfortable while running.  They only had one water stop for the course that was overrun with runners because they we're not prepared.  Most races have a group of people passing out water and a group refilling cups.  This water stop had one or two people passing out cups and you fill the water yourself, which caused a backup of runners waiting to get water.

The highlight of this run came after i finished.  My 1.5 year old son was running in the kids dash.  This was his first official run, got a bib, shirt and medal.  He didn't really have a clue what was going on, but as a parent this is one of those moments that you will cherish forever.

Father's Day Half Marathon

The San Francisco Marathon and Father's Day was on the same day this year.  I ran the 2nd Half Marathon this year, which runs from Golden Gate Park out towards the Ferry Building.  I finished with a time of 2:12:38, which is a PR for my half marathon time.  It could have been the training, or maybe it was father's day and I had something to prove.  I felt pretty good throughout the course, but the 2nd half did not have as many hills as compared to the 1st half.  I was on track to run a 10 minute mile pace, until I stopped for a bathroom break around the 11 mile marker.  After the short break it was hard for me to get started and I think that's where I lost a little time.  I'm still proud of my time, but it really sucks when you're a literally a minute shy of your goal time.  I'll try it again in August when i do the Giant Race.

Expo at the Concourse Exhibition Center

Your typical Expo for packet pick-up, lots of vendors, lots of freebies. Also a good idea to stock up on performance foods(gels, bars, chews, etc), because they always have some special pricing for expos.

Course Map

All prepped and ready to go.  I bought the SFM sock this year for $11, I just thought they were awesome and I had to get them.  They are by Sock Guy, and they were pretty comfy.  The shirts this year were a little off though. I normally got medium size for shirts, but this year they ran really small, so I got the large and the sleeves were still short.

The starting line, 36th and Fulton, Spreckels Lake

There's always the abandoned clothes at the start line

The first 5-6 miles are in Golden Gate Park, zig zagging your way out to Haight Street.

Along the course in the park is the finish line for the 1st Half Marathon runners.

"Full and 2nd Half runners stay to the right"

Exiting the park onto Haight

Right turn on Scott, Left turn on Waller

I run into a real barefoot runner

Waller to Guerrero,

crossing Market , Right on 15th

Then we go to 16th, to 17th, to Mariposa, to 22nd, then a Left on 3rd Street and now we're getting close.

Finally along the water and I can see the ball park

The home stretch along the Embarcadero

FINISHED!

Half Marathon Finisher Medal

Half It All Challenge Medal

2 sided medal for completing the 1st and 2nd half marathon in consecutive years.

What's next?

Full Marathon?

Already signed up for July 27, 2014.....See you there!