Week 7

Although it wasn't a personal best, I'm still pleased with my Bay to Breakers 12K. Would've been better if I got under 7min/mile...

Mon May 9 volleyball championship WIN
Tue May 10 Rest
Wed May 11 Dr. appotinment: bruised clavicle/ACL, sprained wrist
Thu May 12 3.11 20:36, avg 6:40min/mile
Bike 10.50 1:00:00
Speed 3.11 6:48, 6:38, 6:30, :40
Bike 4.00 18:00
Fri May 13 Rest
Sat May 14 Yard work
Sun May 15 Bay to Breakers 12K 7.46 52:34, avg 7:03min/mile
Hayes Hill 00:19:34, 00:07:17
Finish 00:52:34, 00:07:03
6:46, 6:51, 7:58, 7:16, 7:00, 6:40, 6:33, 3:26

Week Total: 10.5 miles running, 14.5 miles cycling

** UPDATE **





Quick recap of the 100th Annual Bay to Breakers 12K experience...

It started several months ago when I got the letter in the mail letting me know that I had the opportunity to register as a Sub-Seeded Runner. First time that's ever happened :)

New 7am start time for Seeded & Sub-Seeded. I woke up early (5:30am), said 'goodbye' to my wife and was out on the road by 6am.

In the city @ 6:40am and easily found parking on Bryant&Rincon Alley. It was pretty cold with the possibility of rain so I put on my trashbag and walked down Beale where people were warming up, jogging, and stretching. Nature called so I headed to my Corral entrance and the less crowded portable restrooms, also 30 feet from the Start Line. As I waited my turn, the Elite Women started their race at 6:50am. I took care of business, made my way up to the front of the pack and hopped the barrier. Goal was a 7-minute-mile or a 00:52:12 finish time.

As the announcer counted down to zero, I shed my plastic bag, turned up the volume on my iPod and started shuffling toward the timing strips. By the time I reached them, I started my Garmin and was able to run free as the crowd of runners spread out wide onto the four lanes of Howard St.

There were still plenty of people so I held back for 2 blocks then decided "screw it" and started running around people like an ambulance driver. This gave me a somewhat faster Mile 1 than I had planned (6:46, just before 6th St). As we turned right onto 9th St, I was thinking about Hayes Street Hill and decided it'd be good to band some time for my 7min/mile. With a few blocks on 9th and a left onto Hayes St, I clocked Mile 2 crossing Van Ness in 6:51 and on to the HILL.

I always somehow convince myself that Hayes St only climbs for 3 blocks when in fact it's 5. After each climb, the cross street allowed my quads to recover just a little before ramping back up and burning them to oblivion, block after brutal block. I kept a 7:30 pace for the first 3 blocks but the final 2 were a slog. I slowed to a 9min/mile, kept my head down and committed to "not stopping". I reached the peak and Mile 3 with a 7:58 split. The timing strips at the top clocked my progress: Hayes Hill 00:19:34, 00:07:17.

I struggled to keep my feet from giving out as we barreled down the backside of the hill, turned left onto Divisadero with a quick right onto Fell. I pushed to regain my speed as I ran past the Golden Gate Park Panhandle. I focused on the split at Stanyan ahead, the entrance to the Park and the net decline in elevation as the rolling hills led us to the coast... Daydreaming didn't help much as Mile 4, the park entrance, came in at 7:16! Shoot! Behind by :30. I needed to push NOW!

And why not? The first of the downward slopes came into view and I sped up my pace. I thought to myself "just roll". At Mile 5 (7:00), my feet, right hip, and quads were saying "roll your sorry ass to the side of the road". I make it a rule to not listen to my body until it gets enough of my muscles together for a believable revolt (i.e. 2007CIM - hypothermia). So far so good... I was dictating my next steps. I was in control, so we rolled... past the de Young Museum and soon afterward, Mile 6 (6:40). I could see the new FootStock location getting setup at Speedway Meadow. As I ran west, the cool/cold ocean breezes coming up John F Kennedy Drive woke me up and fueled my endurance. I had 1.5 miles left but focused just the next mile as I felt the finish line calling me home.

A few photos along the way reminded me to stretch my arms up and out as I increased my speed. At Mile 7, JFK merged with South Fork heading northwest and my Garmin recorded a 6:33 split.

Those last two mile gained approximately 15 seconds toward my 7min/mile mark but with half a mile to go, I knew it was near impossible to make up another 15 seconds. I pushed on hard as I hoped somehow my Garmin was wrong... I knew regardless of splits, the overall time was accurate and coming up on 52:12 but mindgames are par for the course to avoid giving up.

I came to the end of JFK and turned south on Great Highway only to get BLASTED by a howling, cold wind. It was discouraging but I also knew that I push back harder and run faster in a headwind. I squinted to make out the finish line. People were lined up along the street yelling and that helped me punish my quads just a bit further to the finish and timing strips.

I raised my hands as I crossed and once out of view, grabbed some water bottles and briefly wished to lay down in the middle of the road and pour it all over myself. That passed and I took a few photos before walking the 1 mile back to FootStock.

Along the way, the clouds opened up and poured a heavy rain for all of 10 minutes. How refreshing! Thanks God! After that, the clouds disappeared and it was a relatively sunny day for San Francisco. The fields were muddied but I was focused on any type of free food or drink giveaway. I grabbed the chocolate milk, the granola bars, chips, sports energy drinks, and cookies and quickly consumed it all on a nearby park bench.

After a several futile attempts to stretch, I picked up my medal and shirt and decided I'd walk the course, in reverse, to see what I have mostly missed the past 8 years I've run the race.




Here's much of what others saw:
http://kaptures.net/2011_BayToBreakers.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yahooeditorspicks/galleries/72157626606102765/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/captin_nod/sets/72157626731456614/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixybeast/sets/72157626605929469/
http://www.facebook.com/baytobreakers?sk=app_159237157423118
http://www.flickr.com/photos/captin_nod/sets/72157626731456614/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidyuweb/sets/72157626729156752/

Run. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
= RUMBLE