SF half marathon

Race Date: 2010-07-25
Race Distance: 13.1 miles
Finish Time (hh:mm:ss): 02:08:36


Beep beep beep .... Beep beep beep .... beep beep beep

Woke up with a start and rushed to find the clock. 3:10. Good, hadn't snoozed it at all. Things were going to plan.

3:15 Brushed and done. Call Shraddha. No answer.

3:20 Shower done. Call Dilip. Hmm..... he sounds sleepy. I wonder ... Quickly get dressed and ready. Readied everything the previous night as the coaches had instructed. No phone. Just DL, $20+$10+$2, keys

3:30 Shraddha calls "I am just stepping out of my place". Eat something. Ah, my favorite oatmeal. After two spoons, Balu's words came back - no milk!! Okay, abandon, and get some toast. Feeling a bit rushed now.

3:40 Dilip calls. "We are both here. Come down". I go and pull out my car. Wait, what's this other car obstructing my driveway? Oh, it's Shraddha's :) Alright, she could get towed for this.

3:45 Dilip reparks Shraddha's car in a tight parallel spot, and we are technically off!!

3:50 Nervous chatter. Dilip confirms he woke up at 3:20 when I called! Almost forgot his bottle. OH, DRAT! I forgot mine! U-turn, u-turn. Heart starts racing. Rush back home. Sprinting in, grabbing bottle, and sprinting out, was, with me, the work of an instant (Cr: PGW). Already feeling warmed up. Drive like the wind now!

3:58 At Caltrain station. Damn, I thought we were supposed to be here at 3:45 :( But there are others pulling in too. Find paybooth. Dilip goes to check out spot #. 64 .... yes. Oh, $3? Grrr.... Balu, you lil' ... (Cr: Simpsons). Borrow 1$ from Shraddha.

4:05 Run to shuttle. Jump in. Ooh, both Balu and Chandrika on our shuttle. Bharath too! Ah, finally off!! Phew! Collect snack bar and banana. Wolf down banana. Save up snack bar for later.

~5:00 Bus pulls up near the start point. Ah, the other buses also there, and lots of Asha folk milling around. Follow crowd. Ah, porta-potties. And no line at all!! We must be real early. Do 'morning business' as Balu put it. Spot Vikram in line. Good. Ah, Meena too. Manu as well.

5:15 At Embarcadero and Folsom surveying the start lines and waves. Ah, there's Mausam. Good. Not that cold actally, which is a good sign. Still have not decided what to wear when starting. Cotton shirt over tech-tee? Garbage bag? Both?

5:30 Find sweats truck. Hmm..... this is quite challenging. Finally found it at Embarcadero and Mission. Swamy was right, while most of the other folk kept pointing in the wrong direction! Hmmph! Spotted Divya, Sudhir. Okay, decision time. Going with only tech tee, and garbage bag in pocket.

5:45 Make way back. Trying to follow Chandrika to Wave 5. Seems like most Asha runners are starting here. Ah, my running buddy Anand is finally here. Can't find Mausam anymore though. Quick spot of stretching. Just waiting is getting unbearable. Thank God it is quite pleasant temperature actually! Not cold at all!

6:00 "A-Bot rocks"? What is A-Bot anyway? Oh well. Just let us go ....

6:05 WAVE 5! And we are off!! Am I running too fast? Too slow? Well, just go with other Asha runners. Oh, set watch timer ... Good. Can almost feel the nervous energy in the crowd. Oh, and there's the Mile 1 marker at ......

6:15 10 min mile. Anand says we are doing 10:30. Heavenly smell of fresh bread. Boudin bakery. Damnit. I miss my morning coffee. Wish I could take a detour. Mile 2 - quick glance at watch ....

6:25 Wow, seem to be getting the hang of this. Isn't it a bit fast though? Coaches said 11 min/mile for the first two .... Ah, Hyde street. This was the turnaround for Crissy field run. Familiar track now! Through the Aquatic park, and over Fort Mason. Our first hill ...

6:35 Mile 3. This is uncanny now .... Never mind. Oh, there are some people cheering us on. I don't know them, but I will use their cheering anyway :) "GO ASHA". Loud familiar voice. Ah, there's Balu. And Bharath. Our first Asha cheering squad! Terrific. Scream back "Balu"! Crissy field coming up. Hmmm, small detour through the field. Weird! Oh there's the marker for Mile 4 at ....

6:45 Oh well, now started expecting this .... But Anand says we are doing 9:40 pace now. Looking forward to the bridge now. Can see it in the distance. Not much fog. Yikes, people are going near the bushes now! Ah water-stop. Mmmm.... Cytomax (yes, I like it!) Anand takes his Gu shot. Should I? Didn't need any for Crissy field .... and feeling very good now .... hmm ... postpone for now.

First big hill coming up. Mile 5 marker half way up at .....

6:55 Sigh!

Q: Which is the steepest street in SF?

A: Filbert (?)

Q: Aren't you happy to be running this hill instead?

A: (My answer) - Hmmm.... not really, why are those the only 2 choices? :)

Hmm.... all the houses are exactly alike on this road. Wonder if it is a military zone of some sort.

Okay, rounding the bend to the Golden Gate now! Finally! "Venki ... venki ... venki ..." I hear shouting. Praveen!! And Sandhya and Chakri!! Terrific!! Find myself screaming everyone's names. Hi-fives all around. That was perfect timing entering the bridge. Feeling very strong now.

Oh wow, the bridge is indeed uphill as Chakri promised. But then, when is Chakri wrong anyway :)

I see the 3:40 pacer. First pacer I have seen since we started running. And there's Matt! Right behind the pacer. Girl with PINK written all over her running clothes in front of me. Wonder if that is a group of some sort. "Run for India" tees all over the place. Wonder which group that is. TA shirts are much prettier ;) 3:50 pacer. Mayank. Vineet. Venkat! Didn't realise he was such a fast runner. All on pace to go under 2. Racing down the second half of the GG now. Anand - "we are doing 9:20 pace". Should slow down.

Vista point. Ah, the mat! Careful step over it :) Take a Gu shot here. Don't want to fade out in the second half of the course. Yes, it's time. Forgot to check watch or look for mile markers since reaching the bridge. Hmm.... no idea about the mileage but the time is .....

7:21 Has to be more than half way through. Less than an hour of running left if we are to finish under 2:15. Back on the bridge.

Me: "Didn't see Dilip or Vikram yet"

Anand: "Oh they went by a minute ago"

Me: "How about the 4:15 pacer. Are we ahead of him?

Anand: "Probably. We crossed 4:00 pacer before the turnaround"

Back on the bridge. Pulling a bit faster now. Having to dodge folks a lot more. Chandrika! Still a sea of people on the bridge. Meena and Manu. And other TA runners. Can see the toll booth. Look for our cheering squad. Who's that screaming and jumping. OMG, it's Bhanu!! Can't see Madhu anywhere. Chakri taking pics of us! Ah, Sandhya and Praveen again. Fantastic! Now for the last big hill.

Q: Which famous actress born was in San Francisco and acted in Clueless?

Anand: Alicia Silverstone.

Me to myself: Wow, I had no clue

A: Alicia Silverstone.

This hill looks never-ending. Going real slow. Waterstop at top! Don't want to walk now. Focus! Right foot. Left foot. Right foot ....

Overheard: "Almost there dear - mile 10 marker at the top."

Quick scan for marker. Yes!! 10 indeed. And quick scan for time ....

7:47 Stop for water. Good excuse to stop!

Anand: "It is all downhill from here."

Me: "Really? Too many people said be careful of the rolling hills."

Ah, amazing view on the right. Beach(es). Cliffside houses. The Pacific. Woods immediately to the right. Curvy road. Crowd thinning a bit. Going real fast. Anand: "8:30 pace. Slow down!" Bobby races by!

Doesn't feel like this downslope is going to end. Not complaining :) Ooh, waterstop again. And Balu! So, just 2.1 left? Can't see any Mile 11 marker. Balu runs a little with us.

Balu: "You guys are doing great".

Anand: "Get us through in 2:05"

Balu: "That might be too hard. You will do 2:10 easily." Leaves us.

City streets. The famous rolling hills. Nice houses. Time to change target to 2:11. 10 min/mile. Can see Bobby 50 metres ahead. Start pushing harder. Try to catch Bobby and stay with him. "Anand, I will take off ...." Slowly but surely, inching up to Bobby. Still feeling strong. Losing feel for distance now. Unsure where the mile 12 marker is.

8:01 15 mins to beat target. Just keep pushing. Still feeling strong. More crowds lining streets now. Cops cheering us on too!! Didn't see that coming :) Mile 12!! Okay, its finally down to 1 mile. Yippee! Mental correction. 1.1. Watch check ....

8:03 Okay, nice and easy. Left turn. Seems like a big road. Right turn into the park. Hurray! Almost there. Don't see no finish line. Right turn. Signs for half and full marathoners. Yay! Finish must be a 100 yards away. Though, still ....

8:08 Damn, this finish line is just not coming. Satish Menon. Legs getting weary. Would love to walk a bit. Focus! Bobby is running like he has a motor on him! Can barely see him anymore. Left turn. Has to be round the bend. No :( Dragging feet now. Right turn. Another sign for half vs. full. Big crowds now. Must be here. Scan crowd for familiar faces. None :( Stop sign up front. Should I? :) OH, there's the finish line!!!!! Sudden strength welling up. Legs take over. Involuntary sprinting. Cross line with huge grin. Turn off stopwatch .... 2:08:31. Nice!

Kiron waving nearby. Pose for picture. Wait for Anand. Oh, is that Bobby coming in now? Hmm..... Bobby - "I took the full marathon lane, and some nice lady told me I was in the wrong place". No wonder. Time to walk up and collect that medal. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Legs feeling stiff. Knees in particular. Abs a little painful. Walked back down the course and ran back other TA runners - Vikram, Abhishek, Dilip, Prema, Divya, Mausam ..... More cheerers joined in - Shailesh, Parag, Madhu, and the ones who already finished. Everyone is just all smiles. A few seemed to be hurting a bit. Still smiling :) Picked up sweats, found lots more folks. Finally time to go back to start line. Samosas and biryani waiting for us there. Grabbed a few biscuits, scones, cytomax, banana, and headed to a ridiculously long line for the buses to the start. Almost ....

10:00 Was later when we got on. Fell promptly asleep till bus parked at Embarcadero. Asha tent and food!! Good. Fantastic. Chakri is back there. So is Praveen. The full marathoners are back too. Arun Sharma. Satish again. Feeling really sleepy now. Slight headache too. Just want to curl up. Closing in on ....

~12:00 Prasanna picks us up. Shraddha, Dilip and me. Promptly fall asleep again, all the way to Sunnyvale. Drop off Shraddha and join the rest of our gang at Peacock - Madhu, Bhanu, Meena, Sandhya, Chakri, Gaurav. The hot chai was priceless. And free :) Got back home around ....

2:15 One long day. One long happy day. One long fantastic day. Half way there.

Chicago, here I come.