But sometimes in life, we knowingly make poor decisions... Yesterday (Friday pre-race) I learned that I've got an ear and throat infection and that my fatigue, body aches and general crappiness are not just jet lag. (Thanks China!) So after being bed ridden for the last few days, with the hopes that my virus has turned a corner, I decided not to waste my flight, hotel and race entry and push thru this race. It's a horrible decision. Definitely not doctor recommended. But when life gives you lemons, sometimes you just make lemonade.
And now here we are 4 days post mortem... I'm still battling the ear and throat infection and it has seemed to spread towards my eyes (since they're spewing mucus). It's all rough and my body hurts from the run. Looking back, it's probably not worth the risk of running compromised. I definitely put my overall and long term health at great risk, something I probably won't do again...
Race details:
San Francisco, California
Run: 13.1mi, point to point
Race Summary:
Well let's get to the details of the race itself! I will say that this race was one of the few where I had some ideas on how I wanted to run it ahead of time then I ACTUALLY HIT THOSE IDEAS! It was kinda nice for a race to come together like that haha
What you can see from the elevation plot (and something I saw in reviewing the elevation map) was that this half of the race was the opposite of last year's 1st half. Meaning the 2nd half is mostly uphill or rolling hill-ish at the start and then finish downhill then flat for the last 10k. This was critical in my planning. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to come out the gates hot at races. I like to say that I come out gunning and then just try to hold on to the end. It's a terrible strategy, but when tired and fatigued, it can be difficult to find that energy to burst to the finish. But given this elevation and my known issues with elevation due to my build, I decided I needed to hold back to start. And boy did that work!
I mean it took a lot of mental toughness. A lot of people are either fast or also come out of the gate hot. So many folks were passing me, even ones who definitely shouldn't. But that always happens and it didn't require much mental toughness. What did make me really hone in mentally was when both the 2hr and 2:05hr pacers passed me. That was tough. I knew that I couldn't fall behind those guys if I wanted to get sub-2, but yet I had to also run my race. They probably ran 9:09 the entire time no matter the elevation, but that's something I knew I couldn't do and I had to be okay with it. It was tough and at times I wasn't. But I let them go...
And then when I hit the 7 mile marker at 1:04:xx, I knew I had a fighter's chance. Mile 7 was probably half a mile or so into the start of the descent. Which means most of the uphill was done and I could get to my bread and butter: downhills and flats! And this gave me a huge smile and all kinds of energy to power to the end! (Oh and I also downed a Honey Stinger gel right then too)
The feeling of those last 6 miles couldn't have been better. I started powering thru miles that came in with 8's in the front. I was passing so many of those folks who burned me at the beginning. People were walking, I was not (in fact, I didn't this entire race save some points where I was trying to grab water from the aid station). It all just ended well and according to plan... and that was a thing of beauty for me!
Map and Stats Plot:
Run HR Zone Chart: Life in Zone 5 for the run, altho Zone 4 gave it a run for the money
HR Zones pretty much tell the story that I was going hard and probably not giving up all that much in the effort department. Oh and it was painful and would continue to be painful in the days following...
Course Reported Finish:
Barely holding onto that sub-2hr mark, albeit more airspace than last year
Run:
Splits kind of mirror my (executed) race plans. Take it slow in the beginning where there's some elevation gain/variance, then start to book it to the finish. And it's too bad the screenshot cuts off the Avg Cadence metric, which is new due to the 920xt. In that, you definitely see how my cadence picks up and follows that 179spm value for much of the last 4-5 miles.
Pics:
Packet pickup... decided to do this!!!
No free photos this year other than this finish line framed photo...
Too bad no free photos cause these two are pretty sweet
Some sweet views of the city!
Apparently Amanda is a big fan of the Palace of the Fine Arts... I had no idea, but it's a cool spot to hang out at if you live here!
Getting cultured at the SF MOMA... Trips should always be multipurpose!
Pre-race carb loading meal! Delicious Roman style Gnocchi! Plus amazingly crispy yet soft inners on the croquettes! And then couldn't resist dessert which included tiramisu and affogato (espresso poured over ice cream)
Finisher tent area pics from my phone
Post race was simple: hotel bar (mostly cause it was included in the price for platinum members)
Headed to a sketchy part of town just for a cool vibe and some good beers!
A medal Monday type of photo... 2 years, 3 races and 4 medals!!! A medal for each of the halfs, a medal for doing the 1st and 2nd half back to back, then the California Dreamin' medal for also doing Surf City last year. I'm debating doing it in 2018 so I can get another Dreamin' medal since they've changed the design... Decisions, decisions...
