Kaiser Half Marathon - Feburary 6, 2010

The Preliminaries

The Kaiser Half Marathon sold-out eight days before the event.  They had a limit of 10,000 registered runners.  That translated to 8,402 finishers (6,080 in the half and 2,322 in the companion 5K).  Surprisingly, over 15% of those who paid did not run (or at least did not finish).  Then, again, almost 85% ran and had a great time, like I did.  There were also over 1,000 volunteers working at the event and on the preparations leading to it. 

The Pamakid Running Club had four training runs leading up to the race.  I attended the first two after my six mile Saturday runs in Golden Gate Park.  They were a convenient way to increase my mileage.  Rick N., who also runs the Saturday morning Golden Gate Park runs was doing the same thing.  January 9 was six miles from Sports Basement across the Golden Gate Bridge and back.  January 16 was ten miles through the Presidio, across the bridge, through Crissy Field and back to Sports Basement. 

Race Day - Before the Race

Race day did not start too auspiciously.  I had planned out my trip to the park on Muni, THE CITY's public transportation system.  Many of the bus stops now have digital "next bus" displays thanks to GPS and computers.  I arrived at the first stop three or four minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive only to find the display said it was 20-some minutes away.  I was supposed to transfer at Market Street, which is maybe a half mile away.  So, I just hoofed it to that stop.  I had planned to pick-up the Fulton bus on Market at Powell.  When I got to that stop it should have been about five minutes away.  Instead it was 25 minutes.  Another person who was obviously going to the race asked what bus I was taking.  I said that there was supposed to be a Fulton bus in five minutes.  He said, yes and there was also supposed to be one about 20 minutes ago.  Another waiting passenger said she had planned to take the earlier bus but it did not arrive, either.  It turned out that the Balboa bus was scheduled to arrive in eight minutes.  It would drop us only two blocks farther away.  So, we all took that.  Patience and flexibility are the keys when dealing with Muni.

I arrived about an hour before the race.  My pre-race ritual for a big race is to hit the porta potties while the lines are still short.  I then went to look for the sweats check.  When you are ready (and at least 15 minutes before the start of the race), you put your sweats in a plastic bag, write your race number on the outside and throw them in the trash barrel with the appropriate number range on it.  The race organizer then transports the sweats to the finish area where you can pick them up after the race.  At 30 minutes before the race I deposited my sweats and I headed out for a slow warm-up run.  I ran out about a mile and then back to the start.  It takes 15 to 20 minutes.  The closer to 20 the better -- there are no prizes for a fast warm-up.

The Race

I line up about 10 feet back of the start on the left side.  Edward H. is there, so we talk before the race.  Edward is also a DSE member and he ran on the Devil's Slide Track Club team at The Relay last year.  There are many preliminaries, announcements, statements and, of course, the National Anthem.  Finally, the count down.

The start was crowded.  Since I was near the front I cleared the start line in six seconds.  I heard that it took either six or eight minutes to get the full 8,500 or so runners over the line.  That is pretty good for an event of this size.

This race exists in two parts.  The first seven miles through the park are pleasant, sheltered and fast.  The first half of the race is only the base.  The real race starts once you make the turn out of the park and down The Great Highway.  This is where you make or break your race performance. 

I started to feel my left hamstring in the second mile.  After the 10 mile race two weeks earlier I expected that.  I monitored it and I was careful not to do anything that would unduly irritate it.  Otherwise, I do not have much to say about the first seven miles.

I made the turn onto The Great Highway and still felt good.  I continued to hold pace.  When I made the turn around just before mile 10, I went straight into a wall of wind.  At 10 miles I was ahead of my 6:30 goal pace.  I completed the 10 mile distance almost 50 seconds ahead of the DSE Waterfront 10 miler.  That is all nice, but I did not have enough to battle the headwind for the final three miles.  My pace went from 6:30 to a little over 7:00 per mile.  A couple of groups passed me in that last three mile stretch.  I tried to attach myself at the back so that I could draft behind them, but I could not hold the pace.  I finished at 1:26:31, well within my primary goal of 1:27 for a seeded entry to the Bay to Breakers. 

1 - 6:37*

2 - 6:17

3 - 6:16

4 - 6:34

5 - 6:33

6 - 6:11

7 - 6:18

8 - 6:25

9 - 6:49*

10 - 6:24
11 - 7:06
12 - 7:05
13 - 7:08
13.1 - 0:43

 * Longer than one mile.  This mile is a little extra and the next is a little short on time.

After the Race 

I finished 151 out of 6080 finishers.  I was 5 out of 193 in my age group.  This year they started calculating age graded scores.  The idea of age graded scoring is to equalize performances after taking into account age and gender.  There are two ways this is done.  One is with an adjusted time and the other involves a percentage grade.  My age grade was 80.1, which put me barely in the class of national level runners.  Well, a nice dream, anyway.  100 is equivalent to a world record performance, 90 is world class, 70 is regional and 60 is local.

Next up is the NorCal 10 miler in Redding on March 6.  I recently joined the Pamakids Racing Team and this will be my first race as a member of the team.  That also required me to get a USA Track and Field membership.  I mailed-in my entry to the Bay to Breakers the day after the Half-Marathon with proof of a qualifying time for the seeded entry.

Photo Credits

1. Start line waiting for start of race.  Brightroom Event Photography (c) 2010.  Used with permission.
2. First Pamakid training run with Rick N.  Photo by Paul Mosel (c) 2010.
3. Muni logo property of SFMTA.
4. One of the many marathon banners posted around THE CITY.  Source unknown.
5. Race start.  Brightroom Event Photography (c) 2010.  Used with permission.
6. Half-Marathon map from event website.
7. Outbound (South) on the Great Highway, probably around mile 9.  Brightroom Event Photography (c) 2010.  Used with permission.
8. Inbound (North) on the Great Highway after the turn around and into the wind.  Photo by Diane Okubo-Fong.
9. Finish line photo.  Brightroom Event Photography (c) 2010.  Used with permission.
10. Bay to Breakers logo from event website.

DSE Waterfront 10 Miler: Attack of the Hamstrings - 1/24/10

It was the type of weekend that reminds me why it is great to be in San Francisco.  Friday dinner at Perry's on the Embarcadero.  The fish and chips special probably was not a good choice for a race weekend, but that is what struck my fancy.  Saturday morning run in Golden Gate Park and through Lands End.  Saturday night at the second evening of Noir City, the annual Film Noir festival at the Castro Theater. A cable car ride on the Hyde Line to and from Aquatic Park for the DSE Waterfront 10 Miler on Sunday morning.  Plans on Sunday afternoon for a free concert by a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  The performance was cancelled due to illness.  So, it was back to the Castro for another night of Noir City. 

I rarely ride the Hyde Street Cable Car because it is typically jammed with tourists.  Sunday morning -- not so much.  Riding up Hyde to Aquatic Park, I realized what a scenic ride this is.  There are panoramas of THE CITY and the bay.  There is also the view down Lombard, billed as the most crooked street in the world.  It was quite a pleasant way to go to a race. 

I pre-registered for this race and already had my race number.  So, I visited with a couple of people and then headed out for my warm-up about half an hour before the start of the race.  I ran to the one mile mark and back.  This section of the race course goes along Fisherman's Wharf.  The one mile mark is a short way along the Embarcadero.  Running past the Boudin Bakery is heaven.  They have an exhaust on the front of the building just over the sidewalk.  You cannot miss the smell of sour dough bread baking. 

The race started and we had the usual sorting out in the first mile.  Some people take off like rabbits and then settle into a slower pace.  I started off jammed in a pack and gradually picked my way through the pack as people slowed down.  I tend to stay in the street and then on the streetcar tracks through Fisherman's Wharf because there is more room there.  Once we get down onto the Embarcadero things open up.  I was looking to run a little under 6:30 miles.  Overall, I was hoping to finish just under 1:05:00. 

My first mile was faster (6:21), but that is not unusual.  After that, I settled into miles just over 6:30.  I wanted to run this more like a time trial than a race.  So, I was not concerned about runners around me.  Peter H. passed me a little before the three mile mark.  He must have started slow and kicked it in after a couple of miles.  At this point he was probably running about 20 to 25 seconds per mile faster than I was.  He finished about three minutes ahead of me.  He is a good runner and will enter the age 50 group next year.

At AT&T Park we take a left turn through Willie Mays Plaza, across the Lefty O'Doul Bridge and into the former industrial waterfront.  My miles continue a few seconds over 6:30.  I am about 5 seconds slower than I want to be, but I can still make my 1:05:00 goal with a strong mile on the decline after the turn around.  For some reason, I missed the mile 4/6 marker going each direction.  So, it is mile 7 before I can see if I am still on target.  I hit the mark at 45:30.  I am exactly on a 6:30 average pace.  I have used up the cushion from miles 1 and 6, but I am still on plan.  I need to push a little to make sure I finish strong. 

Then, just after mile marker 7, the attack starts. I feel both hamstrings tighten.  I am running through the questions in my mind.  Why is this happening?  Is there something I can do to stop it?  To minimize the effects?  I back off the pace a little while I am trying to sort out the possibilities.  The best I can come up with is that I have not been running on concrete lately and much of this course is very hard.  Seven miles at race pace was too much.  This stretch, just past AT&T Park, is flat and hard without much variation.  Mile 8 is 6:41.  I regroup and do a little better for mile 9 at 6:38.  By mile 10 the hamstrings have settled down a little and I can afford to be less cautious.  It is a 6:31.  Yes, the picture above left is what you look like after running 10 miles and finishing with aching hamstrings.

My finish time is 1:05:20.  Miles 8 and 9, with the attack of the hamstrings, pretty much tell the story of this race.  I finished 17th out of 174 racers and second in my age group.  Along with the companion 5K race, there are 342 racers.  A very good turn out for a DSE race. 

The year before, I ran this same race in 1:04:44.  Last year I was able to capitalize more on the decline between the turn around and mile 6.  Also, mile 8 was my strongest mile last year but my weakest this year.  2009 was a great race.  This year was a good race, except for the hamstring problem.  The hamstrings cause me some concern for the Kaiser Half Marathon in two weeks.