i love this race… like i said, there is just *something* about this race.
the san francisco marathon was my first marathon in 2008. last year i ran the 1st half for fun, and this year i decided to finish off the races and run the 2nd half. i had wanted to train hard, but summer has gotten the best of me, and i didn’t quite get in as much training as i hoped. i have been going to weekly track workouts, but haven’t done a tempo run since pre-big sur marathon. i have done a couple double digit runs and hoped that i would be able to hang on.
i knew a PR (1:42:39) wasn’t going to happen. i ran the see jane run half marathon in june, and died around mile 10, but still managed to pull off a 1:47:08, so my goal for this race was to see if i could get a “summer PR” and beat that time. this course is MUCH hillier, but it was going to be cooler so i was hoping that would work in my favor.
they say (whoever “they” is) that the 2nd half of the marathon is supposed to be the faster half, and i still think that is true. note: “faster” not “fast”. in the full marathon i think the second half just hurts, but i was hoping that the faster part would hold true for me since i was only running the second half and not the first half before it. but first things first…
the expo!
i went into the city with kristin and her boyfriend stephen on saturday and we hit a ton of traffic. then there was a ton of traffic just getting to park at the location. we snagged a great spot and made our way in. we didn’t hit any lines to get our bibs and shirts and that was all pretty seamless. i was SO excited for the shirts, they are greenlayer again (the best!!!) and so cute, AND we got drawstring backpacks we can use again as our drop bags. i LOVE when races do this, since i am a bag lady and all 
definitely an A+ on the swag from me.
the shirt
the bag 
we made our way through the very crowded expo (i only had 2 complaints about the race and this was one), it was packed! i was also there on saturday afternoon, but i had heard it wasn’t any better any other time. they had a lot of great booths but i was on my way to find my running twin danica at her booth!
twins reunited!
i hung out there and waited for a few people that were supposed to swing my while kristin and stephen scoured the expo. i am not the biggest fan of expos, i tend to run in and out, but i found a nice corner near danica where i could have my space
eventually a bunch of people came by! it was so nice to put a face to twitter handles and blogs. i love meeting runners!!
SO nice to meet you all!
i hung out for a while after too, because i knew melanie was on her way and i REALLY wanted to meet her! i have been reading her blog forever and between emails and IM’s i feel like i know her already, and finally i got to meet her in real life!
we finally got out of there and got home in time to carb load and get to bed early for the early morning wake up call!
the race!
my alarm went off at 4:15, which actually is considered “sleeping in” for this race. the first half and the full marathon both start EARLY, the first wave is at 5:30am. i think my alarm was set for 3am last year? anyways, i got up and went into my pre-race routine and was excited to be doing this race again. i made it to kristin and stephen’s house by 5:30 and we were on our way to SF! we had a couple of detours which were annoying, but we got there, found a great spot and were at the shuttles at 6:30am on the dot. we didn’t have to wait at all and made it to the start in golden gate park just after 7am.
the busses dropped us off RIGHT at the start, it was perfect. there was a line of porta potties right there so we got in line, and noticed there was only one line. they had them taped off and they had volunteers controlling the bathroom lines. it was actually a great idea! the line went really fast and i was pretty impressed with the organization.
we headed over to watch the full marathoners who were running through the park and kristin and i were reminiscing about our race 2 years ago. it seems like so much longer! we decided to hit the bathrooms one more time, then drop off our stuff. i really didn’t want to take off my long sleeves but i was very happy when i saw a bunch of heaters there for the runners to wait under! another GREAT idea. we hung out there for a bit, then went to line up for our wave!
thank you page for the pic 
we found danica and page and all lined up together. we were pretty close to the front, but no one else was moving up, so we just stayed there chit chatting. they started making some announcements and then people started running! we weren’t quite ready yet, but we were off!
it was really foggy in the park and i was happy in my shorts and tank top. i knew i would get warmed up quick because it was humid, but the temps felt perfect. the first mile is pretty much all downhill and i really tried to focus on not going too fast. i didn’t want to blow up early, since i knew this course was pretty much rolling the entire time.
mile 1 – 7:59
after about 2 miles we merged in with the full marathoners. i remember this happening when i was doing the full and it can be a little annoying having all these fresh legged half marathoners come running by. but being on the other side is rather fun. we were going up and down, up and down all through the park and i was trying to just keep my effort the same on the ups and the downs.
mile 2 – 8:06
mile 3 – 8:18
i was feeling ok, and i really hadn’t looked at my pace at all. i didn’t see any mile markers until mile 3 and i checked my distance and was right on which made me happy. this course is notoriously long (when i did the full i ran 26.52 miles) but i hoped since i was a little more experienced this time, i would be able to not have the extra distance. i did do quite a bit of weaving around all the runners though, and the roads are really wide in this race, which is always a nice thing.
mile 4 – 8:13 (gu at 4.5)
mile 5 – 7:47
i was getting in a groove and using every long downhill to my advantage and just kept keeping the effort the same going up hill. we exited the park around mile 6 and made our way onto haight street. i remembered this part very well from the full marathon. it’s around mile 18-19 and there is a long steady incline you can see for a while. i was having fun reliving all these first time marathon memories and it was definitely keeping me distracted. i couldn’t believe how fast the race was flying by!
mile 6 – 8:07
mile 7 – 7:54
after the long steady incline there are a couple of STEEP declines that i remember hurting SO bad. i didn’t know how to run down hills very well back then, and i was trying to be better this time, but they still were tough. those are some steep suckers. i was still really focusing on my effort and not paying much attention at all to my watch. i was pushing pretty hard and hoping i could just hold on.
mile 8 – 7:46
there are a couple hills in the later miles for the marathon (22 and a baby at 23) that were still tough for me today. i was working hard to get up them, but i did and would look forward to the downhill on the other side. i knew that after that last one around mile 10 it would pretty much be flat to the finish.
mile 9 – 8:07 (gu)
mile 10 – 8:00
at this point i was getting tired and was ready to be done. i was using the people around me as bait to catch and pass and it really helped time go by. i was hurting though and thought it would be really nice to just slow down. every time i would see a mile marker though, i would talk myself into going “hard” (effort wise) for just one more mile.
mile 11 – 8:09
the mile markers for the 2nd half are on the same banners as the full marathon mile markers, so they would be 6.9, 7.9, 8.9, etc instead of 7, 8, 9. around mile 8 i noticed that my watch was beeping at the same time i was passing the markers, so i knew i was going to have at least an extra .1 on top of the 13.1 which was kind of annoying. i just kept on running though, and once i was past 11 i told myself only 2 miles to go! it was hard watching all the full marathoners in so much pain, but i was just pushing on through.
mile 12 – 8:06
FINALLY the giants stadium and the bay bridge were in site. i knew i was close and i was not feeling well at all at this point. i started slowing down a bit and just kept on putting one foot in front of the other. i was really hoping for a downhill at this point to give me a little push. around mile 12.5 i saw some screaming ahead and looked and saw maritza and kerry cheering on the side for someone and noticed that katie was just ahead of me! i don’t know where she came from, but she became my bait and i really picked it up to try to catch her. i finally got next to her and grabbed her arm and we yo-yoed back and forth a bit pulling each other along. we always seem to end up together at the end of races
mile 13 – 7:59
at this point i knew i was going to have an extra .15 to run and katie took off to the finish line. she reached her hand back waving me in but i had nothing left, i was giving it everything i had at that moment. she took off and i chased her as much as i could… thank you katie for pulling me along that last mile! i think i would have just slowed down if i hadn’t seen her.
finally i was crossing the finish line and stopped my watch. i had it on my “current lap” screen the entire race so had no idea what my overall time or average pace was going to be. i was pleasantly surprised when i switched screens.
last .25 (per garmin): 1:51 (7:26 avg)
garmin total: 13.25 miles/1:46:19/8:01 avg pace
official results:
13.1 miles/1:46:19/8:07 avg pace
overall: 461/3451
female: 127/2005
age group: 46/602
splits: 1.7m @ 8:02 avg, 7m @ 8:02 avg
i was very happy when i saw that and knew i had beaten see jane run by almost a minute, which was a much flatter course, AND this one was much longer! it was my 4th fastest half marathon and on not a ton of training, i was a happy girl.
(to be technical, because you know i have to be, if i were to take that average pace over the course of 13.1 miles it would be a low 1:45, which would be my 3rd fastest half marathon)
katie and i talked for a couple minutes, got our picture taken and then she went to find her family. i went through the food lines and got a bunch of great food BUT my only other complaint – i had no where to put it… i just wanted a bag or something. so i had my hands full of food, trying to wrap my space blanket around me and hobble over to the outside gate to see my friends come in.
i found kristin and stephen easily, and chris came over and found me. we went to the car, changed, went back to get our checked bag which was VERY organized (a MILLION times better than last year) and went to get some food and celebrate with a bunch of friends.
me and kristin – done!
chris came in to see us finish after his long run – thank you!
running buddies!
tara, kerry, me, maritza, danica, kristin, page and sandra
all my SFM medals
2008 = full, 2009 = first half, 2010 = 2nd half
what will 2011 be?
this was such a great race and i highly recommend any of the parts! they have really made some great improvements and i really could tell they put a lot of effort into this race which is always so nice to see. i also noticed a TON more spectators this year, than the year i did the full. that year it got a little lonely in those later miles, but it looks like san francisco is coming out to support their runners. i can’t wait to do it again!
)
Sounds like you had a great race and a great time! San Francisco has got to be a great place for a race, but those hills must be killer
No way to train for that kind of terrain in Chicago!
Fantastic job! Congrats on a wonderful race!!
Great job, Aron! I guess I'm crazy b/c when I did the 2nd half in 2007, I had thought it was mostly flat but I guess I was wrong. I'll have to look up my old race report.
Great report! So fun to have so many familiar faces there
Nice race! I definitely liked the second half more than the first…
I'm so bummed I didn't get to meet you but I'm sure it will happen one of these days!
I loved this post and race report. Any one who has NOT done this race, must plan on it for next year. I agree, there is something about this race…
we had the time of our lives this year and although it was tough, we all loved the course. So sorry I didn't see you!
great job, aron. i am like you, always calculate my time based on the "real" distance of the race!
Congrats on a great race and love the report!
Congratulations, Aron!
Sounds like a great race! I hope to run it some day. Congrats!:)
As always, great race report and great job out there! Your revels always make me wish I lived on the West Coast!
I enjoyed reading your report! Congrats on a great race!
a great report and a fabulous race! i want to go out and race now
Congratulations on a good race! It almost made me want to run up all those hills in San Fran, haha!
Reading your reports always makes me want to race more because it seems like you just have such a good job doing it and know when to race to race vs. race for fun! Always inspiring, Ms. Aron!
Congrats on #15 – WOW! And way to go on the summer PR!
good job!
Congratulations!!! The recap of your race was great!
Congratulations on that great time. You had a terrific race.
You did an awesome job and it was so great seeing you! Thanks again for arranging lunch; it was so fun to mow-down with everyone!
Congrats on your summer PR! I love your excitement for this race
What a great recap
of the 2nd half, it's nice that you are able to recap it from the perspective of somebody who has experienced the full. I'm sorry I missed you at the expo on Sat, next time!
Great job girlie!
Yikes, long sleeves in July? And here in DC we're dealing with 105 degree heat. I'm jealous!
Congrats – great job on the half!
Looks like a great time all around! Love the shirt!
Sounds like you had a blast! Great time too! The bloggy meet ups ya'll have over on the west coast always look like so much fun!
sounds like a great wknd all around! meeting new friends then getting that summer pr. congrats!
Nice work! I ran the full (my first marathon! woo hoo!)…what a great day for a race.
Congrats on a successful race, even sans-specific training!!
Awesome race Aron! I love all the swag too…especially the bag!
Great job Aron!
Congrats Aron! You did great! And very nice swag
If "running" had a mayor, I would nominate you:)
Nice job Aron. Looking adorable as always too. I heart me some Danica too – glad you guys have been able to connect so often. I swear -someday- I will get off my lazy butt and start running again and hopefully meet you gals too.
Omigosh, I had goosebumps reading your race report because it reminded me of SFM '08 all over again. I can't believe it's been 2 years. I remember those steep hills on haight like it was yesterday.
Great race Aron! Despite not having the best of training, you pulled off a pretty good race. Congratulations to you!
Congrats on a great race!! I ran the 2nd SF half 3 years ago and so much of what you wrote sounded familiar…from the ".9 mile markers" to there just being something special about the race. I hope to run it again someday if it ever fits into my training/travel/life schedule
Great race!! San Fran is such a cool city!!
YAY!!! Great Race Aron!!! I want to come out and see San Fran!! Seems like racing is the best way!!
For fun ofcourse!! You did great out there! Cant wait to see you in October!
Great race report!!! Way to go on the time!! I am sooo envious
Awesome report and so fun to read, especially since I was there having my own experience! Thanks for sticking around the expo – SO glad we got to meet right quick!
awesome job girl! You kicked that cours's hilly booty
Awesome job! Yes, I totally agree that the 2nd half is faster but is not necessarily a fast course. My quads and hamstrings are SO mad at me today
I'm leaning towards doing the full in 2011 as part of my training for the Tahoe Triple. I think you should join me
Sad I didn't realize you were passing me until you were too far ahead to catch, but it was fun seeing you out there kicking butt. I personally think it would be really annoying to be a 2nd half runner and have to weave around the poor full schmucks. The leaders came through escorted by two people on a bike and it looked like it would be frustrating.
Anyhow, it was great to see you!
Great job, girl!!!
I agree with Sandra, 2nd half is still not a 'fast' course and to have come in faster than SJR is AWESOME!!! You looked great out there, very strong at the end and I am happy I got to cheer you on!
Great job, girl!!!
I agree with Sandra, 2nd half is still not a 'fast' course and to have come in faster than SJR is AWESOME!!! You looked great out there, very strong at the end and I am happy I got to cheer you on!
Congrats on running an awesome race! You did great with all those hills and ran at such a fast pace!! Great race report – I loved reading it!
Great job! That is such a great time on a tough course.
I always love your race reports. They make me feel like I am running with you without too many details. Thanks for sharing.
Yay for another race where we kind of ran together! Great job out there on a not easy course! I love that we've ran this race 'together' two years in a row.
As you know, I always love seeing you and wish I could have hung around longer with you guys. Glad you had a great race and we could hang out!!!