The Marathon! (Part 2)

When she found out that we ran at about the same pace, Alicia wanted to try to stay together for the marathon. And we did, for the first few minutes. But I hadn't run in three weeks and had no idea how I was going to feel so I started off really slow (probably the most common marathon advice I've read), slower even than I would normally run. So Alicia soon left me in the dust and I took my iPod out of my pocket and started listening to music.

As described on the Nike Women's Marathon website, the race began in Union Square, headed through the Financial District, past the famous TransAmerica building, along San Francisco Bay's Fisherman's Wharf, Aquatic Park, Ghirardelli Square, Fort Mason and Marina Green while exposing breathtaking views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. The course then went through the Presidio and Sea Cliff District, out to the Great Highway, through Golden Gate Park and South around Lake Merced, and finished north of the Great Highway along the Pacific Ocean.

If you want to see a map of the course you can go to the Nike Women's Marathon site, click on The Race and then click on The Course. You can then click on View Marathon Course which will open a pdf file of the course or you can click on View Virtual Tour which will show you a movie from the perspective of someone driving on the course.

It really was an interesting and beautiful course but I don't have any pictures (until Braman showed up) because I, unlike a surprising number of other people, did not carry a camera with me while I was running.

Ten minutes into the race, while people were still running quite close together in a big mass, a crazy man with a cup of coffee tried to sprint from one side of the street to the other. There was no way he could have made it without bumping into someone and that someone turned out to be me. He spilled part of his coffee on my right sleeve but, while it was hot, it didn't burn me but I was left with a lingering smell of coffee and a stain on my shirt.

Thanks to my timely use of normal bathrooms, I was able to avoid the very long lines at the port-a-potties on the course. I was amazed at the lines even at the first "rest area", about 2 miles from the start. The people at the end of the lines had to wait at least 10 minutes and probably more. I knew I wasn't going to win the race but I also didn't want to take all day to finish and I was glad to not waste precious clock time waiting to use the bathroom.

After successfully running several miles, I felt incredible relief and gratitude that my knee didn't bother me (at all!) and that I hadn't done any lasting damage to my foot from all the walking we'd done on our quest for paper. I really enjoyed being out there on that beautiful day, in California, in the sunshine, making my way toward the finish line.

I obviously remember Union Square since that is where the race started but I don't remember much about the Financial District (which I hadn't been in before) except that it looked like a typical urban place. Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square were fine and flat and I could see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge as promised. Then we ran along Fort Mason and Marina Green which is near where Larsson got himself soaked the day before.

Which brings me to mile six and the beginning of the first hill. While this hill didn't seem as steep or as long as the hill in the Bridge of Flowers 10K I ran in August, it turned out I still didn't want to try to run up the whole thing. (It was about a mile long and went from a little above sea level to 295 feet above sea level.) I started to shuffle up it, made it maybe halfway, then remembered that I still had 20 more miles to go so I started walking.

It seemed a little sad to start walking so early on in the race but I didn't want to use up energy that I might need more at the end. I made it to the top (passed the "oxygen bar" where people were taking hits of oxygen to refresh themselves) and saw Maura from Team In Training who cheered me on and told me that Harland was behind me and would catch up with me soon. (He had started walking with Ellen that morning but I think, as a coach, he tries to connect with everyone on the team during the race.)

A little after mile 8, Harland did find me and we ran together until mile 11. We ran through the posh (and hilly) Sea Cliff district where everyone had beautiful, colorful landscaping as well as (I'm guessing) great views of the Pacific Ocean from their homes. Harland thought we passed by Robin Williams' house, which had a metal dinosaur frame peeking up over the tall hedge. (I think it was supposed to be a topiary but the plant hadn't grown up to the top yet.) We ran up a hill and then down a really long, steep hill which bothered my numb feet.

Mile 11 was near the finish line and Harland and I parted at that point and he went, I think, to check on how the other runners and walkers were doing. I started up my iPod again and continued on the course as it looped through Golden Gate Park.