RUN: 8.89 miles = 14K (Saturday, July 11)

These last 2 weeks of training, we are tapering off our mileage. It was breezy, with overcast skies today which made the running much more comfortable compared to the 13 mile run. However, I felt most unprepared for this run. I had spent Friday night with a group of old galfriends, talking til 1:00am. I did remember to hydrate, but didn't carbo-load as much as I should. The summer class in the week and the long commute made me want to just sleep in on Saturday morning. Who doesn't?? This morning, I was tired, and not motivated at all. If I only had Marie's cell number, I would have cancelled and not have her pick me up at 7:30am!! So, thank goodness I didn't.....have her number! ;-) I just quickly jumped into the shower and made up my mind to run despite how I was feelin.

We made it down to the Embarcadero by 8am. There were a lot of runners this morning! The vibe and energy from everyone made the morning oh so sunny despite the overcast skies. Hugs, smiles, and hellos are such gifts I treasure on Saturday runs because I see all the runners as awesome! We all run for various reasons, and we all do it because we know it's healthy, and it's a motivation for each other! I love it!

At the start, we often listen in on coach Greg, and sometimes pacer Christina on the details of the running course, the things to look for, the way we should think and run. Today was a even more special. An announcement was made of a post-marathon race party to be held at Benjy's house at San Francisco 2:00pm on July 26. I met Benjy when he finished his 18 mile run and I did my 9 mile about a month ago at Kezar Stadium. A Brit, very friendly and a great runner! I don't think he had missed one single run during this training program?? Mmmm....i should ask him.
It would be fantastic to celebrate the coaches, pacers, and our finish! I really enjoyed the whole experience of training with the SF Marathon Group! ;-)

There were 5 of us running together today. Jennifer was our pacer and it was me, Marie, Richard and Stephanie. If I was correct, our pace was about 10:30 today, a little faster than usual. Our legs felt like bricks in the beginning but slowly warmed up when we hit Pier 39. We ran pass Aquatic Park and I was impressed with the morning swimmers and of course love the doggies (my fav!). The Fort Mason hill was well, a HILL! I never look up when running it! It's steep, and I think to myself, 'just let me get over this darn hill' and this could be a great motto, right?

At Crissy Field, we ran pass the Avon Cancer Walk area, where tents and showers were set up. I wanted to jump into the shower AGAIN! ;-) Participants in that event were walking 39 miles for 2 days and camping out at Crissy Field. My sister Cindy was among the walkers. She's been training for it in the last 2 months! ;-) She's camping out tonight....will be cold and windy!

Toward the end of the Crissy Field stretch, I became tired, out of breath too. I gobbled down a CHOMP, to get re-energized. And, I drank more water before the restroom stop, just to empty out my system in time. At our rest stop, I already felt chills, but knew it would go away by the time we hit the Golden Gate Bridge. A set of stairs led up to the bridge, which was hard to tackle. I don't know why. Today was the worst of the runs across the bridge even though it was my third time. My right knee was bothering me even as we were nearing the start of the bridge, so I tried to ease up on it, but felt my legs tight once on the bridge. I blame it on the incline of the bridge. ;-/ It appeared to be level and even, but my legs were feeling more and more tired. My right knee was getting really sore, but I pressed on.

Since there were so many Avon Cancer walkers on the bridge, including police on bikes, we stopped running for a fair distance to avoid stopping and going again. When we reached the Marin-side, we ran downhill on Alexander Ave towards Sausalito. It was a bit dangerous because of the road traffic, and there really wasn't a path to run or walk on. Since it was down-hill, I just ran it straight through to make up for the walking.

By the time we hit 9 miles, I was totally beat!! This run was challenging, as all of the runs are. But, this time I felt good up until we were on the GGB.
I wondered if putting the GGB 'last' on this course really made it more tiring. The last 2 runs on the GGB were much better in terms of how I was feeling and running. So, as we ran pass Fort Baker, towards the residential part of Sausalito, I kept trying to look ahead and see the finsih line.

I again saw the large crowds of Avon walkers with their pink regalia, the color of the charity to fight cancer. I've always wanted to do that so maybe next year? ;-) I was thinking of my sister so I made a phone call to Cindy to check where she was; She was near the Discovery Museum at Crissy Field which we had passed earlier.

When we reached 9 miles, I was happy that we made it! Everybody did such a great job! My running friend Marie called her husband to pick us up the road. It was nice since other runners were taking the 11:30am ferry back to San Francisco. i was getting really cold and didn't have extra clothing. I was ready to make it back home to rest, especially stretch out my legs and put some ice on my right knee. I realized climbing up stairs during long runs, may be the trigger to some 'pain' in my right knee. I hope it's just that. ;-) It'll get better in no time!

As tired as I was this morning, I was just glad I made it out to the run and finished!! Thanks for the team's motivation! ;-) I'm happy! Today's run wasn't as enjoyable but certainly worthwhile! No regrets as usual!

This was our running course today: