[Race Report] - San Francisco Rock N' Roll Half Marathon

Race Details:

distance: 1/2 Marathon

location: San Francisco, starting near the coast and working inland

date: April 3, 2016

goal time: goal was to just have fun, hit 1:45 if feeling okay.

I signed up for this race last year as a prep for another half I have coming up next month. I've been wanting to do a race in SF for a while now, particularly one that goes over the Golden Gate bridge. I actually signed up for this one last year as well, but I got a horrible case of the flu and couldn't make it out. I had the t-shirt from last year, so I felt like I had to sign up and run this year to justify wearing the other shirt.

Training/Background

So I had a pretty well thought out training program laid out. I was planning on going through a full 24 week cycle of Jack Daniel's half marathon plan, which served me well for my last half in November (PR of 1:37). I was planning on hitting around 60 miles a week, and by this race I was supposed to be into phase 4.

(warning for the ladies, there might be a little TMI in the following paragraph). I had a planned surgery in the middle of December which would require "about a week" of no-activity. I won't say exactly what it was, but I will say my wife and I don't have to worry about having any more children. Well unfortunately "about a week" turned into "about two months" - I couldn't run more than a few steps without excruciating pain in my testicles, which put a big damper on my training. But after about two months I started trying to get out running again, and while it wasn't totally pleasant at first everything was fine after a day or two. Aside from my total loss of fitness.

So prior to this race I got in a solid 6 weeks of training, including a few weeks in the low 30 miles and some longish 12 mile runs for prep. I think I got two R-pace workouts in, but most of my running was super easy.

The Event

The race started at 6:30, and was a point to point course. This meant we had to take a shuttle from the finish line (where I parked) out to the start line. The shuttle took about 30 minutes. I wanted at least 45 minutes to get in a short warm up jog, stretching, along with gear check and potty. I had to walk from the parking spot down to Civic Center plaza, and my drive to SF was about an hour. So I had to get up at an ungodly 3:30am, which was horrible. I made some coffee and made a quick bagel sandwich to eat on the way there, and packed an apple to eat on the shuttle.

I managed to warm up, use the porta potty, and get my gear checked just in time to make it to the start line for the National Anthem. I really could not have timed it any better.

The weather was great. It was low 50s and not windy, which can be a major problem along the coast and especially going over the bridge. It was a little humid, which made the low 50s feel very comfortable.

Splits / Details

link to Strava

So for those of you who have not been to San Francisco, it's hilly. The race starts of going down the coast for about half a mile and then turns inland. I could hear people ahead of me shouting things like "ah crap", "ugghhh...", and "welcome to San Francisco!!" but I didn't realize what it was about until I turned the corner and saw a nice big hill in front of me. Miles 1-4 were mostly uphill working their way to the Golden Gate bridge. My splits were around 8 minutes/mile give or take. Early on I saw a girl running in an American flag bikini. Which sounds cool in theory, but in reality it's kind of distracting to run behind a wedgie. The 1:45 pacer passed me on one of the long uphills and I saw my 1:45 goal go out the door.

Miles 5-8 were over the Golden Gate Bridge. I've been over this bridge numerous times, but running over it, in the car lanes, is crazy awesome. Great views and wonderful energy from everyone around me. Including American Flag girl who kept catching up to me every time I tried to pass her. My splits here were all around 8 minutes/mile.

Mile 9-10 was downhill from the bridge to Crissy Field, which is another very pretty area. I opened up my legs on the descent and managed to catch up to the 1:45 pacer. At this point I was feeling surprisingly good and figured I'd push for 1:45. Bikini girl was here with me still, but after I decided to push for 1:45 I didn't see her again. Pace was 7:11 (major downhill) and 7:32.

Miles 11-13 were the home stretch. Unfortunately mile 11 had a surprise in store - another 200 ft hill. I slowed down a bit, eventually walked for a few seconds, and the 1:45 pacer passed me again. At one of the streets everyone was turning, including the pacer, but then the guy standing at the corner stopping traffic (who was deep in conversation with someone) all of a sudden looked startled and started shouting "go straight!!" So me and the guy in front of me went straight. We were laughing about how weird it was since we could see a big crowd of people one street over but we were basically alone. But we kept on until we turned ourselves and joined the group. Splits here were 7:56, 8:54, and 7:28.

My final official time was 1:44:33. I have no idea if I managed to catch the 1:45 pacer or not since he turned on a different street. But I managed to (barely) beat my goal of 1:45 and I had a great time despite the early rise.

Reflections

I honestly had a blast on this run. It was a challenging course for sure, but it more than made up for that with beauty. Everything was handled well from the shuttle to the gear check. There were lots of porta potties, so the lines moved relatively fast. When I got home and went to check my results they offered a special to run next year for $50. I signed up for next year's race without a second thought.

This "rock n roll" race was definitely less rock n roll than the one I ran in San Jose. I'm assuming since it started at 6:30 and was going through a lot of very wealthy residential areas. I didn't see the first band until we hit Sausalito at the end of the Golden Gate bridge, around mile 6 or 7. There were a few other bands on the SF side of the course, but they sounded like they had their amps turned down. They definitely didn't turn it to 11.

Where to from here?

So I still have my A race early May. I'm feeling pretty good for that one based on my performance here, but I'm not sure if I'm in good enough shape to beat my PR from November. SF absolutely trashed my quads, but luckily most of my normal running routes are flat so I was able to get back to the grind on the following Tuesday. Next year I definitely need to hit the hills more.

Thanks for reading!
*edit for atrocious formatting