July 2023 – the space between the notes

The above video is 15 minutes long. There is a shorter video embedded at the end of this blog post. Both are on my YouTube channel. There isn’t much on my channel yet, but that will change now that I’m doing this sort of thing.

I made the decision (and registered) to run this marathon the day that I finished the Pittsburgh Marathon. This is often what I do, while the post-marathon high is still strong, before the pain sets in, to give myself something to keep striving towards. In this scenario it was an extremely wise decision, given everything that has been going on for me emotionally. Running is my stabilizer. This race was going to be extremely challenging, and I knew it, and it was also a long journey across the country twice in a brief period to make it happen, but it was worth it. I really needed this. It was a beautiful course, the weather was lovely, and I got to see some great friends while I was there. I already loved San Francisco, from my previous visit there in 2002, but now I love it more.

The San Francisco Marathon was full marathon number 22 for me. It was also the most hilly and most beautiful marathon I have run (so far). I recently got a GoPro and I brought it with me. I had only used it once previously, and not on a run, so I was nervous about trying to do this but I’m glad I did. I went into this race with a lot of “new”, which is certainly ill-advised, but marathons are not new to me. I wasn’t expecting any sort of a fast race time given the hills and the fact that I haven’t done proper mileage training, so I figured I could get away with some things I normally wouldn’t do.

I wasn’t sure what I would do with the GoPro and I didn’t want to be stuck holding it if I didn’t feel like it, so I brought a couple options for stowing it and I didn’t use either of them. I bought a new Spibelt double pocket pro (my normal one is just single pocket), thinking I could put the GoPro in the other pocket and have my phone in the first pocket. I also wore my Nathan Hydration Vest because I could stow the camera in one of the water bottle pockets. (I have the VaporHowe 2, which I think may no longer be available, because I don’t see it on the website.) I had thankfully been training in my hydration vest because it has been hot and I’ve been doing long, unsupported, solo runs. The larger, double pocket, Spibelt is almost too big for my waist, even at its tightest adjustment, but it was ok. I didn’t use the other pocket at all. The hydration vest was fine and I was glad to have it since it made accessing my gels easier than getting them out of the handheld hydration pocket, and it freed me from having to concern myself about where the next water stop might be. I did refill my handheld once from a pitcher, but I might have gotten by without doing so. I stopped about 3 or 4 times for electrolytes in a paper cup. Normally, with my handheld hydration, I switch hands every mile. This was a bit more challenging with the GoPro in the other hand, since I had to then switch both items, but I still tried to do it as often as I thought of it. I was nervous about dropping something, but it worked out.

I did not have an easy time trying to edit the GoPro footage. Even though I only took short clips, it still ended up being about 70 minutes of footage from the trip, 45 minutes or so from the marathon. I’m completely unfamiliar with video editing software and I don’t consider myself a creative person in the slightest, so this was a huge challenge. I didn’t do too much with it other than trimming the clips down to a more reasonable length and choosing a soundtrack. It’s a bit bouncy, unfortunately, so that’s a bummer. Surely there is a way to fix some of that in post, but I don’t know how to do it and I’m not likely to learn how before I put this project to rest. I am sure I will try documenting my marathons again, now that I have it as an option, so hopefully I will improve some with practice.

My friend Ken Pontac picked me up from the airport and we spent the day together. We went to the expo to pick up my race bib, took a walk by the Golden Gate Bridge, went to the YouthSpeaks National Semi-Finals Poetry Slam, and had some sushi at Kippu in Japantown.

This made the whole trip for me! We have been internet friends for something like 18 years. We met on MySpace and just kept in touch, exchanging letters a time or two, phone calls here and there, and chatting back and forth. In person, my friend was every bit as cool if not more so. Finally getting to meet in “real life” was such a great surprise after I had just casually mentioned that I would be in town for a couple of days to run. I never expected to have that opportunity; it was everything I could have hoped for and more. I’m excited to see the project he is working on once it is released. It’s quite different from his previous work and I don’t think I am allowed to talk about it, but it sounds amazing!

I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, on the 16th floor. My room had an amazing view of the city and of the Bay Bridge. I could have stared out that window for hours.

I got my gear laid out, as I always do. Here is “flat Pina” for the San Francisco marathon. It was a lot of stuff, more than I normally bring. I didn’t use some of it. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I brought a little extra stuff because of the extra storage space I gained to accommodate the possible stowing of the GoPro. I also wasn’t sure how much extra fuel I would need with all those hills!

On race morning I had a brief panic because I thought somehow my watch wasn’t charged. I was reading the 96% as 16% and I noticed it with only 30 minutes to charge it. Thankfully, I was just not seeing clearly, but that gave my nerves a jump start at 4:30 in the morning. The race began at 5:20, earlier than any race start I had previously experienced.

The marathon went better than expected. I had watched the course video a couple times to prepare myself for the hills. Those were not better than expected; they were every bit as difficult as I had anticipated. Thankfully, the course was so beautiful that it almost made up for it… almost! The weather was nice. It could have been a little cooler, as I wasn’t cold at the start or ever, and that usually means that it could go down a few degrees for optimal performance. By the end it was a bit too warm and sunny, but thankfully only for the last eight miles or so, and thankfully I was well prepared with my Stream2Sea sunscreen. The energy gel provided on course, Chargel, was fantastic. I used two of those on the course when they were handed to me, saving some of mine so I could try them instead. It is a bit too big a gel pouch to carry and pack and bring a couple along for the whole race, but, since they handed it to me, it was perfect. The race was very well organized and operated like a well-oiled machine, with runner valves directing the runners across slightly varied but distance-equivalent routes to keep the city of San Francisco in smooth operation during the race. I had never seen anything like that; it was all perfectly arranged and coordinated with volunteers in leather bike vests adorned with Sober patches moving a banner across intersections. I couldn’t capture the runner valves in action on video. It took me a while to figure out what was going on with them since it only came into play in the latter parts of the race, when I already had marathon-brain and was getting weary. Trust me when I say that it was very impressive how perfectly orchestrated this all was. There wasn’t huge crowd support, but there was enough to keep me interested and the beauty of the course made up for the rest. My finish time wasn’t great, but I managed to keep the average pace under 10:30, even with my walk breaks up those treacherous hills. I’m happy with that. I was afraid my time, and the pain, would be much worse. I really enjoyed myself and I have some cool memories that document my experience, which is what I went there to do. Marathon 22, in US State number 9 for me, is a wrap. I’m calling it a success!

I’m writing this post on Wednesday, the third day after the race, and the soreness is beginning to subside. I did an easy 2 mile shakeout run this morning, and I plan to resume my normal training tomorrow.

After the race, I got to see a friend from middle and high school who I haven’t seen since high school. I really didn’t imagine that would have worked out either, but she was going to be in the city that day for a museum exhibit so it all just fell into place. We went to a gifted school together; bonds from that sort of a place just stick. The people who were my friends then are all still my friends. It was great to see her, finally! I wish I could have spent more time there catching up; she is brilliant, and I would have loved to enjoy some of San Francisco’s fantastic cultural scene with her.

I won’t post the video from my trip and the marathon here because it will take up too much space, but here is the link to My 2023 San Francisco Marathon experience video on YouTube. I have also embedded it at the top of this post. Come along with me for 26.2 miles!