iHealthyFitness

It’s race day! The infamously fun and crazy San Francisco Bay to Breakers. This year is the 100th year for B2B so there was a lot of references to the history of the race. This was the third year for me running this race, and since it’s the 100th, I decided to actually register for the race this year.

The previous day, had to go pick up my race bib and timing tag. This was at the Greater Body Expo downtown. The expo was free, but was pretty lame. So didn’t stay there long.

The t-shirt they gave for registered runners is pretty dull this year, I think. Since ING isn’t sponsoring the race anymore, zazzle picked up the race and became the official sponsor. This resulted in zazzle branding on everything. Oh well, got my bib and timing tag and ready to rock it!

I wanted to get some better running gear so went to shop around for some items. The weather forecast for the race was thunderstorms and cold, so I was kind of worried about what I should wear.

I know that having a pair of running gloves would definitely help, so after trying on a few pairs, I finalized on these Asics running gloves. These are the Asics Thermopolis running gloves. Light and comfortable, and doesn’t hug too tight against your hands so that you have good circulation. They worked beautifully and kept my hands warm through the whole race! This was a great buy!

Then I wanted to get a running hat to provide shade as well as cover for when it rains! I went with the Nike Dri-Fit hat. This hat is light, breathable, and adjustable. It did its job pretty well during the race, holding in place and didn’t create any discomfort.

I was thinking about how people were all talking about the rain and cold that would ensue on race day and figured since I didn’t have a costume, that heck… why not run naked?! Well, at least half naked. Embrace the weather!

We got there later than we wanted to. There was so much traffic that even on the express Bay to Breakers MUNI bus, it was a drag to get down to the starting line. We decided to just hop off the bus and run to the starting line. What a way to warm up for the race! When we started, it seems like all the corrals already emptied out and we were literally at the back of the pack. They emptied out earlier than we thought! Oh well, let’s get going!

Either there was just a lot more people this year or we were way at the back of the pack, but man, it was impossible to break from the dense crowd! Here at the base of the Hayes Street hill at Webster, you can see it is pretty dense. It was packed the whole race route for me.

My sweat is starting to smear the writing. It gets worst later on…

Finally reaching the finish line and picked up the 100th Bay to Breakers commemorative medal!

The race was pretty good. My pace was slow, since half the time I was dodging people. I didn’t get a side stitch at all, which was a big relief. And also, best of all, the weather was great!!! It only sprinkled a bit at the beginning, but wow, it turned out to be a sunny and warm day! Gotta love San Francisco weather!

My finish time was 1:17:56, which is a 10:28 pace. Considering this includes me stopping to take photos and jogging behind a sea of walkers, it wasn’t too bad I suppose. My ankle was a bit swollen, which I noticed after the race. I must have rolled it more than I thought running on the un-even grass in Golden Gate park.

Overall, a fun run in one of the the most beautiful cities in the world, San Francisco!

A small group for the morning run club at lululemon Cow Hollow today. Since tomorrow is Bay to Breakers, I was hoping to do a lighter 4mi option, but nope… Lyon Street steps… dum dum dum!!

Ashley led the group, just six of us on an interesting and fun route (4.6mi) filled with hills, stairs, and parks. I remembered the last time I did the Lyon St. steps and I overexerted myself on the first flight of stairs and completely died by the time I got to the top. So this time, I took it slower, just stepping two steps at a time instead of running up. This allowed me to keep going after reaching the top.

At the top of the first flight of steps (at Vallejo St), there was several exercise groups working out up there. It’s interesting that this is a mini hub for exercise groups and trainers. Definitely a fun place to get your sweat on. From there we went towards the Alta Plaza park and then towards Lafayette park before heading downhill back to the store. Sprinted the last few blocks towards the store, which was nice after dealing with all the hills.

Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4508482

Got to the lululemon Grant Ave run club late today due to the bad traffic. Everyone already took off, so I was on my own for the 10k run. The route was a revisit of the Lombard Street stairs again, which we did last month as part of the 10k of DOOM!

Thankfully the weather was beautiful. The run was not bad. I felt the side stitch creeping up on me so I slowed my pace and focused on my breathing, which managed to keep it from manifesting. I’ve been running these longer distances more often now and I think that my running form has changed. I think my stride is shorter because I am trying to ration my energy and am constantly trying to not over exert myself for fear of the dreaded side stitches. I don’t think this is good. :/

In other news, the 100th Bay to Breakers is this Sunday!

Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4499482

It was cold and windy out this morning, a stark contrast to the warm and sunny earlier in the week. Not as many people showed up for the lululemon Cow Hollow run club, but it was still a good turn out. Only three of us chose to do the 6mi option out to Hopper’s Hands and the rest of the group went for the 4mi run.

The 6mi route was a good, mostly flat run with a slight hill in the beginning out to Lyon St. We went out along Mason, along Crissy Field, and to Fort Point at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge where Hopper’s Hands awaited us! This was my first time out there in that area. I’ve seen pictures of Hopper’s Hands before, but never got to give it a double high-five until today!

I was curious about the significance of it and found out that it was named after Ken Hopper, who was a Golden Gate Bridge iron worker. He helped many in suicide rescue efforts on the bridge during his time. The plate with two hand prints is a local landmark for runners in San Francisco. It is typically the turn around point for runners who run along the routes in the Marina and Presidio. As a sense of accomplishment for making it to the “summit” of their routes, runners slap the Hopper’s Hands plate before heading back.

At the base of chain linked fence where Hopper’s Hands is attached to is another smaller plate of dog paws bolted into the cement. I guess this is for dogs to give low fives.

I think we missed a turn on the original directions, and ended up running a bit longer. This must be the longest run I’ve taken in a very long time. After mapping it, it looks like a 6.7mi run.

Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4488202

ROGA with Caroline Almon starts again at lululemon Grant Ave! I chose the 4.5mi run option. Afterward, since the weather seemed nice, they moved the yoga session outdoors to St. Mary’s Square.

The 4.5mi run was not too bad. I felt tired today, but good thing there were no crazy hills with this run. The pack held together pretty well for the most part. We were running at a pretty fast pace, probably 9min/mi? I tried to hold off the cramping, but it hit me towards the home stretch. After a quick pause and some stretching and I was back to finish strong.

Then off to St. Mary’s Square for yoga! Today’s session was focused on the core. It was not as bad as I thought it would be really. Gotta love that dolphin plank! The hard part was trying to keep warm! Brrrrrrrrrr… it was cold out!

Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4480945