Race #94: Hot Chocolate 15K - January 12, 2014

I wore the boot during all my waking hours from Thursday, December 26, 2013 until Tuesday, January 7, 2014. After that I wore it intermittently and wore my Hokas the rest of the time. My foot was still strangely bruised but felt ok on Friday, January 10, so I did a short (just under 3-mile) jog that afternoon, and felt good enough to do 5 miles on Saturday, so I picked up my Hot Chocolate race packet on Saturday and decided to go for the 15K on Sunday morning.

Edward dropped me off just outside Golden Gate Park; it was chilly and overcast. The race was well organized; there were plenty of porta-potties, and the 5K and 15K were staggered enough that it didn't feel crowded. The line to check gear was a bit long, but they were pretty efficient getting people's stuff in. After dropping off my sweats, I headed to the start.

My start corral was right up front, because I had registered with an estimated time of 8:30 per mile, which, at the time I registered, was feasible based on my recent 9-mile DSE race. However, 2 weeks with no running changes everything, so I decided to take it easy and jog the race at a comfortable pace. Usually my training runs are anywhere from 9:20-9:50 per mile, so that's where I planned to be for the whole race.

Since I wasn't racing, I also brought my phone to take photos along the way, which I've never done before.

As you can see from the course map, we started out in Golden Gate Park. There were lots of trees, the morning was overcast, and the park looked especially green. With the crowd's great energy, the early miles were quite enjoyable.

When we reached the Great Highway, at the beginning of Mile 4, the sun was shining and the ocean looked magnificent! We were running on the actual road, not just the path next to the road, so the runners in the southbound lanes could see the leaders in the northbound lanes.

One of my assistants at work lives a couple of blocks from the Great Highway, so I was looking for her along the way, but there were so many runners and a fair number of spectators, so I figured our chances of seeing each other were slim. (It turns out that she did see me, but I did not see her! Sorry, Bridgit! I would have loved the energy boost of your smiling face!)

My left quad was a bit sore by the time I hit the 10k mark, but I didn't feel really tired until miles 8 & 9. Looking at the elevation map afterwards, now I know why!! I remember on my first half, the Kaiser Half Marathon, in February 2009, the last 2 miles were killers and it was pretty much the same as the home stretch of this race. My legs felt like lead!!

 

I was so happy to have my phone to photograph the grazing bison - I mean, how often do you get to see BISON during a race?? By then I was pretty tired, so I actually stopped for a few seconds to take a breath and make sure I got a good photo (instead of the blurry, clicking-while-running shots!).

The 8-mile mark was shortly thereafter, and by then my legs were really tired. My paces for Miles 1-7 had all been around 9:15-9:30 per mile, but on Mile 8 my pace was 10:18, and then it slowed even further, to 10:50 on Mile 9. Thankfully, the last 3-tenths of a mile were slightly downhill, so I squeaked in under the 1:30 mark (1:29:55 was my official time - phew!!). A far cry from the 1:19 I was aiming for when I registered, but considering the injury and the 2-week hiatus, I can't complain. I went out there really just to enjoy the beautiful day (and to be able to wear the gorgeous Hot Chocolate hoodie)! I was happy to be greeted by a colleague and former co-worker at the finish line. After catching up with him and his wife, I headed over to collect the finisher's mug, featuring a delectable assortment of treats, including hot chocolate (of course), and a marshmallow, banana, Rice Krispie treat and pretzels to dip in chocolate fondue. I met a nice couple who'd flown up from LA for the race, who were kind enough to take this post-race photo. We chatted for a bit, enjoying the gorgeous, sunny day, before I headed back outside the park to meet up with Edward and the girls, who had run a DSE race across town. My quads have been a bit sore since, but the foot feels pretty good, so in all I am pretty happy with how things are going.