Tracy's Fat Ass Marathon

The small group of runners for the marathon and half marathon.

June 17, 2013
Marathon day 2.

I got to sleep in a little this morning, which was nice. I had gotten everything packed and ready to go last night, because I needed to check out when I left. I was not going to be able to come back and shower before driving back to my mom's house. I got dressed, grabbed my bags and headed downstairs. After checking out, I went across the street to get a cup of coffee from Starbucks, then picked up my mom's car from the garage next to the hotel, plugged in the address for the race and headed out.

I arrived at the park just before 7 am. The race start was 8am. Normally I would probably want to be earlier than this, but today, I could have taken my time, because race set up/bib pick up started at 7:45! It was a small race, so this worked out fine. Everyone got their bibs, we gathered for a few group photos and then went to the start line, which was next to the aid station. Tracy gave us the go ahead and we were off!

Trent, Lesley and May. Both Lesley and May were
on their 3rd marathon in 3 days!

I started at the front of the pack. I don't know why, because I soon realized I was getting caught up in the speed of the faster runners and should slow down. I told Lesley, who I had just met and who was running day 3 marathon!, that I was going to pull to the side and take a photo. Quickly I was one of the last runners of the group.

Surprisingly, I only felt tight for the first mile or so. There was a long downhill in the first part of that loop, which my quads were not happy about, so I ran down that slowly and gently. Soon, I was in a nice, easy paced run. I had my camera with me, so I just enjoyed taking photos of the lake and the other runners. Since most of the runners were going to reverse direction every lap, before I got to the end of my first lap, I saw runners coming back towards me. I took more photos, then put the camera away for a while. I probably took too much time at the aid station (12:58 mile), but I enjoyed chatting with the other runners and the volunteers. I was pretty much running on my own out there, only seeing other runners every once in a while. Very different then the massive crowds of the day before! The second lap went well. I didn't even bother trying to run up the long, steeper hill, but I was able to run some of the lower "hills". Hills for me, probably not for the locals. :)

Miles 1 through 9 - 10:38, 10:47, 11:54, 11:08, 12:58, 11:56, 11:21, 13:17, 11:39

I met Lance before the race. He was wearing
a Half Fanatics skirt! :)

It wasn't until about mile 10 or so, that I started to feel like I was stiffening up. But, I was able to keep at it, even though my pace started to slow down a lot. Once the half marathoners finished, there were not many of  us racers out there. There were, however, other runners doing their own thing. I had one older couple stop and ask me what we were doing. They were very impressed when I said we were running a marathon!

Lap 3 and 4 came and went. Just getting slower and slower, but determined to finish! I enjoyed seeing other racers when they would pass by behind me or from the other direction. It felt like I was running a trail race, a lot of solitude. And once you see the surrounding area a few times, not much new to see. During the middle of lap 5, I had to stop at one of the porta potties. I had seen the truck stop and clean it on an earlier lap, so I managed to have a semi clean potty spot. :) Just before going in there, I had crossed path with Leslie and another runner. We seemed to be on the same pace during the entire race, but when I got up to the aid station, they had already been through. I had fallen behind. Trent, Marathon Man, had just finished the marathon, so I hung out for a couple of minutes and took a photo with him. I did have to hurry him along, letting him now I still had a lap left. :)

Miles 10 through 21 - 13:44, 12:19, 13:10, 12:30, 16:30, 13:08, 12:35, 15:57, 13:10, 16:34, 13:58, 15:51

As I headed out for my last lap, I saw others coming towards me, about to finish up. May gave me a high five as she powered up her last hill. Amazing pace she had going for day 3! This last lap was by far my slowest lap. I pretty much walked the entire time. I did managed a very slow shuffle early in the lap, but my muscles were pretty stiff and it hurt to get in the running motion. Walking didn't really seem to hurt, though, so I tried to keep my walking pace faster. I pulled the camera out and took a bunch of pictures along the course. I just enjoyed the wonderful weather and great views. My last run in the cool temps, since I was heading back to humid Florida in a couple of days. I walked up the last big hill, saw the finish line in the distance and decided to try and run it in. Finally I finished! So happy to be done with day 2. A few people were still there hanging out. So I got to chat and take photos with them, before Tracy and the volunteers started packing things up.

Miles 22 through 26.2 - 14:56, 15:57, 16:47, 16:22, 16:08, 7:04 (I had 26.5 on garmin)
Finish: 6:02

With May (left) and with Race director Tracy.

What a great weekend in San Francisco. So happy to have completed my goal of running two marathons in 2 days, which has made me a 4 star maniac. Not sure I'll ever advance higher than that, but you never know, I may try 3 in 3 days next time. :)

4 Star Maniac!