Holy Humidity and the Accidental Half-Marathon (Almost)

Where do I even start with this post? Without a doubt, the “memorable moment” was going off-course (NOT by design), but I’ll get to that.

Today’s run was a combined team outing that previewed the Nike (Half) Marathon course. Team Oz met the San Francisco fall run team at Sports Basement in the Presidio at 6:45am. Yes, that means I woke up around 5:20am, long before sunrise. Fortunately, I carpooled with Andrea and Dene, so I had good company.

The SF coach talked us through the course, noting that it was marked with white flour arrows and that we should ignore other TNT chalk markings, as they were from a different run. Easy enough; besides, most of the course was familiar territory to me. I’ve either run it on my own when I run in the city, or it was along the SF half marathon course. I remember the coach saying something about us not needing to memorize his course directions – we just needed to look for the arrows. Great!

A bunch of us took off together from the water stop that Dene was manning: Glenn, Don, Kyle, Sara, Clara, Michelle, Andrea, Ernie, Russ, Felipe, and Marlita/Marlena (?), from the SF team. I really enjoyed running with everyone! We had to weave our way through throngs of other runners and bikers; so many groups were out! We even had to squeeze, literally, through a mass of triathletes waiting to start their swim just below Ghirardelli Square.

We saw a lot of TNTers since the route went out 2.5 miles and back to Dene’s water stop, and we made a point to yell, “Go Team!”, “Way to go!” and the like. Our teammates returned the cheers, but the SF team didn’t really respond, and they didn’t make a point of cheering us on. Huh?! Well, whatever. Then Marlita said the SF team wasn’t really very social or embracing and that we had already talked to her more than her own teammates had all season long!

My eyes practically bugged out of my head. How could that be? It’s a team outing; it’s all about having a good time and achieving something amazing together. Yes, the results are individual, but everyone encourages each other. I’m so sad that it took until to today for her to experience TNT in all its glory and yet glad she got to run with us!

By the time we got back to Dene’s water stop (the halfway point, more or less) I needed windshield wipers on my glasses! It was super humid and incredibly misty due to very low cloud cover. The humidity was very unusual for SF, and I felt really gross; I was sweating like a pig and had that icky sticky feeling that only humidity can give you. C'est la vie!

Ernie, Kyle, Jon Judge, Glenn and I trotted along Crissy Field toward Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge. We took a hairpin turn and headed up the hill. Kyle and Ernie and I opted to walk it, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. Little did we know it, but the three of us were about to go on an urban adventure!

The incline heading up Lincoln Blvd. toward the bridge entrance was intense, so we just kept walking. The SF coach had told us during his warm-up speech that there was no shame in walking; he has a friend who runs 3:20 marathons who walks up hills to save her legs. Perfect! I love it.

We started really running again once we crested the last incline on Lincoln, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There was a water stop there, but we opted not to visit it since we had been “conserving energy” and had plenty of fluids with us. I remember there being a group of runners there that pulled out and fell in not too far behind us. We started running downhill (hallelujah!), happy to be coasting. I figured we’d cross the street soon and head back through the Presidio, but we didn’t see any flour arrows. Hmmm.

When we got to the bottom of the hill just past Baker Beach, I started seriously wondering if we were still on course. There was a group ahead of us on the other side of the street, but no one was behind us anymore. Then we saw Coach Al from the Bayside team ride by on his bike in the opposite direction. I yelled out, “Are we going the right way?!” Yes, I was assured. I wanted to yell, “For the summer team or the fall team?” because the summer team was running a different, 20-mile course! But I couldn’t ask fast enough before Coach Al pedaled off.

We ended up running through Seacliff and I was 80% sure we were off-course, but we occasionally saw flour arrows! So we kept going…until we hit the water stop at Clement and 32^nd Avenue. The volunteers there confirmed we were on the wrong course. They were nice enough to let us stock up on fuel (pretzels, gummy bears, Starburst) and liquid.

Fortunately, this was my old neighborhood. I knew exactly where I was, and there was no way I was going back up the hills we had just run! So, I said: “Here’s the plan. We’re going to run to 25^th Ave., jog over to Lake, and run up Lake until it dead ends into Arguello. From there, we run into the Presidio and it’s all downhill from there. We’ll end up right on the back side of Sports Basement. You in?”

Ernie and Kyle were game. So I took them on an unofficial tour of SF. We ran right by Chris’ and my first apartment at 18^th and Lake. Most of the route was flat, except the one-block super hill leading to the Presidio Golf Course. The guys were troopers; we definitely walked part of the way. I promised an exquisite view once we got into the Presidio, and I delivered. Not far past that we headed straight downhill, and it felt wonderful!

I was concerned that Lindsay and the rest of the team would be worried about us. Usually I take my cell phone with me on long runs, stashing it in my Camelback, but I didn’t today. I did, however, have extra goos, a mini-Clif bar, and some cash – always prepared! (I am my mother’s daughter.)

Two hours and 20 minutes after starting out, we strolled into the backside of the Sports Basement parking lot, where we were greeted by relieved and inquisitive faces. I don’t know if it was good or bad that Lindsay said she wasn’t too worried since she could tell by the sign-in sheet that the three of us were together and she knew if Kyle was with Ernie and me, we must be all right.

It was quite the journey, one that turned out to be just short of 13 miles – almost a half-marathon! I’ve definitely cemented the “Don’t do what I do” motto.

Click to see more photos.