San Francisco Half Marathon (Nov 1, 2009) - Post race

This was supposed to be Per and my first half marathon race together but with the impulse joining of Globe Half Marathon a few months ago, this will instead be our second half marathon together. But what set this apart from the other one, other than it being in a different country and time zone, was that it is our first half marathon as a married couple and that was evident by the names we put on our personalized bib numbers (reflecting our surnames).

My goal here is simply to help Per achieve a new PR for the 21km. I will accompany her again and will be bringing my camera with me to make this race even more memorable. To make this race more enjoyable, Rio, Wayne and Wilbert will all do the half marathon race too. Per mentioned it is like running in the Philippines due to the familiar faces. I could not disagree.

Race started on time and immediately it was a climb up. It was hard to run in this cold weather as it takes a longer time for the body to warm up for the race. Legs felt tight from the wind and the cold but after 2km, we were all running comfortably. Wilbert acccompanied us in this race, doing it as part of his weekend long run and that was great. After running for a few km, we finally headed to the most anticipated part of the race and that was the Golden Gate Bridge.

I have seen this Bridge before but never envisioned running on it. It was a surreal feeling and I was just glad I bought the camera with me. I just can't stop taking photos (by my count, about 120 photos were taken in this race!). There was a point where we craved for water as water stations here were situated every 2 to 2.5 miles (unlike in the Philippines which had water every 2.5 kms.) But the cold weather helped us not feel tired. Pretty soon, we've crossed the bridge and went on to the turning point. More hill climbing. More downhill rolling. And then it was back to the bridge for the three of us.

We were all doing a good pace and I felt a PR was achievable for Per. That in spite of all the stops we took for a good photo shot! Unfortunately, at one point, Wilbert started getting cramps on BOTH of his legs. I told Per to run ahead to the finish line and leave us be. I remained with Wilbert in case he needs help. I wanted to see him finish as much as I wanted Per to finish. So we did some run walk strategy and some leg stretching. It was just 5kms to go but I can see that it was the hardest 5km for Wilbert that day. The sandy trail did not help as harder to run in this terrain. One good thing out of this was that we saw two seals near the beach area and that was a rare sight.

At 19km point, Wilbert was confident enough to run the race to the finish line and told me to go ahead. I gave him my GU and power beans and wished him luck. And I ran the fastest that I can in the hopes that I could catch Per. I did reach her about 100 meters before the finish line (and therefore got a negative split) and we finished the race together at 2:50. A new couple PR! Wilbert came a few minutes later. Congrats dude! :)

We got a finisher medal each, some chocolate milk, water, food and took more photos. It was a great race and we will never look at Golden Gate Bridge the same way again!

Congrats also to Rio and Wayne for their fast finish times.

Onnwards to Fresno!

Below are a few samples of photos we took that day :)

San Francisco Day 01

Since our first USA race will be done in San Francisco, I figured that it is only fitting to use the most popular bridge of the city as the first photo in this entry. It is also the main highlight of the 21km course and also to commemorate Wayne's blog: runnersf.blogspot.com, which features a different photo of the Golden Gate bridge.

Thankfully, our plane flight from Manila went off without a hitch. We were fearful that it will be delayed or worse, cancelled due to the prediction of the arriving storm. One big surprise was finding out that Nike Run clinic coach and race organizer Rio was with us on the same flight to San Francisco. We all arrived in the USA on Friday night and went off to our individual hotels.

Come the next morning, we met up again at Fisherman's Wharf to pick up our race kit at Sports Basement in Presidio. Per and I will do our 2nd 21km together and looking to break a couple PR, which we set in Globe's Half Marathon. Wayne has also registered for the 21km race a couple of days ago and Wilbert will be flying in from Seattle to meet us here (and also to do a half marathon as part of his long run training).


At the expo (which was really a sport outlet store), we eagerly went to the race kit pick up area where Per and I got our personalized bibs. This will be our first 21km as a married couple and looking to frame our bibs (along with the finisher medals) when we head back home in a few weeks. Aside from the bibs, we each got a chip timer, a dri-fit souvenir shirt and a goodie bag (filled with a water bottle, a towel, a shirt, snacks, etc.)






They were also selling souvenir (and organic) jackets, shirts, and caps at the expo. To make our race even more memorable, I bought for myself a white quick dry cap with the San Francisco Half Marathon Race logo on it and I was given a pair of socks, which also had the Half Marathon Race logo on it. A great deal!






Wilbert, Wayne and Rio all ventured to the Rock and Roll Marathon booth. Wilbert had his first full marathon experience here just a couple of months ago. Is he looking to join this race again in the future and looking to get a new PR? Registrations are already open for 2010.




Collection of race bibs. No lines at all! Very quick and efficient!




They also have computer screens standing nearby in case you haven't registered for your race and want to do so. Credit card payment online. Hmmmm, a possible idea Runrio might do in the future ??




Zoltar: What is your Wish?
Per: DEFINITELY NOT to be BIG! Just a half marathon PR please!




Half marathon runners converge outside Sports Basement in Presidio. With our target to conquer at the background. GG Bridge, we shall see you again in a few hours!




Of course, we runners need to prepare for it so what better way to do so than to carbo load! Very special thanks to our gracious hosts Nelson for touring us and to Wayne for the yummy dinner!

As luck would have it, we had an extra hour of sleep as day light savings time was removed 2am Sunday so from a 7am Sunday race, it essentially was converted to an 8am race (but with a 7am time). Cool!

Day 02 on the next entry... RACE DAY!

Can't speak!

As a last training run before we depart for San Francisco on Friday, Per and I met up with Alvin last night at Fort Bonifacio. I was to run 2km warm up, 8km tempo run and 1km cool down. Per would join us for the first 2km and see how it would feel doing a 1km tempo run.

I was frightful heading to Fort Bonifacio as this was the farthest I've done for a tempo run and not sure if I am going to survive it. Prior to this, my tempos have been around the range of 4km - 6km and I was usually tired by the end of the exercise. What more if I do an additional 2km at the same pace? YIKES! But I am determined to do it.

It was nice for the first 2km as we end up chatting the whole time about our plans, goals, and news about running (the recently concluded Subic Marathon and Adidas King of the Road). But come start of the tempo run, my legs suddenly felt heavy, my breathing heavier. I seem to be tired already! Even the rolling down the hills took an effort for me. At one point, a kid on a skateboard went to our direction and in an effort to avoid us, he sidetracked to the sidewalk and fell to the ground.

I stopped running and went to the kid trying to say "sorry". But no words came out of my mouth! I was mute and can only look at the kid trying to help him. I was dead tired and couldn't even talk for that few seconds! Good thing the dad was there and probably saw how tired I was, just said "it's ok, don't worry". After a last look to make sure the kid was doing fine, i went back to running with Alvin.

Alvin was counting down the distance so I continue to push myself. Usually our Garmin would beep indicating we've conquered another km and Alvin would shout out his pace and I would do so for mine as well. But on the final km when we finished the tempo, again I could not speak! I was too busy huffing and puffing to say the numbers! This never happened to me before!

Well, after walking for a few meters, I was fine again (phew), and we did a cool down jog and met up with Per at Fully Booked.

Now, it's packing time for our trip in the USA. Being addicted to running, we joined two race in our two weeks there! As running friends would say before "Nandun ka na. Might as well do it!". Non-running friends have the opposite reactions "Nandun ka na, bakit ka pa tatakbo?" :) Clearly, the running friends won us over!


Our I.T. (in terms of running) are as follows:

Friday - board plane to SFO

Friday - arrive in SFO night time.

Saturday - meet Wayne and Wilbert and go to the San Francisco Half Marathon Expo. Look to buy jacket and long sleeves technical shirts as seem to be COLD here !

Sunday - do the San Francisco Half Marathon with Per at 7am. Run on the frigging Golden Gate Bridge!

Monday - fly out to Vegas

Tuesday - 5km easy run at the desert

Wednesday - easy hike around Grand Canyon

Thursday - 5km easy run at the desert

Friday - fly out to Fresno

Saturday - attend the Fresno Marathon expo, attend the carbo loading party at 4pm, hear Dick Beardsley speak and maybe buy his running book and have it signed!

Sunday - Fresno Marathon! A certain someone from the Philippines will also be there looking to Boston Qualify! Per will wait from the sidelines as my own cheerleader! Look for a massage therapist afterwards

Monday - drive out to Yosemite and so some easy walking on the trail roads (if possible)

Tuesday - more easy hiking in Yosemite in the morning, afternoon drive back to San Francisco

Wednesday - Free day

Thursday - Free day

Friday - fly back to Manila


A very tight schedule and not as relaxing as a vacation should be. But we are runners and isn't running a relaxing thing to do?

Running Reflections

November 18, 2007 – this was the day I started running in a road race and stuck to it. This wasn’t my first 10km race as did that before in Feb 29th 2004 and not my first trail run as did that before in June 18th 2006 but this was the race that kept me coming back again and again.

Right after that Sunday run with Janine (with Per and Jeanne waiting for us at the finish line), I came back again the following Sunday (again with Janine) because it was sponsored by La Salle –my alma mater and I wanted to see how they do it. It was successful but I got burned out from too much running and essentially rested till the start of 2008 wherein I came back again but this time with my family as my sisters, brothers, girlfriend and good friends all joined the PSE Bull Run in various categories. And that was how it really started.

Now, nearing the close of two years, so many things have been achieved for me. I trained for the first half marathon but still got burned out from it. But I improved on the succeeding half marathons as I become stronger and faster. I beat my records in 10km races by becoming faster. I beat the distance by going farther. It was a good time. Then, the marathon event happened and I finished the race after 6.5 hours of being on the road. I hated the feeling. I wanted to break down and cry. But I didn’t want to do this and rested instead. I truly hated this race but I was glad I survived it. I didn’t die and as the saying goes "what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger". Unfortunately, it didn’t make me stronger. It made me weaker. My performance withered to the level when I just started running. My finish time was slower by a few minutes. I had a hard time again in the 21km or even the 10km races. I was panting and wheezing again. I was essentially back to zero.

I couldn’t beat any of my Personal Records. I lost my drive for excellence. Instead, I focused my energy this time to help Per achieve her own Personal Records. By running together, we were able to finish our first 16km race strong. We beat our couple PR for a 10km race by doing the recently concluded Robinson Buddy Run. And the biggest surprise of all was Per agreeing to do a Half Marathon Race a day before said race event. She had no training. She had no mileage but she had me to support her and I think that was the biggest factor to her saying “Yes”. And so we ran it. Unlike my first half marathon wherein I went out too fast and hit the wall, this time we took it slow. We did a few walk breaks. It was a run at an easy pace. And we got the benefits from it. We finished the race strong. Tired but knowing that this was doable. It was a proud moment for the two of us. No finisher medals here but at least we have the disposable chip that says “I ran the 21km” and that was good enough for us. Final Results were also great and the free photos were very useful!

On the Kalayaan Bridge flyover as we head back towards Fort BonifacioFloating to the finish line!

So what’s next for us after the Half Marathon? One word, three letters: U.S.A.

It will be our most expensive races to date but the experience will be unforgettable or as a certain credit card commercial would say “Priceless”. Being too ambitious, I registered myself for two road races separated by one full week and thousands of kilometers away but in the same State.

The first race will be San Francisco’s Half Marathon Race on November 1st, 2009. This was supposed to be Per’s first Half Marathon race before the impromptu Globe Half Marathon. Come to think of it, it was supposed to be Per’s 2nd international 10km race. The reason she upgraded her race to a 21km was because the 10km route doesn’t go across the Golden Gate Bridge and that is something she wanted to experience. I will be there to run beside her and be her own support crew. The awesome thing here is that our bibs will be personalized (and we added our last names) and it will be our first half marathon together as a married couple.

The second race will be Fresno Marathon on November 8th 2009. I was supposed to do a Half Marathon here but then decided to upgrade to a Full Mary once I realized that the Halfie will only go through one city. This was called Two Cities Marathon and I didn’t want to be shortchanged by doing a race that doesn’t go through the two cities. Per will be at the halfway mark to be my support crew with drinks, food and maybe even an extra pair of shoes and/or socks. She will be my motivation to finish the 2nd half of the race and I look at beating my PR at Singapore. This race will be done in the morning, have cool weather and have a flat course, which all contradict what I did in Singapore. All of these factors go in my favor. Of course, I still will not underestimate this race as any single thing can happen that can ruin it – heavy rains, slipping on the road, injury while training, indigestion or diarrhea on race day, etc.

So we both have our reasons for the race upgrade. We are each other’s supporters for our partner’s race. We will experience all these things together. And we will do our best to finish our races and bring home the finisher medals and finisher shirts. This would be a perfect ending to my second year of running.

As for our third year of running? Ask me again in five months time! For now, it’s run (easy), run (tempo), run (long) as we revert back to our training mode.

Golden Gate Bridge, SFO

What a beauty!! A few days ago, Philippine Airlines came out with super cheap rates to USA, Asia and Australia and I was able to book (though it took a long time) for two tickets to San Francisco for end of October for two -week stay in that city.

Naturally, I wanted to try any race they have during that week. First race I found was to be held on November 1 and is a 4-miler run. It's a Halloween themed event and prizes go for best costumes and for fastest finishers. Good enough for us and Per game also to do one race in USA (I'm aiming for two!).

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Unfortunately, it doesn't go through the Golden Gate Bridge which was what I wanted. I was able to convince Per to do some jogging on GGB at a very relaxed pace just so we can see what the experience was like and to which she agreed to it. I even proposed bringing a camera with me so we can stop and take pictures from it.

d

But last night, as I was browsing through my back issues of Runners World magazines, I came upon a race review for a race that happened in San Francisco. It was called US Half Marathon, San Francisco and route passed through the Golden Gate Bridge!! SIGH! If only we booked our travel dates to be at the same time as this race!

dd

With sadness and envy, I looked at the date when it was last held and it says "November 2, 2008"! WHAT???!!!! Can it be? Is it possible ???

ddd

This morning, I went to their website: www.ushalf.com and got a VERY VERY AWESOME SURPRISE! Next race to be held will be on 11.01.09 !

ddd

So FREAKING COOL !!! Immediately, I booked myself for the Half Marathon event. Per was contemplating the Half Marathon or the 10km event as the farthest she ran was a 15km race and she vowed at that time never to run that far or that long again. BUT.... The 10km event DOESN'T go on the Golden Gate Bridge!

ddd

With a cut-off time of 3.5 hours (about 9:22 min/km pace), very chilly weather, nice finisher medal and me willing to stick by her if she wants me to, she said YES to the Half Marathon as well! DOUBLE AWESOME!

ddd

I researched on what the finisher medal looks like and this is what I found from last year's event:

How great is that???? Perfect souvenir for our USA Vacation! Our bibs will be personalized as well. We decided to put our full names on the bibs (wonderful for framing with the medals when we get back to Manila).

This race will have about 5,000 runners and will pass by Marina, Crissy Field, Presidio and of course, the Golden Gate Bridge! Hydration stops at every 2 miles and has some hills to run on.

Upon finishing race, you will get a medal, t shirt and goodie bag. There will be a Free Concert held near Aquatic Park. There will also be a Sports Expo the day before race for race kit collection, food and drink samples and training/ nutrition tips.

November is so far away (more than 5 months!) but I am already excited for this run! In honor of the GGB color, all blogs related to USA Trip will be in ORANGE -RED.

Trivia: Why is the Golden Gate Bridge called Golden when it is actually orange?

The term Golden Gate refers to the Golden Gate Strait which is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. The strait is approximately three-miles long by one-mile wide with currents ranging from 4.5 to 7.5 knots. It is generally accepted that the strait was named "Chrysopylae" or Golden Gate by Army Captain John C. Fremont, circa 1846. It is said it reminded him of a harbor in Istanbul named Chrysoceras or Golden Horn.