Sometimes a weekend can just surprise you. On Saturday, I met up with a couple of friends to run 22 miles in San Francisco. We met up with a third friend around mile 10 and did a nice looped course around the city. When all was said and done, we ended up with a total of 21 miles and that sounded just fine with us. Being surrounded by amazing friends, some might say crazy, we talked about what our plans were for Sunday. A couple of members of our run crew talked about a 40-mile bike ride and I had already registered for the Bay to Breakers 12K the following morning. Yes, we aren’t the normal running group, I know.
Saturday night, I laid out my gear for a routine Instagram shot. I really wasn’t sure what I was going to wear other than my red Pro Compression socks and my red Saucony Kinvara 4s with some wings… so at least the bottom half was covered. I decided to rock my November Project (SF tribe) shirt since the course goes up Hayes Hill and past Alamo Square where NP meets Wednesday mornings.
Bay to Breakers
My legs felt pretty good Sunday morning, even though I was feeling a bit sleepy from back-to-back 4 am wake-up calls. The start was delayed a bit, but it just gave me some extra time to stretch out and make sure I was loose and ready to go. My original goal was 7-minute miles, but that was before I had remembered I was running 20+ the day before. I decided to take it by feel, but try to keep a quick pace.
Mile 1: 7:18
Mile 2: 7:11
The first couple miles were pretty crowded, but there was plenty of support along the course. I had to jump on the sidewalk for a bit near Moscone center (I guess that means that I officially have to withdraw from prize winnings, le sigh) when a swarm of “enthusiastic people” made their way onto the course, but I was able to jump back onto the course after a block or so. It was unusual, but nothing of a major concern. I had about 10-15 people in front/behind me that made the same move. I felt like a fish following a school.
Mile 3: 8:05
Mile 4: 7:48
Hayes Hill was going up Mile 3 and a little bit of an incline through Mile 4 as we made our way towards Golden Gate Park. I ran this part pretty strong and it zapped my legs a little bit, but I knew the remainder of the course was mostly downhill and I am extremely familiar with the route after mile 4. The energy going up Hayes Hill was pretty cool. If I wasn’t racing for time, I definitely would have walked away with some amazing shots of costumes, sideline enthusiasts and even a house that was requesting selfies. Oh San Francisco.
Mile 5: 7:00
Mile 6: 6:36
Mile 7: 6:45
12K (7.5 miles): 54:12
Since this was my first 12K, I set a PR. And since this was my first Bay to Breakers, I set a course PR… so 2-thumbs up for that. I was really surprised that I was able to keep an average pace of 7:13 after Saturday’s run. You can see that I slowed a bit on mile 7 and, full disclosure, mile 5 and 6 were some pretty strong downhill segments and I just decided to “let it go.”
Overall, it was a positive experience and since I was running it for time, I don’t know that I was in the full “spirit” of the costumed race, but I had fun none-the-less and surprised myself with a really strong 28+ mile weekend.
Finish line photo with some SF November Project peeps
Side note: Seriously? 7:13 pace after a 20 mile run… that doesn’t even happen on a regular training run. This is one of the reasons that I love working in races into my training schedule. If I had decided to run a 7.5 mile run around my house, it would have been a 9-minute pace, easy.
Side note #2: Through 18 days of May, I have surpassed my total milage for the month of April.
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Giveaway Fundraiser: Running 52.4 miles for charity, details here.
Prizes include: BIA watch, shoes, gear, David Beckham autographed Adidas shirt, and more.
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How was your weekend?
Looks like so much fun! I’ve seen nothing but floods of pictures from BtB on my Facebook feed!
Daaaaaamn. Seriously? That is crazy impressive. Congrats!
Omg was that dude naked? LOLLLL
Nice!!!
LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVED FROM AFAR!!!
Awesome job after that long run! I had a friend run this too and she loved it!
Wow what a speedy 12K! I’m very impressed :D
You are a certain rock star!!!! Very speedy sir!
Way to go!!!
Nice runs! That is an awesome idea to throw a race into a training plan, I should try that if nothing else confidence booster for sure!
That Smiley face in that image though HAHAHA *censored* Way to turn up man!
Awesome job!!!
congrats!
AMAZING!!!!
You killed it! Glad I got to say hheeeeyyy before the race :)
Way to own it B! That’s an amazing turn around considering the mileage the day before.
Wowza!! That is a seriously awesome race and a serious negative split!! I am so impressed!!! You have been killing it lately!!
Neither pictures nor mention of naked runners??? What kind of B2B recap is this???
Did you see the salmon group running the wrong way? They are always my favorites :)
Nice job out there!
Good lord, a 7:13 pace B2B after a 22 mile training run? You are a monster. No idea what your marathon PR is, but you are going to smash it. I also did B2B, had one of my best runs ever – best run since 2000. Awesome times in SF.
You are wicked fast… I totally think your SHWINGS helped you FLY through this crazy course!! Way to go!!