I’ve never thought I would be proud to say that I am the 2007th best at something. But, after finishing the 2008 San Francisco Marathon in 2007th overall place, I feel pretty damn good. At the time of making the decision to the run in the marathon with my two friends, my main goal was to finish. After running consistently for a few months, my goal shifted to finishing in under 5 hours and after running for four months, I had set my sights on beating Oprah’s personal best marathon time (4:29:20). I’m proud to say that I accomplished all of these goals and then some. When it was all said and done, I crossed the line in 4:24:08.It all began at 4am with my obnoxious alarm clock. Had I known that I would have to wake up so early to run the marathon, I probably wouldn’t have signed up. It’s not that easy to get out of bed when it is still dark out and you know you are about to run 26 miles. I managed to get out of bed, get dressed, eat a quiche, drink a cup or coffee, and tried to poop (didn’t happen). The not pooping before the race kind of scared me because I didn’t want to get hit somewhere along the route with a dodgy belly. Luckily, my belly held up throughout.

Seth and Rowan picked me up and we drove down to the Embarcadero. The closer to downtown, the more people we saw streaming out of hotels down to the Starting Line. After parking and ditching our excess clothes in the car, I started the feel to the adrenaline work its way through my body. I got a little bounce in my step and was actually looking forward to the start. We passed one middle aged guy, pretty plump, wearing a coke bottle glasses, and not too athletic looking walking in the wrong direction, who asked if we knew where the start of the second half marathon was. Ummm, shouldn’t you figure that out before 5am the day of the race?

We got down to the Embarcadero just in time to see the first wave of elite runners take off. They run fast. I am definitely not an elite runner. Making our way to the staging area of the Wave 4 runners, I could see just how diverse a group of marathon runners are. Granted that the half marathon was starting as well, but I was still very impressed with the eclectic group of people running, which pretty much represented all ages, colors, shapes, and sizes. I’m now pretty much convinced that anyone can run a marathon or half marathon.

Corralled in our little Wave 4 area, the sun was starting to come up over the east bay hills, they sky over the bay turned a metallic grey-blue, and the annoying P.A. announcer implored all the racers to ‘have a look at the beautiful Oakland Bridge behind us.’ (Note to race organizers: Next year get an announcer who actually knows the names of major San Francisco landmarks. I’m not complaining, but this guy just sounded dumb.) There was a little count down for our group and then we crossed the Start Line buoyed by with inspirational sounds of Takin’ Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. One of the most over used, but unheralded songs our time.

The first part of the run along the Embarcadero and across the Golden Gate Bridge was pretty mellow, but cold. At this point, running 8 miles is no big deal. Getting out in to park into the park was nice as well because your legs weren’t hurting too much and it was a bit warmer. It’s also always nice to run in GG park. Just after the halfway point, I saw my roommate who was manning one of the water tables with the SF Hashers. If you like to run and drink, I recommend checking out the local Hash House Harriers wherever you are in the world. I took a couple pulls off her Bloody Mary and chomped on the celery stalk. I figured the nutritional value of a Bloody Mary couldn’t hurt. And it didn’t.

Through the park I ran and then popped out on Haight Street. I got a laugh out of the mix of people out to cheer on the runners and the street urchins who had just been awoken from their Schlitz induced sleep in the gutter. The amusing run down Haight quickly led to a painful decent down Haight at Buena Vista Park. Running down a 2-block hill when your legs are dead tired is not fun. In fact, it’s painful. It sucks. I made it to the bottom of the hill with a very sore right ankle. But, I knew I had people waiting for me at about the 20-mile mark and I didn’t want to cruise up to them all gimpy. I popped a couple ibuprofens and kept on running.

Cruising down Duboce, I could see a familiar outline of a girl hanging out with the bikers who were manning the intersections. One of the coolest parts of the marathon was a local Harley motorcycle club was working the race. At every intersection there was Harley and a biker in full leathers. It’s always great to see a big burly dude with a handle-bar mustache, massive beer belly, and missing teeth cheering on marathon runners. My future girlfriend Ashley was there on the spot, passed me a Vitamin Water, and gave me the extra push I needed to keep on going.

Through the Dog Patch was kind of a bitch, but once I reached mile 22 and realized that I only had 4 mile left, it was easy street. Great tunes were flowing through my ipod and I just kept telling myself that 4 more miles was nothing. I could run four miles in my sleep. The last twenty minutes or so or the marathon was a joy. I couldn’t feel the pain in my ankles or knees anymore and I running at a pace that I usually run when only doing 5 or 6 miles. I couldn’t believe how I good I felt in the 25th mile of my run. Another runner ran past me and out of nowhere burst into three consecutive front flips then kept running. All the spectators cheered, I laughed, then cruised to the finish line.

Wayne has put the fear and respect of 26.2 miles into me.  I recently met Wayne, who is a friend’s dad, at an Indiana-style cookout.  Wayne is no ordinary friend’s dad.  Wayne is the type of friend’s dad who has run a few marathons and volunteer coaches a high school cross country team.  Wayne also logs 15 miles every weekend and routinely joins the team of high schoolers for 7 to 8 miles runs.  Oh, and I also should mention that Wayne is over 60.

Yes. 60.  years.  old.

The man can run and knows what it takes to properly train for  a marathon and get your body in proper condition.  When he was told that I was running a marathon, he began to quiz me about my training and the distances I had already run. At the time, my longest run had clocked about 17 miles.  This was about three weeks ago with the San Francisco Marathon quickly approaching.

He seemed a bit dismayed that I had only reached the 17 mile mark and only had a month to go.  I, on the  other hand, thought I was doing pretty good.  We talked a little more as he relayed to me what to expect and I kept nodding.  Nodding, while thinking, ‘Oh shit…I’m totally screwed.  What have I gotten myself into?’  I found out the next day from my friend that on their ride home, Wayne had expressed concern for me and my lack of training. According to Wayne, it is imperative that you ‘fear and respect those 26.2 miles’.  Well, now thanks to Wayne, I fear and respect the 26.2.  I just hope it’s not too late.

Training Run #43 – 17.5 mi – 9.42 mi/min

Training Run #44 – 6.47 mi – 9.05 mi/min

Training Run #45 – 8.82 mi – 9.46 mi/min

I just spent some time in Montreal and had done a considerable amount of walking and running around the city.  One thing that has really jumped out at me is the number of bicycle and people cruising around the city.  I’m sure it’s mainly a summertime thing, but people were out in force in Montreal.  Just about every twenty paces you see a bike locked up to one of the ever present bike posts.  Bikes everywhere.

But, when you think about it, Montreal does seem to be an ideal place for biking (in the summertime).  The city is pretty flat and geogpraphically pretty small with only a few mild hills.  The only major climb seemed to be getting up into the ‘plateau’ neighborhoods from downtown.  However, this climb was very mellow compared to San Francisco standards.  Streets are laid out in a proper grid with lots of one-ways and there are a number of bike lanes as well.

Maybe it’s living in San Francisco with a close proximity to the fixie obsessed Mission, but I expected to see a ton of fixies in Montreal.  I mean, the city seems build for it. But, it took me about 6 days before I finally saw a fixed gear bike.  And, I only saw a couple more after that!  It seems like Montreal would be the perfect place for them given the flat straight roads, proper grid layout, and bountiful bike lanes.  The only way it could get better would be if Montreal was actually a velodrome.  But, that’s not gonna happen.  Montreal seems to be a  much better place than say, San Francisco with the hills, Muni tracks, and convoluted layout of the city.  So, what gives?   Where are all the fixies in Montreal? And why are there so many in San Francisco?

Training Run #41 – 7.84 mi – 9.03 min/mi

Training Run #42 – 9.22 mi – 9.46 min/mi

A friend twittered that he was listening to the new Girl Talk album while waiting to catch a flight.  That got me thinking…I need that album.  Girl Talk’s debut was pretty awesome and I’ve rarely seen the Fillmore ever go off in ways that were witnessed last September when entire stage was crowded with kids freakin’ out almost swallowing a little bearded man twisting knobs and pounding on a lap top.  As I was looking for the album on bit torrent site, Girl Talk’s MySpace page came up with a link to buy the new album by naming your price.  For $5 bucks you got a little added bonus and for $10, the actual cd would be sent to you once they were out. But, the bottom line is that you could PayPal Girl Talk two bucks to download the new album.  You could PayPal whatever you wanted. Given this choice and knowing that most if not all of this revenue would go directly to the artist and not Steve Jobs or a major label, I quickly stopped the bit torrent and PayPal-ed some cash for the new album.  Given this choice, I think most people would do the same.  Ask Radiohead.

Yes, this post has absolutely nothing to do with running the SF marathon.  This marks the first time I’ve posted to Paiwing twice between runs.  My toes still hurt.

After roughly three months of running more than I have ever run in my life, I think I am really starting to feel it.  When I say ‘it’.  ‘It’ refers to the pain. The long runs are starting to feel real long and the creaks are getting creakier.  I’m definitely not 19 anymore.  But, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to bounce back from the longer runs. Walking up the stairs to my house is usually problematic the day (or two) after a long run.  On the bright side, we a heading down the home stretch with this *training* regimen.  On Sunday we hit the 16 mile mark. Then, I promptly came home, drank a gatorade, and zonked out for a few hours.  It’s now Monday and I’m still pretty sore.  My toes actually hurt. The thought of running 26 miles in one go somehow doesn’t seem that appealing anymore.

Training Run #38 – 4.17 mi – 9.11 min/mi

Training Run #39 – 7.67 mi – 8.51 min/mi

Training Run #40 – 16.02 mi – 9.43 min/mi

Last Thursday, a router busted and the good people at 369 Oak Street were without access to the internet for a whopping six days. SIX DAYS.  On the surface, it doesn’t seem like too big a deal, but I challenge you to go for an entire weekend without accessing the internet in the comfort of your own home.  It kinda sucks…more than I thought it would.  I wanted to go to a movie, but couldn’t find movie times.  I wanted to do a little research for my upcoming trip to Montreal, but couldn’t without walking to a bookstore.  I needed a recipe for flounder dish I like to make, but couldn’t get to my bookmarks.  I wanted the morning news on Sunday without leaving the house, but was thwarted. Hell, for all I knew there could be a black man running for president or the Lakers playing the Celtics in the NBA Finals. Oh, wait…that actually did happen.

Lack of internet nonwithstanding, I did manage to hit the pavement with the boys and we turned in the  longest run to date at nearly 15 miles.  I still can’t imagine tacking on another 10 to complete a marathon. Should be fun…and painful.

Training Run #34 – 4.82 mi – 8.46 min/mi

Training Run #35 – 4.93mi – 9.39 min/mi

Training Run #36 – 6.62mi – 8.47 min/mi

Training Run #37 – 14.6mi – 9.27 min/mi

Is Rachel Ray selling donuts or pimpin’ for Jihadi Outfitters? Regardless, Ray Ray sure looks like she had made a choice to feel good about with that kaffiyeh and Ice Latte Light.

Training Run #32 – 8.87 mi – 8.43 min/mi

Training Run #33 – 13.43 mi – 8.19 min/mi

After slightly falling off the training schedule due to the annual Bay to Broken recovery period and spending too much time in Thieves Tavern watching the Lakers and the Machine drive to the NBA Finals, I’m finally starting to get back to normal.  On a side note, if you ever need a pint and a boiled hot dog and you only have $3, go to Thieves between 5 and 8pm.  So far, Thieves hasn’t let me down.

Ever since Bay to Breakers, random little parts of my body have been hurting.  I don’t think I can chalk it all up to B2B, but I think the cumulative effect of running 25 miles a week is starting to wear me to down. My knees hurt, the inside of right knee hurt, my left ankle hurts, may lower back hurts, and my Achilles is starting to hurt.  Considering I’ve never done this before, I’m not sure if this is how your body is supposed to behave.  On the positive side, I’m running faster miles and an 8 mile run doesn’t seem to phase me too much. On the negative side, I have lots of little aches and pains.  Hopefully, they stay little.

Training Run #27 – 4.94 mi – 9.1 min/mi

Training Run #28 – 8.1 mi – 9.38 min/mi

Training Run #29 – 7.09 mi – 8.55 min/mi

Training Run #30 – 6.18 mi – 9.34 min/mi

Training Run #31 – 9.66 mi – 9.09 min/mi

The 97th Bay to Breakers has come and gone. Somehow, a Kenyan managed to win the race fending off a out a spirited late rally down the Great Highway by a guy wearing a gorilla suit. I think the guy in the gorilla suit took the N Judah to the seven mile marker, but you never know.

Once again, B2B provided all with a number of life lessons. Some life lessons detailed in a previous post were reaffirmed, new life lessons were illuminated, and some were modified.

Modified Life Lessons

1. Riding on makeshift skate boards after 17 drinks isn’t a good idea – Riding on anything with wheels after 17 drinks isn’t a good idea…Big iron cage included.
2. Don’t lay down in the tall grass of GG Park. People won’t be able to see you and you might get left there a long time – Don’t pass out in public…tall grass or short grass, it’s not good. (see picture)
3. If you see someone from your office, walk the other direction. Quickly. – If you see someone from your office, do not procede to make out with said office mate. It will make for an uncomfortable Monday.
4. Sometimes it is ok to pee on yourself – If you’re a guy, you don’t have to try to pee in a cup that is on the ground by trying to get your member as close to the cup as possible without actually picking up the cup. It’s a really awkward position to get your body (pee pee) into that close to the cup and you will most likely end up falling on the cup and peeing all over yourself anyways. Just pee in a bush. Or, on yourself.

New Life Lessons

1. If you have an expensive phone, make sure you clip it to your belt. I don’t care how dorky you might feel with a phone clipped to your belt. But, you will be much happier when you wake up in the morning and said phone is still clipped to your belt.
2. It’s never appropriate to yell, ‘[NAME] likes to have sex with babies’ across a crowded eatery. A crowded eatery that is full of *normal* people approximately 8 hours after B2B has ended.
3. If you want to get with a girl, it’s a good idea to give her your correct phone number. Most likely she won’t get lucky and figure out what your number is by dialing numbers that are close to what you had given.
4. If  you’re wearing an afro and have an orange spray tan, you probably shouldn’t be indiscriminately handing out your phone number to random dudes.  Dudes into that look are probably pretty shady. If you do, you will probably get bombarded with texts that read, ‘Stay n touch wit me’.
5. Think ahead…take Monday off work.

Thank you B2B. Thank you for teaching me more about life. I can’t hardly wait until next year!

Hello World!

For those PaiWing readers outside of the Bay Area bubble, the third Sunday of May will probably pass just like any other Sunday. You might leisurely lay in bed to read the papers. You might do some gardening. You might have brunch with an old friend. But, if you’re inside that bubble, you might start off your third Sunday in May with a bloody mary followed by another and another and so on and soforth. You might dress up like a clown or a Smurf. You might fall on your face. You might run into an old friend. Hell, you might even get arrested. Such possibilities, all granted from an innocuous foot race that started 97 years ago in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. Who could have know that the Cross City Race initially run in 1912 would eventually become the spectacle that it is today?

More than a race, Bay to Breakers (B2B) is also more than a massive block party. It’s more than an excuse to drink before noon. B2B is like one big life lesson that keeps giving year after year after year. If you randomly polled people who “participated” in B2B the day after and asked them questions about what they learned, I’m sure you would recieve a bevy of responses. So, I’m going to start a little list of life lessons that I have gleaned over the years from B2B. PaiWing readers, you are encouraged to add your life lessons as well.

B2B LIFE LESSONS (in no particular order)

1. Sometimes it is ok to pee on yourself
2. Riding on makeshift skate boards after 17 drinks isn’t a good idea
3. If you see someone from your office, walk the other direction. Quickly.
4. Don’t lay down in the tall grass of GG Park. People won’t be able to see you and you might get left there a long time.
5. The walk of shame on Monday morning wearing a unitard is bad. Very bad.
6. What didn’t look good at 8:30am probably doesn’t look good at 5:00pm.
7. Finnegan’s Wake is never a good idea after you’ve drank bloody marys for breakfast and put nothing else in your bell all day.
8. You’re never too old for a keg stand.
9. Coming soon
10. Coming soon after that

And for those readers wondering if I will be running in the 97th B2B, the answer is no. I will be learning life’s lessons the hard way.

Training Run #24 – 4.22 mi – 9.14 min/mi

Training Run #25 – 12.02 mi – 9.11 min/mi

Training Run #26 – 6.84 mi – 8.48 min/mi