2012 Zazzle Bay to Breakers Race Recap: The good, the bad and the ugly...times 3

**Warning: there is a photo of a naked person in this post. 

'Parts' have been pixelated and are small, but I'm warning you anyway**

Update: The person in the photo found my blog while searching the internet for naked 

Bay to Breakers photos and has left a comment.

It's a cable car :)

The Lead-Up

The Good

My training has been going so well for the past several weeks. I've been consistent and diligent. My cardio base is getting really solid. I've put in some amazing hill runs with the idea of going into Bay to Breakers feeling like the Hayes Street Hill ain't no big thang. This was accomplished :)

The Bad

My left calf was feeling sore and super tight for a few days but only during running and walking down stairs. I had to extra-minimize the amount of running I was doing. No amount of rolling, Sticking, icing, or massage seemed to be making a difference, but I kept doing those things anyway. Additionally, something had been feeling 'off' in my mid-back and hip/pelvis. Things were feeling inflamed. I chalked this up to hormones...because they are a great scapegoat.

The Ugly

Awesomely, there was no lead-up ugly :)


The Day Before   


The Good

This year's expo was easy to get to on public transportation with a three-year old, easy to find, easy to navigate and appeared more interesting than last year's by a long stretch. But I didn't do any exploring.

Happy girl on her first trip on BART

The Bad

By the time I found the bib pick-up area, my number on the board and the line for my number, aforementioned three-year old was pretty done. Granted it was lunch time, so no expo exploration other than a quick trip to the Nuun booth to say 'hello.' The meltdown began as I tried to exit the premises. Must touch all the balloon sculptures. Cannot walk. Carry me, mommy. Somehow we made it back to the BART station in one piece. But the trains were loud...

sooooo loud, mommy

The Ugly

Transferring trains was most upsetting. She didn't want to get off the train even though we were going to get on another one. She let the world know she was not happy with this arrangement by cleaning the floor of the platform with her body while hollering, "don't wanna get off! don't wanna get off! let me onnnnn! let me onnnnn!" It would have been comical...but it wasn't.

But I had the bib, we made it home, we got lunch and were able to relax. Whew.

And the next day was...

Race Day!!!

The Good

Things were great right off the bat! Of course, because of the title, you know they didn't stay that way.

I didn't oversleep. My pre-race prep at home went off without a hitch. Parking at the train station was easy. I was on time for the train and even ran into some good friends while waiting :)

Nothing like seeing costumed runners at the crack of dawn waiting for the train!

I got a boo-hisssss for looking like a 'serious runner.' I assured the hecklers that it was, indeed, a costume. And anyway I had the samurai hair-do and a sparkly headband on... the combo = costume. At least to me it does.

I was so busy chatting with my buddies that I didn't take anymore awesome costume pics...but there weren't a whole lot this year anyway, or so it seemed. However, right as we parted for our respective corrals, I had the first naked runner sighting...

You can biggify this if you really want to...but I did pixelate the 'parts' 
...nothing we haven't seen before...
fortunately, this year was not as cold as last.

There were LOTS of naked guys this year as compared to last...probably a function of the nicer weather. But there were very few women despite the mild temperatures, just LOTS of guys.

The scene at the start was your typical giant race starting line zoo...

I tried taking pictures but was having a hard time with the camera...as evidenced by the next two photos...

I put the camera away with the intention of taking it back out after the Hayes Street Hill. Also, as I mentioned before, there just didn't appear to be that many cool costumes at this point, which might have been due to the fact that I was in Corral A and with the faster runners. Or maybe I was just oblivious.

Best Points of the Day:  I felt amazing going up the big Hill. I wasn't fast, but I was strong and steady. I credit this to all the Moesers I've been running. To top things off, my hip was feeling GREAT. When I crested the hill ahead of my previous time while feeling fantastic, I had high hopes for improving on last year's finish. 

Shortly after I flew down the short descent from the summit that precedes a mile or so of fairly flat terrain, I felt that sense of elation and optimism quickly fade.

The Bad

Within moments of hitting the 'flat' stretch right around the 3-mile mark, the stiffness I've been having in my left calf flared with a vengeance. I kept thinking it would loosen up, but by Mile 4 the stick of rebar that had implanted itself in my lower leg extended all the way up and into my hamstring. I stopped to the side and attempted to stretch and massage it out...to no avail.

It felt better to run than to walk...so that was good :P but every time I tried to push my HR over 145, the wooden deadness of my leg would transform into shooting, searing pain from my Achilles tendon up to just under my buttcheek. I kept things slow and steady and every so often made an effort to crank it up a notch... but it just wasn't happening. My struggle to survive superseded the desire to photo any more of the event...big-time blogger let-down :(

source

I should have worn a pirate costume because I felt like this guy. 

He even has the wooden leg on the same side.

The Ugly

Running downhill and witnessing everyone around me open it up and blow by me as if I were standing still felt so lonely. 

Also, this is when I saw all the naked men's butts. Butts, butts and more butts. Lots of butts. 

Feeling fit and powerless is really frustrating. Finishing a race and not feeling tired just flat-out pissed me off.

And the kicker...

Getting passed by goddamned Gumby at the finish line was quite the tragi-comic moment. About this piece of the experience, I am rendered speechless. 

source

I'm borrowing this photo from rachelhop.com. She took it last year. If I had seen Gumby right there behind me...well, it wouldn't have made any difference. I was already stumping along as best I could :(

The finish stats are as follows:

Time.... 1:14:01  (9:56 pace)    4 minutes slower than last year 

In the top 22% of overall finishers, top 11% of all female finishers, and top 11% of women in my age group. Not as good as last year...which does bum me out a little...but it could have been worse. Finishing upright and with no residual injury is always a good thing. And it was kind of fun...sort of. If running with a wooden leg is ever fun.

And look what they gave me for my efforts...

I started laughing so hard.

And no, I didn't drink it.

Super Lame-o Expo

The lameness of the Expo for the 100th running of the San Francisco Bay to Breakers ... o, excuuuuse me... the ZAZZLE San Francisco Bay to Breakers... skipped right over "disappointing" and tripped on "pathetic" before falling face-first into "embarrassment."  Or is that just how expos are nowadays?

My friends who went with me felt the same. One of them kept saying, "I can't believe there is no free stuff!" and shaking her head in disbelief. Personally, I was sorely disappointed at the lack of interesting vendors and dearth of exciting products to be had at promotional prices. In its defense, there will be a couple of celebrities later on today and for a little bit tomorrow afternoon, but I'm not able to go gawk at the specified times.

The only thing more disappointing than the Expo is the race shirt. For it being the "world's most creative footrace" and sponsored by a printing company who touts themselves as equally creative, it is sooooooo boring. See the picture below.

little free bag at bottom of shirt... oooooo... ahhhhhhh

It was, surprisingly, the drive to the Expo that was very fun and exciting! Anytime you go to the downtown of a major metropolis at the lunch hour, you are destined to have a good time.

One of my friends and I drove over the bridge from where we live into San Francisco to pick up our other friend at her office in the heart of downtown, then we got totally lost trying to get to the Expo. Making wrong turns and almost going back over the bridge, following dead end streets and needing to make illegal u-turns, and, in fact, making an illegal turn right in front of the Department of Justice (police station). I didn't know it was an illegal turn, and I really didn't know it was the DOJ... I thought maybe there was some major crime bust going on to explain all of the police cars lining the street. Or that maybe they were after me ;-) But we did make it in one piece and even scored a most excellent parking spot... right across the street... legal and everything :)

I am so glad I have a super awesome race plan, and I have a feeling that the race will be a blast... even if the Expo was a joke.

It is supposed to rain. But I know how to cope with that,... nothing a good Hefty bag can't handle!

Race Plan for the Zazzle B2B 12K

Zazzle.

They print stuff.

So apparently the connections to the Bay to Breakers have to do with creativity. Okay....

"Zazzle is now the title sponsor of the world's most creative footrace.  Learn how Zazzle is changing the game."

How many people really pay attention to who is sponsoring or underwriting a race they are running in or thinking of running in?

"OOooooo! Zazzle! This one is being sponsored by Zazzle? I definitely want to run it!"

I don't think about this.

Ever. Unless it's a charitable organization.

Moving on...

I ran 4 miles on Tuesday night. It was pretty awesome. A complete 180 from that freaky 7-mile run on Saturday... you remember ... the one where I almost puked and had Einstein hair and the armpit vagina? Yeah. That one.

Tuesday night was beautiful. Not too windy (unlike Saturday), kind of cool (so no unsightly tank top), and I had waited long enough after eating (so no impending vomit sensations). The plan was to gently pitter-patter along for 40 minutes doing 10-minute miles. That was my intent.

But I found The Zone.

Feeling pretty effortless, I found myself rattling off 9:20's for the entire run. See... pretty awesome. This decided my race plan for Sunday.

Instead of shooting for my delusional one hour, meaning an 8:02 average per mile over the 7.46 miles... including the big, gigantic hill in the first half and the 50,000 official entrants and the 300,000 unofficial runners and the 50,000 people just standing and shouting and getting drunk and stumbling out onto the course... I am opting for taking the first 3 as they come. This will mean shuffling along with the crowd at a snail's pace, I am sure. This will be my warm up.

The 3-mile mark is essentially the top of the mondo Hayes Street Hill (here's the map). Even with all the significant impediments to fast-ish running, I want to hit that point in less than 35 minutes. I want to go sub-9-minute miles for the next 2.5 miles and then open it up for the last 2. "Opening it up" might translate into "stay alive" on race day! But I'd like for it to mean 8-minute miles. So that's the plan. That would put me at around a 73-minute finish time.

I plan to take lots and lots of pictures. Maybe even vlog while on the course... cuz I am a total vlogging superstar now :P Hopefully, I'll see those Bare to Breakers runners ;-) Actually, maybe I don't want to see that.

Ouch. I hurt just thinking about it.


If you were running in the world's most creative footrace, would YOU wear a costume? Would you run naked?
– I am really debating the costume angle. Since I am not really racing this one, a costume might be fun! Any suggestions? And don't say 'naked'... cuz that ain't happenin'.