I rode into town with my teammates, Jen & Mary. Jen’s mom drove us, which was a very nice thing to do, especially with our nerves.
We had to go to Nike Town to pick up or race packets, and on the way in, we saw a crowd of women along one wall and realized that all of our names were on the outside wall. Under big letters that said, “Good Luck Runners,” the names of all the racers were printed all along the wall. I almost started crying with that, but I held it together. Jen’s mom had her camera, so we all took pictures of our names.
Inside Nike Town, it was crowded, hot, and loud. They had a DJ playing booty music, probably to pump everyone up, but I hated it. Mary said it was what she needed, but Jen and I were just trying to not WIG OUT, and would have much preferred some soothing classical music or something.
We then wandered around the Expotique in Union Square. This was just a group of tents that Nike set up for race info, lounging, and shopping. If we had gotten there earlier, we could have gotten massages, manicures, or foot rubs, but there were already lines for hours, so we just grabbed free things like postcards and TNT fake tattoos.
We knew that it was going to be nice in the city for our weekend, but it was actually stinkin’ hot, which is not what I expected from San Francisco. Hungry, thirsty, and anxious, we sat in the sun and ate sandwiches from the little café in the square before heading over to our hotel to check in.
My roommate was already there when I checked in, so I talked to her a bit and we got to know each other and tried to decipher all the information sheets we had been given upon check-in. This was a HUGE event- 15,000 racers- and it was extremely well coordinated as everyone had parties to attend and transportation to catch, but their attempts at helpful schedules were a disaster. There were colors, letters, times, and just entirely too many words on this sheet. Eventually, though, with three of us working on it, we decided that we needed to catch the bus at 5:15.
Our first official event was a pasta party, where we were to load up on carbs, hear inspirational speakers, and basically get pumped up or cry. It felt like it took an hour to get to the party, so we were annoyed at first, but as we walked up to the doors, it was cool to hear all the ruckus that was being raised for us by TNT staffers and teammates. There were tons of people yelling, clapping, shaking cowbells, and generally cheering for us as we went into the party. Sounds corny, but it was another moment of getting a little choked up.
Unfortunately, the good times did not continue rolling. Nothing bad, but crappy food, little team interaction in a sea of racers, and stilted speakers just made us want out of there to get back and rest. They did have honoree letters on the table, which a few of us made the mistake of starting to read, leading to tears and putting the letters down as quickly as possible.
After a brief meeting for our chapter in the hotel lobby, we all trundled off to our rooms to attempt sleep. Our coaches told us that we wouldn’t sleep much, though, but we needed to at least lie there and rest. After trying to sleep for a while, I called Seth to chat and cry a bit and let some of the tension out. I’d say that I slept for about 4 hours, maybe.
Thankfully, I wasn’t doing the full marathon, so unlike Jen, who had to be out the door at 4:15, I woke up at the relatively lazy head time of 4:45. The breakfast that I have gotten used to having on training days is oatmeal with fruit. To this end, I brought a container of plain oatmeal and some bananas with me to the hotel. Unfortunately, I forgot about a bowl, a spoon, and failed to notice that this oatmeal took 5 minutes, not 1 minute. This is a big difference when using hot water from a coffee pot instead of a microwave, and when you have given yourself about 2 minutes to eat. So, I used my banana to sort of scoop out of a mug what soggy oatmeal I could get, and I took off.
Our bus dropped us off a few blocks from the finish line about an hour and a half before race start, so we had plenty of time to try not to freak out, pee a few times, and stretch a bit. One of my teammates hadn’t seen her name on the wall, so we walked over there to show her. There were buses full of high school students who were volunteering, and we checked our bags with them- whatever we thought we needed at the finish line.
Even though it was a nervous time, it was cool to be out there in the dark, wandering around the city. I wandered, stretched, prayed, cried a little from nerves, and we tried to just be excited and enjoy the music that was playing.
We slowpokes were a couple of blocks back from the starting line, so even once the race officially started, we were sort of shuffling in a big mass. After about 17 minutes, we crossed the line, our time began, and the mass started to break up.
As many of you know, I have to start out slowly, so I was able to stay with some of my friends for a few miles while my body warmed up. At one point, there were only about 20 people and the sweeper van behind our little band of 4 (Kaaren, Mary, Cynthia, and me), and that really hurt my pride, but I knew that it wouldn’t last.
We had a good first couple miles, appreciating the supporters on the sidelines (mostly husbands and kids) and the music. DJs were stationed every couple of miles along the course, so that added a lot of fun to the race. Sometimes I thought, “Well, now I want to dance, not walk!” but it did help to get me moving a bit faster.
Coming up on mile two-ish, we heard a choir singing, to which my first response was, “Argh! I don’t feel like crying yet!” Sure enough, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir was there along the Embarcadero, singing inspirational songs to us and making me all verklempt. Another lovely sight to behold, though, was the hordes of racers already waiting in long lines for the port-a-potties. It was a nice, little victory to be able to think, “See ya!” and pass people already.
This was about the time where my stride picked up and I pulled away from my gang- not in a roadrunner, dust-in-my-wake way, but just a gradual speeding up. Mary kept up with me for a while- occasionally I’d hear her Tic Tacs shaking as she ran up to me, and we stayed close-ish until about mile 6, but our first hill put a lot of distance between us.
I really felt good on the first hill, and I don’t really think that I slowed down at all on the way up, even though it was a l-o-n-g one. A coach that I met in Detroit was at the top of the first part of the hill, and she recognized me and gave me a hug before I moved on.
That’s one thing that was awesome- there were TNT coaches, captains, and mentors all along the course, running back and forth and encouraging everyone. All the TNT participants were in purple (4500 racers, plus coaches, etc), so we really ended up considering all of ourselves one, big, team and would talk and encourage all of our teammates. I talked with people from New York, Texas, Oklahoma, and of course, California. Since all of us were walkers (runners being long gone!) you would just end up walking with someone for a while and sharing your stories until one of you pulled ahead or needed to stop for a second. Everyone talked a bit along the way, but the TNTers seem to have bonded a bit more.
As I got to the top of the first hill, I knew that I wanted to run down the hill like I had done in our training, but as soon as I thought the word, “run,” I got butterflies. So I put it off for a few minutes, and then I finally took off. Well, that implies that I was flying or something, but I just did a good jog down the hill- probably 3-5 minutes. It was really nice to pass people, let me tell you. Hey- it may be petty, but you try to tell me that it doesn’t feel good to be passing up tons of people!
The next section was through the lovely Sea Cliff neighborhood, and it’s always nice to gaze upon the homes of the super-rich. Ah, to dream. Nike had a table set up with fake tattoos there, so I grabbed a smiley sun and put that on my arm to cheer me up a bit and keep going strong. Believe me, I was tired, but I’m proud that I kept pretty steady and strong the whole time.
The next hill, Clement St, sucked big toes. I was huffing and puffing a bit up that one, and definitely gave in to the teenagers yelling and thrusting cups of Gatorade at me from the sidelines. At the top of this hill was a flute choir (there was a string quartet at some point, too) and they were nice, although it sounded like they were playing the theme from Little House on the Prairie, so I had that in my head for a mile or so.
That is, it was in my head until I came around towards the beach and heard the Rocky theme, baby! Yes, that DJ at mile 10 was out to inspire us, that’s for sure. I started running my downhill, and actually got my phone out and called my mom when he started playing, “Eye of the Tiger”.
At this point, we were by Ocean Beach, and it was pretty cold with the breeze, but I kept going steady. It was a little disconcerting, though, to see many finished racers walking back down the road towards their buses. I wasn’t discouraged because they were done, but I was thinking, “Like HELL, they are making us walk back down this far to get the shuttle!” But I digress.
The last 3 miles are a bit of a blur, as my body was getting sore and I knew we were close to the finish line, so I just kept looking for it. We turned into Golden Gate Park and all of us were eagerly anticipating the Chocolate Mile from Ghiradelli. Allegedly, they give out chocolate for a little burst of energy for the last mile. I say allegedly, because the brats didn’t plan well and the chocolate was gone once we got there. Thankfully, a TNT coach was on the sidelines handing out Red Vines, which I gratefully grabbed.
The other strange thing was that there wasn’t a marker for the 12-mile point, so some racers were confused. Licorice Woman had said, “Less than a mile!” so I was focusing on that, but then another racer mentioned that we hadn’t gotten to the 12-mile marker yet, and I thought that I was going to have to hurt someone. Or sit down. One of the two. Even though I was still moving and keeping up my pace, my body was getting a little stiff and I just wanted to be done and have a good cry.
As I came around the final bend, I was tearfully glad to see Seth standing on the sidelines. We hadn’t figured out if he was going to be there for sure, but I just kept praying for it that last mile. I was so glad to see him, and I really just wanted to go over and hug him, but I wasn’t done yet. My coach, Elise, was at the turn to the finish line, so she hugged me and encouraged me as I went past her. I felt like I should run up across the finish line, but I just didn’t have it in me, so I walked across by myself, heard my name announced, and let a guy in a tuxedo gave me a Tiffany box with my finisher’s necklace in it.
There was a big TNT tent with lots of food and chatting and massages, and I had truly planned on hanging out there, but I just wasn’t in the frame of mind for that when I finished. I had to try not to bite the heads off of the people standing around in my way as I made my way over to check out, where I cried a bit at the woman from our TNT office here that checked me out. Then I hobbled over to the buses and the high schoolers (WAY too far away) to get my precious Crocs. I called Seth and told him where to find me, and I waddled a little further to find him.
I probably sat with him for about 10 minutes. I took off my running shoes and socks, put on my Crocs, stretched, cried, hugged Seth, put on my finisher’s necklace, and then bid him adieu. I was going back to the hotel to ice my feet, and Seth was to acquire a sandwich for me and meet me back in my room.
It was funny watching myself and my fellow racers try to get off the bus when we got back to the hotel. We all sort of c-r-e-a-k-e-d up out of our seats, I eyeballed the stairs warily, and then we waddled down the street to our hotel.
I was able to be in the room by myself for about an hour and a half before my roommate and Seth showed up. I took an ice bath- SO not fun, rested, showered, and rested some more. I gobbled the sandwich that Seth brought me, and then he left while my roommate and I totally crashed before getting ready for the victory party.
Our victory party was at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel, where we had good food and danced in the Grand Ballroom. Yes, I danced, as many of my fellow TNTers did. I even made Seth dance with me once before he left, so he did the white boy shuffle to “Hollaback Girl”.
I stayed in the hotel that night, too, mostly to take advantage of my weekend in the city, and because I wanted to go to Nike Town Monday for the after race party. In the store on Monday, a woman stopped me and called my name, and it turns out she was Jennifer from Oklahoma. We walked together for maybe a mile early in the race, but we hugged like old friends before going our separate ways.
It really was an awesome weekend, and I’m proud of myself and all the other racers, and I’m very grateful for the experience. It was very neat to have this gigantic group of women with whom you have at least this big thing in common, and for at least 3 days, we were all friends.
