Something about Jack Kerouac

On the Road. Get it? It was funny. Ok. Sorry.

This weekend was filled with running goodness.  I was asked to cover the Pace Group Leader Duties as Burton was up in Napa for the aptly named Napa Valley Marathon. I was scheduled for 18 miles this weekend so I got in two before I meet up with the club for 16 more.

For the most part the Pace Group Leadership went pretty well.  I had some technical issues with the watch for the 8:1 run to walk beeps but it worked out alright.  Then we got to the Golden Gate Bridge. 

My running chum Susan from New York is terrified of heights.  So I spoke to her to distract her while we ran across the bridge and completely lost track of the pace. We went a bit fast...but after the pace group we passed on the San Francisco side of the bridge as they were using the rest rooms, had trouble catching up with us, we got the message to slow down.

The views were pretty.

The nine minute pace group taking the Southern Tower

View from the back of the group.

We lost a good number of people at the eight and 10 mile cut offs and I was alone for the last four after the turn-off for fourteen.

After saying goodbye to all my chums, I picked it up a bit and then refilled in my bottle at the Ferry Building and dropped in a Nuun. But it might have been a bit too late for the hydration.  I only took two Gu's after well over 1:45 minutes of running and the second was enjoyed very shortly after the first due to the beginning of a cramp in my left hamstring. But at about 14 miles, that cramp came on with a vengeance.

I had to slow down but the issue really was that the cramp in the hamstring forced a huge change in my gate and that made my ankle hurt. I considered  few options at this point, one included stopping and just taking a cab home and the other was going all 127 Hours and cutting off my foot.  But instead I just finished the run and tried to stretch out.  It was pretty much a failure on my part to stop when hurt but ach...I just wanted to be done.

After a lovely lunch, I got me a Thai message, which like a Thai ice tea is like its Western counterpart but just a bit different.  The beat-down and stretch made my entire body feel better but it still wasn't enough.

This week's lesson is not to be stupid and get enough electrolytes. So I made sure to hydrate appropriately during Sunday's Napa Marathon.

Be sure to hydrate and use enough cow bell.

A great group of SFRRC chums went up to Napa to support our other running Chums.  They did great.  Everyone had a solid race.

There was also a 5K race that included Joan Benoit Samuelson gunning for a personal best and American record for the 55-59 year-old at 18:38...she missed by a few seconds. But she was nice enough to take a quick picture with our club.

Hey look, another Olympian on the blog this week.

But the real reason we went up to Napa was to have a great cheering section.

We set up shop at about mile 25.5 and cheered for everyone.  We also planked for everyone.  Some people thought this was very funny, some people didn't see us because they had been running for 25.5 miles, and other people didn't like it...but those people are un-American.

After we saw a majority of the 3:30 to 4:00 runners we went to the finish line to hang out of a bit.  Then Jenni, Chinh, and I went to just past mile 26 and screamed at people until they ran for the finish.  There was this one dude who was clearly not feeling it and I ran with him for a few hundred yards asked his name (Jack) and then ran ahead and got a group yelling for him.  He thanked me and finished running hard. It was really cool. 

Check out the SFRRC Twitter feed for more pictures of our members nailing the race. All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Napa is a very pretty place and I am very excited that I get to go up there for a mini-vacation next month with the wife.  But the next time won't include planking in the middle of the street.