San Francisco One Day Race Report Juli Aistars 2008
Juli Aistars posted this report on the Ultralist Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:56:13 -0500.
San Francisco One Day--I loved every minute of it. I met Patricia and Mike, former HURT RDs--very nice people who I had several more chances to exchange a few words with on the course. I also met Marie who was so friendly, Natty, who is the cutest and smiles straight from her heart, John, Heather, who was doing the 24 hours and when she was slowing down I walked with her and suggested things she could do to feel better, and she was so sweet and said, "I know you are trying to help, but it is just not my day". She stopped early to help her boyfriend and she made a point of cheering me on later when she was at the start/finish. I also met the other Heather, who finished 3rd woman in the 12 hour--I talked with her after we finished and she said, "You kept going by me and going by me." It couldn't have been TOO many times since Heather finished with 56 miles--congratulations on a great run, Heather! I also met Evan towards the end of the 12 hour. He was ahead of everyone in the 24, but had to leave after 20 hours--that must have been hard to do. He is quite a runner and a nice guy--he was surprised when I told him I just turned 50 (keep it coming!) and he was very encouraging. I also met Linda Gonzalez who just kept moving forward with a smile on her face, and Ofie, another cute one--there are SO many cute ultrarunners, mainly because of what radiates from inside. I had a chance to talk with Don and Gillian who did a great job of running 49 miles when their training has been minimal because they have been working so hard to make life easier for the rest of us... We visited the new Zombie store in Palo Alto (NFI unless you count what I spend) on Sunday and all I can say is, "Wow!!!" It looks fantastic!
It was great to see familiar faces, like Catra, who I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to much, Chris Rios (thanks for your kind words and you are pretty hot for a man who describes himself as "getting old"--no way!) Chris has the nicest, dark tan, and his legs are great :). Diana Rush, who I didn't get to talk to much last year at ATY, is the sweetest lady and a strong runner with a great sense of humor--congratulations on a fantastic run Diana! I also collected nice hugs from several people including Nattu and Steve and Craig S. I want to thank Steve Holman publicly for his great birthday sign--he actually had it printed--it was the nicest surprise to see him and Val holding it out as after I passed the "50" mile point--one mile for every year on this planet. He didn't even shy away from my stinkiness and gave me a big bear hug. I'm sure I missed some, but everyone was great, including the volunteers who I didn't get to talk to as much as I wanted, because I was bent on racking up the miles :). Wendell and Sarah did an outstanding job of keeping everything running smoothly and were both encouraging, as usual. I love to see Aaron and the other young ultrarunners out there--one great thing about timed events. Aaron is a very polite young man and I like to encourage him because he is so responsive to it, even when he is tired and probably wants me to shut up--great run Aaron! And, Karen Guenther--I am sorry I missed you. I looked for you at the awards ceremony, but you had already left--I will have to try again. I hope your return to running is going well.
I decided back in January to celebrate my 50th birthday with a trip to SF, and saw that Wendell and Sarah had one of their events on this weekend, so the plans were in place. What better way to celebrate. I chose the 12 hour since I also signed up for MRII 11/8 back in January. Val, sometimes running partner, more often my support staff, devoted husband, man I grew up with, man who puts up with me and claims he likes it (glutton for punishment), accompanied me to San Francisco all the way from Lake Zurich, IL. Ernesto (PARTY TIME) Sol Matal picked us up at the airport, drove us everywhere, arranged our hotel and a trip to Alcatraz for a tour on Friday. Thank you, Ernesto! He is a man who has a big heart and knows how to make a person feel special. I can't wait to host him in Chicago when we can get him here... Having run an event every weekend for the 3 weeks before the SF One Day, I wasn't sure how tired I would be, but decided going into the event that I would try for 65 miles, well aware that this would give me the women's course record if I ran the most miles for the women. I told a few friends but didn't want to put it out there for fear of embarrassment if I failed miserably. The thing is, despite DNFs at LT and WF this year, I have this level of confidence that I have never felt in my running ability before. I think this "confidence" and belief in myself, whether warranted or not, goes a long way and has enabled me to set PRs at every distance except the 100M this year of my 50th birthday--who would think? I attribute this confidence to better training, though I do slack more than I should, more consistent speed training then I ever did before (when I wasn't off on one of my many trips this year), more attention to core work and strength training, but that also could be better and more consistent, improved nutrition (though I still eat creme brulee and other desserts with abandon), and laugh if you will, something about turning 50 years old and feeling better than when I was 35...
My race strategy was to run 25, walk 5--was it Karl K (wherever he is these days) who came up with that ratio? I also planned to get in more calories and fluids, one of my big deficits as Val always tells me. Val took some pictures at the 9AM start and then left me on my own for a few hours. I enjoyed socializing, but knew I had to be more internally focused than usual if I was going to hit 65 miles. Val returned around 11AM and I put him right to work. I have been using a sports drink called Infinit that seems rather sweet, but I thought I would give it a try. It is a triathlete product. I honestly don't think it makes much difference what sports drink you use--I've tried just about all of them and don't see much difference except I avoid ones containing high-fructose corn syrup like Gatorade (obviously NFI). Since Val and I have been married for so long, I often didn't even have to tell him what I needed and there it was in his hand the next time I passed him. I brought very little with me because we didn't want to check bags on the plane, so I just had my Leadville bag on the grass, no chair, nothing else. I usually overthink, so this was good. The temperature was in the 70s at the highest with a nice breeze part of the day, and I enjoyed the warmth. It was cool at the start and cooled down again after dark and the Moeben sleeves were perfect for those times (NFI, but I love them!). I never changed clothes and only changed socks once. I ran in Adidas racing flats--lightweight and comfortable (NFI).
The course was part road and part gravel, flat with one small hill--I thought it was perfect and did not use gaters. I got a few stones in my shoes and two blisters, but nothing serious. The views from the rectangular 1.067 mile course in Crissy Field of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz were a treat. We were out there with many other runners, walkers and bikers who were polite and sometimes encouraging. In the early miles, I didn't like walking the 5 minutes, but I forced myself. I sometimes adjusted to 27 or 28 minutes running so my walk coincided with the start/finish area. I tried to drink and eat as much as possible while walking, since it is easier to assimilate when you are not stuffing things in on the run. Other than sitting down twice for about 3 minutes, my only "rest" was the walk breaks. It was hard in the first 4 hours or so to force myself to walk, but I started to notice how strong I was still running in the later hours. Diana commented that the walk breaks must have paid off, and I believe they did. I never had that "crash" that I usually experience with a hard effort. I did give up the walks in the last hour, since there was nothing to save myself for. I felt good the whole time and finished the last lap with just 24 seconds left on the clock. Thanks Aaron for yelling "Just 30 seconds left!"--it got me going. I exceeded my goal by a few miles, and was absolutely THRILLED with how I did even though being more focused than usual reduced my social opportunities :).
I did use an iPod most of the time because it distracted me from flapping my lips as I like to do, though I did remove it or took out one earphone to talk with others on the course (and to hear the "beep" when crossing the start/finish mat--private joke for Wendell). I do believe this "social time" actually helps me run more miles because it energizes me like nothing else can. I believed I could do it, I visualized it, I worked hard, I did it--things just came together this time. I will keep believing and there will be times I will not reach my goal, but it won't stop me from working hard and believing...
Congratulations to everyone who ran and thanks so much for the encouragement and great company out on the course! Thank you Wendell and Sarah, volunteers, everyone who works so hard to put on this first-class event! It was an unforgettable experience. Looking forward to seeing some of you at MRII on November 8th. I hope to be out at the Chicago Lakefront 50/50 encouraging Mary Gorski, Oz, Ian and many others this Saturday...
Juli
