Anyway, this Sunday I jogged over the Hyde Street hill to Aquatic Park to run the DSE Waterfront 5K race. Pre-registering indeed saved a bit of time, as this was larger than the usual DSE races; there were bibs with pre-printed race numbers and everything. The weather was overcast and about 45 degrees; I wore gloves for most of the run.
The 10-mile runners started a bit after 8:30, and the 5K race exactly ten minutes later. The flat, familiar route went through Fisherman's Wharf (few tourists were about, thankfully), along the Embarcadero and back. I started out slowly and picked up speed gradually, passing quite a few runners while going at my own pace, not trying to keep up anyone. I only sped up deliberately to pass someone in the last mile. When the finish line was within sight, I really picked up speed, thundering through and crossing in just under 34 minutes. I was huffing and puffing for several minutes afterward, but felt exhilarated.
Rather than leaving immediately as I had after previous races, I hung around to watch the first 10 milers finish (boggling at their sub-60 minute times; I can't even run a 10K that fast), and the 5K award ceremony. A couple of young women asked me to take their photo, and I chatted with them about the club; they were convinced enough to sign up. I took the cable car home, feeling tired but accomplished.
Last night
boyziggy surprised me by asking if we could run together this morning. He's always said he's more of a sprinter, so we haven't been able to run together very successfully in the past. So at 9:30 we headed out along my usual 3 mile Aquatic Park route. The rain was coming down steadily, but the weather was a few degrees warmer, so I didn't need to wear gloves. He kept up with me until about halfway up the hill to Fort Mason, at which point I took off. I finished in about 43 minutes (only 34 minutes of which was "moving time" according to my GPS tracker; got stuck at several traffic lights as usual); he came home sometime later.Tomorrow I'm planning a run along the Embarcadero down to the ballpark and back, about five miles. I'll walk on Thursday and run again on Friday, perhaps out to Crissy Field.
