Thursday, August 2, 2012

#7 San Francisco


Completed marathon #7 of the 12in12in12 in San Francisco this weekend, and it was memorable.  I must say, I knew going into this challenge, that it would be an experience, but honestly I wasn't really sure what to expect.  And a lot has happened so far, including arriving in Myrtle Beach 4 hours before the marathon after driving all night, and running in jeans for two of the marathons.  But this weekend may have topped it all for one reason: DEAN!

For a while now I have followed the ultrarunning adventures of Dean Karnazes, and to say he is amazing, just is the understatement of the millennium!  I can't list all of his accomplishments, they are things you wouldn't even believe.  And his story about how he became the ultimate ultrarunner is incredible. You have to read about him for yourself, here's his website: http://www.ultramarathonman.com/web/  He's got two great books, Ultra Marathon Man and Run! that tell his story, and will inspire you to do something incredible yourself.  Honestly, they are incredibly motivating.


So, back to San Francisco.  Craig and I are running around mile 3 and guess who runs by us?  You guessed it, DEAN!  I lost it.  I yelled "Dean" and he kind of startled him.  Then I ran up next to him and got a chance to talk to him.  I am not sure how to describe it, but it was AWESOME!  We talked about, well, him of course and the Badwater race he had recently completed and about his books.  Up to that point, I think he hadn't really been noticed by anyone, he was just blending in with the marathoners, even though he was really just out for a training run, probably one of his 2 four hour training runs that he does each day.  Someone else came up and introduced themself to Dean so I thanked him for chatting and then left him alone.  I tried to take a couple pictures together but they didn't come out very good because we were moving, but here they are anyway.

Back to the marathon.  It was a great race, very scenic and I must say very hilly which is to be expected in San Francisco.  But I felt really good throughout it so it wasn't difficult for me.  We had the chance to run over the Golden Gate bridge, but it was early in the morning so it was still shrouded in fog and we couldn't even see the top of it.
That is the Golden Gate from a mile or so away, you can see the fog and clouds sitting right on top of it.
 Here are some of the other San Francisco sights we ran past.


 These were two unique marathoners: one was a naked woman (really it was a naked suit she was wearing) and a guy in a dominatrix outfit, which included a collar, attached chain, and tight leather underpants.  Sweet outfits, they make my jeans marathon look unbelievably tame.
 Famous hippy Haight and Asbury streets

 Uh, not really sure, but had to take a picture of the legs out of the second story window on Haight street
 Unique marathon sign
 AT&T park where the Giants play.  But Craig and I got a better view of the park the day before.
On Saturday we decided to go down to the Giants v. Dodgers game and see if we could get tickets.  Tickets at the window for seats were over $100 each, and for standing room only they were over $50 each.  Scalpers were selling them for around the same outside the stadium, even though we got there in the 4th inning.  So we went to a gate and bribed a security guard $20 and he let us both in, it was great, he even did the whole shake hands, exchange money trick.  I have to remember to smile when I take pictures of myself, that's my concentration face I guess.
That's San Francisco, marathon #7.  Next month is a very small marathon in West Virginia, should be a very different experience.

2 comments:

  1. I see you got the hands right this time.

    I'm intrigued on how you are going to pull off 11 and 12.

    ;)

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  2. I'm so jealous you got to meet Dean!! I want to meet him so bad! A girl I just ran in a relay with has met him previously too! I've read his other book, the one about 50 marathons, in 50 days, in 50 states. His running story is pretty neat. Nice job on #7

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