Golden Gate Double 8k Race Recap
with emphasis on running with a tween
We choose this race a long time ago, in the early stage of our trip planning, because it was the only one that could fit the schedule and had a theme/medal/shirt.
We landed in San Francisco at noon on Saturday and visited all afternoon. I did not know what effect the jet-lag and all the walking would do on 11y.o DD, my running partner. It was a good test for Marathon Weekend.
I woke up at 3:15AM, just because. But DD woke up at 5AM, a minute before the alarm. She was excited and in a super racing mood.
She took in well that we had not found the groceries the night before so we had to leave earlier. We found a Starbucks opened at 5:30AM in the Financial District
. We then went for the bus, which was not the right one for our Muni passes. Time passed, excitation went up but we were finally dropped at the Presidio around 7AM, a bit more than a mile from the race site. DD was a trooper and I believe that this walk turned out to be a great warmup.
The fog was present all morning and we could hear the horn. Temperature was cool. Crissy Field is flat and by the water. Good conditions overall except for taking pictures with the bridge.
There is about 500 participants split on three distances : 10k, 5k and Double 8k (5k+3k). The organizers were ready and things went smoothly. The Double is their speciality and DD had been looking at registrations to see if she could place in her age group. She correctly identified a 12yo, a 15yo but not the three 18yo. Knowing her as her coach, I knew she was going to push that race because of it. We had agreed on a coaching strategy: I would tell her “Breathe”, “Smile” and “You can do this”. I would answer on distance and pace only on request. I would not engage in her complaints. I would let her finish in front of me.
There was no chip for time so after our warmup, we placed ourselves in the first few rows for the 5k with a 8AM start. DD ran her best 5k ever in 25:03, no pain, smiling, talking to a fellow runner (hello Lori) and sprinting the last 500m.
We stretched, snacked, put a sweatshirt on and mostly sat until we had to warmup again. DD could feel that her legs were tired.
For the 3k departure at 9:15AM, we put ourselves right behind the line, close to the other young ladies and went too fast at the beginning. Also DD lace came untied 500m into the race. That broke her spirit and rythme. Although she did complain, cried and got mad at me, she still ran this portion in 15:47! Part of the frustration was knowing she was not catching up that 12yo... It turns out that nobody did either... She was the overall female winner (impressive, congratulations!). And the 15yo was the sister of the overall male winner, wearing the same college competition team shirt. That was a great lesson for DD.
The race medal was beautiful and, after we calmed down and ate some of the post race snacks, we waited for the awards. And the race organizers really came nice on this one (maybe on my suggestion
): DD got a medal for being 2/2 in the newly created 12 and under age group! As for myself, I came 4th in my age group with a total 8k time of 41:00 (thanks for posting
@LSUlakes)
We celebrated by walking all around San Francisco (with our medals on Sunday) for the three following days... As DD said, it was a very active recovery!
And I can now add California to the list of States I ran in
@jennamfeo
... Too soon? The announcing team does a run through in the wee hours, but that only covers so much. If they don't get someone good to be the main cog, you're going to hear it. Carissa ain't it. (She has TV background, but in short scripted news stories.) It takes a special talent to fill the air the way Rudy does. If they did this to save money, that money better show up somewhere else. (Personally, if money is an issue, I think they should fix the expo first.)
