I decided to go for a little Run.
Running Log – Summary
- Days to Marathon: 181
- Training Week: 1 (Jan 24 – Jan 30)
- Day: Mon, Jan 25th
- Distance: 2.1 miles
- Time: 32 minutes
- Pace: 12 minute miles
The San Francisco Marathon Training Program’s Monday Runs start at Sidney Walton Park in downtown San Francisco. This is a small, but beautiful Park situated very close to the Ferry Building. It was raining, so we met at the Safeway right outside the Park on Jackson Street.
Rain or Sunshine (or Fog), We never stop Running !”
That is the unspoken motto of the training program, so everyone who showed up for the run braved the rains and ran !
Running Log – Ferry Building to Fisherman’s Wharf and Back
Melanie, our Monday Training Coach, gave some preliminary instructions and safety tips, and then split us up into different pace groups. After that, she told us to follow our pacers, and run for 15 minutes, then turn and come back to the home base, which was the Safeway outside Sidney Walton Park for today’s run.
I joined a pace group and we made our way to the Embarcadero Drive at the Ferry Building. Once we reached the Ferry building, we started to run up along the Embarcadero Drive (also the Barbary Coast Trail) towards Fisherman’s Wharf.
Five minutes into the run, I had lost my pace group and was running with just one other runner. I am so terrible at remembering name, but she introduced herself to me as “Hi, I am Shana, rhymes with Banana.”. Although I didn’t quite see the rhyme in her name and banana, still, that method of introduction worked, and I haven’t (yet) forgotten her name. Shana told me that she had trained for the San Francisco Marathon the previous year also, but had been unable to run it because she had to leave overseas for work.
Soon, I picked up my pace and left Shana behind, and reached Pier 39 about 15 minutes into the run. There, I saw Greg (SF Marathon Program Director) with the other “Elite Runners“, the ones that run at very fast paces. I did some stretches with Greg and the Elite Runners, and joined them on the way back to the Home Base.
Back at the Home Base
Back at Safeway we assembled under the sidewalk of an apartment building outside the park, and started our stretching session. Melanie stressed the importance of stretching to avoid soreness and injuries. Most guys hate stretching and I am no different. But it was much easier doing it in a group. So I followed suit.
After we stretched, we signed in, clocked our miles and left for the day.
