The Hot Chocolate Run

I am not one for one of these hyped races. You could say I am normally more conservative in my choice of races. However, this really sounded fun, I love chocolate and I love hot chocolate, so I thought, lets go ahead and register. There was a choice of 5K and 15K. I don't normally sign up for 5Ks where I have to drive beyond a radius of 3 miles, so I signed up for the 15K. I didn't pay much attention to anything till a couple of days before the race (other than ensuring that I had paid for parking and the shuttle), because it was not a priority until then. Suddenly, last week I realized that I couldn't pick up the packet on race day. That I needed to go on Friday or Saturday. The pick up was from a store in the city, a good 40 miles but very long to drive on a Friday after work (the last time I had to do that in November, it took me 90 minutes each way). So it meant going to the city on Saturday. It meant that I had to sacrifice at least half my Saturday for this purpose. I wasn't a happy camper and was telling my friends that I shouldn't have signed up for this race. The logistics were too hard to handle. 

So come Saturday morning, I went to my first regular Zumba class, ran a mile on the treadmill and drove to the city. It started raining half way through, the directions from the maps were wrong, and I spent 45 minutes driving from the wrong location to the right one. The venue for pick up was packed. With the rain and everyone wanting their race packets, there were a few volunteers directing traffic and I had had my fill of driving (I hardly drive on a daily basis, so this was way too much for me). Fortunately, everyone was very civilized in terms of waiting, parking spaces, etc. The volunteers were well organized. There wasn't a line for the pick up, so I was done in 2 minutes but I wasn't going to sit in the car for another 90 minutes. So I decided to browse the store. This is Sports Basement in San Francisco - it is huge and they have an excellent selection of gear. While browsing, they announced that it was 20% everything that day. My luck day :)

Landed up buying my first set of toe socks (I normally use my Vibrams without any socks), a pair of minimal New Balance (I used to alternate two pairs of shoes, but hadn't done so since I stuck to Vibrams last year. I wanted to see if that was doable and better for my legs. Last week I felt like I had overdone the workouts in the Vibrams), a pack of chocolate Gus, and a pair of shorts. I was glad that the browsing took longer than I had planned because I then had to drive home. It took a little while to get to the freeway, but not as bad as when I drove in, and I was off.

As always, I had my materials ready to go the previous night. This morning, I was up bright and early at 4:30. I like to have one or two cups of tea and a boiled egg normally as well as shower before I leave. The drive was uneventful and getting to the parking lot was also easy. The directions were great, the volunteers were great. Finding parking was not too bad. The lot was getting more full but the folks running the 5K would have come much earlier. There was a line for the shuttle but that moved very smoothly. Volunteers there too to ensure the right number of people for each bus. We rode in one of those fancy corporate buses that are used by Google, Genentech, etc and were the cause of protests in San Francisco as recent as last week. 

Getting to the race venue, the start of which was between the De Young and the California Academy of Sciences, there were plenty of portable toilets, which of course, one had to visit right away. There was a tent selling gear where everyone seemed to take shelter from the cold. It wasn't that cold - 41 deg Farenheit or 5 degrees Celcius but with no sun and just standing around and the wet ground, it felt cold. My toes actually felt frozen by the time I started to run. There were hundreds (maybe more) running the 15K to my pleasant surprise. Got into my corral about 20 minutes before the race. Being in the midst of a crowd really helped keep warm. 

The organizers did an excellent job of managing the start of the race, just as they did everything else. So by the end of it, of course, I had retracted on my - never to do these kind of races - never say never. 

While walking to the start, I met a colleague who had been there from earlier because she had to come for the 5K as well. Listened to the usual chatter while waiting for the race. One of the things that struck me - while waiting here and while checking in gear - so many people are into selfies - it made me feel older for sure :) It is always fun checking out the gear. 

When our corrall was let out, I started out at an ok pace, reminding myself that I just had to go slow and steady. Time was not of essence. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had reached the first mile at about 10:30 minutes and felt really good. So I told myself to keep to a similar pace and continue. The race went through Golden Gate Park, out on the road parallel to the ocean. The first sight of the ocean was magnificent as always. That is what makes me sign up for races in the city, I told myself. Even that one sight is enough to uplift my spirits, to energize me for the rest of the race, no matter what the distance. The waves, the surf, the fog, all of it making for a picturesque setting. about 3-4 miles were along the coast, going in one direction and returning in the other. Several folks stopped to take pictures. 

The water stops and gatorade stops were very well organized. I have trained my body to stay without water for long periods of time - not sure if it is good or bad but I basically don't stop at the water stops, don't feel full or bloated and don't have the urge to go to the restroom. So I think its a good thing for me. There was one spot about halfway through where they were handing out these chocolate squares. I debated but I had only had a boiled egg at about 5:30 a.m. and was kind of hungry so nibbled at it and finished it. It did help as far as energy goes but I felt a little full. 

Saw another colleague zipping through when I was at the 4 mile mark and he was at about 6. When I was at 6, crossed yet another colleague who was running with her husband. Miles 7 and 8 were a little uphill - gradual hills so I think I slowed down a wee bit but really felt good. The rest was easy. I felt really good at completing a longer distance (compared to just one half last year and an 8K after a gap of 2 years of no racing) and hope that the same feeling carries me through my next half and full marathon. 

The reward at the end, needless to say was fantastic. A cup of hot chocolate, a ton of chocolate sauce dip, a marshmellow, a banana, a rice crispy and some kind of wafer. I gobbled down the hot chocolate and dip with the marshmellow and banana while stretching and getting a picture of it. Great way to end the race.
 
A great way to spend a Sunday morning and a great run! Also glad that the weather gods obliged. Couldn't have asked for more.
 
 

The Streak So Far

So today was day#328 in my streak that I randomly decided to commit myself to sometime last year. Why? Several reasons. I never wanted to go back to the sloppy state that I had regressed into for a year or so, I didn't want to be afraid of being hurt, I wanted to challenge myself, and I wanted to continue enjoy running as I did since I was a little girl. The one factor that normally keeps me going under the difficult circumstances - I think of all the various children who suffer in various forms - be it battling cancer, be it the struggles that I have seen my own son go through, be it what my father had to face when he lost his dad at 19, it tends to be my motivation. My pain or struggle is not a patch and I should be able to go on. 

When I first embarked on this streak, the first few days might have been a bit challenging to keep it up each day, but then I sort of settled into a routine, and would go no matter what the time of day. However, the fall tends to be super busy - work, the kids' new routines, and my masters classes these past two years. So, I knew that juggling it would be an issue but juggle I must. So, whether it meant hitting the gym at 5, or whether it meant juggling through the morning routine between making lunch, waking up the kids, getting myself ready to squeeze in a mile or two, or between school and classes, it meant I just had to do it. There were certainly some days that were really hard. 

Some of the hardest days though I think was earlier this week when I was sick. This has been a cough for a week - that is way more than I ever have. Normally my cold lasts for two days. This time, it was not just the cough, the body ache and the weakness. But run I must to keep up my streak. So I did.  The other times it was super challenging was when I was in Colorado for my niece's graduation earlier this month. The minimum temperature was 12 degrees Farenheit. The maximum - no more than freezing point. It was bitterly cold. I only run in the Vibram 5 fingers and am just not used to the cold. Plus time was a factor to be considered. Saturday was busy with the graduation, reception, lunch, post party and dinner. Trying to squeeze in a run seemed almost impossible. So I came up with running up and down the hotel room from one door to the other. I first started with running on the spot but that becomes boring pretty quickly. So I decided to do it this way. It was not only challenging, it wasn't exacly my favorite way to run a mile (yes, I couldn't do more than a mile running up and down the hotel room). But I did it, and felt so much better at the end of it. The next day there was enough time to drive to the gym with my niece's friend who also wanted to work out. So even though we spent the day travelling, we came back to working out. It felt good. 

There will always be hurdles (or almost always) but overcoming those require sheer will power and as long as one is willing to do that, everything else falls in place.