Arun Gupta, Miles to go ...

San Francisco Marathon 2009 Finishers Certificate & Pictures

Here is my official San Francisco Half Marathon finishers certificate:



And here are some pics (credits marathonfoto.com):

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San Francisco Half Marathon 2009 Completed - Personal Best so far!

I ran San Francisco Half Marathon 2009 yesterday and here are the results:



I'm excited about the results because improved my timing by almost 3 minutes. And running on Golden Gate Bridge is always a great experience. As always, the race was very well organized starting from expo to bib/tee-shirt distribution, well marked course, water and medical stations, local community support, buses from half marathon finish line to start line and every thing else. A few possible improvements are listed below.

I saw Dean Karnazes (50/50/50 marathon man) and met Bart Yasso (Yasso 800 man) in the Expo. There is certainly a wealth of knowledge to pick up from these elite runners.

1. Really, really, really qualify runners in Wave 1. Ask them for a qualifying time from a previous race or something. Walkers and 10-minute milers are NOT Wave 1.
2. Separate the course going on/off the Golden Gate Bridge, not just with orange cones, but with an additional rope. Otherwise slower runners spill over on the other side and almost bumping into the faster runners.
3. The expo hall had a wonderful set of exhibitors but it became really crowded as the day progressed. Either an alternate location or back to Market/Embaracdero next year is a better option.

1. Run a half-marathon with 7ish pace
2. Qualify for Boston - probably next year

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Running Pet Peeves - Running San Francisco Marathon 2009 First 1/2

I've been running for many many years now and got into long distance running 4 years ago. Just love outdoor running and use treadmill for speed workouts and hills. Treadmill is a very predictable environment and allows you to focus on particular aspects of training. Most of my workouts are in the neighborhood and I generally try to run on business trips. As much as I enjoy running, I have my share of pet peeves experienced over these past years.

1. Leashed dog who are wandering multiple feet away from the owners and certainly all the unleashed dogs chasing/barking people in public areas.
2. Abreast walkers on the trail not willing to give up way for the runners coming behind. They just look behind and continue walking at 2 miles/hour.
3. All the more weird, walkers abreast on the trail not willing to give up way for runners coming from front.
4. Group runners who run abreast, love to chat and don't yield to other runners.
5. Hikers who move to right when you say "right" coming from behind ... ouch!
6. Drivers yapping on their phone, not paying any attention to oncoming traffic and especially to pedestrian/walkers/runners.
7. Another similar one, drivers unwilling to yield on unprotected right turn for walkers/runners with right of way.
8. In races, runners (more like fast walkers) who sign up for Wave 1 and 2 where as they should really be Wave 6 or 7. They just cause extra traffic for faster runners.
9. In races again, right before or after the start the runners who take a deviation start peeing off anywhere they like ... yuck! Have seen it all the times in early morning races, especially San Francisco Marathon. I think one of the San Francisco Marathon photographers should shoot each runner's photo who is spoiling the bay with their dump and then publish them.
10. Walkers/runners who just stop to fix a shoe lace or itch or something else without bothering to check if there is somebody coming fast behind them.
11. Runners who expect a return "hello/hi" from you when you are totally focused on getting that last stretch completed.

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Pictures from San Franciso Marathon 2008

Some more pictures (taken by marathonfoto) from my recently concluded San Francisco 1/2 Marathon ...

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San Francisco Half Marathon 2008 Completed

Even though it took me 4 minutes extra from 2005 Half Marathon but I'm happy with the results knowing the amount of practice put in. The complete results are available here.

It was really exciting to be running with 19,000+ runners. The spectators, volunteers, staff, cops and everybody else were excellent. It is definitely fun to run this course with the amount of energy and planning, most likely will run again next year as well. Here is a video shot of marathon start:



Even though I ran a half-marathon but my 5-year old and wife did their own by waking up 3am in the morning, driving me around and then picking me from the finish line. Check out some pictures at:

• San Francisco Full Marathon 2007
• Silicon Valley Full Marathon 2006
• San Francisco Half Marathon 2005

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Running San Francisco Marathon 2008

Exactly 1 month later (Aug 3, 2008), I'll be running the San Francisco Marathon (First Half) - the coolest marathon right in the middle of Summer. Register Now! Read the 2nd newlsetter for all the latest developments.

• Music Miles - Local bands, cheerleaders and motivational signs and trivia through out the course
• Best Running City in America - Voted by Runner's World
• Spectator Bus Service for friends and family to cheer up
• Run through historic landmarks - Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Presidio, Home of San Francisco Giants, Bay Bridge
• Going Green - Reducing the impact on environment

Watch the entire course of full marathon in the video footage that follows a group of runners, led by Dean Karnazes (the ultra marathon man).

Part 1 at ...

• San Francisco 2007
• Silicon Valley 2006
• San Francisco 2005 (1/2)

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San Francisco Marathon 07 Finishers Certificate

Read all about my race participation here.

Technorati: running runsfm

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More pictures from San Francisco Marathon

Here are some more pictures (by marathonfoto.com) from my marathon last weekend:
 

I might have bought couple of pictures but a simple 5x7 is $14 and an 8x10 is $21. I think these prices are exorbitant especially when I get my digital pictures printed at $0.19 at Costco. They can certainly charge for the labor and probably better print quality, but I don't feel justified paying that much!!

 

Technorati: runsfm marathon running

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Completed San Francisco Marathon 2007

4 hours, 4 mins, 33 secs - yeah, that's what it took me to complete my first San Francisco Full Marathon.

I did First Half Marathon 2 years ago and First Full Marathon last year, but this was the first Full Marathon on the hills of San Francisco. Even though I could not complete within less than 4 hours but I was happy that I took only 3 short walk breaks and maintained my pace as planned. There was San Francisco characteristic-fog all through the course with no Sun shine anywhere at all, and in a way that helped. Here is the complete breakdown from the official results (bib# 1378):

Some other stats are:

The fastest male runner clocked 2:25:57 and the fastest female runner was 2:43:41.

The race was very well organized and some of the highlights that I liked are:

• The course was very well marked and the local crowd support was very supportive. This was much better than Silicon Valley Marathon last year where the course was lonely at quite a few spots. Today the course was well guided by cops or event team.
• There were ample water stations and each station was accompanied with a medical aid staff as well. This proved out to be a boon at Mile 23 where they applied Biofreeze to my sore thighs. And there was no stopping after that at all.
• There were music stations all through out the course and the frequency of stations increased during the last miles. This helped me maintain the rhythm closer to the stations. Kudos to all the bands for playing early in the morning.
• National Holistic Institute, College of Massage Therapy were giving a free massage to all the runners after the race. This helped a quick recovery of my sore body parts.

With my son before Start	Start Line
Right after the Finish	In front of the Bay Bridge
2007 Finisher Pose	With my wife and son after the Finish

And lastly, my wife and 4-year old son drove me to the race early morning and cheered for me at the start and the finish line. This was the biggest morale booster!

I read it somewhere "The only thing that does not hurt after a Marathon is your Pride". And I completely felt it today right after the race and the massage turned out to be a big blessing :)

Technorati: running runsfm marathon

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Ready For San Francisco Marathon

4 - days to San Francisco Marathon
24 - weeks of Training (including this one)
2 - weeks of Taper Down (including this one)
656 - miles of Running (excluding this week, once again jMaki helped me calculate the total mileage)
6 - long runs
4 - Personal Records (PG&E, PG&E again, 7-mile, PG&E yet again)
4 - fellow runners from Family & Friends

And I'm ready.

For friends who'd like to cheer me up in person, here is some information:

• Course - Text-based description and RunningMap.com-based map
• Spectator Guide (Suggested Spectator Viewing Location, Spectator Bus Options - Two spectator bus options that run in full loop around the course. You can purchase tickets online or at the registration area.)
• Parking and Transportation
• Street Closures and Traffic Impacts
• And then of course, you'll see me in the following gear (picture before last year's run) with my bib# 1378.

For fellow runners, wish you all good luck and here are few references:

• Packets can be picked at One Market Plaza on July 27th (11am-6pm) or 28th (9am-5pm) and find your bib# here. Race shirt is available at the Expo after packet pickup (Justin Herman Plaza).
• Full Marathon Pace Groups are available with a finish time from varying from 3hr to 5hr 30 min. First Half and Second Half pace groups are available as well.
• Pace Calculator - This tool calculates split times for Aid stations along the marathon course based on a desired finish time. It accounts for uphill and downhill, as well as increased fatigue that might be expected later in the race, by applying different “weights” to each section. A more generic version of this tool is available at Marathon Pace Band.

And for those whose wishes are always with me and will not be able to participate in person:

• Live results will be available here and you'll hear my story afterwards on this blog and whenever we meet :)

Wish me luck, my goal is to finish the marathon in less than 4 hours.

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19.98 miles this morning - last long run

Finished my sixth and last long run of 19.98 miles this morning (23.3, 23.3, 18.8, 18.5 and 17). The total duration of 3 hours, 4 minutes and 42 secs makes it a 9 min 14 sec/mile pace, still 4 seconds short of 9.10 min/mile required to finish marathon in less than 4 hours.

I'm feeling good after this long run and could have picked up pace during the last few miles. So, at this time, sub-4 hour goal seems achievable.

San Francisco Marathon .. I'm ready!

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23.3 miles this morning - 5th long run

3hours, 41 min, 16 secs - Approx 9 minutes extra than my last run. I ran exactly the same route as last time, but I developed a shooting pain in right abdomen around mile 19 which slowed m down. I'm still not able to figure what caused the pain cause I was going with a steady pace, drinking fluids and ate a bar too. I had a good night sleep and yesterday's dinner was nothing special. But 9 minutes is a BIG difference :(

This is the 5th long run (23.3, 18.8, 18.5, 17 so far) getting ready for the race. I'll do Rancho next weekend and then my last big run in 2 weekends from today and then taper down.

Miles to go ...

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Video Footage of San Francisco Marathon

15,000 runners will be running the "Coolest Summer Marathon" - San Francisco Marathon - in exactly a month from today. After 4 more weeks, all my training will be put to use.

Watch the entire course of full marathon in the video footage that follows a group of runners, led by Dean Karnazes (the ultra marathon man).

Technorati: runsfm running

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23.3 miles this morning - 4th long run

Ran 23.3 miles this morning in 3hours, 32 minutes, 31 secs. The map shows 2970 calories were burned in the process. This is the 4th long run for the upcoming San Francisco Marathon training.

I really enjoyed the run this morning because I did not take any breaks (except one towards the end and that too for traffic light). I think I'm getting a better grip on pacing my run. This pace requires me to cover the remaining 3 miles (for total 26.2 miles) in 27 mins, 29 secs to meet the sub-4 hour goal. And even the current pace can be easily improved. And my legs are also not that sore as they were during the last long run.

I'll skip the next weekend for long run and instead focus on extreme hills at Rancho. But otherwise 2 more long runs of similar length and then I'll be set for the race

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18.8 miles this morning

6 more weekends before the race and I've completed three big runs so far - 17, 18.5 and 18.8 this morning. Extending my run beyond Quito on Highway 9, all the way until N Santa Cruz Ave, gave me that extra hill (check elevation between mile 10 & 11, turn it on in the left-side control panel) I was looking last weekend. I plan to do 3 more long runs (at least one closer to 22) over next 5 weeks and then taper down. Here are some reasons I posted earlier on the importance of tapering.

In between, I'll continue tempo runs and hills at Rancho.

Technorati: running fitness runsfm

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