San Francisco Half Marathon, July 25, 2010, San Francisco, California

Race Number 38

My life as an evangelist for running half marathons began three years ago, when I ran this particular half marathon, in foggy and misty San Francisco. I stood in my starting wave, getting ready to start my ninth half marathon with no specific goal in mind as to how many marathons I might run in my lifetime. My-o-my, how things changed that day.

As I lined up for the race today, with 20,000 other runners, I reflected back to that event of three years ago.... there I was, trying to warm myself in the cold San Francisco air, standing in front of two men chatting with one another. Both men were excited about the race but one of the men was expressing his phobia of BRIDGES. That period of ease-dropping plus a deep belly laugh in the hotel room with my son, Cameron, (we had just returned from touring a few wineries in Napa Valley), birthed this blog you have been subjected to for the last three years. You may enjoy reading part of my post of that special day, again. I have conveniently linked part of the July 2007 post onto a page that can be retrieved by hitting the link above this post entitled "An Exert from my blog post, July 2007...." I am ashamed to say, I made tragic fun of this poor man's phobia.... but, oh it was soooooo fun!!!

Running in San Francisco is special, without a doubt. The mere mention of San Francisco tends to make most of us imagine a special destination. It is often spoken of as one of the most charming cities in the world. I certainly experienced that on this trip. I spent part of my day at the Farmer's Market on the Embarcadero, listening to a variety of languages, sampling unusual foods (including, of course, oysters, some fine chocolate and exquisite jams) and listening to musicians play many different instruments including the oboe, the violin, kettle drums, ukuleles, guitars and the saxophone. My dinner was taken at the La Fitte Restaurant where I was expertly served by three beautiful waitresses (maybe they felt sorry for the charming Lebanese man who dined alone). I ordered an unusual pasta dish: It was Roasted Spaghetti in a Olive Oil Nettle sauce (it was green...seriously) with a mushroom, that I was unfamiliar with and had at least 15 letters in its name. I finished my pre-race meal with a wonderful Peach Tart and some French-pressed coffee. OH MY! Add to that, my table allowed me to view Coit Tower, the San Francisco Bay and a tremendous amount of foot traffic that made the people watching aspect of this adventure intriguing.

The race itself was wonderful. The weather was overcast, in the high 50's with very little wind. I ran very strong up to mile ten. The course turned into a leg shredder at that point with the last three miles comprised of 5% rolling hills.

Even with this special experience in San Francisco, Shakespeare's Macbeth may have had it right after all: Is life a tale "told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?" Well, enter stage right, the Idiot, Mikie Marathoner, with lots of sound and fury in his impetuous blog trying to accomplish a goal that, in the long run, probably means nothing.... except for the shiny medals and the resident pain in the legs, feet and especially the lower back. It may be time for this old man to reconsider his goal, or at least modify it. Ten half marathons a year may be more than I can bear without proper training (which has been limited in the last six months), weekly massages (which I never do) and sponsorship from Nike, Fed-Ex or whomever (which will NEVER happen). Maybe 100 marathons by my Seventieth birthday would be more sane. Or..... I might strike it lucky - ("lucky" here is defined as "uncharacteristically strong, no pain, with carefree abandon and a super positive attitude") and be able to recover better in the future and accomplish my original goal. We shall see.

Time: 2:24:05

Prayer List: Miles 1-3: Two-year old, Shelby Griffin, who has returned home after three and a half months in the hospital. Miles 4-6: Fred Sanders, my step-father. He is battling cancer with the attitude of a true Marine! Miles 7-9: My brother, John who is still trying to recover from three years of disease in his colon. Miles 10-13: Mike Nolan, the Interim Principal at my beloved Jefferson Academy. Mike took the leadership responsibilities for "my" school and I have prayed that his learning curve would be smooth and blessed as he serves a very special community that I miss, very, very, very much.