The San Francisco Hot Chocolate 15K was my first race of 2019. I’ve done a Hot Chocolate 15K in the past. So, I knew to expect hot chocolate at the end of race but that’s about it. Since I’m new to the San Francisco Bay Area I kept an open mind about the race and I vowed to have fun regardless.
My morning started at 4:45 am. I rolled out the bed and gave Mrs. 300PAR a kiss on her forehead. As I stumble to the bathroom I wondered if I was prepared for this race. Yes, I’ve been doing some running but nothing serious since the Snoopy Loop-a-thon in December. I tried to rationalize the distance in my half awake brain. “It’s only three 5K’s! You can do this distance in your sleep.” I said to myself as brushed my teeth half asleep.
This was my first time going to Golden Gate Park. From what I can tell it’s San Francisco’s version of Central Park. Like Central Park, the parking was atrocious. I knew something was up when they were selling shuttles tickets at the expo. I found a parking spot near the Mile 8 aid station. It didn’t hit me that I was that far from the starting line until I ask the volunteer how to get there. He pointed and responded about 2 miles in that direction. I gasped and thought about getting back my car to find another parking spot. But before I could respond the volunteer offered to give me a ride to the starting line.
When I arrived at the starting line I notice that I was assigned to the last corral. I wasn’t feeling that assignment. So I snuck into the corral ahead of mines.
About a 1/4 mile into the race I met two ladies who was also doing 1-1 intervals. I asked if I could tag along with them and we became a trio. They were a little faster than me so I had to push myself to keep up. It was challenging but wasn’t hard.
Miles 1-6, there was nothing to note. The course was flat and the ladies and I chatted during the run. When we made it to Ocean Beach, we took a few selfies and kept running.
Miles 6-9, we ran back into Golden Gate Park. It was no longer flat race. The incline was noticeable and it didn’t seem to stop until we made it to the finish line. Around mile 8.5, the sweeper passed me. I tried to have a conversation with her to slow her down but she saw through my ploy and kept running. With less than a half a mile to go shrugged it off and ran my slow pace until I crossed the finish line.
My official time was 2:28:29 with an average pace of 15:56/mile
Here were my splits:
INTERVAL
TIME
PACE
DISTANCE
TIME OF DAY
5K
44:50
14:26
5 Kilometer
9:07:42AM
10K
1:32:41
14:56
10 Kilometer
9:55:33AM
Full Course
2:28:29
15:56
15 Kilometer
10:51:21AM
Race Expo Quality/ Logistics
The race expo was at the South San Francisco Conference Center. It was a small expo. There were about 15-20 exhibitors there. Nothing super exciting. They gave out s’mores during the expo that was pretty cool. There was no packet pick up the day of the race. You either had to pick up your bib during the expo or have it mailed to you early on.
T-Shirts/SWAG
This year we got a full-zip hoodie. The hoodie had zip pockets and thumb holes. It was a nice quality hoodie. I was surprised that they offered sizes up to 3XL because most races stop at XXL. Two thumbs up for offering a hoodie I could actually wear. Race directors take note.
Parking/Race Access
The parking and access into Golden Gate Park was kind of trash. At the expo they sold shuttle tickets that ranged from $15-$30 depending on where the shuttle picked you up from. Since I had somewhere to be immediately after the race I opted to try to find parking near the race (bad idea). I got to Golden Gate Park around 6am. The park entrances was closed and the volunteers didn’t know where the location of the open entrance.
Race Course
Course Scenery
Most of the course was in Golden Gate Park. From miles 3 to 6.5 the course ran alongside the Ocean Beach. Everything about that part of the course was flat out stunning.
Course Difficulty
Most of the is course flat. But, the last 3 miles of the race is on an incline. It was enough incline to get on your nerves but it wasn’t unbearable.
Back of the pack friendliness
I seen plenty of water, Nuun Hydration, snacks at every station and they didn’t run out of medals. What more could you ask for?
Finish Line/ Post Race Experience
After you crossed the finish line they had volunteers with medals, bottles of waters, and Nuun Hydration. They also had plenty of Hot Chocolate mugs filled with goodies.
Overall Experience of the San Francisco Hot Chocolate 15K
This was a fun race and I would definitely do it again. I’m glad I met some awesome people along the course. Something that I did find weird was that there weren’t many people out there cheering us on. I also learnt that I need to do some hill work. Anytime I do a race that has hills the wheels fall off. That means that I need to get stronger so that won’t happen again.
Race Grade
I give this race a 4 out of 5. I wish there was same day packet pick up and the parking situation definitely left a bad taste in my mouth but not enough to stop me from running the race again.
I look forward to the next race. Which is the San Jose 408K! You can use code: RepresentME to save some $$$ on the race entry if you’re interested in running with me.
The NYC Marathon has been on my running bucket list since I started running in 2012. Well after 6 years of putting my name in the lottery I FINALLY got an entry into the NYC Marathon! If you’re like me you spent countless hours waking up early to workout and train for this moment. Now it’s time pack for the race and you don’t know where to start. Trust me, I’m right there with you. So I took the liberty to put together the ultimate NYC Marathon packing list. I made it for myself but I’m pretty sure that everyone running the New York City Marathon could use this list. Bear in mind that I’m traveling from California to NYC so you will need to change it for your needs. Hopefully, this packing list takes away some of the stress during race weekend. Good luck with your race.
So, I’ve been working my butt off to get back to this space. Getting back to this space took blood, sweat, tears, snot, boogers, curse words – ev-ver-ree thing that I had in me.
If y’all don’t know what I’m talking about let me give you some back story. In 2014, three months after running my first marathon. I had two car accidents that almost ended my running journey. After those car accidents all the races I signed up for I DNS (That’s “did not start” for those who don’t know the running lingo). All the appointment for press appearances disappeared, interviews for different magazines and newspapers miraculously disappeared into the ether. After those car accidents, I felt useless. My story didn’t matter to them once they found out I was injured. As a result, it made me felt like I didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that I use to weigh nearly 400 pounds and the doctor called me fat, told me that I was going to die and when I told him I was going to run a marathon – he laughed at me. It didn’t matter that I trained my ass off and ran said marathon weighing over 300 pounds. It didn’t matter that I lost almost 100 pounds – none of it mattered! When I had those car accidents everything that made me disappeared into thin air. I felt like I was nothing and I didn’t want to live.
It took almost two years to get healed from what happened in 2014. By then I gained all the weight I lost plus an extra 30 for good measure. Either way, I was eager to start the journey again. I missed running so much and that’s all I wanted to do while I was down. Then life happened! Hello, Achilles tendonitis with micro-tears! Hello Ultrasound Therapy! What’s up Physical Therapy? Hola Prolotherapy! I was injured again. The doctors told me it’s not in my best interest to run again. They said I should lose weight and that may help with my Achilles issues. “But how do I lose weight when my method for doing that is running, Doc?” This led to me finding a third, fourth, and even fifth opinions, experimental treatments that my insurance wouldn’t cover, and me proclaiming that I will run again no matter what the doctors said. So, I push forward and all those things lead me to this date at the starting line of the Race to The End of Summer Half Marathon.
While most of my injuries are healed, my previous Achilles injury is always in the back of my head. As a result, I changed my method of running to the Galloway Run-Walk-Run method. After a lot of research, I decided that running intervals would be the best way for me to get back into running without more stress to my Achilles. Since walk breaks are a part of the program I don’t have to feel bad if or when my Achilles give me trouble.
The day of the race I woke up at 3 am. I was wired and no matter what I did I couldn’t go back to sleep. So, after an hour of staring at the ceiling and Instagram, I got dressed, made breakfast, and put my contact in my eyes. Mrs. 300PAR got up shortly thereafter, got dress and we headed to the race. The car ride was not long, about 30 or so minutes. I sat quietly as I listen to my thoughts and visualized the entire race in my head. What would I do when the gun goes off? What do I do if the Gingerbread Man comes? What do I do if my Achilles gives me trouble? As thoughts raced mind I calmly took deep breaths and before I knew it we’re pulling into the parking lot of the park where the race starts.
It’s about a half mile walk from the parking lot to the starting line. While walking to the start/finish line I started my warm-up routine. As we approach the start/finish line of the race Mrs. 300PAR asks, “Is that it?” sounding underwhelm. “Yea, I guess”, I responded. There were about 40 or so people at the starting line stretching and doing calisthenics. “There is going to be a 30-minute delay,” the announcer explains over the PA system. A sense of relief went over me because that explains why so few people were here. We found a spot to get settled and I started my warm-up routine again. Since we have some extra time I can focus on each exercise. About 10 minutes into warming up Kathy, a lady I met a few weeks prior at a meetup and we bonded over the fact that we ran intervals, greeted Mrs.300PAR and I. We chatted until it was time to line up at the starting line. Kathy and I line up next to each other and I ask her which intervals she was running. 90/30 and you, she responds. I responded, “60/60”. We both nodded and the starting gun went off signaling us to run. We were off to the races and I knew I would come back to claim my medal.
Kathy and I made small talk for the first half mile as we ran our intervals. Everything seems to be going well until I got the sensation to go to the bathroom. I told Kathy that would catch up with her later on and we parted ways. When I got out of the porta-potty I could see Kathy about a half mile down the trail. I told myself that I can catch her and sprinted towards her but that did not happen. So, I had a choice to make, try to catch up with a familiar face and good conversation during the race or run alone. I decided there was no point to waste my energy at the beginning of the race. So I choose to run alone.
Mile 1: I checked in with myself to see how I’m doing. I asked myself how I’m feeling (Feeling strong!), how’s my Achilles and hips doing (Pain-free!) and how I’m feeling mentally (Feeling positive about the race!). Overall, I felt great about this race. By the time I made it to mile 2, my body was on autopilot. The app told me when to run/walk and I did just that.
Mile 6.5: At the halfway point of the race I saw Kathy and she had passed the pacers for the 3-hour finish. I yelled, “Good for you Kathy you are killing it,” and gave her a high-five. As I approached the water table I heard, “You’re doing good, keep going,” from the volunteers. I release a quick smile, grab a cup of lukewarm water took a swig and dump the rest on my head. On the way back, I gave high-fives and words of encouragement to the runners that I passed.
Mile 8: I did another check-in and overall, I still felt great. So, I decided to turn on my running playlist and sing some song as I enjoyed the views of the race. I ran by this huge mountain with cows on the side of it. I thought that is the closest I’ll get to cow tipping…
Mile 9: The sun was out and beaming on the back of my neck. One thing that I’m learning about Northern California weather is that even though it may be 75 degrees the sun is still oppressive. As the sun continued to beam on the back of my neck, my pace started to decline.
Mile 10: The volunteers yelled, “You only have 5K to go!!!” Great I got at least another 45 minutes in this oppressive sun. At the last water table, I grab a cup of Gatorade, took couple swigs and threw the cup in the makeshift trash can made out of a box with a trash bag in it. I took three or four steps from the trash and I felt this stinging pain in my calf. It startled me!!! I yelled in pain. I look down and two wasps were flying around my leg. Did these mf’ers sting me? Oh, hell naw!!! Not knowing the difference from a bee or wasp sting I rolled down my sock to see if there is was a stinger in my calf. I didn’t see or feel anything so I rolled my sock up and continued running.
With every step I took it felt as if I was getting stung over and over in my calf. I stopped to reexamine my calf nothing was there but the stinging sensation was very present. Maybe I should go back to the water station and tell them I need a medic? Naw, I got this! I’m not allergic to bug bites I have to work through this pain. I continue running. With every step the feeling of being stung intensified. I turned the volume up on my headphones and tried to sing to disassociate from the pain. I contemplated quitting the race at least five before I determined that I need to finish this race.
Mile 11: I am startled by someone yelling, “On your left!” I move to the right of the trail and this old lady power walking passes me. She looks at me and says almost me almost there!! Thank you, I replied as I gritted out a smile. My smile quickly turns into a frown as this power walking demon pass me. Wait a minute to the hell I’m going to let someone power walking beat me to the finish line. I picked up the pace but she was too fast and I was out of gas. I let out a huge sigh of disappointment and thought to myself you’re here to finish not to race with some power walking demon. Damn, you’re right Martinus! I need to stick to the plan. It’s interesting the amount of dialogue I have with myself while running.
Mile 12.5: I start to see people with medals around their neck eating a stale everything bagel. “You got this big guy you’re almost there. The finish line is right around this corner.” One of them proclaimed. Yeah right! I hate when people say you’re almost there and you’re not there. Yet, when I turned the corner I could see Kathy with her medal around her neck cheering me on. I ran as fast as I could through the finish line, raised my hands in victory and gave Kathy a hug. One of the volunteers put a medal around my neck I pause to take a quick picture and that was it.
I did it! I ran my first half marathon since all of this stuff happen in 2014. From working through depression, from wanting to die to feeling like my journey was over. I bounced back, I got back up and did what had to do to get back on the road and crossed that finish line. I proved to myself that I can do it again. It may take years to get back but I never took my eyes off the prize. To those of you reading this never take anything for granted because it could be taken from you in a matter of seconds. The other thing is this: A setback is a set up for a comeback. Guess what? I’m back!!!!
Iv’e never been the one for obstacle course races… To be quite honest the thought of doing one brings me back to when I went to summer camp in the 4th grade…We had to do an obstacle course race on the last day. My team was in the lead throughout the race until we got to the last obstacle which was “The Wall.” Being that I was biggest kid at camp, I helped everyone get over the wall but when it was my turn they no one could help me :(. My team was disqualified because I didn’t make it through all the obstacles and the team blamed me for the loss. Even, though I helped everyone get over the wall…. Ungrateful bastards!!
Anyways, enough with bringing up past traumas…
Recently, I was approached with the opportunity to participate in the Men’s Health URBANATHLON and I thinking this maybe my time for redemption. So I’m going to expand my comfort zone and give it a shot. (Wish me luck and pray for me!)
For those who don’t know what The Men’s Health URBANATHLON is. It’s an obstacle course run with an urban theme, it will have you running stadium steps, swinging across monkey bars, jumping over barricades, taxicabs, and climbing over buses.
The URBANATHLON has two distances, classic and sprint. The classic distance has 14 obstacles over a 10-12 mile distance and the sprint distance has 7 obstacles over 3-5 miles.
I will be doing the sprint distance in New York on 10.25. However if, you are not on the east coast the URBANATHLON will also take place in Chicago on 10/18, it will be hosted by Shaun T and on 11/23 in San Francisco.
Want to join in on the festivities?Use code FIT to get 20% off your registration fee!
I’m hoping this race does not end up like summer camp… Either way I’m going to give it all I got….
Until next time…
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Lately I’ve been running… It’s slow, It doesn’t look good, and it’s hard! However, I’ve been running…It’s a win in my book and I’ll take it. It’s my hope that I will be fully healed in time to train for the Hartford Marathon… I don’t know if it’s realistic now, but it’s my dream that I’m holding on to… In the meantime, I’m going to run/walk a couple of 5Ks to get back in action… I miss all the excitement of race day, talking to new people, giving high fives, and of course crossing the finish line.
The kind folks at the Color In Motion Hartford 5K, hooked me up with a free admission to their race. I’m pretty excited about it because I’ve never done a color run… Plus I’m interested to see how my locs and the color are going to mesh…I wonder how long will it take me to get it all out of my hair. Another reason that I’m excited about running the Color In Motion Hartford 5K is they’ve teamed up with End Hunger Connecticut. Which is a charity who fights to end hunger in the state of Connecticut. I love a race that supports a cause.
It’s sound cool doesn’t it? Would you like to run the race with me? Well, that’s great because two lucky individuals will have the opportunity to take part in the race. See the Rafflcopter below for more details…
Have you ever ran the Color in Motion Race? If so, how was your experience?
Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have. -Louis E. Boone
What’s up goal crushers! While reading this quote I thought about my childhood. One particular conversation with my best friend’s grandfather Hayes. I was leaving to go to Tennessee for college. I remember telling Hayes that I was afraid of what may come, when I leave Detroit. This was my first time out of the city and I didn’t know anyone in Tennessee. Hayes told me, “Marty never let your fear stop you from progressing… Look around you at the people on this block… All of these dreams deferred… A lot of them are should of, could of, and would ofs. Don’t like be them Marty! You’re bigger than that…”
Hayes was right I am bigger than that… What a life lesson to learn? As I progress through this journey, I pride myself on my fearlessness. Trying new things and living through different experiences keep me going.
My next event is no different… I’m going to run a vertical marathon on February 8, 2014. I will be participating in the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb. The reasons that I decided to do the Fight for Air Climb: Was to challenge myself to keep things new and spicy. I think climbing 400 – 500 stairs sounds Mucho Caliente! Also looking at the stats of lung cancer/disease is alarming… Why not use my voice to help the cause in any way, form, shape or fashion?
Here are some stats on lung disease:
Lung cancer is the #1 cancer killer in America. One in five people diagnosed this year have never smoked a day in their life.
Lung cancer overtook breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States in 1987 and now claims the lives of more women each year than breast, ovarian and cervical cancers combined,
159,480 people will die from lung cancer this year, that’s 433 people per day.
Now I need your help please donate to help me reach my goal of $250. No donations too small and everything is tax-deductible. If you are in the New Haven area I challenge you to join me on the climb. I guarantee that it will be tons of fun.
