Bay to Breakers!
My first time running the exciting San Francisco race with my
best friend 23 years ago, a bright sunny day greeted us. We had
trained for 4.5 months. I got up to only 4.5 miles in pre-training
for a race that took us 7.46 miles through San Francisco.
Bay to Breakers!
My first time running the exciting San Francisco race with my best friend 23 years ago, a bright sunny day greeted us. We had trained for 4.5 months. I got up to only 4.5 miles in pre-training for a race that took us 7.46 miles through San Francisco.
My running partner said, “Remember, Jeanmarie, when you get to the top of the hill, look back. You’ll see thousands of runners!”
When I got to the top of the hill, I looked back and saw a lady with a child in a stroller and two young teenagers running. Apparently the rest of the field had finished ahead of me. This was when I was 27-years old and had the hills of San Luis Obispo to train on.
Ah, to be young again. After the birth of my third daughter, I was determined to run the San Francisco Bay to Breakers again.
Jeannette, by now a half marathoner, patiently put up with me. But this time around I knew, she’d be the rabbit who finished way ahead of me. I barely made it in 2.5 hours. I definitely hit the wall, but made it.
Now in this luscious season of rain, our training has been limited to the treadmill, the Stairmaster and running between the raindrops on the levee or in the Eastern hills up Roop Road way, just so we can better make it up S.F’s finest knolls.
Thank goodness for machines, and Lady’s Health and Fitness, whose manager, Rosie, listened carefully to my intentions and helped me make a plan. She offered, “When I train I go 3 minutes hard, 3 minutes pull back, 3 minutes hard again.” My daughter Mariah coaches me, “Intervals, Mom.” So on my favorite machine, which on the first day I could only run for 16 minutes at a level 2.9, now I’m up to 44 minutes at 4.1 to 4.5 Of course, we have only 5 weeks to go. The encouragement of the women in the gym has been fabulous. I had never trained indoors before.
When Linda Barnes and I ran our first Leukemia Lymphoma Triathlon in November of 2003, all of our training was out of doors. We’d run from Christmas Hill Park’s levee out to the track at Gavilan College and in a big loop around the hills while Linda’s and my daughter practiced soccer.
Now, we are relying on the machines. But I love pounding the levee’s turf. Inside our head for the triathlon was the M.C. Hammer song, “Hammer time.” Who knows what this race’s mantra will be, “Singing in the Rain”?
Whatever the weather, I know my best running partner and pal, Linda Barnes, will be there every step of the way. Of course, she’ll finish just a few hills and hours ahead of me. Ovid said, “In our play we reveal what kind of people we are.” Linda is a person who has shown me, through smiles, pats on the back and encouraging voice mails, “Good job, you’ve increased your distance.”
We hope to go the distance in this May’s SF’s Bay to Breakers. Any running tips, questions or comments or notice about future races, feel free to e-mail Linda or me at
Mi**********@ao*.com
