Today I had an incredible time running the Bay-to-Breakers, a 7.5 mile run through San Francisco with 20,000 other runners, with my brother. I say it was an incredible time–and it was–despite my being tired out going into the event. Okay, I was even a bit whiny about it (witness: last night’s post). And it worked out great, overall.
What Worked About Bay-to-Breakers 2023:
- Essentially acting as running coach for my bro, who hadn’t run much before. I went so far as creating a training schedule for him, running with him several times before the event, and checking in with him frequently. He even sent me screenshots of his runs! It was very satisfying contributing to him like this, and we both bonded in the process.
- This run came at the perfect time for me. Back in January, I was just starting running again after taking December off to rest and recover. Bay-to-Breakers was the perfect easy-going run for me to train for in the first half of the year.
- The run went very well today: we kept to a mellow pace, and took 1-minute walk breaks every 4 minutes, and generally enjoyed the festive atmosphere.
- We got some excellent support from family: our mom and some friends waved at us at the finish line; our step-mom and our dad hosted us for lunch afterward (which was helped by the fact that they live four blocks away from San Francisco’s Ocean Beach, where the race finishes); and various family sent us loving messages before and afterward.
- In my brother’s training process and in the final result, taking the slow-and-steady approach worked wonders. Not only did it prepare him for the distance (7 1/2 miles); also, our easy-going running approach today helped us both get to the finish line happy and healthy.
- Staying at my brother’s house in Concord and taking BART in early in the morning made getting to the starting line fairly easy.
What Could Have Worked Better:
- Going into today already a bit wiped out from a busy week doing rehearsals and performing for a school show.
- There was definitely a lot of travel involved: commuting from and back to Sacramento; taking BART both ways from Pleasant Hill into Downtown SF; and riding MUNI back from Ocean Beach. Fortunately, much of this was done with my brother, and we had a great time chatting.