Climbs and Crossings

We had a time. So 5 awesome people I know actually agreed to do this. GeNene, Staci, Jim, Kat, and Laura got to experience the 12 kilometers of mayhem in the streets of San Francisco that is Bay to Breakers.  The night before the big race we ate at a fancy italian place that was at the fancy hotel across the street from where we were staying (not fancy). We had some concern it might be too fancy, but we could walk to it, that was the important part. Staci and I pre-gamed by each drinking a bottle of wine at dinner. Jim said, "I'll have the bunny" when the waiter was taking his order, and then we all pulled out our iphones to show that we had checked in on facebook earning us free dessert. Also, GeNene may or may not have led our waiter to believe we were restaurant reviewers. We have Griswold class. So delicious and so free.  The next morning we were all up early to find somewhere to park near the finish and take the muni down to the start. It was chilly so w...

(that sometimes falls into the ocean) I've heard you're supposed to add anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes onto your marathon time to project your finish time for Big Sur. Because it's hard....SO... because 1)The course was altered this year to omit the two mile climb to Hurricane Point, and 2) Having done only one marathon previously- that was done after running a half marathon the day before, with a lot of pit stops and sometimes waiting in line to take pictures- I decided to actually *subtract* time to set my finish goals. Don't worry, I wasn't even halfway through before I felt like an idiot. We camped in Carmel at the Saddle Mountain RV park that had cozy campsites and was only a few miles from Carmel Middle School where I had to catch the bus to the start. I left about 4:30am, and Staci, Jim, and GeNene didn't have to be at the 5k start until 7:45. I hung out in the (warm) car as long as I could at the school, until about 5, knowing once I got to t...