muni shmuni - my nike women's race report kinda

i'm a little frustrated with myself because i know i'm skipping around with my story telling here. i KNOW over the last couple weeks/couple long rides & runs i've come up with some gooooood stories to tell, i just haven't had the time to sit and write them. so i'm skipping forward, so as not to get more behind, we all know i don't like doing this and it's making my palms sweat as we speak. moving forward.



this past weekend i decided to not only participate in the nike women's half marathon, i guess i should say, "i was selected to participate" as it is a lottery system to get in. even more pressure to have fun right?? in true katy fashion, i couldn't just go to a race, run, & come home like everyone else, so i decided to make this a true adventure and go car-less to this race. being that the race is in san fran. and lots of people there don't own cars anyways, AND i hate driving there, this sounded like a great plan. i was also staying with a friend (this detail is important so listen carefully) who lived BETWEEN the RACE START and the RACE FINISH. the race was to start at union square, and finish on the other side of the bay near golden gate park. if you flew straight overhead start to finish, erica's apt. would land right in the middle (you will need this picture later to enjoy the full humor of this story).



i was so excited as this (choose your adjective here) [silly,dumb,crazy,funny,eco-friendly,cheap,etc.] plan was developing. i was envisioning myself studying on the train, making friends, arriving in san francisco, and being some cute traveling girlie, registering and hanging out drinking coffee with friends, then just taking the muni all around town where ever i wanted to go (remember this statement later, it's important), taking muni to my friend's apartment, and then taking muni to the race, etc. i was pumped and i was ready.



two days before the departure date, i (also in true katy fashion) started studying my san francisco maps, and the muni transit system to maximize the fun and decrease my transportation anxiety. i printed out which muni's i would need to take where and had my little travel packet ready to go. i was READY!



**please note i will talk about the race, but the transportation portion of this trip is WAY more interesting**



i jumped on the train saturday morning before the sun came up. i was instantly totally into train riding. i got my studying stuff out and turned my music up. this was FUN! before i knew it i was hoping on a smelly, cramped, uncomfortable, and crowded bus to take me into the city. this is where things started to go downhill. i got off the bus and was INSTANTLY completely overstimulated and overwhelmed. there were loud noises, people yelling, terrible smells (i got off on market street). i had no idea where i was. naive-katy-from-big-creek assumed the union square bus stop was literally in union square (it's not). finally i found my way to union square to register for the race. still thinking things were going to just fall-into-place as i typically imagine the worst case scenario for such situations and then typically things go WAY smoother than i expect. i thought, it's all down hill from here, i'm going to have a fun day. (insert evil laugh here).



race registration was more overwhelming than the rest of the entire city. imagine loud music, people bumping into you constantly, a crowded room so packed you can barely make forward progress (those who know me well, know i can't handle any of these options). i basically walked straight through the expo from one end to the other without stopping to look at anything. i felt the world was spinning around me. i decided to try and calm down and call my friend i was staying with and see what her day looked like. a few phone calls and texts later and i had no information (i didn't know at this point i had the wrong number). called another friend and we met for lunch. always nice to catch up with old roommates! after lunch i decided to try and "take in the experience" and check out the expo one more time. again, walked in the tent, freaked out, and walked as fast as i could go to the other end! agh! ok, now what? obviously done here, still haven't heard from my friend i'm staying with. can't even hear my phone, or my thoughts, i'm not sure where to go from here, i'm freaking out, i'm getting cold, BORDERS! i saw borders on the corner near union square. i bet it's quiet in there i thought! felt like i ran to borders to relish in the quiet and get my head around things. (note: i'm almost in tears at this point, this story is much more funny in retrospect, fyi).



after studying my muni maps in my quiet little borders corner, i decided to head to my friend's apartment. ok. here i go jumping on my first muni. found the bus stop, found the "right" muni, hoped on. whoo hoo, this is easy. before i knew it, the driver said, "last stop". i was about 10 blocks from union square, and definitely NOT closer to my friends apartment. hmmmm? this could be tough (and the muni drivers aren't friendly so don't ask them questions fyi). i asked directions to the "right" muni at starbucks (after aimlessly walking 3 blocks in the wrong direction) and got multiple answers. the best advice was, "head north to the muni-1". north? i have no idea which way is north in san francisco?!? ended up walking east. ended up back at union square. headed in the "right"direction towards the street i was looking for (to the north). found the street......started looking for the muni.....walked about 10 blocks (up hill mostly) finally realized there weren't even any muni's ON said street. ok.......finally busted out my muni-map (yes, i had a muni map that whole time!) apparently i was walking the same direction as the muni just one block over. finally made it to that street, got on the right muni. PHEW! missed my stop, had to walk 3 blocks up-hill (i think it was all flat while i was actually on the muni). finally made it to the apartment about 2.5 hours after i started there (i think it's like 2.5 miles from union square, i suck).



race morning given my recent failed attempts at muni-ing. i was a little bit nervous about getting to the race site on time. i headed out to the bus stop at 5:30 am. luckily my friend's neighbor was also racing and told me i was standing on the wrong corner to catch the bus, and she also accompanied me through the part of san francicsco where, "she doesn't walk" when the muni didn't take us all the way to union square and instead dropped us, "in not the best part of town". we weaved our way through hookers and bums, and finally just before sunrise we arrived in union square. just so everyone is clear on this. #1 i would have missed the muni had it not been for my new friend and #2 i would have FREAKED out when the muni dropped me off, alone in the dark, having no idea where i was with all the hookers and bums of san fran.

at this point i was just thankful:
#1 i wasn't wearing my new hot pink running dress
#2 i wasn't running the marathon
#3 i didn't have to worry about getting to the race on time anymore



the race went really well. i thought my legs would be more tired from walking up hill around town all day the day before. the day was beautiful, warm (for SF morning standards), and clear. it took me my usual three miles to warm-up and enjoy myself, and just as i got in my grove we started going up-hill and didn't start going down until mile 9.5. DUDE. that was rough. the rest of the run was fun. i started running with a couple of girls who were #1 hilarious and #2 wanted to push hard from mile 10-13.1. OK. i was ready and excited. we set mini-funny-goals, like catching blue-shirt-guy etc. it was a lot of fun!! i wore my ironman hat and unfortunately these ladies felt it necessary to pull the ironman card. "c'mon you're an ironman!?" agh! the race was over, i felt great, got my new finishers necklace, water, food, massage, and headed out on my next muni adventure.



honestly, i really thought my muni-mishaps from the day before were flukes. how hard can it be right?? i found the corner i was supposed to be on found the "right" muni and hopped on. i was supposed to take this muni to Geary & 33rd. i'm watching the streets go by, 34....33....(aren't we turning here?), 30....29...(maybe it's going to make a u-turn up here).......17.....16....(not getting off here!! this is NOT a good place to get off).....7....6.....(this is looking worse and worse! again, glad i didn't wear my running dress, in case i need to get off here, can it get worse than this?) market st!......i know market street! i get off the bus, JUST because i knew the name of this street, thus feeling like i knew where i was. luckily after a few blocks i realized i was just south of union square (yep, got my NESW down now! kinda.). i make it to union square and luckily know how to get back to my friends apt. from here (after the prior day's adventure). i make it back to her apt., take a shower, and we went out to a nice brunch. luckily she drove me to the bus, i had had enough of SF public transportation.



the funny thing is, i really want to go back and do better at muni-ing. do they just go where ever they want?!?