This is embarrassing

Today is one of the days I am glad my car has an automatic transmission. The day after running a 10K is not the time to be operating a car using both feet (as one must do in a vehicle with a manual gearbox). Not only did I run the 6.2 miles in the morning (freedom units!), but I also then walked another 13,000 steps in the afternoon, doing the usual photowalk in San Francisco’s Chinatown. My legs are a bit tired today, to say the least. Single-foot driving is definitely a luxury worth having. Long live the manual transmission, but these tired old legs prefer a car that can shift gears itself.

The day before the 10K run, I went to the Oakland Coliseum to watch baseball. The Los Angeles Angels was in town to face the Oakland Athletics, and that means the phenomenal Shohei Ohtani is also in town. While it’s sad he’s injured his elbow, and therefore won’t be pitching for (at least) the rest of the season, the two-way star is still serving duty with the bat as the Designated Hitter. Never one to pass up watching greatness in-person, we made the trip across the bay to Oakland.

And it was immediately clear that Ohtani is blockbuster in drawing a crowd. I’m fairly certain that half the people at the Coliseum was there to see him play. A sizable of number that continent was Japanese - some from here locally, some from Japan on travel. We were lined up at security behind a few Japanese travelers, and it was somewhat embarrassing to see them go through bag searches and metal detectors. Embarrassing for us Americans, and for America. Because back in their home country, security checks before entering a stadium is not a thing.

Crime is so low in Japan, and communal trust is so high, that people can freely go into sporting venues as if it’s a grocery store. I know this for a fact, because I’ve been to the Tokyo Dome to watch the Yomiuri Giants play. Meanwhile, here in the land of freedoms, we can’t even bring backpacks into venues now, because god forbid some maniac might sneak in something explosive. For a country that’s all about freedoms, the United States sure have a lot of movement restrictions. We ought to be embarrassed, honestly.

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I never said it was a large crowd…

A side of smokiness

Looks like we (read: San Francisco) are finally getting a whiff of that smoke from the wildfires up in northern California and Oregon. The air quality this afternoon was surprisingly bad. A blanket of smokiness seemingly wafted over us unannounced. It was the hottest day of the week, too. Those of us without air-conditioning at the home have a difficult choice tonight: open the windows to cool down rooms, or keep them close because air quality is not great. Which one would you prefer? A warm room, or a cool one with bad air?

Here’s what I am doing: keep the window open, and let the Coway air purifier do its thing. The machine is definitely more active than usual this evening.

Selfishly, I hope the air quality will improve by the time this Sunday arrives. That is when I will be running a 10K in the annual Giants Race. I can safely speak for all runners that we would prefer to run in good clean air. This reminds me of two years ago when a coworker was training for the Santa Rosa Marathon. It was all going well until wildfires erupted locally, creating challenging air conditions. While the race was not canceled, the coworker decided to skip the event. There’s no glory in it: who knows what sort of harm could materialize in the long term.

Obviously, my situation is not as drastic. Perhaps a bit of smokiness will add to the pleasant ambiance at the Embarcadero on a Sunday morning. I greatly enjoy running down that route and back to Oracle Park to compete the 10K distance. This year, due to enough people signing up for the event, they’ve re-extended the route all the way to Pier 39. Last year they made us loop back at the Ferry Building instead, necessitating two laps (instead of the single one when the turn is at Pier 39). That really threw me off my game last year, so no excuses this time.

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Too bright.

The Giant Race 2022

Yesterday I ran a 10K for the first time in six years. The annual Giant Race was once again held at Oracle Park. Coming out of the socially slumbering pandemic, I wanted to participate in the race again to get the joy of running with thousands of other people. Also, one of my good friends have never done any sort of long distance running event, so I wanted to be along with her for the challenge.

It was a typical mild Sunday morning in San Francisco, though unlike the previous years that I’ve done the race, this year the sun was completely out. No cloud or fog cover whatsoever. It was definitely a struggle through the sections where there were no shade coverage. I am far too used to training in the dense fog of the western side of San Francisco.

Also unlike in previous years, there were not a half marathon category. The longest distance is the 10K. Because of this, the organizers only cordoned off the streets from the ballpark northward up the Embarcadero, and turning around just past the Ferry Building. Two loops of this make the 10K. Back in 2016, we’d run all the way up towards Pier 39 before turning back. One loop of that would be the 10K.

Doing two loops definitely threw me off psychologically. Having to immediately repeat the route I just did created a mental burden which I’m pretty sure affected my overall performance. The second time around was more challenging and not as enjoyable.

With all those excuses fully baked in, I can now say I ran the 10K in about 58 minutes. That’s almost 10 minutes longer than my 2016 effort. Honestly, I probably did not train as hard as I should. Nonetheless I’m quite happy with that time, as getting it in under one hour was my goal. Of course, the runner’s high afterwards is the absolute best feeling in the world. That’s why we all run, right? And also for the big meal afterwards. Because “A victory should be honored with revels!”

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Much revels can be had here.