You won’t know if you don’t quite have it until you try.

Frank exiting Golden Gate Park (Mile 20), 📸 photo by David Lam (@davidtlam)

On Sunday, July 28th, 2024, I ran the San Francisco Marathon for the sixth consecutive time. I’m lucky enough to have run the three domestic major marathons (New York, Boston, Chicago), but my hometown race will always be the biggest deal for me because it was my first marathon in 2018.

The first half of 2024 has been rough. After a great 5K race in early March, coughing and chest pains that didn’t go away were diagnosed as pneumonia. I recovered enough and just in time to run the Boston Marathon in April, albeit at a much slower pace than last year. As my legs were recovering from Boston, I again had shortness of breath in early May. I thought it was some sort of pneumonia relapse, but an X-ray and subsequent CT scan found a pulmonary embolism.

Frank’s chest X-ray showing blood clot

Once prescribed anticoagulants (blood thinners), I started to get my wind back. I now had to feel out what the current version of me could run. In early June, an easy pace was achievable but was about 0:30/mile slower. Unfortunately, a moderate or marathon pace was 1:00/mile slower, and anything resembling a hard or 5K effort felt as bad as 1:30/mile slower.

Still I built up my running volume to 70 miles per week, higher than ever before. I ran with the Run365 training program for the San Francisco Marathon where Movemint’s Paul Atienza and I are volunteer pacers. If I couldn’t go hard, at least I could try going long, so I thought.

Movemint’s Paul Atienza and Frank at the SF Marathon Expo

The thesis of this training cycle was whether I could run myself into shape after the pulmonary embolism diagnosis and would higher mileage help offset the lack of speed. It came close to working, as I finally got back to former speeds a few weeks before the race. I wasn’t sure if I could top last year’s 3:17:56, but I thought I might be able to go sub-3:20.

The “flat runner” layout the day before

I had the FindMyMarathon.com 3:19:59 Very Conservative Start, Even Effort pace band on my left wrist, but I inadvertently and foolishly got away from that pretty early. It was just so nice to run the first half with friends Jerome Thai and Oliver Chan, as we all finished within a minute of each other last year.

The first half felt reasonably easy, so I deluded myself into thinking I could duck under 3:18 again. The marathon just feels so easy until it doesn’t. I’ve always felt you are under constant duress to limit time losses on this hilly course. While I should’ve done it sooner, I unhitched from Jerome and Oliver around mile 15. It’s never too late to make a smart decision. By the time I got to mile 20, I thought I was settling into a groove and was focusing on saving 3:20.

Frank on Haight at Stanyan (Mile 20), 📸 photo by Kimee Howley (@kimeehowley)

It was nice to see so many friends on the course. Even when I’m not racing local races, I’m usually volunteering or at least cheering. I remember giving the thumbs up here to Vincent at mile 22, but I don’t remember too much after and didn’t quite have the speed endurance needed to finish the race as strong as before. In the last four miles, I gave back half a minute each mile, and that’s the two minutes that cost me 3:20. Looking back, I’m relieved I limited the damage.

Frank on Guerrero St. (Mile 22), 📸 photo by Vincent Samaco (@milesperdonut)

Afterwards, Jerome and I were the first marathoners to hobble over to the Tracksmith poster stamping at The Crossing at East Cut. At least I lived up to the BQ 24 singlet with a -0:03:07 margin, though that won’t hold up to any substantive cut-off. It’s of some reassurance on a course where historically 3–4% of runners hit a nominally qualifying time.

Frank at The Crossing at East Cut

I had hoped I was back at my old form come July, but apparently I have a little way to go. Usually I feel more limited by the musculoskeletal system holding up, but today maybe I felt more limited cardiovascularly. I just couldn’t turn my legs over fast enough.

Frank hunched over seconds after crossing the finish line

I was a bit salty at first, but in time I’ll see this as a great step in the right direction. It was 11 minutes better than the post-pneumonia Boston. Someday I’ll get back to who I once was. It just wasn’t today.

About Movemint

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Past the Finish Line

This blog post is part of Movemint’s Past the Finish Line (PTFL) series, our ongoing celebration of endurance athletics and the people, places, and events that make the community so special. ❤️‍🔥

About the Author

Frank Chan (@chanarchy) is an endurance athlete in the San Francisco running community, best known for his incredible Strava art, his pacing for trainees at the Run365 marathon training program, and his involvement in the WeRunSF run club.