Running in the Sun: SF Half Marathon

[threadwalker]

Miss E and I in her room snuggling:

Me: I didn't get any kisses this morning and I've kissed you a bunch. Do you know why mommies need kisses?

Miss E: Because it makes you younger.

(Whoo Hoo! Bring on the Kissing!)

Miss E and I playing Yahtzee last night:

Miss E: I am the Yahtzee-Queen! I rule Yahtzee.

Me: I would be careful about bragging.

Then she immediately rolled 5 of a kind. Sheesh!

Post Race Comments

I ran a half marathon yesteday. Yay!
2 hours, 19 minutes total. Hurray!
I ran the whole thing and had a great time!

It was a gorgeous day out. I spent a lot of time rubber-necking Golden Gate Park and I know I had a huge smile on my face for most of it. It felt GREAT! I had some funny conversations on the way; We had to run past the finish line on our way out to the 2nd loop, so a bunch of gals and I were running past finishers who were fleet, lean, running machines. A few of them said, "wow, look at that." I cried out, "Why don't I eat better and run more?" And the crowd of ladies laughed. Yes, I carbo-loaded with Chinese food and mojito Saturday night. Hence the not "fleet, lean, running machine" wearing MY shoes. LOL.

I enjoyed the running. My shin splits didn't act up too much and the weird chronic calf/leg pain went away after a few miles. I got all warm and relaxed and found my zone in the pack. I even had a "fleet" mile during mile 8; I passed people and felt very gazelle like. It felt like I was doing a 9-min mile at that point, wheeee! And then my body crashed on mile 10. Every joint in my body was clamoring in pain... even an elbow! The elbow bit was kind of offensive because, well.. what gives? The brain told the elbow to knock it off. To add to the fun, one knee went knumb and I limped along for about 20 feet. I slowed down until it felt better and shook it off. So I was being careful and having fun.

There were 5 water stations; I snagged a whole bottle of gatorade at the last one and carried it in with me (I want to get one of those canteen belts the runners have for next time) and some "freebies" put on by locals, including the guy playing a tribal beat on a drum, the group that was blasting music, the "bacon station" at mile 11 and the "beer station" at mile 11.5. Too funny! (I didn't take any bacon or beer, but the bacon smelled great). At the final turn to the last 1/4 mile uphill finish there was a crowd holding their hands out to slap '5' as you ran past, which was super-cool... I got some skin and it helped charge me up the last bit. I finished strong on the uphill, speeding up and passing people, and even dodging around a wall of men. I dug out every last ounce of drive and energy I had, which is its own victory. After I crossed the finish and got funneled through the exit, Uncle J was there, clapping. (He did the 5k, woot woot)

I wasn't in great shape after the race; I'd truly used what I had left to get up that hill as fast as I could, so walking sucked. I walked just far enough to the post-race Expo to get my T-shirt and then turned around to trudge back up that hill. I skipped the other freebies - I have enough water bottles and dental floss (which is usually what you get). Wandering through the park back towards where I'd parked, we discovered that the finish was quite a bit further from the starting line than we'd guessed. We had to walk 45 minutes to get to the exit of the park (at 8th, near PoF Arts). It was a beautiful walk, but I was ready to be seated long before we got out of the park. Thank god for the Muse Cafe on the corner of 8th, which had Diet Coke and BLTs. We ate and then tromped down to Geary and 8th where the car was. After all that post-race tromping around, I was greatful that Uncle J offered to drive.

Right now I'm very sore. My quads are screaming in pain and my butt hurts; so sitting down and standing up suck. But I tell myself it's victory pain. And I'm still smiling, so it really must be the Pain O' Victory.

I plan on doing it next year. Anyone want to train or co-motivate?

P.S. Last year I concluded that I'd never have the bandwidth to train for a Half Iron Man Tri and set it aside as an unreasonable goal. The run-leg of the Half Iron is a half marathon... so I'm dusting that little idea off and re-examining it. Maybe it could fit into my life.