The alarm didn’t even need to go off; I was already awake. I was awake most of the wee hours of the morning thanks to Tom’s tossing and turning in bed. You’d think that he was racing. Oh well, at least there was no chance of me missing the bus ride to the race.
I was a little worried about my history of motion sickness. I skipped my coffee, which made being awake all the more challenging but allowed me to get a nice seat at the front, which was a great thing. I didn’t even need to take my dramamine.
The bus dropped us off near the start in plenty of time to hit the port-o-potties and squeeze into the crowd. There sure were a lot of people out for the Kaiser Permanete Half Marathon. It took a minute or so to hit the start and then we were off and weaving through the crowd.
Basically the first mile was a bit of a blur. I was running with Cindy and aware that I was running faster than Coach had wanted me to go. I kept bidding Cindy to go on, but separation was easier said than done. Finally, I watched her move ahead of me, when a few runners got in between us. I could see her looking around for me, but I needed to let her go.
Through the early miles, I was feeling good. I tried to keep it slow, but couldn’t manage to slow down enough. I was taking it easy though, and my foot was doing fine with my trail shoes and the orthotic/metatarsal arch cushion set-up.
After the 10K mark, I had the go ahead to speed up a little. The new range felt more natural to me. I was still getting passed right and left even though I was now moving faster. As I made my way towards the Great Highway the race leader was already heading up to the finish line. I caught a picture of him as he went by.
The race continued for about 3 miles out past the zoo where the turn around point takes you back the other way. The road had many potholes and was gradually up hill. Since there is two-way traffic, it was difficult the maneuver past the slower runners. I was so happy to be turning back towards the finish line.
The turn around point was about the point where I was allowed to really move if I felt like it. I took advantage of the slight downhill and stayed relaxed. I didn’t want to waste a lot of energy weaving in and out of the slower runners. These runners were in front of me up to this point but there sure were a lot of them that were losing steam. I was feeling good, BUT it didn’t seem like I was running much faster. Every time I looked to Garminia for my lap pace it was roughly the same as before.
As I turned the corner leading back into Golden Gate Park, I really began pushing. I could feel the effort all through my body. It is sure to be one of the few moments where the smile left my face. *sigh* My photo from Brightroom isn’t likely to be a pretty one.
I finished strong, picked up my race shirt, post race freebies, and began making my way to the bus. The smile returned to my face when I ran into an old friend that I met at the Napa Marathon. It wasn’t long before I was feeling tired again. I was happy to be able to nap a bit on the bus ride home.
Posted by Juls.
Filed under Going to the races, Running is everything
Posted on Sun, 04 February 2007 at 4:24 pm
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Life is a journey and, for me, running is a huge part of it. Just like a great run, it has easy and tough parts. It is beautiful at times and ugly at others. Hopefully, I will reach the finish feeling good about what I have accomplished and leave a long trail of bread crumbs to show, those that wish to know, where I have been.
Alright! That’s great progress. Way to go, Juls. You R-O-C-K!
04 Feb 07 at 5:56 pm #What was your time? I had people passing me like crazy, too. I also saw the leader just about when I was turning on to the Great Highway. I also could not wait to get to the turnaround.
Sounds like we were near each other but that doesn’t seem possible as I run about a minute a mile slower than you on your worst and my best days.
Also – you felt horrible when you turned back into the park because that was a real hill!
So spill it – what was your finishing time??
04 Feb 07 at 8:06 pm #Congratulations, Juls! Glad to see you back racing. Thanks for the MB link–I checked out your race. That’s great s/ware; really gives you a lot of info.
Rest well. :-)
04 Feb 07 at 8:44 pm #All smiles at the finish!
I really enjoy those KP commercials on the radio.
04 Feb 07 at 9:29 pm #Good for you on getting a race under your belt!
I ran that race last year, but decided not to register this time around. Too crowded; plus the T-Shirt was really ugly!
04 Feb 07 at 11:36 pm #Thanks to everyone for your comments.
I am still trying to find the posting for my official time. I forgot to stop Garminia at the finish line. Opps.
I used the “player” feature on MotionBased.com to see where my pace changed from fast to slow…I came up with 1:56:59. This doesn’t include the gun to start time.
In the final mile I was passing people like crazy going up that hill. That was nice. I still wish it wasn’t so crowded though.
Oh, and the race shirt was ugly again this year. To make matters worse, they were out of smalls again. What is up with that? We all tell them our sizes!
05 Feb 07 at 6:55 am #Great blog, found you off CRN.
05 Feb 07 at 8:25 am #Congratulations on a strong run. Always nice to find a runner smiling widely in the before and after shots.
05 Feb 07 at 2:27 pm #Nice work, Juls. It must have felt good to be racing again. Great time, too!
05 Feb 07 at 4:21 pm #sounds like a fun run!
08 Feb 07 at 8:31 pm #Just catching up–great job . Glad to see you were out and everything went well.
10 Feb 07 at 5:29 am #