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.
Alright! That’s great progress. Way to go, Juls. You R-O-C-K!
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??
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. :-)
All smiles at the finish!
I really enjoy those KP commercials on the radio.
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!
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!
Great blog, found you off CRN.
Congratulations on a strong run. Always nice to find a runner smiling widely in the before and after shots.
Nice work, Juls. It must have felt good to be racing again. Great time, too!
sounds like a fun run!
Just catching up–great job . Glad to see you were out and everything went well.