SF 1/2 Marathon Complete!
I did it, 13.1 miles! It took 1 hour, 55 minues and 34 seconds. I placed 508 out of 1688 (about in the top 30%). I had a great time. The morning was really foggy. The trees were dripping water they were collecting from the fog. While waiting for the bathrooms a second time, I started talking with two women behind me. They were from the Davis, Calif. area and had run a few Ultra-marathons (50 miles). Kristin and Jennifer decided to run the 1/2 as a training run for their upcoming marathon in Sacramento. Since Kristin was going to be running 9 minute miles, I asked if she mind if I tagged along. Since this was a training run for me also, I thought if I had someone to keep pace with, I wouldn't overdo it.
We kept a nice pace with walking one minute each mile. There were a few hills on the course but nothing as bad as ONE STEP from the road to the sidewalk at mile 12! We crossed the 3rd Street bridge by SBC Park (ballpark) and there were signs with caution of a step up. When we got to it, it felt like the biggest hill I've ever climbed. A guy next to me asked were the elevator was, he didn't feel like taking the stairs.
Once we got to the final mile, I decided to break pace and kick it into high gear. Kristin said see ya later (when you run with someone, sometimes you need them to tell you it's ok to run ahead). I took off. I finished the last mile in 7:43, which is quite fast for me (even during training). As I was turning the corner to the finish line (still not quite sure how much of the mile I had left) the crowd was getting bigger and so were the cheers. There's nothing like someone yelling looking great, kick it in, go strong...I was really giving it all I had. And then I realized that after the 26 mile marker (the miles were marked for the marathon, not the 1/2), I still had another .2 miles to run! I kept all of my focus on the road ahead, picking people off one at a time, not letting anyone pass me.
When I crossed the finish line, I saw Kara from the AIDS Marathon office. She gave me a big cheer. She asked my time, I told her and she gave out another big cheer. I waited for Kristin to finish (only two minutes behind me) and then for Jennifer. We walked over, turned in our chip, and received our medal. That's why I ran, to get my first finisher's medal.
Back to training. This coming Saturday is an easy one, only 6 miles! Boy, if you asked me six months ago if I could run six miles, I would have looked at you and laughed!
We kept a nice pace with walking one minute each mile. There were a few hills on the course but nothing as bad as ONE STEP from the road to the sidewalk at mile 12! We crossed the 3rd Street bridge by SBC Park (ballpark) and there were signs with caution of a step up. When we got to it, it felt like the biggest hill I've ever climbed. A guy next to me asked were the elevator was, he didn't feel like taking the stairs.
Once we got to the final mile, I decided to break pace and kick it into high gear. Kristin said see ya later (when you run with someone, sometimes you need them to tell you it's ok to run ahead). I took off. I finished the last mile in 7:43, which is quite fast for me (even during training). As I was turning the corner to the finish line (still not quite sure how much of the mile I had left) the crowd was getting bigger and so were the cheers. There's nothing like someone yelling looking great, kick it in, go strong...I was really giving it all I had. And then I realized that after the 26 mile marker (the miles were marked for the marathon, not the 1/2), I still had another .2 miles to run! I kept all of my focus on the road ahead, picking people off one at a time, not letting anyone pass me.
When I crossed the finish line, I saw Kara from the AIDS Marathon office. She gave me a big cheer. She asked my time, I told her and she gave out another big cheer. I waited for Kristin to finish (only two minutes behind me) and then for Jennifer. We walked over, turned in our chip, and received our medal. That's why I ran, to get my first finisher's medal.
Back to training. This coming Saturday is an easy one, only 6 miles! Boy, if you asked me six months ago if I could run six miles, I would have looked at you and laughed!
posted by Brad at 3:29 PM
1 Comments:
Way to go! I am very proud of you!! Wish I could have been there to cheer you on! That was so awesome! ~A
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