13.1
Posted By Administrator
This past Sunday I ran my first half marathon. I ran the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 35 minutes. I ran in the San Francisco First Half Marathon which routed me all along the piers on Fisherman’s Wharf, past Fort Mason and Crissy Field, over the Golden Gate bridge and back, with the finish line in Golden Gate park.
It sounds crazy, but I can honestly say that I have never experienced anything so wonderful! Part of it was just accomplishing this goal that seemed so unattainable. I had never run a distance longer than a 5k before I started training in March and even the 4 mile distance on the training schedule seemed daunting. I could barely believe it when I ran 7 miles for the first time. Then came the disappointment when I got sick a month before the race and missed all the longer runs on the schedule. I frantically tried two weeks before the race to make up for the lost time, but the last three weeks a runner is supposed to taper their distance and rest up. So, it was amazing to me when I crossed the finish line 15 minutes before the time I declared it would take me on my registration form.
The other part that made the whole experience enjoyable is that I kept the same pace throughout the race. I ran an 11:53 mile consistently from beginning to end. I am really proud that I did not slow down as the race went on and despite the hills on the course
There were people that sped up and passed me to have me pass them a mile later which was very satisfying.
I would also be lying if I said the few days after did not rock my world too. I was relatively sore for the rest of race day on Sunday, but not so bad on Monday. The biggest benefit was that I let myself eat or drink anything I wanted without regard for calorie content. My ipod said I burned 1675 calories before breakfast on Sunday, so I was able to eat a 1100 calorie piece of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory without any guilt
I am now pondering which half marathon to run next. I am determined to get a 2 hour and 15 minute time. I think this is definitely an attainable goal considering how hilly the San Francisco course was and given the setbacks with my training. Before getting sick in June, I was running 9 miles in an hour and a half. I look forward to besting my time in the next race. A couple possibilities are the Rock n’ Roll half marathon in San Jose in October. In this one, there are 16 local bands lined up along the course playing while we run which I think sounds pretty cool. Plus, it is local, so there is very little travel required. The other one is the Disney Princess half marathon in Disneyworld in Orlando. The inaugural Princess half marathon was last year, so it is relatively new, but I think it would be super cool to run one in a tiara…maybe a tutu around my shorts
Chad’s family may be planning a trip to Disneyworld next year and it would be really sweet if it happened to be on the same weekend as this race!
Race results: https://www.runraceresults.com/secure/raceresults.cfm?ID=RCLF2009
If this link does not work, you can go to http://www.runsfm.com/home.html and search the First Half Marathon for bib #23351.

