Runner # 904

The Half Moon Bay race is now over and it's time for the post-race wrap-up/report. I'll start from Friday. I picked Alec up at his place in SF and we made the short, pretty drive over to the coast. It had been a bit foggy in parts of SF, but once we got onto HWY 1, it was gone and beautiful blue skies greeted us. Temps maybe in mid 70's. We made our way over to the expo which i knew would be small, but man...it was small. Due to the course, the race(s) only allowed a TOTAL of 500 runners for Sunday. Even though it was a small expo, it served our purpose of getting our race bags. I bought Alec and I a cool race hat. A cool Techie one. He had never seen one before and was glad to have it. Watch out for him on the roads in SF as he will now be sporting it instead of a bandana, he says. Me...well...you know me and my bandanas....

Next up was a jaunt about 3/4 of a mile away to our hotel. Beach House

A nice hotel right next to beach. We checked in, chilled out and soon went to dinner. We meet up with KIM and KELLY at PASTA MOON nearby. It was fun to see both of these ladies and we had a good meal, good conversation. It pained me to NOT have one of the tempting desserts, but I was determined to make it one more day of no sweets!

Alec and I went back to hotel to be greeted by Holly, our old roomie and 3rd roomie for this weekend. The 3 of us lived together in SF about 20 years ago, so it was fun to be together again. Our same old ways were still there; them teasing me, Holly making us all laugh, Alec giving us his looks, and just enjoying hanging out together.





We went to bed on the early side, but i don't think any of us got more than 4 hours of sleep. There was some kind of party happening in rooms above and beside ours. It was um...not too much of a party atmosphere for us who were trying to sleep before race. I was worried about Alec because I knew he had not been sleeping much at all lately. I took some comfort from the steady, meditative sound of the foghorn in the distance and the faint sounds of the waves of the Pacific.

Race Morning: 5:30 wake up call! We were all feeling it after not much sleep, but our spirits were still good. Well...mine & Holly's were...I think Alec needed a bit of his PEETS before perking up. Yes, we did go to Peets at 5:30am in HMB. I was sooo grateful as I knew the hotel coffee would not suffice! We drank, ate, got ready for race and headed to the starting line. My race began at 7:30. Holly was gonna walk as much as she could of the HALF-MARATHON as she was still nursing an injury. Alec was to run the 10k which started shortly after 7:30am. Delaney would also be there to walk/run the 10k. Kristine was gonna run the 5k and although I was doubtful I would see her, I was cheering her on!! So thrilled for everyone to be there and challenging themselves.

Temps were very good for running. Mid 60's. perfect. It was pretty damn great to be at the start line with 2 of my oldest, dearest friends.



What was my goal? To finish and have a good race. I suppose that is 2 goals...I wanted both to happen. I was uncertain of my body given how I had been feeling this past month, but of course I wanted to finish. I also just wanted to have a good experience, and I know that was entirely in my control because that just breaks down into attitude and perspective. The course was an out and back course along coast, basically. The path was elevated above the beach, so we did not actually run beside the beach, but up above. Amazing views of the Pacific Ocean the entire time. The first 2 miles I was just basically feeling out my body...just trying to find my own pace and rhythm. I had my iPOD on to my new favorite songs; Instrumental version of "Empire State of Mind" by Katy Perry & Alicia Keys version of same song "Empire State of Mind". If you have not heard either of these, i highly recommend. Listened to both of these songs a few times each...and in my mind and heart, I felt strong, convicted, determined.
OK..so my body was holding up fair. Even so, I was glad I decided to not run the FULL MARATHON. As we got to about mile 5, the course turned into a very hard packed dirt trail up until the turnaround point and of course back to about the 8 mile marker. This was my least favorite part of course. I don't mind trails, just don't like the hard packed dirt. I guess I need it to be a little muddy. I was glad to turn around and make the return back to the finish. I knew i was gonna finish. I had been taking a few CLIF BLOKS which were provided by the race peeps. I was grateful because for some reason, I did not bring any gels, gu's or anything with me.

Overall, the race felt ok. I wish I had felt stronger, faster....but today was just not that day as I knew it would not be. I had made peace with it. I still went out and gave my best effort on race day. Finish time was 2:11:51 and I am ok with that.

If you know me, then you probably know I have ALL my race bibs saved from over the years. Here's another one for the BIB BANK. You might wonder why it doesn't have my BIB #. Well, when I changed races from FULL to HALF, i had to get a new BIB # and it was not pre-printed, but I was officially runner number 904.



I was greeted at the finish line by SCOTT JUREK who was at race/expo as a guest speaker. He greeted all the runners as they finished and put the medal around our neck. I also listened to him at the expo and had spoke to him before the race started. A classy, cool, inspiring ultrarunner! I have followed his career for a long time and he's actually one of the people who inspired me to even think of running longer distances!

I found Alec, Holly and Delaney at the finish line and we all caught up briefly on our respective races. I was so happy and proud of them all. Truly delighted. Sadly, we missed Kristine, but sounds like she had a good experience too!! My only regret is that I could not see everyone's face at their own finish line!

After Race Pics:







I will leave you now with a quote from the one and only, George Sheehan: I run so I do not lose the me i was yesterday and the me i might be tomorrow.

Keep Movin'

sunday scramble

Hey Peeps --
So, here were are just 5 weeks away from the races at Half Moon Bay. I'm getting excited and hope you are too. This cycle of training has been far from easy and today, I felt like I got a mini-monkey off my back. What was the mini-monkey? Getting a long run done. This morning, I ran 15 miles at the Silver Comet Trail. Not only was this my longest training run so far for this upcoming marathon, this was my longest run for all of 2011. I am both relieved and happy to have gotten these miles done. Even better, was that I didn't suffer too much. When i was done, I felt like I had more in my tank, so that gives me more confidence for next weekend's long run. I am still "behind" in my schedule. For example, today's run on the plan i follow was 20 miles. I'm just not there yet, but will be hopefully soon.

The Silver Comet Trail is about 30 minutes by car from my house. It is a flat paved trail and at this time of year, it is almost 100% covered with a ton of trees. For this blanket protecting me and others from the sun/heat, I am most grateful. I arrived right before 7am, just as the sun was about to make it's presence known for the day. I was surprised to see so many other vehicles already in the parking lot. But, I loved seeing it too....people out being active, pursuing there dreams and goals or simply taking some morning time for a quiet walk.

From my first steps, I knew I would have a good run. I can usually tell right away. It was so wonderfully quiet out there. I purposely didn't start my iPod for a while just so i could soak in the atmosphere, the heavenly quiet.

I know the trail like the back of my hand, having been running on it now for about 10 years. It feels like such a good friend. It feels a little bit like home. The first few songs I played on the iPod were 3 from the "musical" episode of Grey's Anatomy last season; "Chasing Cars, How to Save a Life & The Story" -- I LOVE all these songs, find them so powerful and moving. "Chasing Cars" was the first one to come on. As the words were playing in my ears, I nearly started to cry. I was just moved...by the moment, by the beauty surrounding me, by my own level of awareness of appreciation and gratitude for my body that was once so broken; for gratitude that I felt good at the start after weeks of very tough miles.

Well, I didn't cry. I ran. I ran out to 7.5 miles, turned around and headed back. 15 total. I also walked 1 more mile as I think this helps with overall recovery.

A few more weeks of heavy mileage and then will be time to taper. Looking forward to all of it.

Keep Movin'!

Marathon Draw

I'm always looking at race calendars to see what's coming up. I'm always looking to see what interesting races are out there and WHERE they are...
Well, as I was perusing the race calendar recently, I came across 2 races that peaked my interest; Lake Tahoe Marathon and Half Moon Bay Marathon. Both happened to be on my birthday, 9/25.
So....I put the word out on facebook asking people to chime in with their vote. Well, Half Moon Bay was the near unanimous decision. (a little to my disappointment as I had wanted to take in some gambling in tahoe post race!)

So, Half Moon Bay it is. And to be really honest....I am super duper excited. One of the reasons I am excited is because 3 friends have already signed up to run or walk one of the races that weekend; There is a marathon. A Half-Marathon and a 10k. I'm THRILLED that friends have been motivated to pay the entry fees and commit to a race. For each person, this is their FIRST RACE EVENT! This is my 8th marathon, but I swear, with my excitement level, it might just feel like my first.

I created this blog to be a community blog. I hope you will follow along and cheer us on in our adventure.

Stay tuned to "meet" the other participants and read their stories, rants, raves, complaints, wonderment, awe etc....