San Francisco Half Marathon 2012

*The one that felt really, really good. 

Brandon and I woke up at 4:15am to prepare for an early 5:30am start. We knew our corral wouldn't cross the start line until later, but we wanted to at least be in the vicinity just in case. 

I was a complete wreck inside my head. "OMG My last long run was a DNF. These hills are going to be brutal. I should have started training at least a month or two earlier than I did. We shouldn't have walked so much yesterday. I doubt I can even run a few miles OMG!!!". But on the exterior, I was calm and collected, determined to have a good time and see the beautiful city. 

Despite all of the negative thoughts going on in my head, I felt pretty good at the start. The weather was a crisp 55 degrees with a light drizzle, and I quickly pushed all the negativity out and started to have fun. That was the purpose of this race, after all. 

Miles 1-3 were easy and uneventful, with the exception of one short but steep hill that I ran halfway up and then walked the remainder. Mile 4 and 5 I was desperately trying to find a porta-pottie with a short line, but I finally settled for one that was 1/10th of a mile away from the road. This was incredibly frustrating, but emptying my bladder made me feel so much better that I quickly forgot about it. 

Around mile 5, we started our first climb up the hill to the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge. 

This is the reason we flew across the entire country to run this race. Well, that and to escape the heat and humidity for a few days. 

It was a foggy day, so we couldn't even see the top of the bridge. Or anything on either side of the bridge, really. But that didn't phase me one bit. Running across the bridge was so amazing that I completely lost myself in it. Before I knew it, I was halfway across on the way back! 

I looked at my watch and realized I was almost at 8 miles and I still felt amazing. This is the point in the race where I expected to start struggling- but instead I took off and ran faster.

Around mile 10, I had ran out of water, and the brutal hills began. I walked up most of this one- it was pretty long and steep. The next water stop (which were few and far between IMO) was out of cups- I literally thought about just grabbing and entire jug and taking off with it. But I politely cupped my hands and tried to get as much into my mouth as I could. 

At this point, I REALLY expected to feel terrible. But I didn't. So, at the top of the hill, I took off again, and was rewarded with this beautiful view. 

The hills continued, and I surprised myself by running up the ones that seemed easy or mediocre. On the ones that were incredibly steep, I slowed to a walk to make sure I had enough in me to get to the finish. Again, I kept expecting to feel terrible, but I actually felt pretty great. (Despite the fact that I REALLY needed more water and there were not more water stops to be found.)

I crossed the finish line in 2:52:00, which is a tiny PR for me. Most importantly, I crossed the finish feeling strong and happy. And also thirsty. 

I am so happy with how I did during this race- especially taking into account the short training schedule that Adam threw together for me. If I can improve this much after following his plan for just a few weeks, I can't wait to see what I can do after 4 full months of following his training plan for the St. Jude half. 

I really am proud of myself- but for the first time after a race, I have the feeling that I could have done more- should have gone out faster at the beginning, walked less, pushed myself more at the end. I definitely could have- but I was so terrified of bonking before the finish line. I guess that's always a thin line that runners are constantly trying to walk. Or run, in this scenario. :) 

In short- confidence boosted, lessons learned, motivation skyrocketed, medal earned. 

P.S. Brandon started in the back, but ran separate from me. He hoped to run quite a bit faster, but starting at the back forced him to weave, then got stuck on the bridge and wasn't able to pass people. He ran a 2:26:xx, had a blast and enjoyed the weather and the sights!

Some Running Firsts

Good Morning!

Today is a fun day for me- as I transition from a casual runner to a semi-serious runner that is actually training for a half-marthon, I've had the opportunity to experience a few things for the first time.

I had Gu for the first time.

I've tasted a tiny amount of Gu before- enough to know I didn't care for the texture. Today I actually ate some for the first time- and it wasn't so bad. I didn't actually need Gu for my run today, but since I will need to take one on my LR this weekend to practice for my half-marathon, I decided to take one today to practice for my LR. Makes sense, right?

I really didn't want the first time I actually ate it to be in the middle of a hot, sweaty, long run since I knew I might throw up. I don't need anything jinxing my long runs- I've had enough bad experiences and anxiety attempting those in the past. Luckily, after my practice round this morning, I think I will survive taking one on my run this weekend.

Today was my first tempo run! Sure, I've read about them, I even know people who have done them... but I've never successfully completed one until today.

Last week, I kind of did one, but my pacing was erratic and there was a 15 second break when an old lady thought it would be a good idea to tell me how old all 5 of her dogs were while I was in the middle of a run. I felt like I cheated since I stopped to listen to her, and I wasn't happy with my pacing in the first place.

But today.... Today I did a lot better. It feels good to run fast (at least fast for me, anyways) and not die afterwards. Also, running fast during a 4 mile run? That has never happened to me before. In my past running life, running fast = 1 or 2 miles tops.

I'm grinning from ear-to-ear with endorphin induced happiness.

Today is the first time I've almost murdered someone over coffee.

I've seen coffee-less frenzies and rants on Twitter, but I experienced first-hand what it felt like today. I just started drinking coffee about a month or two ago, and I haven't graduated to grown-up coffee yet. I must have a good helping of soy milk in mine.

Yesterday, I woke up to no soy milk in the house. This means no coffee for Allison. (It also means no granola for breakfast GRRRR) I settled for a Diet Coke and went on with my day.

Today, there is STILL no soy milk! My husband is lucky to have survived the morning.

Lucky for him, I'm all happy and proud of myself after my run, I got ready early and had time to stop and get some coffee on my way to work.

(He was still rushing out the door to the grocery because he knows I can not go 2 days without cereal or granola.)

Yay! Coffee for Allison!


Somehow I also ended up leaving Starbucks with this.....

This is why I don't let myself go places!

I walk in for an already overpriced cup of iced coffee and get distracted by this red, white and blue (Olympics!) bracelet.

Oh, well. I guess it's for a good cause and I feel the need to express to everyone I see how much I love the Olympics, so we'll just go with it.

We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.

Jesse Owens, American track and field athlete and Olympic gold medal winner

Tomorrow's Potential

Sometimes it's easy to get frustrated with running. You can't go as long or as fast as you'd like, or it feels more difficult and hurts more than you think it should. But that is today.

What about tomorrow, or the next day, the next month, the next year- after you have put in the work? So much can change with hard work.

I've been reading The Lola Papers (which I highly recommend BTW), and the following passage really stood out to me:

I don't know about you, but I've definitely used that excuse before.

"It doesn't come easy for me."

"There is no way I could ever run that fast"

Who does it comes easy for? Shalane Flanagan? Kara Goucher?
Sure, they have some amount of natural talent, but they still work at it. They work very hard.
They've put in the time, and the miles.

It's exciting to think about. Today, it's hard for me to imagine being able to run a half-marathon as fast as I'd like. It's hard for me to imagine running a marathon at all.

But I haven't put in the time, or the miles.

Who knows, with a few months, and eventually years of hard work- after putting in my time and my miles- what I can do?

Only time will tell. 

Get Ready Memphis!

It's that time of year again- time to get registered and begin training or preparation for the St. Jude Marathon!

This race has become an annual event for us, not only because it's local and convenient, but also because we truly believe it is one of the best races to support and participate in. The half-marathon last year was one of the best experiences of my life- running through the St. Jude campus literally brought tears to my eyes, and the support from spectators throughout the course was amazing. Also, you get to finish in the stadium! Rounding that corner to enter the stadium was pretty intense. 

I want to challenge anyone reading this to sign up- even if you aren't a long distance runner, the 5k is a blast! Want to do more than the 5k, but don't think you can train for 13.1 miles? This Memphian was 7 months pregnant last December, but was determined to participate- so she walked the 13.1!

If you don't live in Memphis- you can come and see Graceland, Sun Studios, eat some BBQ (or BBQ Tofu, my favorite!), and hang out on Beale St. The weather is usually around 50* which is perfect for a marathon. 

I'll be running the half-marathon, and Brandon will be running the full- just like last year. I'm really hoping my sister will get to participate this year as well. Last year, she supported me by running 3 miles with me and giving me the gift of a Lush bath, and so I'm hoping if her time/schedule allows, I can return the favor and support her to the finish line of her first half! (In all honesty, she'll probably beat me to the finish line.)

  Registration opens on May 1st (that's next week!) , and I expect the race to sell out significantly faster this year (Last year it sold out in July).  So get your spot- I hope to see you there!

http://www.stjudemarathon.org/