I really wasn't thrilled with where the expo was being held! It was hot and stuffy and way to small to accommodate all the runners! AND....they ran out of SF Half Marathon tech t-shirts! I did register VERY early for this race, paid my money and what do I get when i go to get my t-shirt..."sorry, we ran out of half marathon t-shirts...." WTF??? how can you do that when the race has a LIMIT!!!???
I bought a few more Atalanta running skirts, a t-shirt and then we headed to my hotel, the JW Marriott in union Square. I always stay in union Square when I'm in the city....close to everything for me!
I had planned a dinner in North Beach at Enrico's of Bullitt fame.....We had a group of 8 peeps eating-Jo Lynn and I and our guests from Oklahoma!! We had a really nice time, nice company, nice food, nice wine and full tummy's after wards! I was SO tired when we finished eating-all i wanted to do was go back to the hotel room and crash! My long week of no sleep was catching up to me....and I had a 4:15am wake up on Sunday.
I of course didn't go to bed right when i got back to the room-couldn't! I eventually fell asleep around 10pm or so....the alarm went off at 4:15am and I felt like I was going to work!
I got ready, put my stuff on, ate my Uncrustable, made a cup of tea and headed for the start line around 4:50am.I was walking to the Embarcadero from Union Square and didn't know exactly how long it was going to take me.
I arrived in plenty of time and immediately sent Willie and Stacey a text message. I found Stacey almost immediately! She was hanging out underneath the freeway sign decked out in her Tiara and pink boa! You couldn't miss her!! Willie showed up a few minutes later and we all walked to the wave 4 entrance since Willie and i were in Wave 4 (I wasn't in Wave 4 because i can run that fast, especially on this course,I was in Wave 4 so that I guaranteed myself a medal and finishing before the 3 hour time limit!)
Willie was with his fellow speedy friend, Bill. They said they'd run with us-ha ha ha ha ha ha...come on guys really???? Do you know how slow we run??? Stacey and I laughed-we thanked them for such kind, generous, warm thoughts but that in reality-that wouldn't be happening.
As we walked to the start, Bill and Willie got slightly separated from us and they started running as soon as they crossed.....they were gone, they looked back and they were already in front of us...well that lasted longer than I thought! We would later see them about 4 miles ahead of us on the Golden Gate bridge!
So it was Stacey and I running! And I am SO VERY THANKFUL that I met Stacey and that we were running together! It makes it so much easier to run with someone-and boy did I need her on this race!! I was not in the least bit prepared physically for this race! I kinda knew it as my VERY LONG work weeks kept piling on before the race! And as my training because of my VERY LONG WORK DAYS began to dwindle.....in hindsight, I shouldn't have run this race! I really don't like running races I haven't trained for-but i couldn't run it last year because of my stupid work schedule, so STUBBORN STUPID PENNY wasn't going to miss it this year!
So run it on crappy training and sleep is what i did! THANK GOD for Stacey! She was my rock! She pushed me when i wanted to quit! She made me laugh! And she's now making me cry!! WOW! I just met her the morning of the race and she was being an amazing friend and running partner to me! So supportive! And we had fun!! She likes to take pictures while running just like me! I always thought I was one of those silly crazy runners that snapped away.....and that i was the only one! Nope!! Stacey and I are so very similar in so many ways!!
We had a blast! We ran around Crissy Field, ran/walked up the hill to the Golden Gate bridge, ran across the Golden Gate chatting, taking pictures...got across and had to take pictures with Mr Fisherman statue man....and then headed back across the bridge....my race had been made at this point! Crossing the Golden Gate bridge was FANTASTIC! It was cool and foggy and i LOVED IT!! There was a sea of people running, cars honking at the runners-it was a really wonderful experience!
I of course, thought...all the hills were done at this point! Must be downhill from here...ha ha ha ha how wrong I was! Wholly shit batman..WTF are all the hills??? Around mile 11 is when my legs began to say "fuck you penny...." the hills were not nice on my quads and knees. i knew I'd be feeling them later and the next day(while I was working)...Stacey, being an AMAZING woman really helped me on those hills. She'd pick a car to run to....and we would!
I was beginning to think it was just me who would be dreading cresting a hill just to see another hill just down the road, but I heard a woman behind me say "is that another fucking hill...." and that made me smile! I was not alone!! I began to pace myself with a woman in a white a green tank top who was running about the same pace as me, grumbling about the hills and walking the hills......
I was running a decent race until about mile 11...that's when it all started to unravel! My legs were shot! And it took every ounce of pushing, will power, Stacey pushing and then me pushing to get me to 13.1
I ran with Stacey until we entered Golden Gate park-that's where the half and full parted ways...i was losing my rock! I had to finish on my own..and guess what-the last push was UP A FUCKING HILL!!!
I crossed the line and Ms Garmin read 2:50.....I'm not going to lie-I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in my time! I know-I had very little training for this race, I've worked 70 hour work weeks since February and have had very little sleep...but I so wanted to do better than that! I know I said I just wanted to finish....but the competitive part of me really wanted a decent time! Alot better than 2:50!!
I shouldn't have run this race considering the work schedule and lack of training I had building up to this! I know better! I know myself! I'm not the fastest of runners...but I do pride myself on a few things-and running a half in 3 hours is not it!!! It's not the worst one I've done.....but Carlsbad was quite a bit faster and i really wanted to run in 2:30.......
So i sit here. I really didn't want to write this report! I thought it might just go away and I could forget about the race! But I couldn't! I couldn't forget about it because I got to meet Jo Lynn and Stacey! And I ran the race with Stacey. If it wasn't for her, I'd still be running the race!!
Thank you Stacey!! thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for me!! And Jo Lynn, thank you so very much for putting aside the pain and frustration you were going thru to pick me up from San Jose and come to the expo and dinner with me!!! It really means alot to me!!
I hope to run this race again...and I will get a better time! The only bummer for me is the summer months are usually stupid busy for me!! And when i work, I work LONG hours.
Of course, now I'm unemployed! GLEE is finished. We finished on Tuesday at 1:00am. And what did I do-went to work on private practice on very little sleep Wednesday and Thursday!
Today was my first day off. i slept until 11am and have been hanging around the house doing nothing! I took Velcro to the park tonight-she had a great time!
Tomorrow I'm planning on running, going to Pilates and swimming...and then Sunday we have sheep herding!
I was supposed to start an episode of NCIS on Tuesday, but that was canceled tonight. So now I am truly unemployed! I'll be filing for unemployment next week-as long as the state of California has $. I'll get some days on private Practice again, usually every 9 days, and hopefully NCIS and Brothers and Sisters. I'm trying not to freak out about not working! But it's hard! The entertainment industry is feast or famine! And I need to work both financially and for my sanity!!
San Fran 1st half Stats:
13.2 miles
Overall: 7006 out of 8041
Women: 3767 out of 4530
F 40-49: 761 out of 906
Finish: 2:50:36 Pace 13:01
Split time 7.6 mile 1:34:42 Pace 12:28
12 comments:
I know you are disappointed with your time, but you did it! How many people do you know can go out and run 13.1 miles with very little training or sleep? You are one tough cookie! You should be proud of yourself. You know that given the right training, you can blow away 2:30. I bet you didn't even get a chance to run a 10 mile run in the past few weeks. I think it is awesome that you finished.
Great race report. I love reading it from both yours and RBR's perspective.
Btw... I'm going to be moving up near your neck of the woods. I'm not sure where you are in the LA area, but we're moving to OC (most likely inland, where we can afford it).
Eh, it was nothin'! I had a great day in SF with you. It was very relaxing, sitting in your hotel room eating peanut M&M's and drinking coffee.
Next year we can run it together. Maybe even the marathon?
I couldn't have done it like you did! I'm a sleep whore, no mistaking.
Try not to get too stressed out. It sounds like you have some great skills for work. I'm sure something will come around very soon.
No doubt, it's a tough tough course. But you made it (on very little sleep) and sounds like you had fun doing it.
Great job Penny. Sorry we missed each other.
oh, i wish i had known you were going to be here! i was in the city on sunday and saw a bunch of people with their bibs on.
Penny, even though you are disappointed with your time, it sounds like the whole experience is something you will always remember. A great weekend with some great folks! Thanks for sharing your report, and best wishes to you with your work!
I know you're not thrilled with your time BUT you had an awesome race otherwise, right??? Meeting up with RBR but have been a hoot!
Great job and you can kill 2:30 next time when you're not running on so little sleep.
Oh please don't be disappointed in your time. Sometimes it's just great to be running with a friend (at least that's what I'm telling myself. I'm suspecting that my AFC 1/2 time will be about the same in two weeks...)
sounds like you had a blast!!! how fun that you got to run with stacey :) sf is NOT an easy course either so you did great!! wish i would have gotten to meet you though!
Damn reader didn't tell you had posted!
I have to tell you that YOU got me through that first half and the fact that we had such a blast on the first half got me through the second half. I seriously could not have done it without you! Thank you, thank you, thank you for such an awesome birthday marathon.
Next time we will kill it. Or not, but there will definitely be a next time and we definitely will have fun!
Enjoy a your slight decrease in crazy hours!
Well, you always learn something new from every race and you always get very useful experiences. Because you didn't train right or even had a good night sleep, it's a bigger accomplishment to have made it to the finish line. Now you know better for the next time. Also, with a bit of (better) training you can crush this time, and that's always a nice thing to do!!
But I agree with you in that is a great race to run, I did the full and it was wonderful, I encourage you to go for it the next year!
Sorry your time wasn't what you wanted, but it sounds like a great race. I'd LOVE to run it some day. Your pics are beautiful!
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