This year for me, it's the first half! As I've done in a couple other races, I knew the first half would give me the opportunity to run across the iconic Golden Gate Bridge once again, and consist of some pretty scenery along the water. Hopefully next year, I'll be running the second half through Golden Gate Park and the Haight, and will get that "Half It All" Challenge medal!
The weekend started out with my usual 20-minute shake out run around my neighborhood, after which I headed in to the city to hit up the race expo. Two of my high school besties came with me after we had brunch, which was awesome! The Expo was at Fort Mason, and as expected, incredibly crowded. The way it was set up, you had to make your way through the vendors in order to get to the bib pickup. I was not a huge fan of this (it was crowded!) but at least I got some good snack samples, and bib pickup was super easy.
Outside the expo at Fort Mason! I was too overwhelmed inside to take pictures!
My mom was nice enough to come up to the city to cheer me on - she and I got dinner, then scoped out a meeting point in Golden Gate Park, near the finish line for the First Half. She also helped me pick out an outfit - orange top and grey/black pants, Giants colors!
Getting up the following morning was not so much fun. Blerg. Since my wave started precisely at 6:02, and with traffic, it could take 20 minutes to get me within walking distance of the starting line, we were out of bed and in the car by 5. At least it was pretty when I got to the Ferry Building!
Unlike some other races I've done, the bag check and port-o-potty lines were pretty quick, and I got to the starting line 5-10 minutes before they called my wave up. It took a few minutes to walk to the start from where we were lined up, so I actually ended up crossing more around 6:05.
First runners leaving around 5:30
Pre-race selfie!
The way the course was designed, the first four miles were flat (with a little uphill around Fort Mason), then up and down the rest of the way. Since it is a half of the full marathon, where the hilly section is toward the middle, and the course flattens out in the end, OUR end of the course was a bit hilly.
I felt good going along the first few miles. I started out fast, checked my pace on my watch, then slowed down a bit to pace myself. My split at 2 miles was a comfortable 10:04/mile pace. It was nice and cool and foggy around the Marina and Crissy Field with awesome views of the GGB, and it even rained on us a little! Lowlight: a bird pooping directly between me and this other woman. Like white stuff plopping from the sky right between us. At least we had a good laugh! Highlight: running by Boudin in Fisherman's Wharf and smelling the sourdough baking. YUM.
Miles 5-10 were more or less getting to (then over and back) the Golden Gate Bridge. The first hill through the Presidio up to the GGB was pretty awful, but at the base of the bridge, some spectators were there giving high fives, which distracted me from my pain for awhile! The bridge is kind of a gradual slope (uphill then downhill), and we got to turn around at the Vista Point on the other end of the bridge. Sadly, it was a foggy morning, not the best for views of the city, but I was grateful it wasn't too sunny and warm. Lowlight: More people taking race selfies while crossing the GGB, and seeing a woman totally trip and eat it going back across the Golden Gate the opposite direction of me. Highlight: I found some "friends" (people going the same pace as me) that I ran behind the whole way across and back on the Golden Gate Bridge - following them distracted me from my pain! And it was nice to be almost at Mile 10 already when getting off the bridge!
Miles 10-13 were definitely the hardest. After getting off the bridge, there was a pretty steep climb with a water stop almost at the top, which was enough to break my momentum, so it was tough to get back going after that. Next was a steep downhill, and then a mix of gradual and not so gradual climbs up to Golden Gate Park. The constant uphills definitely took a lot out of me, and by the time I got to Golden Gate Park (uphill going into the park), my thighs were screaming and it took a lot out of me to push myself a little faster. I heard some people commenting around me that they were cramping up - and understandably so! The last quarter mile or so was - thankfully - downhill to the finish. My mom saw me and jumped on to the road to cheer me on, and I finally made it!
The finish line!
Beautiful Stow Lake at Golden Gate Park! The full marathon and second half runners go all the way around the lake.
Overall, I was able to set a half marathon PR, which is awesome! I realized I've been able to improve my time by over 10 minutes in a year!
Time: 2:13:26
Pace: 10:10/mile
Place: 2559/7250 (1009/4052 women, 383/1233 in my age group)
Done!!
I guess my Garmin watch thinks I went a little faster than I actually did today, but I got a bunch of PRs on Strava too, which is cool! Best 15k, 10 mile, 20k, and half marathon times!
Basically, I loved the course, and it was my favorite of the SF races that I've done so far. I know that I want to do the second half of the course next year, and I'm definitely still considering doing the full marathon in 2016. I would definitely need to train hard, do a lot of hill training, and try to pace myself, but I think it's possible!
Onwards and upwards - next comes the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October, and after that, no half marathons for a while. I want to avoid burnout and start fresh when the next one comes :)
Congrats on the PR!!! I would love to run that race someday, it looks like so much fun. Including the lake we ran around! :)
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