gogogirl

Out of 12 racers (only two of us were women), I came in last place--15 minutes behind the 11th place finisher. I was third oldest of the 12, with ages ranging from 22 to 57. As I have been lately during long runs, I ran 6 min run, 1 min walk, with my average running pace being 10:30... so, I have a way to go to get faster. I am still a very slow runner.

Even so, it was an accomplishment: not only was it my longest race to date, but also my longest distance. 1 month to go until my first half in San Francisco.

Well... 9 days to go for the SF Half Marathon, which was *supposed* to be my first... I had it all imagined... me, all shakey legs, crossing over the finish, hubby cheering, friends smiling, cameras clicking away, tears forming in back of eyes as I accept the finisher's medal, my first half marathon finish and a moment to remember forever (siiigh).

But that is not how it will happen. Well not exactly... because I sort of accidentally-on-purpose ran a half marathon last weekend during my long run. The run was supposed to be 12 miles... my running partner realized that by the time we got back to the start, we would have covered 12.5 miles, so she said "hey, we should just do the whole 13.1, we're practically there anyway." And I was pretty tired and had blisters, but I thought well, a 1/2 mile more isn't going to make me any more tired, and probably won't make my blisters any more painful or more huge than they already were, so I agreed.

So we continued on... let's just go up there and touch that rock, then back... almost back to the start, wait, we're only at 12.8.... no let's circle that tree over there.... back... oh no only 13.0... let's circle the porta-potty and back to the tree and then suddenly... Garmin says 13.11 and I smile and stop and we sit and laugh at our silliness and in my mind I say "yeah. That's right. *This* is my first half marathon, and it feels really, really good." No medal, no tears, no cameras or hubby cheering, shaky legs made an appearance, but mostly I was just really, super happy.

Well... the SF half is now over. I knew it was going to be an epic run over the Golden Gate Bridge, and I wasn't disappointed. I was a bit slow, but still very happy with my time, as it was 15 min faster than 3 weeks prior, when I ran the distance for the first time in training.

 I have been healing from hip abductor pain (caused by weak, previously-sprained ankles), so I taped myself up like mad and took it slow. I ran alone, but was surrounded by a huge cushion of runners, and a juggler. I liked him... he was cool. I tried to use him as a pacer, which worked. And I got to watch him juggle for 13 miles.

 Onward: in a week, I will climb Mt. St. Helen's in Washington, and 2 weeks after that, I run my next half, in Oregon's Willamette Valley wine country. Some nice things on my horizon.