Time flies!

It's already October? When did that happen? I can't believe it's almost the holidays again!

In May 2012 I ran my first Half Marathon in Burlingame, CA. It was the Diva Half Marathon. I completely fell in love with running all over again. My time was something like 2:34:30 and that, to me, was amazing. I set a goal that day to run one Half Marathon every day for a year. I just completed #6. Halfway done with my year and I realize, this isn't so easy!

Here is a rundown of the other five (So far!)
June - Alameda See Jane Run Half Marathon
June 2, 2012 in Alameda, CA
This was an amazing course, very flat with a great view of the Eastern side of the SF Bay. The weather was perfect. My mom signed up for the 5K but didn't get a chance to run it. Long story short, she was watching my munchkins and did the kids' race with my daughter while I was running. The champagne and chocolate at the end was fantastic!

July - Moo-nlight Run Half Marathon
July 14, 2012 Davis, CA
This was a cool race idea. The race is at night, the shirts and the medal glow in the dark. I was NOT prepared to run that night, I'm much more energetic in the morning. I didn't get any rest all day, and on top of that, I forgot my running shoes. I dropped my son off in Martinez on the way to Davis and figured I'd just change at my Dad's house. I actually FORGOT my shoes. Never fear, there was a Road Runner Sports only a few miles away. I went there to buy new shoes for a half marathon. Terrible idea, but my only choice if I wanted any chance at all to run that race. The store had my favorite running shoes in stock, but they were half a size bigger than what I usually wore. No big deal, right? I don't remember how long the race took me to complete. I know I hit the 10 mile mark somewhere around 2 hours. The last 5K was a blur of sweat and tears as I suddenly developed Plantar Fascitis. I'm going with at least another hour. That's 3.1 miles in one hour. I pretty much galloped the final .1 mile. But, I finished. I passed the finish line, got my medal and went STRAIGHT into the beer garden. It was nearly 10 o'clock at night.

The friends I had rallied with at the beginning of the race were long gone. One who had picked up my t-shirt and bib number because it took me 45 minutes to get off the freeway and find parking, called me during the race and said he would just bring the shirt to work for me. The rest were at some after party or bar that I knew nothing about. I finally met up with them and we went to a bar for a celebratory beer. Then I headed back to Martinez for a shower and bedtime. Never again. There aren't many races I will say never again to, but this was horrible. The race itself was great, but too many bad memories for me!


August - Santa Rosa Marathon -  Half Marathon
August 26, 2012 - Santa Rosa, CA

This was a big race for me. I had originally planned to do this race with a friend's wife, and we had a falling out, so it never happened. She moved out of the area. I wonder if she got her registration money back? Regardless, it was a good race for me. One I had planned on doing as my first Half Marathon, but jump started my races earlier than expected.

I spent the night at the host hotel in Santa Rosa called the Flamingo. My boyfriend, Josh came to spend the night with me the Friday before, then my running buddy Jean came out Saturday night. We were in bed early, since we had an early start. What a great night of sleep that was!

That morning, I taped my foot so my Plantar Fascitis wouldn't hurt as badly, ate a banana and a power bar, drank my N.O.Xplode and I was good to go. I made it about 4 miles before I stopped the first time. Not quite as good as I'd hoped, but it wasn't bad.

Overall, I was happy with my performance at the race. The pancake breakfast at the finish line was also great! The race coordinators didn't plan very well, however, and they ran out of wine at the wine bar. The lines were really long, also, which was disappointing. I loved that they had a ton of fresh fruit and veggies at the finish line. The watermelon was amazing right after that run. The first marathon finisher came in about 6 minutes after I did. I only ran a half marathon. That was a little disheartening, but I was proud of my accomplishment, nonetheless. I believe I finished in 2:36. It was a large race and a lot of runners to navigate through. I think I ended up running about 13.8 miles, which, I've come to find, is pretty typical of larger races.

September - The Giants Race - Half Marathon
September 16, 2012 - San Francisco, CA

This race was a nice out and back under the two bridges of SF. I had Ground Defense Recovery (GDR) training for 8 hours the day before and I was completely exhausted when I started this race. By the second mile I wanted to quit. I have never felt like that during a race before. The overwhelming smells throughout the city made me want to throw up during most of the run. When you're running for 2.5 hours, you don't want to smell garlic bread and cupcakes, seafood or any other crazy smells. Additionally, the sewers were horribly stinky. I know, that's a lot of complaints, but, it really bothered me. Maybe I was just cranky and tired, but I didn't have fun.

I was so grateful that my amazing boyfriend drove to SF to pick up my bib and swag bag while I was working the day before, or else I wouldn't have been able to run. He also stayed there during my race, and was my biggest fan when I came running in! I was so lucky he was there :)


October - Rock 'N' Roll San Jose - Half Marathon
October 7, 2012

This was another super busy race weekend for me. The day prior, I had helped throw a baby shower for one of my dearest friends, and it was a lot of work and energy. On race day, there were over 14,000 runners. The largest race I've ever done (except for Bay 2 Breakers which is a whole different animal). It took forever just to get off the freeway and find parking. Then I had to walk about a mile. I was still in line for the port-a-potties when the start gun went off. I was beyond irritated.

The race went well, and I finished in a reasonable amount of time. I'm getting exhausted with all this running, but lately I feel like my only long runs are my races, which is not good. The Rock n Roll series is also pretty expensive. I listen to my own music while I run, so paying to hear a bunch of bands I don't know, isn't really worth it to me. I'm not going to stop running to listen to them play, so there's really no point.

By the end of the race, I just wanted to go home. I worked my way through the crowds to the beer tent. The line was insane, so I ended up giving my ticket to someone else. Oh, well.


I'm planning my next race for the weekend after Thanksgiving. We shall see how that one turns out...