Marathon Dreamer

Decided to run this race last weekend while chatting with my husband one morning.  He was doing his first triathlon scheduled for Saturday 3/10 and I said to him, wouldn't it be an awesome challenge for you to do that on Saturday and then run a half marathon on Sunday?  Dave is always up for a challenge.  I also decided to challenge myself by running this and then running my full the following weekend.

Perfect running weather this morning.  Dave and I arrived at the start.  He was feeling a little tuckered from his triathlon the day before but I knew that he would hold tough.  No major tummy issues for me, so I felt good.  I started in coral 3 with my husband.  I had hoped to run this with him, but from the start, he took off.  I am slow to get warmed up and don't usually run like a bullet at the start so I lost him in the crowd.

Felt strong today.  My plan was to run this like a tempo run but not too hard as too burn myself out for the full marathon.  I finally saw the back of Dave at around mile 7 and soon I reached and passed him waving and said, "Hey!"  He later said to me after the race, "I couldn't believe how strong you were at mile 8."  Dave was doing great and I was really impressed with how fast he was running despite his race the day before.

At around mile 9 or so, the "fun" began.  Hills and then a stinking monster hill about a mile long.  It was eating up the runners.  Because of my Ultra training, I have learned to run walk hills like this and it paid off.  Those around me that were running the entire time I kept up with and at the top, I wasn't tired.  When the downhill began for the next several miles that lead into Petco Park Baseball Stadium, I was tired mentally but physically felt good.  At times I hit low 6's on my pace and stopped once to collect myself.  As I came into the stadium, people were cheering.  I was pumped and sprinted to the finish!  All smiles and very happy with my time.  I wasn't tired and knew at this point that if I had raced this, I could probably have pulled at least a 1:46.  This was the first time I ran a 1:48 in an "official" half marathon.  The last time I ran a time like that was when I lived in Mazatlan and ran 13.1 miles with my friend Alan.  I remember how exhausted I was after I had done that in Mazatlan.  Total different story now.  I am just hoping that I have not jeopardized the marathon next weekend with this run, but I do think that I have the ability to recover quickly since I held back.  My husband finished up with a 1:51:35.  So proud of him!!!

After the race, Dave and I kicked back and watched other people finish at the stadium.  Saw Meb as he was there to give us all inspiration.  It was great seeing my friend Mary and Ele. A few beers together in the stands with live music put a great ending on a wonderful race.  Loved the course despite the monster hill and the finish at the stadium was truly epic!!!  Now... time to recover and gear up for LA on 3/18!!!