San Francisco 1/2 Marathon race report

Once again, more professional race pictures to be added once they are up - and I will make a separate blog post about my vacation and with all my other pictures in it!

Pre-race dinner - Lisa, me, Linn, and Jen!

Running across the Golden Gate bridge!

The view from up here was totally worth all the hills!

Happy campers post-race!

Elevation map... let me tell you, all of those hills look a lot bigger when you're running them!!

Background/training - Didn't really do much for this race (surprise surprise!) - took the week pretty much off after the Seafair triathlon because of vacation!


Pre-race - Spent a lovely few days exploring San Francisco and meeting lots of new people! Jen and her husband were nice enough to let me crash in their guest bedroom on Thursday and Friday night, which was awesome! And, we were lucky enough to go to a talk/book signing with Dean Karnazes and Bart Yasso! Jen, Linn and I stayed in a hotel near Union Square on Saturday night so we could be closer to the race start - I don't think any of us got much sleep, but that's not really surprising the night before a race! We went out to dinner at an Italian place and met up with Lisa, her sister, Christina's friend Jared, and a couple of other people - super fun! Sunday morning we were up at 4 AM for the walk to the race start. It was really pretty - the Bay Bridge was all light up, and there was an arch of white balloons with little blue Christmas lights underneath them floating over it. The porta pottie lines were so long that we missed our wave, but we hopped in the next one and soon enough we were off!

Mile 1-4 - The race started out along the waterfront, past Pier 39 and the Fisherman's Wharf. I had gone exploring there on Friday, but it was still fun to see, and the weather (though a bit foggy) was perfect for running. I started off slowly and just tried to get my legs to loosen up before we hit the tough parts of the course. The sourdough bread smelled so good as we ran by - so tempting! There was a steep little hill at mile 2, which I ran up and felt quite proud of myself. Hey, maybe the rest of the course wouldn't be as bad as I thought! I settled into a nice steady pace, and then...

Miles 5-9 - There was quite a big hill going up to the Golden Gate bridge - which I was expecting, but by the time I had run/walked/shuffled up to the start of the bridge, I was a little bit demoralized. If the entire course was like this I'd be lucky to finish in under 3 hours! Running across the bridge was nice (especially once we got to the midpoint and it was gradual downhill instead of gradual uphill!) - I maintained a steady pace, stayed focused, and felt good. It was fun to see Linn and Jen coming back, and I got plenty of GU at the turnaround on the other side. I stopped to take a few pictures coming back - I just couldn't resist! I was still feeling strong and steady when we came off the bridge, and I was getting ready to enjoy a nice downhill - after all, we came UP to the bridge, so we must get to go DOWN off of it, right?

Miles 9-11 - Nope. There was a bit of downhill, and then another big hill around mile 9.5. There were a lot of people walking by this point, but I managed a run/walk up the hill, and the view at the top was incredible (see the non-bridge picture at the top). We were also rewarded with the nice long downhill that I had been waiting for, and I was still feeling good!

Miles 11-13 - As you can see from the elevation map (maybe), the last two or so miles felt like running upstairs - a flat section, an uphill, a flat section, another uphill! I ran probably 3/4 of the way up every hill, took a short walk break before the top, and ran the flat sections. It was a gorgeous neighborhood, and even though I felt like I had been running uphill the entire race, I was able to stay strong and steady until we came into Golden Gate park and crossed the finish line!

Final time: 2:35

Reflections/post-race: I was very pleased with my time of 2:35. It's not fast, certainly not near my PR, but it is a minute faster than I ran on pancake-flat Eugene. I didn't train very well and I definitely didn't train for hills, but I was able to stay strong and steady and I never really faded or hit the wall. It was a really fun race, and I was so glad to have been able to meet some great people! Jen and Linn were nice enough to wait for me at the finish line, and we bussed back to the start line and then walked back to our hotel. I'm really glad we did so much walking after the race - I am probably less sore now than I have been after any other half! I had a nice post-race brunch with Christina's friend Jared at Cheesecake Factory, and then wandered around the mall at Union Square until it was time to catch the BART to the airport for our flights. Despite waiting around in SFO for 6-7 hours b/c of a delayed flight, it was a great trip and a fun race!

Next up: Danskin Sprint Tri, 8/15/10 - going for that sub 1:45!

Seafair Sprint Tri Race Report (updated w/pics)

Professional race pictures added at the bottom!

Some nice bed head before the start of the race... I was up at 4 AM, cut me some slack!

Ready to head out into the water... brrr!

Hmm, that swim was not as good as I expected... but I still beat my time goal!

On to the bike....

Getting ready for a great ride!

Trying not to do what the lady in yellow did (fall on my face)!

Starting the run course... hey, my legs still feel good!

Nice little finishing kick at the end of a good run!

Nap time plz?

Bud and I in the finish area. Yay!

Background- I was actually fairly well trained for this race, although I could have used some more running and swimming speedwork. My long run is currently 13.1 miles, so 5K is a pretty short run distance. I had biked up to 30 miles and done a few 10-12 mile tempo rides, some of them on the course, which I think really helped. I had done plenty of open water swims and I felt my form was getting even more improved. I told myself I'd be ok with anything under 2 hours, and I'd be really really happy with 1:50 or 1:45.

Swim - The water wasn't as cold as I was expecting given how cloudy it was, but it was still COLD (low 60s). There were only a few other people without wetsuits there. I made the mistake of starting near the back of my wave because I wasn't sure how fast everyone else was, so it took me almost all the way to the first buoy to get in the clear. I was running into people, swerving, trying to get around people, getting run over, getting kicked... not so fun! By the time I came around to the second buoy, I was in a little more of a rhythm, but still wasn't feeling as fast and strong as usual. I struggled a bit on the long straightaway coming in to the shore, but I managed to push through it. I wasn't too pleased with the swim coming out, but I still managed a sub 20 800M swim. Time: 18:50ish

Transition 1 - I could probably get this a bit faster, but nothing bad happened, haha! Time: 4:30 (it was a long way to get to the bike start!)

Bike- This went way better than I was expecting. The 12 mile course is a lot of rolling hills and some flat sections, with only one big steep hill. I went out at a steady pace, not pushing too hard but riding strong and steady. I ran my bike up the steep hill and continued on across the floating bridge. I hit the turn around point in 24 minutes, well under my goal pace of 55 minutes for the bike. And my legs were still feeling great! I was able to stay really focused, strong, and steady for the entire ride. I finished in right around 49 minutes, which I was super happy with! Time: 49:20ish

Transition 2 - Uneventful, just dropped off my gloves and bike helmet. Time: 1 min

Run - I was very pleased when I started running and felt only a mild tightness in my calves and hamstrings - nothing like the incredible ouch I felt during the mock tri last weekend. I told myself that I wouldn't waste such a good bike ride by not pushing it on the run. I started off strong, steady, and still feeling good. I hit the first mile in about 10:30, which was a lot faster than I was expecting! Mile 2 came about halfway up the hill in the race, which is long and steep. I ran up most of it, only walking for about 10 seconds during the steepest part. Coming back down was a lot of fun! I ran mile 2 in about 11:00, and after coming down the hill, pushed it stronger and stronger until I saw the finish line, and then unleashed a pretty good finishing kick until I crossed the line. Time: 32:33

Final time: 1:45:33(ish)

Reflections - I am very happy with my overall time! The bike and the run were strong, steady efforts that were faster than I expected and I am very pleased with them (although I know there is always room for improvement!). I could practice my transitions a few more times but they weren't horrible. The swim got off to a rough start and I never really got settled, but I managed to push through and still finish with not a horrible time. I can't wait for the next one!

The swim start... brr!

One of the rolling hills on the bike course

I still don't look like a biker... I guess there's always room for improvement haha!

Running!

Almost time...

My first sprint tri of 2010 (and the first one I've raced, on my own) is 3 days away! The Seafair Sprint Tri will be at Seward Park on Sunday, July 18. It's a standard sprint distance - 800M swim, 12 mi bike, and 5K run. I am looking forward to it - I've had some great swims lately and a few good hard bike rides. I'm hoping to get another run or two in before the race, and hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Viva La Furia Roja!!

Congratulations to my favorite non-US team, Spain! World Cup Champions and deservedly so! The final may have been an ugly match, but Spain has been consistently dominant on the international scene the past few years and it's nice to see such beautiful football rewarded!

Now, the question is, what am I going to do with my time for the next 4 years???

Hooray for summer!

It's finally sunny and has gotten up to the 90s this week! Quite a welcome change from the 50s/60s cloudy/rainy 4th of July weekend!! I got to do my first OWS in Lake Washington on Wednesday (and it was actually WARM!) and I will be spending a lot more time at my favorite place! (Matthews Beach, above)

Tri training has still been going well after I got over that nasty little cold, and we have our first mock tri at Seward Park tomorrow - probably 800M swim, 10 mile bike, and 2.5 mile run. Then next Sunday, is my first triathlon of 2010 - Seafair Sprint Tri at Seward Park!

It will be the first sprint distance tri that I've raced, and I'm super excited for it! I'm hoping to come in under around 1:45 or 1:50 (although of course finishing strong is the main thing). I'd like to finish the 800M swim in under 18:00, the 12 mile bike in under 50:00, and the 5K run in under 35:00. Hopefully I'll be able to improve on those times even more once the Danskin Sprint Tri comes around in the middle of August!

And, only one more week until vacation (Long Beach, on the Washington coast, and then down to San Francisco to run the SF First Half on Sunday)!!

Decisions, decisions

Beaver Lake, where we've done all of our open water swim practices so far. It's beautiful!

So, I have made the decision (after lots of pondering) to switch from the 1/2 Ironman to the Olympic distance at the Black Diamond triathlon in September. I just feel that it'd be a better plan to continue building a better base, getting faster and getting more experience at the shorter distances this year, so that I'll actually be able to do well in a HIM in 2011. I feel that I could probably manage to finish this year, but it wouldn't be pretty, and I wouldn't be satisfied with just finishing (especially if I were to come in last!). I'd rather do well at sprints and oly distances this year, and build from that base to actually do well at a HIM next year.

It'll also be helpful in letting me see how much training I can realistically fit in with how much time and energy I have so that I don't end up overtrained or overwhelmed. Baby steps, right?

Part of me is a little bit disappointed, and a little bit feeling like a failure, and a little bit humbled. But hey, I'm only 23, I don't need to do everything NOW. I just keep reminding myself that the HIM will be a lot more fun and successful if I take the time to build up to it and prepare for it the best I can, even if that means waiting another year to do it. Good things come to those who wait, right?

Alive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46nfof-gdDs&feature=related

Turns out, the (probable) reason I spent the middle miles of the Rock N Roll half feeling so sick is because, well... I was actually getting sick. And my body was probably going "Um, hello? Why are you running 13.1 miles right now??"

Anyways, it decided to thoroughly punish me by getting sick this past week. Headache, stuffy nose, runny nose, sore throat, stomachache, dizziness, sinuses, coughing, the works. It SUCKED. I am still a little stuffy and coughing, but back to work, because I have major cabin fever and I could not spend one more day inside my apartment!!

I even managed to get a short 800M swim in on my lunch break today, and it actually felt... decent. Aiming for another swim and/or run tomorrow, and then an OWS/run brick on Saturday morning. Long bike ride on Sunday, and then hopefully a 9.6 mile trail run at Lake Youngs on Monday! (Love having a three day weekend!)

Hear that, body? I have big plans for you, so you'd better cooperate!!