SF Half Marathon Post-Race Recap

Boo. I really haven't been keeping up with this blog.

So the SF Half Marathon rolled around a lot quicker than I expected. This was my first time running 13.1 and, honestly, I slacked on the training and the mileage. I had been travelling a for work the month before, dealt with a foot injury, and was cycling instead of running.

Needless to say, I was a bit anxious about the race in the week leading up to it, given that my longest run was nine weeks prior, at 12.34 miles. At my best training efforts nine weeks before race day, I was ~4 or 5 pounds lighter (and I can honestly feel the difference in perceived effort/time based on weight). At my best training efforts, I was running my >5 mile runs at sub-8 paces.

On race day, I was heavier and nowhere near my best training efforts. I hadn't done any hard-effort runs in a month and I was getting in a measly 6-10 miles per week. I definitely was not running this fast and it was unrealistic to still aim for the sub-1:45 time I had wanted.

Still, all the biking to fatigued state was a savior to my cardio endurance and, as a result, I powered through the half at a fairly consistent pace. I surprised myself with the cadence I was able to maintain up to mile 10.

There are two different races you can run at the half marathon distance at the SF race. The first half and the second half. The first half is beautiful and you get to run across the bridge but it is also notoriously harder and hillier. The second half is the half you run if you're looking for a PR. It is still difficult and challenging but easier to run than the first half. I ran the second half because I wanted a good time but I had to throw that idea out the window and run what felt good.

I began in wave 2 this time after the "competitive" group and I'm so glad I did given my traumatic experience at Bay to Breakers in May. I was definitely able to control my tempo and pace in this group.

I have to say that the hill at the beginning of the second half was not as difficult as I thought it would be - perhaps as a result of all the biking I'd been doing. I was able to maintain a quick, fresh pace on adrenaline. One thing that helped in the first four miles was not to stress about times: at this point, you should want a controlled pace, not going out too hard but still fast enough to match what you've trained for. You want to be able to have enough energy in your muscles for the flat section of the race and the last 3.1 miles.

The downhill part was exhilarating, although I could have pushed harder. I felt fast, fresh, and kept being surprised that I made it to mile 5,6,7,8,9 and so on without hitting some sort of mental block or meeting some sort of physical adversity.

Running the SF Half was rather therapeutic at this point. I wasn't racing the clock. I was going by how I felt. I listened to my phone which gave me paces at every half mile and thought, "oh that's nice" but never changed pace because of it. I even chose to stop for water and that is VERY unusual for me. I usually see water stops as a waste of time at shorter distances (10km, 5km, 7-miler). Hydration, in the past, always felt unnecessary. But I was smart this time - and opted for hydration.

At mile 10, I got extremely hungry. And I learned where my "limit" was from a "stored energy" perspective. I'm not sure if I was supposed to eat more for breakfast or more for lunch the day before - but my stomach never agrees with too much mucking around in my digestive system during a race. So I may have to subscribe to that energy gel school of thought.... I'll try it with my long cycling rides first and see where that gets me.

In the end, I surprised myself with a sub-1:50. And I think that spoke volumes to my base fitness. I can't say that was a "max effort run" but I did run it wisely given where I was at that time.

Imagine what I might've run if I had been at my training peak, gave a max effort, avoided injury, had more long runs under my belt, and was closer to my ideal racing weight (which I calculated to be 115lb vs my current setpoint 125lb - for a roughly 5'2" woman).

Race Results

Overall: 724/4491

Women: 221/2460

F 25-29: 60/609

Age/Grade: 59.48% Place: 616

Finish: 1:49:38 Pace: 8:22

Upcoming events:
9/11/2016 | Giant Race 5km
9/25/2016 | Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon (700yd, 12mi bike, 3.1mi run)
10/2/2016 | Bridge to Bridge 5km
11/20/2016 | Berkeley Half Marathon
4/30/2017 | Big Sur International Marathon

YES THAT'S RIGHT I SIGNED UP FOR A FULL... dun dun dun

Urgh, I hate official race photos. This was my only good one!

And I'm never wearing those sunglasses again...