I did it all for the shirt...

Another day, another run. I couldn't resist. Wouldn't you run another race a week after your first 1/2 marathon if you could get a shirt like this:

Once again, I planned to do less than I actually did. I had a choice: 2M, 5K, or 10K. I thought 5K would be a good distance to get back into running after recovering from last Sunday. But when I got to Lafayette and looked at the course map, I realized that only the 10K race actually went around the reservoir. The other 2 races just sort of went up to the entrance and turned around. And what's the point of doing a Lafayette Reservoir Run if you don't get to actually see the reservoir???

So I did the 10K. I walked a lot of it. The path around the reservoir has some major hill action. My quads were not thrilled going up, but my whole body rejoiced coming down! A hill that takes me several minutes to climb only requires about 10 seconds to descend. My feet are in the air longer than they are on the ground, my heels nearly kicking my butt as my elbows turn into wings. It's scary good fun!

So here are the official results of my walk/run 10K:

My 1:11:17 finish time makes up for the porta-potty-lowered half marathon 10K split time of 1:26:55. I do learn. I got there an hour early and peed 3 times before the race started. My walking/running ratio was about the same amount as last Sunday. The only other difference was the hills. The first 10K of the half marathon was flat, so I'm guessing my time would have been even faster than this Sunday's.

Next up: training for the Disney World Marathon on my birthday, January 7.
 

The difference between pain and pain...

The aftermath of the Half Marathon was awesome! Toward the end of the day, my quads and hamstrings and glutes had really begun to stiffen up. By the next morning, I could barely get out of bed. I moved like a 95-year old with a recent double hip replacement. Going upstairs and getting up out of a chair hurt a lot, but going downstairs and sitting down into a chair were nearly impossible without a lot of loud grunts and groans to ease the pain. Still, I had a huge smile.

WHY?

Because my shin didn't hurt! My knees didn't hurt! My toes didn't hurt! The only blister was a tiny one I found on the bottom of my foot hours after the race ended! The sore muscles will be healed in a few days and end up stronger for the abuse. The parts that matter are great!

How many exclamation points am I allowed to put into one post?!?!?

I LOVE RUNNING!!!

Remember the last time I blogged about running? I hardly remember myself. Shin splints, knee problems, foot problems, attitude problems... Who wants to hear about all that crap? It's no fun to write either.

I wasn't writing and I was barely training. I tried a few times, and the shin said, "NO!" So for 3 weeks before the Nike Women's Half Marathon, I'd pretty much given up.

I had no business doing it. I wasn't prepared. I only got 2 hours of sleep the night before, and only 4 hours of sleep the night before that. I planned to just walk the damned thing since I'd paid for it, collect my T-shirt and jewelry, hang my head and go home.

But something inside me woke up when I got to Union Square at 7 A.M. and joined the other 16,000 women lined up in the dark and ready to go. Michael got up with me at that ungodly hour to see me off.

I planted myself in the back of the line with the other walkers and slowly inched toward the starting line (behind the thousands of "real" runners). It took 14 minutes to get up to the start. By the time my feet hit the mat, they were itching to go!

I ran!

I ran and ran and ran! For 2 miles, I was passing the walkers and passing the slower runners. I darted up on the sidewalk to get around people and practically muscled my way through. I told myself, "Beth, this is stupid. You're going to pay for it. You're going to burn out early." But I just could not stop! I HAD TO PEE REALLY BAD!!!



It sucks that I didn't have time to pee before the race started. At Mile 2, I stood in line for 10 minutes for a porta-potty and could tell that it would be 10 minutes longer. I took off running again, determined to hold it until I could find a shorter line. At this point, I also calmed down and forced myself to Run 3/Walk 2, which is still way more running than I had planned.

For the next 2 miles, I checked the porta-potty line at each rest station, but they all looked too long. No time to waste! I was moving and just didn't want to stop. The weather was perfect, foggy and cool, and the city was magical at that hour.
Finally, just before Mile 5, I waited in another line and relieved myself. A total of 15 minutes down the tubes just because I left the house 30 minutes later than I'd planned. Blech!

Well, I thought, why am I worred about time? It's only a race, right? So I turned on my iPod and took off to the BEST RUNNING MUSIC IN THE WORLD. It was fate or good karma or just the best luck that the day before I discovered my new favorite band: Tilly And The Wall.

Imagine running to: Rainbows In The Dark or Bad Education.

What's that interesting percussion instrument, you're wondering. Why, it's a tap dancer! That's right! I said a tap dancer. This group is so exuberant! Just thinking about them makes me smile!


Then, just past the Golden Gate Bridge, we start up the long hill to the cliffs.

My feet slow down.

The music slows down (Love Song)

The air is so clean it hurts.

And I weep. Just a little. This moment is just too perfect to exist.

Okay, but then the music pumps up again and my feet get going again, and we're at Mile 8 already and I can't believe I'm doing this!



This is it! The running is the prize! I can't believe it's possible to be so happy! And that the happiness has nothing to do with winning or beating anyone, although it is certainly nice that the mile markers are appearing so much faster than I expect them to!

Nearing Mile 10, my feet are beginning to lose the feeling of being feet. They kind of feel like stumps right now, stumps of non-specific pain. I'm running and walking on stumps of pain, and I don't care. Michael is going to meet me at the Cliff House and run/walk the last couple of miles with me.



Moving through Golden Gate Park, I switch to Walk 3/Run 2, and when I say run, I mean staggering shuffle. But look! They're giving out Ghirardelli chocolate, so how can anything be bad in a world like this?



Only about a half mile more, and I can hear the finish line calling me! It wants me! It wants me to come in under 3 hours. It wants me to get there fast! So I really start running again. I'm moving fast on my stump feet and the cameras are there and someone announces my name as I run over the pad and cross the finish line!





At the finish line, men in tuxedos hand me jewelry. Someone else gives me a T-shirt. Hands come at me from all directions with water and Jamba Juice and Luna Bars and even salad and rice! There's a massage tent and music and big crowds of people. Mark and Red are there to greet me and Michael, and we all get on a bus and go home.

Full Marathon, watch out because I'm coming for you next!!!