Beth Runs!

After sitting on my butt all winter, knitting and watching Craig Ferguson into the wee hours, it's time to get up, get out, and move!!!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Hey Walt Stack 10K, bite me!

This was to be my very last run before losing my uterus the next day and spending several weeks on my butt instead of my feet. I was so excited about it the night before, I could barely sleep. I just knew I was going to wallop my last year's result in this race. I'd have to, right? Then, I'd only been running for a few months. Now, I've got all this experience under my belt, inside my shoes, around my knees and up my shins. How could I not do well?

I could not do well if the temperature suddenly went up to 80 degrees at 9 a.m. and I had no shade or water along the way. That's how I could not do well. That's how I could just keep stopping to walk all during the second half and even be tempted to sit down on a bench and quit. This was actually the closest I've ever come to quitting during a race. And as I tore across the Finish Line after 67 minutes and 54 seconds (a mere 1 minute faster than last year), swearing at Kevin Lee, "That sucked! It sucked! I hated it! Feh!" I felt defeated even though I had finished.

I finished. I kept telling myself that all day long. Who can predict the weather? The same thing happened during the Disney Marathon in Florida. Why did I not feel defeated that day? Probably because I'd never completed a marathon before and had nothing to compare it to. Probably because I'd had no real time expectation going in. And also because I didn't have visions of surgery the next day looming before me. I wanted to go out with a bang, not a whimper. This running thing is constantly teaching me lessons about expectations.

Well, no more running for me for a few weeks. I don't know how many. I hope I can train for the Disney Half Marathon, but what I've learned from the race today is not to have expectations about beating my time from last year's Half Marathon. That was in SF. This will be in LA. And this will be after having holes drilled through my body and parts of me sucked out with a morcellator.

Just be patient, Beth. Take it all as it comes. And don't forget to breathe.
 

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Monday, June 04, 2007

Adidas San Francisco Urban Run

I joined a new group of runners this evening for the Adidas SF Urban Run. The Adidas Store on Market Street hosts runs every Monday night ranging from 3-8 miles and taking place throughout downtown San Francisco. Tonight's was the Telegraph Hill – Choose Your Adventure ~ 4 miler. Click the link for the route, which took us up some honkin' big hills and weaving in and out through pedestrians just trying to shop already!

I had fun running with these folks, with no pressure to "win" since this was not a race. Of course, my competitive nature did kick in and kept me from walking a few times when I would have if I'd been alone. It's good to run with people! I won't see them again for about a month. Having surgery on the 11th and will not be able to run for a few weeks afterwards.
 

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Friday, June 01, 2007

2007 Bay to Breakers

Yep. I have been procrastinating on updating this blog and I don't really know why. The Bay to Breakers arrived promptly on May 20, and Michael and I arrived promptly at the starting line after an almost-crisis during which I thought I'd lost my cell phone on BART, got all freaked out and frantic, found it in the station agent's booth waiting for me, and then proceeded to forget to tie my sweat shirt around my waist for later during the über-chilly Footstock.

It was a historic day! Edna Kiplagat became the first woman ever to break the ribbon and win the Bay to Breakers with a time of 38:55.


Not long after, Michael crossed the finish line with time of 56:28! He came in 586th place out of 23,710 registered participants, Mr. high achiever!


I came crossed the finish line 24 minutes later for a final time of 1:20:26, 15 minutes faster than last year!


We met up, thanks to my NOT having lost my phone, and smiled for the camera:


Afterwards, I spent $40 for a Bay to Breakers sweatshirt to keep from turning blue as we walked back through Golden Gate Park to see the rest of the race. Er, I guess at that point, you wouldn't call it a race anymore but a big, sloppy parade.

The day finished with karaoke at The Mint with our friend Jan. Who could ask for a better day? Really, could you?
 

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