A surprise run.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Distance: 13.1 mi. - Yes, that's a half marathon. (run; outdoors)

So here's what happened. I wasn't planning on running the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon, but a couple friends of mine were running the 5k, so I thought I'd meet them in the park to run just for fun. I hadn't signed up, but I was just going to tag along. I get there and realize it's going to be impossible to find them amidst the swarm of runners waiting at the starting line. But I had met this girl walking from the bus who hadn't signed up for the half, but was meeting some friends to run it anyway. She can't find her friends either, so I suggest that we just run together, and I concede to running the half.

Needless to say, I only stay with her for about 3 miles--I'm a slow runner, and she used to run cross country. I need to run 8 miles for training, anyway, so I figure I'll get it out of the way. About half way through the course, I figure I should just keep running to see if I can make it. And I do. I only stopped to walk for one minute somewhere after mile 11 before telling myself to run again. I finished in about 2 hours, 17 minutes. It was slow, sure, but I'm so proud of myself for finishing. Besides, I was one of the few not downing Gu or some other form of energy supplement.

The downside is now I have a searing pain on the outside of my right foot and my right knee is bothering me. The weird thing is that my left leg feels great. Maybe this means I need to pay more attention to my form. Anyway, I'm glad that today is a rest day, because my body needs it.

Me after the race, looking happy, and feeling good.

I felt good yesterday and celebrated by getting some Blue Bottle coffee with Chip and eating lots of tamales at Kim's superbowl party. Go Steelers!