Thursday, April 22, 2010

US Half Marathon 2



Another
race report! I feel like all I do is write race reports lately :)

Thanks to Punk Rock Racing, I took part in the US Half Marathon. This was purely a training run for me, though I wanted to try to run 3 miles at the end at about a 9:00 pace for some tempo work.

Loved:
  • Meeting up with Ron and Tara at the start/finish!
  • Rain! I love me a good rain run. Especially when it isn't raining at the start of the run. The water only broke the last 3 miles or so. I was actually getting warm in the beginning of the race and was praying for a good downpour.
  • The bridge. Who doesn't love running over the bridge? This race runs on the pedestrian/bike lanes but the course was closed to non-race activity which was awesome. If there is one thing I hate about the Golden Gate Bridge it is tourist dodging.
  • Metal water bottle souvenir. They even handed out the post-race water in them which was a nice touch.
  • My cool outfit
  • Was actually holding up a pretty decent pace for me given the hilly terrain. I tried to kick it up a little the last few miles. I only got down to 9:00 pace for about a mile. That wicked headwind sucked the low-9:00 out of me. But I was very happy with the effort at the end.

Didn't dig:
  • Water stops were poorly organized. At one, I had to stop and stand there for at least 1.5 minutes before I was able to get a cup of water. Unacceptable in a race.
  • The course ran short. Not sure if this should really go under the con list (ha ha), but if I was running this for time or as my first half marathon that would piss me off. Since I stood still for 1.5 minutes waiting for water, I figure my time is reflective of my effort on race day.
  • The headwind the last 5ish miles of the course. I can take cold and rain but wind? Bleh! There were a few times when the wind was gusty I'd tuck my arms close, put my head down, and push onward.
  • The course is sort of cruel. They run you up hills, then they run you down them, and then they run you RIGHT BACK UP AGAIN! Aaahhh!!!
  • There was an unpaved downhill section. When did this become a trail run? I don't run down hills very well. I don't run on trails very well. You put those two together and I get nervous.
  • They only had unisex shirts. They had also run out of smalls. Do you know how a unisex medium shirt fits me? Like a dress!
Shot this from where I parked my car. It is sort of cruel to run past your car twice during a race. There were still some walkers out on the course. It ran along the sidewalk and up that little hill (which trust me, never feels very little) in the background.



Shot this one as I drove home (at a stop light). Not the best weather to highlight San Francisco, but decent run conditions in my book!


9 comments:

the dawn said...

I cannot believe that you had to wait for over a minute for water. I would have been livid!!

In my half there were random sections of trail running as well. AND there were two different parts that we had to run across a random grassy field. It felt very strange and one guy in front of me tripped over a tree root. Doesn't seem that safe...

Hef's Mom said...

The wind! Many a day a nice walk or jog has been ruined for me by the wind. It just makes it too cold!

Marlene said...

Congrats on ANOTHER race! I agree, rain at the end of a race is awesome. Not so much from the beginning.

Bummer on the shirts... I have so many I can't wear for that reason.

audgepodge said...

Great job! Yep, I remember those up and downs... good job racing them!

I wanna see the cool race outfit!

Anonymous said...

I HATED those water stops with a passion! However, I did love the medal and the cute water bottle at the end :) Made running in the wind tolerable. Congrats on another race!

RG said...

What's that quote up to the right on your home page? Sounded like a race where you had to repeat it twice!!!

Still, that is good training since I know I would think twice about going out for a training run in a headwind, or up and down, up and down.

X-Country2 said...

Congrats on knocking out a race in less than ideal weather. Great job!

Kristen said...

Congrats on another race!

I really want to do a race that goes over the bridge.

Roni said...

I really race a lot... I am sure you bunny is eager and waiting for you to go home. When I go on a travel I really put my rabbit in their rabbit hutches and it is such a paint to think that they will be there for a week or more.