Giant Race: Plate to Plate

after the race in front of my house. looking all beat.

in February of this year i had the notion that i wanted to run another half marathon, evidenced by this post. i wanted to prove to myself that i could do it again but i'm sure part of it had to do with feeling like a lard-ass too. i figured that if i had a goal to work towards i would force myself to run faster and stronger. at that point in time i felt motivated and eager to begin training for my second half marathon.

in March, after coming home from a trip to Thailand, i felt a slump in my workouts and wasn't motivated to exercise as much as i normally do. feeling upset with myself, the the ideas of running the Giant Race  popped back into my head and i signed up. i had five months ahead of me to train. it was GO time.

as time went on i thought "well four months is good enough. last year i trained in three," then it became "well two months is probably enough. i've done it once, i'll do it again." then time continued to taper away and it became one month before the race. i tried and tried to run more than seven miles at a time and could never muster up enough motivation to do so. i'd hop on a treadmill, run five miles and call it quits because it was so boring. i would run around Lake Merced once (4.5 miles), never getting my breathing pattern right and giving up on making that second loop around. my body mind would tell me that i just didn't want to do it anymore. so one month before the race i resigned to just running the 10k instead of doing the half marathon. i felt fine with my decision and went on with my life.

typically the night before a big race like the Giant Race i would try to rest early, eat light and get anxious. the night before this race, i decided i wouldn't treat differently from any other day/night because i was just going to run 10k (6.2 miles) which isn't more than any typical workout i'd do on any given day. so after work i went to happy hour with some friends and had two vodka cranberries and two shots of Jameson. then we went to a surprise birthday party and i had another shot of Jameson. now that's five shots in the span of three hours, which is a lot for me, as i don't go out drinking very often. i've got to say, i was pretty tossed. but that didn't matter because i knew i'd be fine enough the next day to run the 10k. i went home around midnight to get at least a decent five hours of sleep before getting up for the race, but realized that i'd need to soak up some of the alcohol before i went to bed. i headed to McDonald's to get a double cheeseburger, small fries and a strawberry shake. not exactly the best things to eat the night before a race. but i figured it didn't really matter because again, it was no different than any normal run i'd do.

the morning of the race i still had the thought in my mind that i was going to just do the 10k. there's no way i could complete the half marathon i'd signed up to do without having trained. we got to AT&T Park around 7:30. i'd run into a couple of people i knew and told them that sadly i wouldn't be running the half anymore. then i found my brother and some friends who weren't confident they were ready to do the half, yet were still going to endure it. i saw all the people surrounding me with orange bibs, just like mine, who were going to run the half. then i thought about what it would look like to cross the finish line with the other people running the 10k, except i would stick out like a sore thumb because i had on an orange half marathon bib on and they all had a white 10k bib on. it would be obvious that i copped out.

Darrick, Jason, Jeremy and Stefan

 that's not sweat. Stefan spilled water all over himself. haha

this was taken right after deciding to actually do the half marathon.

we stood in the corral that was marked "slower than 9:00min/miles" or something of the like surrounded by a ton of people. if you've never been to a race, the hype is outstanding. you feel a sense of community. everybody is there to do the same thing: run! and spirits are always high. seeing people in bibs and running gear makes your heart beat faster and harder and somehow you feel a sense of happiness. in the last moments before the race started i changed my mind and decided that i'd do the half! i knew that without training it might be difficult and i might have to stop and walk. i'm the type of person who, when i set out to do something i want to do it without mishaps. to me, walking during a run is a mishap. but i thought that even if i had to walk some, it'd be better than having woken up early in the morning to run a distance i do on an average day anyway. i felt the need to push myself and in an instant flip of decision, i was nervous to run the half.

thoughts throughout the race:
miles 1&2: feeling fine. running at my normal pace of about 10min/mile.
mile 3: i pass the turn around point for the 10k and think to myself "thank god i didn't do the 10k. that just seems so short. it would've been pointless to come out to run such a short distance."
mile 6: still feeling fine. oh and HEY THERE'S BRIAN WILSON taking pictures with people and handing out high-fives!
mile 7: this route is much better than last year. if the fog wasn't here we'd see the bridge! wait, what? it's changing from cemented ground to dirt and gravel? now i have to adapt to that when my stride has been pretty steady on cement! oh man, at seven miles i normally feel like i don't want to run anymore but i'm feeling good. i could do this all day.
mile 9: okay, i'll make it to mile 10 without having stopped to walk at all. maybe i'll give myself a break at mile 11 to walk a bit.
mile 11: hmmm why am i still feeling quite well? my legs aren't dying, my breathing pattern is good. how could i be doing this without really training? AND i had a horrible midnight snack last night AND drank?? who am i? i feel like a beast!
mile 13: okay well i guess i'll just run the whole thing. no stopping or walking necessary. does this even make sense? how did i do that? i'm sure my time will be longer than last years pace but who cares. I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT.

i finished at 2 hours 11 minutes with an average pace of 9:56min/mile. last year i finished in 2 hours 12 minutes. not that it's a whole hell of a difference, but i beat my time by one minute! and this year i didn't train and ate like crap. last year i trained for three months and cut out desserts from my diet. i truly can't believe i did that with as much ease as i did. seriously. how??? i am SO glad that i chose to do the half rather than the 10k. i would have felt like i shorted myself. i feel strong. i feel awesome!

for my own future reference: my race results and video