My First Half: Complete! Rock N' Roll San Jose

Who knew that running for 2 hours and 44 minutes while suffering from dehydration would be fun... but I am here to tell you that it was.

I have to admit there were a few times during the race I was a bit concerned.  Around mile 10 I could feel myself slowing down, not necessarily my feet since I was already at a snails pace in the running world.  Around mile 10.5 I walked a bit to get my GU (I stole 2) and hydrate.

Gavin was able to run the first 5 miles (the Mini Marathon) with me so that made it even more fun! I also had the best cheerleaders in the world.  Although there were local high schools and college teams present my sister and brother in law came out and watched me run by them at 3 different spots along the course!! The local cheer squads had nothing on them.

The course was a great way to see San Jose, my family has lived out there for more than a decade and I still get confused within the City limits. My sister's neighborhood was very close to the first neighborhood we ran through and the people there were so into watching the runners go by.  Although there were a decent amount of people that seemed surprised that so many people were so excited to run that early in the morning. There were band stands within each mile marker playing, but in this neighborhood people just came out and played with their bands. It was really fun to see the community get involved and they were excited to be part of the race. 

The other part of town that was nice to run through was the Garden District, the houses and yards were very impressive, although the community support was a little less impressive. 

Although I saw lots of the city, I am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to give anyone a tour. My sister tried to ask me questions about the course the next day and I had no answers, I guess I was in a zone. Or it could have been when I started seeing stars. I was trying to stay ahead of the thirst, drinking at every hydration stand.  I think my chances of over-hydration were slim... definitely need to work on the electrolytes in the future. 

The course was for the most part flat, an underpass or 2, but nothing that I couldn't handle at the time. It was also amazing how many people I had to run around. Around mile 7, my Garmin was giving about .5 mile more than the mile markers, you don't think about how much more your run. 

Was so nice having Gavin to run with for the first 4.5 miles. 

Gavin finishing out the 5 miles

Honestly this is just a happy face, the guy was standing there with a camera and I felt the need to do something! 

I am ready for the next... Mentally maybe, physically I need to get on my training shoes!

It has become an Obsession

I have signed up for my first half, which inspired me to start this blog as the few of you reading my know.
Saturday I booked the flight to San Jose, where the Rock’n’Roll  (aka my very first) Half Marathon will take place.  This is getting real!

Workout: 3.42 miles / 37 minutes

Although I haven’t hit any significant distances why am I obsessed with  running more of them, I am so close to signing up for a second that I am starting to worry about my sanity.

Today is National Running Day, I actually planned so that running was in my schedule for today. Also, to celebrate the big day, the good people over at RnR have decided to give out $20 off your next race if you sign up today. I am on the verge.  I have been eyeing the Savannah one for weeks (Love that city), but it is pretty much a month after my first and I feel like that just might be too soon. Not to mention the logistics of getting down there and staying over. (The official Kibosh!)

That leaves St Pete, FL (2/9/2014) which would be a great winter get away or Washington, DC (3/15/2014) I am leaning towards DC. I can drive there, I have family a few hours away, and when I did my internship in DC I would run along the Potomac and LOVED every minute of it, even taking my lazy butt back home on the Metro. Lastly, Gavin might actually be able to take time off to go down with me.

Me being as touristy as possible! (I think I nailed the look)

Places I would love to run by… and I used to run by.

OK, so the MLK Jr Memorial didn’t exist in the days I interned there, but you can see TJ in the distance.

Do you think it is too soon to commit to something that far in advance?  Plus, what if I hate the whole half experience?

Even if the first one sucks they can only get better, right?

In other news I signed up for my first 10K the other day, part of the Narragansett Running Festival. Now if you are thinking the town in Rhode Island or the arch nemesis of my high school in field hockey team you would be mistaken. It is the beer company and I did it more for the after party than the actual run… although if I had known it was 2 loops around the Stonehill College campus.I might not have signed up. I get bored easily so looking at the same thing twice might not be as much fun as I thought.

Last obsession is the Ragnar Relay on the Cape.  I volunteered at it this past year where I managed to get a black eye.  (stunning self photography)


As much as I promise people not to share my black eye misfortune I can’t seem to get 11 other people as excited as I am to run 3 separate legs of 5-7 miles overnight through the mean streets of Cape Cod. Go Figure! (And when I say mean streets of the Cape, I am referring to the wild turkeys, I  hear they can really eff you up!) 12 people, 2 vans, 2 days and 1 night of running, what else could you ask for?  Oh and from what I saw, a whole bunch of crazy.

Look at the swag! (They double as bottle openers)

{Ragnar Cape Cod's Facebook page}

Who is with me? It is the first weekend in May 2014 SOOO much time to train.