Running Around All Weekend

This weekend is going to be interesting. I'm losing my pacer virginity, officially, and running a half marathon the following day. That's a crowded weekend that is going to take some planning and organizational skills... oh ya, and some running legs.

Saturday afternoon, I'll be waiting for my friend, Chris, at the Rattlesnake Bar near Folsom Lake to run the last nine miles of his 50 mile endurance run. It'll be the first time I've ever paced a runner in an official event. I think we've all acted as a pacer during group or training runs, so we know generally what is expected. But I'm pretty excited about this... I get to finish with a friend as he accomplishes something amazing.

That night, I'll head back home and get ready for my own race. Sunday morning I'll be running the US Half Marathon 2. I ran the Fall edition of this race in 2008 coming off of a horrible IT band injury. I ended up finishing around 2:40 having to walk most of it. This weekend I'll look for redemption and try to put up a pretty good time. I'd love to set a PR and handily break 2 hours (unofficial half PR is 1:59). The course includes hills and the Golden Gate Bridge, which will be a great tune up for The SF Marathon in July and if the weather cooperates, Sunday could be a gorgeous race day in the marina.

Either way, it'll be a memorable and busy weekend... but if I wasn't running around (literally) what else would I be doing?