US Half 2012 Recap

Going into races it's always tough to handle expectations. Heading into this race a month after a PR at RNRSJ, I was hoping for a repeat performance. With RNRSJ my first official sub 2 hour finish my legs seem to have realized that they can fly at 9 min. miles for an extended period of time. Bonus.

The other leg realization is that they can fly FASTER than 9 min. miles for an extended period for time. Since Oct. 2, I've been running sub 9 min. miles on my training runs. At first I thought it was just a result of being lower mileage (2-5 mile runs). But then I started building mileage back up for race prep. 8 miles at a 8:36 pace. Then an 11 mile run at 8:50 pace. So, of course my brain starts racing (pun totally intended): "How fast can I go at the US Half Marathon?"

Let's find out!

The morning started with the typical rigamarole. Getting up early, packing my race supplies while the pup watches hoping to join me on a run. Sorry Mika, it's just me this time.

Once I found parking near the start of the race (which can be difficult at any race, more specifically a race in SF), I made my way to the start. A few days before the race, I thought it would be a great idea to organize a meet-up at the start line. It was late notice, so I was hoping a few people would be able to wish each other luck pre-race.

I was able to meet Facebook friends Niko, Brian (and his brother Keith), Claudia and Ana. Also, my training buddy Leo and his fellow running-friend Brian. Unfortunately, we weren't able to all organize for a pre-race photo, but it was great to meet everyone in "real life." I came across another training friend Diana, at Mile 3, we ran together for few seconds and met up post-race as well.

As the race started, I planned on going out with a 8:30-9 minute pace. The elevation climb was going to be an issue at staying within that range, but I figured what slowed me down going "up," I could make up going "down."

It was extremely congested most of the course, but I tried not to expel too much energy weaving in and out early on. It typically thins out as the race goes along, so I was anticipating that. First three miles were right on pace: 8:55, 8:46, 8:48.

Mile 4 had an incline heading up to the Golden Gate Bridge, 9:52. Miles 5 and 6 fell victim to runner-congestion on the Bridge. Due to construction we were restricted to one side of the bridge (going up and back). This segment seemed to have slowed most people down and trying to pass people on a walkway that fit 3, maybe 4 across posed a challenge in passing runners. Miles 5 and 6, 9:57, 9:12. At this point I thought my hopes for a PR were shot. The bottlenecks along the bridge slowed most runners down to a walk, plus we were about to make a 400 foot climb on the Marin Headlands (photo from mile 7 below) side of the bridge. Mile 7, 10:19

As I was heading down the climb, I decided to give it more than my all on the way back and hope not to crash and burn at the finish. I knew I could cruise the remainder of the course and come in around 2:05+ comfortably. OR, I could haul ass and try to see if I could PR this bad boy. The downside to the latter was if I burned out before the end, my finish could end up closer to 2:10. Can you guess what option I went with?

Coming down the mountain, I was able to pick up some time that was quickly lost at a major bottleneck on the bridge. I was slowed to a walk, then to a standstill as runners were funneled into two single lanes (those coming across and those heading back). I could tell based on the faces of other runners, that this was a huge issue. Some tried to make the best of it... the race does not have control over construction, keep that in mind. Mile 8, 9:04.

After that, there were some downhill portions that I tried to quickly take advantage of. Mile 9, 8:35, back on pace. Mile 10 and 11, I kicked it into a gear that I haven't seen in some time, 7:27, 8:01.

At this point, having home-field advantage, I knew exactly where I was and how far I had to go. Looking at my watch, I figured if I could keep sub-9 min miles, I had a chance. Doing math while running is always fun. "Okay, If I'm at 1 hour 36 minutes and have 2 miles to run at a pace of 9 minutes, carry the one, subtract the 5, x is equal to… look, a dog!"

Mile 12 was pretty solid, 8:26. Mile 13 had a minor climb (87 feet), quickly followed by a steep decline. The climb took a lot out of me mentally, but I was able to focus and nailed a 8:56. The final .1 miles, I knew I had the PR, it was just a matter of by how much.

I finished at 1:58:38, shaving almost a minute and a half off my RNRSJ time for a PR at the half distance.

Looking back, miles 4-7 is where my pace fell apart with the congestion and the incline. Coming off the mountain and back across the bridge, it was much easier to maneuver. Looking at my times, I was able to PR only because of miles 10 and 11. If my ideal pace was around 8:30, I shaved a minute off mile 10 (7:27) and 30 seconds off mile 11 (8:01) and that's the minute and half I PR'd by. No other mile split was lower than 8:30 (mile 12 was 8:26, but ya).

After the race, I was able to connect with Claudia and Ana who also ran strong races. This time, we were all about the photos (more to come)! I originally met Claudia a few years ago at this exact race.

I also met up with Niko again and snagged a post-race photo.

As more photos become available, I'll be sure to share them. I'm sure there are some great ones since it turned out to be such a beautiful day. Thank you to everyone that wish us luck on facebook and twitter. You all rock and inspire!

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US Half Meet Up

Hi everyone, this weekend is the US Half and what better way to start an amazing race than with a bunch of runners wishing each other luck and giving high-fives? Okay, I'm a fan of the high-five and am hoping it makes a come-back. It's way better than the fist bump and that exploding hand thing, I don't get the explode… did my hand blow up when it collided with yours? Why would I want that?. I digress.

There are several people I know across the social networks (FB and Twitter) that are running it, so I was hoping we could organize a start line meet up. I know 2 friends coming from Oregon that are planning on meeting up along with 3 others that I train with in San Francisco… I plan on being at the start line around 6 AM (with a race start time of 7 AM.) But, let's plan on meeting here around 6:30.

The meet up spot is really close to the start line. Here is a better shot so that you can see how close it is. It's about a 30 sec. to 1 min. walk away from the start line. Convenient. I'm hoping that we can grab a group photo… hopefully someone has a camera, if not, we can use my iPhone to grab a snap shot of a bunch of runners about to kick some tail across the Golden Gate Bridge! Yea!

It's an easily identifiable spot near the start line. It's essentially at the entry way to a couple docks. I'll plan on being there before 6:30, so if you see me, come over and say hi. This is what I'll be wearing (and here are some photos of what I look like).

Hope to see you all out there. This is a challenging course, so any extra good running mojo from fellow runners will always help. Have a great race!

Feel free to leave a comment if you will be joining us, that way I can keep an eye out for you. Cheers.

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DIY: Medal & Bib Holder

First things first: I have been looking for a way to display my running medals. I love training for them, earning them and getting them… unfortunately they sit on a shelf for awhile, then eventually get moved into a bag under the stairs. For all my hard work, this seems a rather unfitting resting place. I did a Google search for medal holders, or racks, or some search along this lines and found this. I thought: "What a wonderful solution for not only medals, but race bibs." I hold onto all of my race bibs and they sit in a shoe box. As you can see, I like holding onto things, but display them poorly.

I thought the idea was fairly simple and being a fan of HGTV (yep, I typed that), I figured I would try and make my own. A little DIY project that I thought I might appreciate on a personal level in the long run (pun totally intended). But to be upfront and honest, doing it myself: 1) Cost more than ordering it and 2) took a lot of trial and error to finish. Again, here is the link for my inspiration if you would like to save yourself some time and money.

But if you want to get all Tim "The Toolman" Taylor and build one yourself, here is how I made my rendition.

I purchased to pre-cut boards from a local craft store that cost me around $14.99/ea.

They have embossed edges, which was a nice touch. I then purchased some gray spray paint for $3.99 and covered both sides.

Once that was done, I purchased some stencils (around $4.99) and planned on using some leftover white paint I already had in the house. I decided to use "RACES" for the bibs, but it could really say anything.

I taped up the stencils where I wanted them and applied the white paint.

As you can see: FAIL. The paint just didn't work. This was some old paint, so it might have been too "watery" and just leaked through. I wiped down what I could while it was still wet, then simply covered the mistake up with another layer of gray spray paint. I essentially hit the "reset" button.

Since I was having success with the gray spray paint, I went back to the hardware store and bought some white spray paint ($3.99) and re-taped my letters.

As you can see, much better. (There was some white between the E and the S that leaked through, but I spray painted a Q-tip with gray and simply covered it up. (Easy-breezy.)

Next step was attaching the hanging hook for the back.

As for the front, I looked at my race bibs and there were 2 sizes. Big (NYCM, Rock n Roll Marathon size) and small (everything else). So I penciled in where the hooks needed to go and twisted the screws in. This was also the solution for the bibs on Etsy.

Once that was done, the bib project was finished.

I then repeated the same steps for the medal holder. I decided to go with RUNNING since my race distances vary, so I couldn't write MARATHONS. There are plenty of options that could be used, but I wanted to keep it simple.

After spray-painting both sides (above). I taped my letters.

As you can see, they only supplied one "N" in the box, so I had to create place holders. Spray it, then add the missing "N" where needed.

Then I measured where I wanted the hooks and screwed them into the board. I decided to go with various positions to have some medals hang at different lengths. Here is a sample of the front and back hooks for both. Packs of 4 cost me under $2. Make sure that the length of the screw isn't longer than the depth of your board.

I placed nine hooks, since I have a decent amount of medals, it needed to be able to hold quite a few at different lengths. I placed them about 3.5" apart from one another.

And that is pretty much it. Since it will hold a lot of medals, I placed 2 brackets on the back for support. I'm sure it would have been fine with one, but better safe than sorry.

Here is the final product. I only placed one medal on each hook for the photo, but I'm planning on each hook holding multiple medals.

As you can see, everything seems to have worked out. After a few missteps and multiple trips to the hardware store, they are up. I'm very happy with them and even though it cost me more in materials then it would have to simply have placed the order off Etsy, I'm glad it is something I was able to accomplish without injuring myself or cutting out the electricity in the neighborhood.

Here they are living happily together on the wall. Let me know what you think….

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Once a Thief, Not a Runner

My car was broken into at some point over the past couple days. We've been at home with a newborn, so my car hasn't moved much from it's parking spot. When we do go out, it's in our other car and I'm sure my car feels slightly neglected... to make matters worse, it has now been violated.

So why does this post show up on what is mostly a running blog? Because I believe that the person that broke into my car IS NOT a runner. I believe there is a 66% (or 2 out of 3) possibility that the person who violated my car is NOT a fellow member of the running community.

Here is my rationale:

There were 3 items in my car that I consider valuable to any runner. The first was a Trail Running magazine that was released by Runner's World earlier this year.

The second is Dean Karnazes' latest book: RUN!

Lastly, the only item stolen from my car: an iPod Nano.

Those are three things that any runner would love to have. Trail running magazine's aren't that common, or easily found. And if you've ever read a Dean Karnazes book, you know that they are page after page of inspiration, motivation and some pretty out-there tales of life on the road. The iPod is a toss up. This was a given to be stolen out of any car by a runner or not (even if it was tucked away in my glove box). Due to it being a Nano (small in size) I'll place it in the running category since I like to imagine that most of us prefer the smaller iPod's or iPod shuffles when we run.

Since only 1 of the 3 running related items was taken, that means there is a 66% likelihood that the jerk, er culprit was not a runner. And I have many years of watching Law & Order, CSI, Without A Trace, Numbers and other investigative shows to back up my profile of the theif. And that's a big deal — pretty much equivalent to several years at Langley.

Here are some other quick notes about the thief:

Does not frequently travel into San Francisco (I live in the East Bay)

In my ash tray, coin tray, whatever you want to call it, there were tons of quarters. I'm guessing at least $5-$8 worth. That is San Francisco-meter gold. And if you park in the city, those are 100% necessary. To top it off, I also have a FasTrak (allows you to drive through SF tolls without having to stop) that was not taken.

Not a Laker fan

I have a mini-basketball with a Laker logo that hangs from my rear-view mirror that was not stolen

Not an Oakland Athletics fan

I also have a yellow A's blanket that was a special give-away at the Coliseum that was left untouched.

Not afraid of getting wet in the rain

Yep, umbrella in the back that is still there. Maybe this person is some kind of frog-like-amphibian who isn't affected by rain.

Is not aware of Malcolm Gladwell

C'mon — this guy is a fantastic writer. Yes, that also means I had 2 books (both half read) sitting in my car… and a magazine. Sorry ,I like to read, apparently the thief does not. Side note: I just found out he also used to be a runner (read about it here). I didn't include this in the "running items" list because I'm a fan of his and JUST learned about his running history on Tuesday from his blog.

So if you happen to see someone that doesn't look like a runner listening to a grey iPod Nano with amphibian like characteristics not in Laker or A's gear and couldn't give two-cents about Malcolm Gladwell — call the police. Thanks.

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Don't Pass Out, Don't Puke, Do PR

Originally I wasn't supposed to be running the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon this year. Although it is one of my favorite local races, I have ran it the past 4 years and was not looking to repeat too many events. But when I saw that twitter friend @DiaryAvgRunner was hosting a raffle for a free entry, I entered my name and won. Yay me.

I arrived at the race fairly early, which isn't typical for me. I decided to duck into the Hilton (a block from the start line) to use the restroom. Trade secret: most hotels close to the event start line are typically filled with runners staying there and hanging out in the lobby. You can easily blend in and use their bathroom... it sure beats a porta-potty. Since I was so early, I also decided to get some stretching done there as well. Again, stretching on the carpet vs. a cold sidewalk or grass.

About a half-hour before the start, I made my way to the corral. I was aiming for coming in under 2hrs and felt pretty good about it. Prior to the gun @SarahStanley spotted me and we shared some PRE-race chatter, took a photo and rocked a high-five as we started. She's attempting to run all 2011 Rock n Roll Marathon Series races... yep, all of them. That's a lot of hardware.

I also ran with a buddy of mine, Drew, who I also train with. He's much faster, but similar to the Giants race he decided to pace me and help me reach for a sub-2 finish. We chatted most of the way and kept a 9-minute pace. I knew I could hold it until about 10 miles... after that I knew my legs would begin to tire. I typically train at a 9:30-10 min. pace, so I was "reaching" at a 9:09 pace.

Mile 10 came and legs started to feel fatigued. A friend of mine, Paige from FB, gave me some great PRE-race advice and told me to "run the mile you are in" and it really stuck. I kept that in mind and just thought "run this mile in 9 minutes" and deal with the next mile when I got there. It worked and definitely got me through miles 11 and 12.

When we got to mile 13, I asked Drew what our overall time was. He had us at 1:51 which meant I was exactly on pace and had 1.1 mile to see what I had in me. I threw on my iPod for the first time during the race and gave it all I had. When I crossed the finish line I thought I was either going to puke or pass out. Neither happened, but I did receive a medal. LOL. I much prefer the latter.

I always hope that a race will go as planned and they rarely do, but this one did. I ran at a very consistent pace and I have Drew to thank for that. I wouldn't have been able to hold that pace as long as I did without him.

At the finish line area I was able to meet fellow Twunner (her new word, Twitter + runner) @Janac, she had just finished with a PR herself. Luckily our conversation wasn't limited to 140 characters and it was fun to finally meet someone outside of the twitter universe.

I was happy to end my San Jose experiences on a positive note. I've dealt with injuries at this race before and to be able to run a successful 13.1 healthy, injury-free and set a PR was great. I now have an official sub 2-hr half marathon that I can point to and say "See, I did that."

Thank you to everyone on FB and twitter that gave me inspirational phrases and motivation to run strong. It was definitely needed in the later miles.

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