rock n roll running

i ran the san jose rock n roll half marathon on sunday thanks to my friend john convincing me to run with no training. "oh it's easy, you'll have no problem running it". turned out i was really glad i ran! the night before i was really anxious however. i went to bed at 10:30 but couldn't get to sleep until about 12:30. even when i was sleeping, i had stressful dreams which didn't let me have a good sleep. i didn't even need my second alarm to wake me up at 5:45AM. it was extremely cold to be in work out clothes also. i was shivering even after i put on a light fleece and a heavier fleece. the longest i've ever run would probably be around 7-8 miles so i had about a 20% feeling that i wouldn't finish. i was definitely regretting my decision to run when i was sitting in my car waiting for john to arrive with my bib and watching all these really intense looking runner types walk past me. the guy parked in front of me had a team in training license plate and was putting on this water bottle belt. very hard core...

however once i got in place next to runners and the sun was shining, things felt better. i was getting warmed up and starting to get excited with all the people next to me. i remember what cindy told me and tried to start out slow so that i made sure to have enough energy for the whole race. in retrospect i think i was a little too conservative and could have gone faster in the beginning. the pain hit me around mile 10 or 11. the blisters on my toes were really getting uncomfortable and my legs felt like huge logs i was dragging along with me. but the funny thing was it hurt more to stop and start than it did to just keep on running. so i kept on running. with all the mommies and daddies and grandmas. haha. it was seriously a hit to the pride to see a grandma running right next to me. i don't think my joints would be able to move very well at that age. of course she was a very fit grandma, but still. i felt both admiration for her ability to run and distain for myself that i'm not much better than a grandma. still, i'm very glad i completed the race, it was really a rush to run that last mile and sprint the last 200 straightaway. i felt very proud to take a picture holding up my medal - i just need to find where i can get that picture. =P john was right, it was a great first race to do. the sun was shining and plenty of people were cheering which really did lift my spirits and pushed me on when i wanted to stop. afterwards john, his gf rainbow and i pigged out on dimsum which was a great reward also. yay hawgow! i was disappointed to learn i didn't break 2:30. next time i will...

my total running info:
Place Overall: 6269 out of 8787
Women: 2876 out of 4802
FINISH: 2:34:50 pace: 11:49
5k: 32:57 pace: 10:37
10K: 1:08:06 pace: 10:58
10Mile: 1:54:29 pace: 11:27
Chip Time: 2:34:50
Gun Time: 2:39:21