Wednesday, October 21, 2015

I ran SF

So if you've been reading along the last few weeks you'll know that I'm insane and decided to run a half marathon. Well I DID IT! and here's how it went (ps this one gets ril ril long and emotional so feel free to skip down to the end to pictures):

So last you heard from me, I think, was that I took a really great fall down a hill. Well, I won't show pictures because but that fall gave me some wonderful bruises on my left shoulder/upper arm, and right knee. Other than that there was no damage other than to my pride. I also can't run down that hill without getting super nervous but that's okay. I ran 5 miles that Saturday and continued to train as much as I could. Unfortunately for training and fortunately for every other reason I started a new job last Monday (the Monday before the race) so that messed up my training plan but at the same time kept me a bit more sane. The week of the race I only ran two times. Once on Wednesday where I ran a mile at a sub 9 minutes pace (new PR) because I was so antsy from sitting at a desk for 3 days straight. And on Saturday, the day before the race. Just a light 5k to loosen things up before race day (who am I???).

On Saturday we went into the city to pick up our packets and participate in some pre-race day fun. Unfortunately I wore some shoes that strained a muscle in my left foot which effected me on race day. More on that later. Basically we walked around the city with a TON of other women (and some men) who were running the race and buying all the Nike things. It was super fun and got us all excited for the race the next day. We came home and got to bed early so that we would be well rested for the race.

On Sunday we woke up WAY early (4:15am) so that we could get into the city in time for the race (started at 6:30). Right before 6:30 we walked from my mom's hotel to Union Square and waited in our heat section to start the race. My mom and I were in the last heat and even though the race started at 6:30 we didn't actually cross the start line until 7:15 (ish)

So like I mentioned earlier, I had some foot issues. While we were waiting I could tell that my left foot/ankle were kind of tight so I really wanted to start running to loosen up. About 2 miles into the race I could tell that running was not loosening anything up and that I was having a somewhat serious issue with my foot. Fortunately at that point I could still run. Basically the running plan was: run the downhill, flat streets, and minor uphill and walk the hills that wasted energy to run/walk when you needed to. Unfortunately due to the foot thing we ended up walking a lot more than would have normally been necessary. We did run more than half of the race but not much more than that.

The race course itself was amazing! Oh my goodness, running on the surface streets of SF, through Golden Gate Park, views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio and water front. You literally could not ask for a more beautiful course to run. There were water stations every 2 miles and most of them had little energy things like electrolyte waters, energy goo, mini power bars, and chocolate. There were also groups of people along the course cheering us along. Lots of them were volunteers but also high school bands, local music groups representing different cultures (an Indian dance group, a Mexican dance group, Japanese drums (2), Chinese dragon and dancing, etc) It was really cool and also motivating especially towards the end.

My mom and I finished the half marathon in just over 3 hours and got a nice goodie bag and of course our Tiffany's necklace. After finding Dan (who finished about 90 minutes before we did) we walked over to the medical tent to make sure my foot was okay. It is - just a strained muscle/tendon near the ankle that crosses the bottom of the the foot in the arch. Good news especially because we were worried it was a stress fracture. After resting/stretching/basking in the wonderful weather we were having we took a shuttle back to Union Square and showered at mom's hotel room and relaxed/ate back our calories.

Training for this race and actually running a the half marathon is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It was really emotional for me to be able to push myself the way that I did. There was a sign near the end of the race at the top of this killer hill (that we walked up because it was faster and my foot, grrr) that said something along the lines of "be proud of everything you are right now" and I about lost it. The combination of exhaustion (from lack of sleep and having ran/walked 10 miles at that point), pain in my foot, and just actually realizing that I had accomplished something that I really could be proud of was really overwhelming.

While I didn't finish in a way (or at the pace) that I wanted to finish this half marathon journey I did finish. Running/being athletic has never come easy to me and I usually give up before I can accomplish anything to truly be proud of. My body has never been as coordinated, or as fast, or as _____ as I wanted it to be. Especially my feet/ankles cause issues which make running significantly less fun. To push my limits and my body to be able to accomplish this goal of mine was and is a big deal to me. I definitely plan on maintaining an ability to run and will probably run other half marathons in the future (no marathons yet though, that's crazy) and I am excited to improve and to be more confident in my body's capabilities. I plan on pushing myself in other ways as well because now I know that I can do hard things. Not just at work or school but I can physically do hard things. I plan on developing my body as a tool and being more confident in what I can use it for. I'm really excited to see what I can do.

Anyway, I warned you that this was going to be a lot. I don't even know what I'm saying now. I think I need to write a post on mental recovery from running a half marathon (I almost had an emotional break down over pesto linguini at work the day after the race because I was so exhausted from the race... haha emotions, they'll get you every time). Well as promised I have pictures so here you go! 


There was like an hour long wait to take your picture in front of this
so we improvised
Name on the Nike store window
That's me!
Dan :)





A couple weeks ago we were at the Washington coast with my family doing
a puzzle of this building. It was horrible.
On camera :)










Golden Gate Bridge!

No wait for a picture during the race - not that we would have minded

Done and wearing our Tiffany's

Tiffany's!







When my mom was running marathons we would be
waiting for her at the finish line and watch her come in 
for the last 1/4 of a mile.
When we saw her I would always run out and run the last 
part of the race with her.
While that distance was much more enjoyable, running the
whole half marathon with her was really amazing.
My mom supported me through my stubborn not running phase,
my training, and the race.She kept me from over doing it
but also made me push myself.
I couldn't and wouldn't have done this without her. 







My times, if you're curious.

2 comments:

  1. okay chills are on my arms right now!!! i love you. i love your transparency and genuineness in your writing and your badassery in your running! are you kidding me?? a half marathon! i don't care how much you walked or ran, that is incredible! so proud of you and i know your amazing gorgeous mom is too! xoxo, tiffne #beproudofeverythingyouarerightnow

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  2. Katie! So proud of you and really loved reading this (yes, I read the whole thing!). Running is such a great metaphor for life sometimes and it's an awful and wonderful struggle. SF is where I 1st learned that and I loved training there and running (and walking) those awful hills. As I am struggling now to train for my 3rd half (November!) with school/stress/life being what it is, your post was a great reminder that "just doing it" (haha, Nike will love me!) is half the battle and we can push our limits even when things don't go quite as we planned or hoped. Thanks for sharing and love all the picts, etc. Happy for you and miss you guys in P-town!

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