June 2013 2nd half

 

 
It's Father's day and we are in San Francisco to run the 2nd half of the marathon and earn our Half It All Challenge medal.  Last year, we ran in July and it was cold and misty. The weather was pretty miserable although I prefer cool over hot but alas the Golden Gate bridge was pretty fogged in.  This year, it was in June because of another race in July.  Wow what an amazing day in SF!!! Incredibly clear and comfortably cool.  Running through Golden Gate Park was amazing! I never knew SF had such a beautiful park.  Haight street was incredibly beautiful with colorful murals everywhere.

Marcus was great at helping me stay steady with my pace. The course had some light rolling hills and two down hills. I didn't start feeling pain until the 9th mile just like my training.  However, it became a mental game to push through little milestones through the last few miles. I thought often of SBM who would soon endure pain for double the run distance and it helped me block out the pain. At the end, I was very pleased that my race pace was faster than my last two long training runs at 10:27 avg = 2:18.  We had a great time at the after party and the food was terrific. I really love our challenge medal but I don't think I will return for the full Marathon next year.  I think I'd rather run the Women's Nike Marathon in October if I can get in since it is a lottery entry. We had to walk back to the hotel which was one mile away and my foot really started to throb so I decided to talk to it and plead for mercy!  I iced it when we returned to the hotel and it bounced back fairly quickly.

Next on the calendar was the inaugural JUMP aquathlon on June 23. Wow that was fun! We took the Lady Hornblower cruiser out to the middle of the CV Marina, jumped off the platform, swam 1 mile and then ran 6 miles.  The water was choppy but warm so I was so glad to be in a sleeveless.  Finally I solved my chaffing issue with a rash guard under the sleeveless wetsuit. I loved the event but holy moly the swim exit was rocky and when I started to run through the little rocks, I tumbled backwards in foot pain.  I hobbled my way carefully up the bank and limped into T1.  My Achilles had been hurting from 160 miles of biking that week that I wore an ankle bandage on the run.  The run went pretty well at a 10:20 avg pace so I am improving slowly, but it was a bit embarrassing when Judy, the 70 year old, ran by me like a steamboat! I hope I can run that fast when I am her age! I did run 18 miles total this 3rd week of training for SOMA so my marathon training is on track.

 On the same day as JUMP was the Ironman Coeur d'Arlene.  SwimBikeMom Meredith Atwood would be attempting her first full ironman after only completing a 14 mile run in her training due to hip pain.  She and I have followed a similar tri journey so far but I delayed my IM adventure for foot surgery and she continued after we both raced two 70.3 events. She has endured so many physical issues,  a job, young kids, and weighs 200 lbs.  With all this going on in her life, if she can finish, then so can I.  She needed hip surgery but continued to train the best she could for her once in a lifetime shot at a full ironman.  It was incredibly exciting and fulfilling to watch her stats throughout the night and after a long grueling bike ride for 8:11 hrs, I was worried about her run and the pain she would need to endure even at a sub 16 min/mile pace. But with about 15 minutes to spare, Mike Reilly announced she was an ironman and tears streamed down my face in pride as I watched her live through the website.  I have more confidence in myself than ever before because she has shown me that FEAR IS A LIAR.  Get your brain out of the way and achieve your dreams.