I Ran My First Half Marathon Today

Here I am grinning ear to ear, perched above the town of Pacifica, after running my first half marathon this morning.

I didn't actually wake up this morning intending to run a half marathon. I had switched my registration from the 21k to the 9k after hearing from a number of runners that the Pacifica PC trail run is a very difficult course. But on the car ride to the race, the other runners that I was carpooling with strong-armed me into running the 21k. So I set out to do my first half marathon. (Note to self: Be careful who you carpool with. But in all seriousness, despite being much better runners than me the other three were very supportive, coaching me and making me drink water and eat even though I didn't feel like it).

It was indeed a very challenging course. The first 6 k was completely uphill, with the 1700 foot ascent culminating at the top of North Peak. Then it was back downhill on the same treacherously rocky trail. I did twist my ankle at the bottom, but it wasn't too bad and I kept going. Thinking I had the hard part of the run behind me, I set out on what I thought would be a short 9k loop after eating some oranges and PB&J squares at the aid station. The next part of the race was killer. We did a short uphill then a really long uphill that was just endless switchbacks, until we reached an elevation of 850 ft (making the total elevation for this run over 2500 ft!). The downhill back to the finish was shorter, but by that point even it seemed long to me.

I now have a better feeling for the exhaustion long distance runners experience. And it was a humbling experience, as I placed 25th in my age group and in the bottom half of the 21k finishers overall.

Still, another beautiful day spent outside on beautiful trails is a blessing. So far I've done an 8k at Rodeo Beach, a 5 mile Resolution Run on New Year's day in Los Gatos, a 16k at Angel Island and today the 21k at Pacifica. Next up is the San Francisco half marathon Feb 1 which promises to be much flatter!