The Eye of the Tiger

We met at Crown Point this morning to do our longest run of the season before the big race, 12.1 miles for the half marathoners and 20 miles for the marathoners. HOLY MOLY! I was super nervous about doing it since my shin splints were acting up again after the last long run (no doubt due to wearing worn out trail running shoes) and twisting my ankle on Thursday, so I figured I would run a couple miles, walk back and suck it up until the next long run.

Since I'm a member of the "A" half marathon team (meaning, we're the slow group) we had a staggered start of 7:15 alongside the "C" marathon team (rockstars) versus the 6:15 start of the "A" full marathon team. There's a core group of about 6 other runners who I've been running with all season, sharing easy conversations and keeping each other distracted from the run. I particularly love running with Sarah, who I met on one of our first runs as a team- there's something really nice about finding someone who is your pace. Lately since I lost time due to injuries, she's gotten faster then me so I'm usually about 100 yards behind her. Today since we were both nursing minor problems we decided to stick together for as long as we could, and walk back if we felt anything act up.

The run started in Crown point, which is the southern (?) end of Mission Bay, along the Mission Bay boardwalk, into Pacific Beach and along the boardwalk and back. Sarah and I unofficially named the run "The Run to the Potty and Back" since we ran 6 miles to her house to use the bathroom which just so happened to be two blocks from the turnaround. It was a beautiful run- so many things to look at, between the ocean, the incredible houses along the boardwalk, the various dogs with their owners, the woman who jogged in a teeny sports bra and rolled down running shorts so we could see a little TOO much...eeek! I'm dying to go back for breakfast and more people watching.

I can't say that the run felt great- I felt crummy for about a third of it. Weird things started acting up- I was like, HELLO hips, hello right ankle, hello calves! Luckily we took some stretching breaks during our 5 minute run/ 1 minute walk intervals which helped. And I did get into a groove of the running where it was like a moving meditation, effortless. When I was training for the marathon back in 1999 that's what I loved the most- it would take me two hours to finally stop thinking about work and just get into the run.

By some act of God, Sarah and I FINISHED RUNNING 12.1 MILES! We were both absolutely shocked, thrilled and speaking for myself, slightly disoriented. We did the run in about 3 hours, talking the whole way. There's something to be said about running alongside someone for three hours- I think we're going to be friends for life : ). We talked about running the marathon together, which I would really, really love! It was great to see mentor Tina at the end, giving us a high five as we finished the run and joined the rest of the group. It was also amazing to see my other teammates come to the end after their 12 or 20 miles, elated and exhausted and so proud of themselves and each other!

The halfway point around Sarah's home in Pacific Beach- sooo beautiful!

The wooden rollercoaster in Mission Bay- personally, I think it looks like a death trap.