My spared by the rain not-really-first Half Marathon (Read 569 times)

Despite my weather worries (posted here earlier), the US Half Marathon went great this morning! The last HM I ran was in 1992. With this one, I was hoping for a 9:30 pace. And what did I finish in? 2:04:26, 9:30 on the button. So I guess I had set my goal correctly. When I went to pick up my race packet on Saturday, at a store along the route, I was really at the weather. Quite stormy, pouring rain and really windy, which, especially considering the race was an out-and-back over the Golden Gate Bridge, really had me nervous. Luckily, the front passed through last night, and things looked much better this morning. After hearing the starting gun from the port-a-potty (+1 for starting on time; -5 for the woefully inadequate port-a-potty situation), I was off, about 3 minutes behind. It was crowded, which helped keep me on track with not starting off to fast. We were getting a little sprinkled on, but nothing I'd really call rain. The start was right at the foot of Van Ness Ave, and we went south of Fort Mason, past the Safeway, and on to Mason to Chrissy Field all along the waterfront heading for the Golden Gate Bridge. As we ran along Mason and the Golden Gate came into view, an actual rainbow, almost full arc, rose from the Marin Headlands across the sky over the Bridge. An amazing sight. The first three mile markers were a little off from my Garmin distance, but I dutifully recorded the laps, having turned off my auto-lap. Bad decision on the auto-lap, because after the third mile marker, I didn't see a single other one. From Chrissy Field on the waterfront, you face the reality that if you're going to run across the Golden Gate Bridge, you have to first get up onto it. So the course went up, up, up through the Presidio (passed the two male leaders flying down at one point where the routes were briefly on opposite sides of the road) and out onto the Bridge. The course actually went on the pedestrian sidewalks of the Bridge, which, if you're familiar with the Bridge, are about four or five people wide, less as they go around the towers. So it was a bit of a squeeze at points and my pace wasn't entirely my own. But I felt really good on this stretch. I don't know if the walkway was officially closed to tourists, or if it was just that none dared venture on when it was shoulder-to-shoulder with runners. Then again, 8:00 am on Sunday with rain threatening probably isn't a popular tourist time anyway. We went North on the east side walkway (that's the tourist one), then looped under the Bridge at the vista point on the Marin anchorage, to go south on the west side walkway. It was quite gusty on the Bridge at times, and the crowds and slick pavement kept things interesting especially around the towers. But it was all manageable. Odd thing: after seeing those two male leaders at about 45 minutes, for the first half of the time I was headed north on the bridge, there was no one, not a soul, on the other walkway. That's more than a mile of no one. So I guess they must have had a separate earlier elite start? (actually, I just checked the results, and there were two men who finished within 20 seconds of each other at 1:02, but then the third finisher was 1:16. That would be enough to explain that gap even without a separate elite start I guess. Quite impressive times for the leaders!) I grabbed water and walked the stop just before getting on the walkway to head south on the bridge, my only waterstop. That turned out to have been mile 7, and a chip pad there recorded me at 1:10:38, 10:05 mpm. Not that I knew that at the time). Again felt good on the bridge, and when I got back onto flat ground in SF at around mile 9, it was kind of a let down. I was doing my best to keep the pace up, and was watching my "average pace" on the Garmin slowly and steadily dropping, which was nice, and kept me focussed on the long flat straightaway along the water. By the time I got to the last hill through Ft. Mason, which showed up right at 12.75 miles, I was over that whole "oh, I miss the hills" business. Had fun flying down it to the finish, though, and was thrilled to see my 2:04:26 finish time. Overall, a good race. Definitely scenic. Plenty of water stops, well staffed and also offering an electrolyte drink of some variety. The lack of mile markers was a minor frustration (and it wasn't just that I'd missed them -- I heard lots of comments on it), and the port-a-potty situation was pathetic. And there was no food at the finish line! Apparently they'd had bananas, but run out by the time I came in -- and, come on, I may not have been speedy, but I was top 50%, so that's a serious under-order on the bananas any way you look at it. There were some Shot Blok samples, but that didnt' strike me as appealing post-race fare. I wish I could remember my first HM time, which was in 1991. I'm pretty sure it was 2:04 something, though (PR in '92 was 1:58 or 1:59). I'm going to choose to believe that my debut HM *was* 2:04, because that would mean that even 17 years later, and I can come back with the same time. And I thought I was doing well at 22.

Sorry I'm late, but I would have started with this: http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/whattowear/0,7152,s6-240-325-330-0-0-0-0-0,00.html And adjusted it. I would wear my Garmin.And a hat, for sure.

Awesome job, congrats and glad the weather cooperated