Run a 1/2 Marathon- Check!

Apr 13

metalman777exercise, running 1/2 marathon, race, santa cruz No Comments

Remember how happy Tom Hanks was in the movie Castaway after he finally made fire on the beach? He pranced around saying “FIRE! I HAVE MADE FIRE!!” You remember, you know you do! That’s how I felt on a cold, rainy, windy Sunday morning after running my first 1/2 marathon! I wanted to prance around yelling “I JUST RAN 13.1 MILES! IN THE WIND! AND IN THE RAIN! ON THE OCEAN!”, but my legs were a little too wobbly to be doing any prancing!

I started seriously running last summer and set the Santa Cruz 1/2 Marathon as my main goal. I can’t believe it has already come and gone! I have to say it was pretty awesome, right up there with climbing Half Dome in Yosemite. The route was AMAZINGLY spectacular. I’d say that about 9 of those 13 miles were right along the coast line, with the ocean right below you, hitting the rocks and spraying you as you ran by. There were some pretty knarly hills as well, but those didn’t dominate the course.

I was a little surprised at how many people were there to run the race! The announcers said that there were over 4600 people registered. I think half of the runners ran the 1/2 marathon and the other half ran the 10K. The start line was right next to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and then went west towards UC Santa Cruz

The weather was a chilly 40 degrees as the race started at 8am. I quickly warmed up as I started to run. The first 5 miles just flew by, as the scenery was just so beautiful. I didn’t have a camera, so I can’t post any pictures. By miles 6 and 7, I was ready to take off my long sleeve shirt but had a feeling I should just leave it on in case it rained. And rain it did! Right when I hit the 10 mile marker, it started pouring down little tiny drops of water which the wind whipped at a 45 degree angle right into our faces! As you come up the hill at 10.5 miles, you come back to the bluff right by the ocean, where the wind was fierce and of course blowing the opposite way of which I wanted to run.

I don’t think I could have made it to the finish line without having some great music to pump up the adrenaline. Thankfully, I had spent a few hours crafting the perfect 2 gigabyte playlist for my iPod Nano. I love the fact that Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger started playing right at the 6 mile marker! Couldn’t have planned that any better if I had tried!

The last 200 feet or so lead right onto the beach. Those were the best 200 feet I have ever run! I just want to say thank you to my family who stood out in the cold rain waiting for me to finish! I know it couldn’t have been very comfortable!

I didn’t come in last, for which I’m very grateful! Honestly, my goal was just to finish! Finish I did, with about a 12 minute mile average. My total time was 2 hours and 38 minutes from the time I crossed the start line until I crossed the finish line.

My next race is running the first half of the San Francisco Marathon at the end of July. I’m hoping to actually train for this one and get my time down to 2 hours and 15 minutes. I just can’t wait to run across the Golden Gate Bridge!

Again, thanks for all the encouragement, especially from my family. I couldn’t have done it without you!

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