I’m running a marathon. Well, not at the moment, but soon. And, it’s not even a marathon, it’s a half marathon, but I am told it’s the most popular race distance so at least I will have some company.
I’ve signed up for the San Francisco Half-Marathon in August. I’ll be running it with several people including T (my wife), my sister, and a couple friends, one of which is coming from Houston to participate.
I am actually really excited about this. I think it will be neat to run through the City and we will even cross the Golden Gate Bridge. When you sign up, you have the opportunity to select which route you want. I chose the first half which takes you through the Marina, GG Bridge, the Presidio, and to the finish in Golden Gate Park. Not a bad route if you ask me. The second half starts in the park, winds through Haight-Ashbury, through the Mission, and finishes along the Embarcadero. Again, a solid route, but not my fave, which is why I went with #1.
I’ve started my training already. (Actually, I started training a few months ago for a half-marathon run in Napa which wasn’t really a run or a half-marathon, but that’s material for another post). I go to the gym or hit the pavement 3 to 4 times a week for 40 minutes or more, including one long run per week of 60 minutes or longer. I am pleased with my progress and have brought my average mile time down from about 9 minutes to 8:15 or so. With less than three months to go I hope to get that down into the 7s. We’ll see if I can do it. I am debating whether to add another page to this site to track my running progress too. Sounds like a good idea… maybe I’ll look into it.
Although I have improved, don’t think that running has been easy for me. When I first started my training, I was getting horrible shin splints, my knees were angry after every run, and my breathing was incredibly labored. I wanted to quit so many times, cuz who really runs for fun anyways. But I stuck with it.
Adding a little more distance each time, the shin splints eventually went away. (I think also partly due to my running about as fast as a turtle). I bought new shoes at a fancy shoe store where they watch you run and teach you a whole bunch of stuff so that you don’t feel completely raped when you shell out $140 for shoes that you only wear for about an hour at a time. But… the new shoes helped alleviate the knee pain and when that was happening, I think I would have paid $300 for it to go away.
The most questionable item I’ve bought for running is the spandex undershorts. They are called ‘compression shorts’ and are supposed to hold your junk against your body so you don’t look like Paulie Bleeker from Juno (0:38 into the video). I must admit, I actually like these shorts and they do perform as advertised. I estimate that I run about 0.2 mph faster due to these shorts. Hooray.
So stay tuned for my running updates, especially the post following the run. I’ll probably have something to complain about, but I will be in a good mood cuz a half-marathon is far and its quite an accomplishment. (I have to keep telling myself that or I won’t do it).
Related posts:
