Seattle Half Marathon: A Recap

It was an absolutely gorgeous day for running in Seattle today. A bit foggy along Lake Washington, but overall, a great day to run. The Hoffmann family gathered at some weird hour of the morning that I tend to avoid and set off for 13.1 miles.

There were a lot of racers out there today and between the full marathon walk which for some reason started 10 minutes before the half marathon run, it was a sea of people heading down Fifth Avenue.

My foot injury did not rear its ugly head during the run, but I defiantly felt the affects of not being able to train for a few weeks prior to the race. After some big hills and some foot pain (just from it striking the ground over and over again, nothing big) though I was exhausted. This was at about mile 9. I kept trying to get through the wall, but my legs didn't respond to that very much. By mile 10 I was walking and not at a fast pace. My dad was with me the whole time, so he's probably feeling good today. We ended up running the last 1/4 mile which was good. I crossed the line at 3:15. Not the pace I was looking for, but I wasn't at my peak either. I'll take a bit of time off, join a gym and get back to it in mid-December.

At any rate, I have a medal and another t-shirt, plus some sore muscles. Wonder when I get to do it again?

Alan

A new goal...and a gizmo

My sister and Dad completed the San Diego Marathon earlier today. Afterwards I sent my sister a congratulatory text message, as that was her first marathon. In her response she thanked me. Then asked "Do you want to run the Seattle Marathon in November?"

Yes. Yes, I do.

I have a quasi goal of getting fit for this blog. I say quasi goal because, well, what defines fit? I've lost five pounds so far. Direct me to the nearest Aircraft Carrier. I have a "Mission Accomplished" banner ready to go. Now, I have something to shoot for. Its not just get fit...its get fit for a half marathon.

I may have mentioned that I have tangoed with the Seattle Half Marathon before. The very race that made me shy away from running for awhile. Its time for round 2. I have my eyes set for the day after Thanksgiving, where myself and who knows how many fellow tryptophan ODers will be out in force on the Seattle streets.

I'm excited. I have something to build for. Before, it was "go run for two miles, get a little work in, just sweat a little." Now, its "work towards building up miles, get stronger, gain more stamina, prepare to run triumphantly into Memorial Stadium."

Yup. Its going to be awesome.

In the meantime, I've got a new gadget. Its an Omron HJ-112 Digital Premium Pedometer, which is a fancy way of saying "badass step counter". My mom gave me one of these once, and it promptly got lost somewhere Hopefully it doesn't happen with this one.

I heart gadgets, and if a regular feature of this blog is me reviewing things...I will be a happy blogger.

Alan

Good luck

I'd like to wish good luck and happy racing to my sister and dad, who today are both running in the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon.

Rock n' Roll AND running? Sounds like a fantastic combination to me.

For the record, my two siblings will have now run marathons. I hope to run one someday. For now though, I'm still working on my short runs.