13.1 miles -- because I can!

Running is a mental sport and all runners are insane. I joined 20,000 insane men and women run through the streets of San Francisco last Sunday, October 19th for the Nike Women's Half/Full Marathon. This was my second half marathon, the first being last year's Nike Women's Half Marathon.

This was probably the best run that I have ever had thus far in my life. I totally enjoyed myself and even if it was physically exhausting, I had a lot of fun and would do it again in a heartbeat.

I'm a slow runner. I clocked at 3:06 this year. I am so happy with my performance since I shaved 23 minutes off my time from last year and I even injured my right foot 2 weeks before the race.

I know, I know, I'm totally insane to be running a half marathon with an injured foot. However, I had put in a lot of time and effort in the past 3-4 months preparing for this race that I just could not let myself give up. I had very low expectations of my performance after my injury. It left me very frustrated since I really wanted to run this race. I have been looking forward to it since I found out that I got an entry this year. I had put in a lot of time and effort preparing for this race and I just knew I had to push myself or else I would be very upset at myself if I just gave up and didn't even try to run/walk it. Worse comes to worst, I was going to walk it the entire way.

I know that I was a lot more prepared running this race this year than last year. Going to yoga classes twice a week has tremendously helped in getting me ready for this race. I feel so much stronger and my breathing has definitely improved a lot.

I can't wait for next year's race! I am sooo totally running this race again if I can get an entry.

Running...

50% Physical
49% Mental
1% Insanity

It's the big running weekend I have been looking forward to all year long. I'm running the Nike Women's Half Marathon this Sunday. Well, it's more like I'd be shuffling my feet and burning the rubber off my running shoes for 13.1 miles (21 kilometers). This is my second half marathon. I ran last year's race and it was such an experience. I am soooo excited!

I wish I had a better reason for running the half marathon but the truth is, I run for the Tiffany necklace handed out by firemen in tuxedos once I cross the finish line! Wooohooo!!

Ouch...

I am hurting right now. I feel pretty stiff all over even after going to my yoga class tonight. My lower back hurts, my butt hurts, my knee hurts. Ouch.. ouch.. ouch...

Last Sunday, I did my longest run so far this year. 11 miles baby! Yep, I know, I am crazy. I've been running a lot more in preparation for the Nike Women's Half Marathon on October 19th.

Tiffany necklace number 2, here I come!

My First Half Marathon

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I ran and finished my first half marathon today! That's 13.1 miles (21.08 kms)!

I participated in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco today. It was a wonderful experience. Very exhausting but it was so worth it. I was running for myself. :) And yeah, the Tiffany necklace at the finish line. hehehe....

My official time is 3:29:21 (hrs:mins:secs). I know, it's not an impressive time but you gotta take the hills in San Francisco into account. Those hills were killers! While running (errr... walking) up the steepest hill on the course, I couldn't help but think, "when will this hill ever end?"

I'm thinking of doing the Nike Women's Half Marathon again next year. :)

Here's my official results:

Overall
9239

Final Time
3:29:21

classrank
1625

sexrank
8837

pace
0:15:58

5k
0:44:45

10k
1:38:10

15k
2:30:28

91.74 Miles in 27 Days

The Couch Body Beginners Challenge finally came to a close tonight. I logged 91.74 miles (that's 146.78 kilometers for my Pinoy friends) in 27 days for this challenge. Well, it was good enough to take the trophy! Woooohooooo!!!! I won the challenge!

I never thought I would ever win this thing. I'm not a runner at all. Not even when I was wayyyyy lighter and younger. Sure, I played a lot of sports but I never really did any serious running.

Since I got my Nike+ transmitter, I've ran a total of 98.04 miles (156.86 kilometers). That's from November 15th till today. I love how it's keeping me motivated.

I was First Today!!!

Wooohooo!!!! I'm number 1 on the Couch body Beginner's Challenge today (well.. at least for a few hours)! Below is the screen shot to prove it. :)

I'm really loving this thing. It's feeding my very competitive nature and at the same time I am getting my work out. For the first time, I've been running almost everyday. I just hate being left behind in this competition.

My Progress

I'm too lazy to write anything right now. Still suffering from the effects of tryptophan from all the turkey I ate during Thanksgiving. Anyways, just to show all of you that I have been getting off my ass and working off all the stuff I've consumed, below is a screen shot off my Nike+ page.

Nifty Gadget

I'm back to running again. Thanks to this nifty gadget called Nike+ iPod Sport Kit.

I love gadgets. I love graphs. I love tracking things and I am very competitive when it comes to sports. So this thing is heaven sent to me!

This thing tracks my workout -- how many miles I've ran, my pace, how long I ran, how many calories burned and pretty much keeps track of my run. It uploads the data that's saved on my iPod to the www.nikeplus.com website. The best part is, you can join challenges set by other people using the gadget. I joined this challenge called "Bringing sexy back 299 miles, one mile at a time." The goal is to run 299 miles. I really love the fact that this is keeping me motivated.

Disneyland Half Marathon

I'm supposed to be running the Disneyland half marathon in a couple of hours -- but I am not. I am too exhausted to even think about running it at this point. Actually make that I'm too exhausted to even think, PERIOD. My week has been pretty crazy and it just wore me out. Running a half marathon is not my idea of fun right now. Fun is screaming my head off riding that rollercoaster.... :D

Bay to Breakers 2006

I survived Bay to Breakers! For those who don't know what Bay to Breakers is, it's a 7.46 mile (12k) run/walk that starts at one end of San Francisco and cuts across the city and ends at the beach. It's pretty much the biggest street party in San Francisco. People run in different states of dress (some in costumes) and undress (naked with just a bright green hat and running shoes).

I had so much fun doing it this year. A friend of mine and her husband ran (ok, more like walked) it with me. We had such a blast and pictures to prove it! At the starting line, there were beach balls and tortillas flying all over the place. It was impossible not to get hit by either one. While running/walking, we saw the four emus, the running Elvises, a celtic priest, nuns, the Flintsones, smurfs, spawning salmon, Mona Lisa/Da Vinci code, the Storm Troopers from Star Wars, Noah's Ark, a Wells Fargo semi trailer being pushed up on Hayes Street, beer kegs in shopping carts being pushed along the race course and lots and lots of naked people. In the beginning, we were on the look out for naked people. After a while, we just got so desensitized and didn't really care. Although, everytime we were behind a naked person, we would run and try to overtake them. We just didn't feel like looking at their butts the entire time.

Last time I ran/walked Bay to Breakers was in 2000. I also ran it with a friend of mine. I clocked at 2:45. I broke my record this year. I clocked at 2:24. Not that I had any intention of running the entire time but B2B is actually quite impossible to run. I saw on the news today that there were approximately 62,000 people who participated in today's footrace.

What's next? I'm probably going to run the 5k run/walk event during the San Francisco Marathon in July. At least this way, I would be motivated enough to actually train for the Disneyland Half Marathon in September.

Running

I'll be doing Bay to Breakers this year (3rd Saturday in May). This race is the biggest street party in San Francisco. People come in different states of dress and undress. Yep, lots of people in costume and some naked people running around. It's almost impossible to run it since there's so many people. I think I clocked at 2:44 last time. It took about an hour just to go through the starting line.

I also signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon (13 miles) in September. I know, it's crazy. I've never done anything like this in my life. I'm going to be doing it with other DN's from the JMBB.

I'm looking forward to those 2 races. It's going to be such a challenge considering that I am on my butt all the time and my only exercise is walking from the bus terminal to the office and then from the office to the bus terminal. I went a bought a threadmill so that I don't have to run outside in the cold. Yes, I have started training. ;) Can you believe it? I've started doing 3 miles daily. I surely don't want to get picked up by the sweeper and getting transported to the finish line.

Lately, I feel like I am starting to degenerate. I'm aching here, aching there, etc.. etc... I figured if I don't do these things now, I would probably never get a chance to do these kind of things ever. I am doing this for myself. Hey, you'll never know, I might just run a full marathon (26 miles) one of these days.