Some Reflections on RnR, my PR, and other stuff

I've had some time to think about Sunday's Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon and what worked and what didn't.

Success!

Spreckles Organ Pavilion - Look at those HUGE PIPES!

The Laurel Street Bridge - When it was built in 1916 for the
World's Fair,there was a pond where the freeway is now

• Walter - He drove us there, volunteered at an aid station (in part so that he could pick us up after the race to avoid the predictable post-race Cluster-F) and then once we got home and were in our post-race mental stupors, he made and served us breakfast.
• Logging Miles - I trained enough to make running this 1/2 marathon doable and not painful. After the last two 1/2 marathons, I was due for a success on this one.
• Setting a PR - Let me make this clear, I am THRILLED with my PR! I was more disappointed in myself that I walked for a bit in Miles 11 and 12, not in the time. There are lots of reasons for this (see FAIL! below), most of which were under my control...That being said, I'm still pretty pleased with my 2:27:47 finish.
• The course - There are lots of complaints about the course, but I for one love running in my adopted hometown of San Diego. Running through Balboa Park was a blast, especially when we ran past Spreckles Organ Pavilion.  I was especially amused by one woman who was trying to be the local-expert and and course tour-guide. As we ran past the Organ, someone asked our local-expert-tour-guide if it was "THE SPRECKLES Organ Pavillion," and confidently she responded "OH NO, that's in Chula Vista." About then we ran past the a sign with the name on it...and she had to admit "oh, I guess it is Spreckles..." DOH and LOL...  Also,  I liked the run up the 163. I mean the city closes a pretty major highway and we get to run on it. We ran under the spectacular Laurel Street Bridge (which I run OVER pretty frequently). Yeah, there were parts of the course that were just "MEH" but overall, as I ran over the bridge onto Seaworld Drive and could, for a moment or two, see the marathoners head onto Fiesta Island, and see Mission Bay, and felt the ocean breeze, I mean, how could you NOT love this course.
• No injuries - This is HUGE! Getting to the race without injury, then getting through the race with no injury. 
• Running with the Herd - What else can I say. Elsie and Mik made made my day, and I'd probably STILL be sitting on Seaworld Drive, or in the parking lot, had Kat (the young one) not been there to pull me up. The only thing missing from the day was Betty. But she promises to not miss any more events.

Betty was with us in spirit, if not in person and Yes, she is sitting on my lap. Is there a problem with that? You are also completely impressed with my mad Photoshop skillz right now, aren't you?

 Fail!

• The yellow shirts - while comfortable and all heffer-logo-ed, the yellow shirts are not bright enough and just do not have the visual impact of the neon-day-glo-glow-in-the-dark-lime-green shirts. I lost Elsie a couple of times in the crowd when she was ahead of me and Penny told me later that we weren't that easy to spot (unlike times when we all wear the neon-day-glo-glow-in-the-dark-lime-green shirts, which are truly 'effing beacons). I suspect the neon-day-glo-glow-in-the-dark-lime-green shirts will be back in the near future.
• Dehydration - So...maybe wine on Friday night wasn't such a good idea after all? I will never know if the wine consumption was part of what affected me in the last few miles or not, but I'm willing to give it, and myself, partial responsibility.
• A complete lack of strength training - According to my copious record keeping through The Daily Mile, the last time I lifted weights, or did P90X, or any sort of strength workout was March 31...yep, over two months ago. I suspect this was an error since I've been feeling some tightness in my Plantar Fascia Tendon (Not the dreaded P Fascitiis, yet, but I can feel the tendon, which is not a good thing at all). This I know. No strength = get hurt. I must avoid that equation, so back to squats and lunges for me.
• No training run over 11 miles - I think that in the future, I want to do at least one, if not two long runs that are at least 12 miles. I also don't know how much of my wanting to stop and walk at mile 11 or 12 was just mental, or dehydration, or not enough quad and glute and core strength or what, but I also think that I'm not used to running more than 10 miles right now. I've done it before, just not recently and that part of the problem I have after mile 10 is mental. 

So...the San Francisco 1/2 Marathon is in six weeks. I've never run 1/2 marathons this close to one another, so we will see how the training goes. I need to strike that balance between getting some good miles in and not overdoing it and get injured. I ran yesterday (2 miles, 22 minutes...MEH!) and did some lunge matrices and one legged squats off a riser, and so now I can barely standup after sitting, which tells me that I REALLY needed to do the strength work.

Tomorrow is the first meeting of the SDTC's 1/2 Mad Program. It's much more laid back and low key than the rockin' and runnin' group. Walter and I will be out there.