Sunday, July 25, 2010

Ashley: 1, San Francisco Half Marathon: 0

Today was the day of the San Francisco Marathon. I never thought I'd say this after 13.1 miles, but I had a blast! Our day started off less than spectacular, though. Permit me to explain.

I set my alarm for 4:30 am, just so I could get up, get ready, make sure I knew my Bart stop, etc. Well, I wake up on my own after seeing some sunlight slip in between our shades. My alarm hadn't gone off! I woke TJ up in a panic, telling him it was 5:50 and we had to go in five min. He rushes around, grabbing an apple and a yogurt for me to eat while I pull my hair back and get my running outfit on. We make it to the Bart station with plenty of time to spare, thank goodness! However, I run to the door of the station...and it's locked. Someone tells me that the Bart doesn't open until 8:00 on Sundays! I turn to see if TJ's left yet, and sure enough, I saw his little Chevy six blocks down. I started to panic. Weighing my options, I realize that, since I chose to leave my phone behind (having nowhere to put it), I have no choice but to run the mile and a half home. I start going, trying to pace myself so I don't blow all my energy before the race, and was halfway home when I saw TJ's car going back to find me! I wave my arms to stop him, but he passed right by. Poor TJ - he was so worried when he realized the Bart station wasn't open until eight. I ran the rest of the way home, waiting by the house for TJ, praying he'd come back to find me. About five min later, he pulled up and started apologizing profusely. He took me all the way to Golden Gate Park, not trusting the shuttles that were supposed to get me there. He said he wouldn't be satisfied until he saw me at the starting line. Haha - oh Teeje!
I had plenty of time to relax and warm up before the race. TJ needed to go home and pack, since his flight back to Cleveland was at 2:00 pm. My goal for the race was to just have fun and start slow. I really wanted to have negative splits, since my first marathon experience was horrendous - I ran nine min miles for the first five and petered out at mile eight - with 18 miles to go. So dumb. This go-around, I wanted to do it right. The weather was perfect and the course gorgeous. I started off slow, watching people pass me and thinking "I'll see you at mile 8..."

I felt so great the whole way! I picked up my pace at about mile eight, as I had thought I would, and did indeed see people who had passed me earlier - tatoo guy, dreadlocks guy, etc. I only really started to "feel it" at mile eleven. I still gave it everything I had. Turns out my last two miles were my fastest. I accomplished my goal of running negative splits! My time was 2:12, which is a ten min mile the whole way. Considering I thought I'd finish in 2:30, I was very pleased. What was even better (although the free Jamba Juice at the end was awesome) was celebrating with TJ. He was so proud of me. :) I really feel that I gave it all I had. I could barely walk afterward, but in an odd way, it's a really satisfying feeling.

Here are a few pictures of us at the expo! This was on Saturday. The expo is where all the runners get their bibs and fill their goody bags with all kinds of free treats. It was really fun. TJ's wearing a Giant's headband in one of our pictures ;) After the expo, we got fish tacos at a place called Gott's. It was great! What a fun weekend. :)




3 comments:

  1. AGREE...you are seriously such a babe! Congrats on the marathon!!!

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  2. Aw, so fun!! Good job Ashley!! AHHH, what a disaster of a morning!! I would have been dieing!...in a panic, acting crazy. Way to hang in there. I feel so bad...this was such a huge event to your year and I didn't even bother asking you about it tonight. Let alone remember that you ran a marathon! My family should have all been on the phone congratulating you and asking you how it went the evening of. Sorry about that. We love you and are so proud of you! It's something I would NEVER be able to do...let alone probably want to do. But I'm glad you had such a great time. I'll try to take a better interest in your other hobbies outside of cooking. :) It was fun seeing you tonight! You are so great. Sorry if conversations seem sporadic and choppy. I'm not a multitask-er and Easton makes it hard to focus, but I really have such a great time with you two. You are the cutest couple in the world!

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