My Third Half Marathon

The Bay Breeze half marathon in San Leandro on Feb 20th was my third half marathon race. I thought I trained adequately in the last couple of winter months. Siva's wife dropped I and him well in time to collect the bibs, shirts etc. The race setting was quite homely considering the overwhelming setting of more widely advertised and known races like San Francisco half etc. There were barely 300-400 racers and picking up the bibs, shirt and goodie bag was a breeze. The race started promptly at 9:00 AM and the race organizer announced that the race trails will mostly be alongside the bay. They also reminded all the half marathon runners to turn back after the third aid station (half way mark).

0-5 Miles : The first 5 miles was uneventful except for a very nice and flat trail. We were running very close to Marina bay and you can even touch the water if you wanted; it was so close. The weather was unseasonably cold and because it was by the bay it was quite windy as well. I completed my 5 miles in 59 minutes ~12 minutes/mile pace.

5-10 Miles : My right knee meniscus muscle and my IT band muscle started acting up. I prayed for it to go away and let me finish my race strong. By 6.5 miles when I reached the turn point and stopped for a quick drink, I was still feeling strong. However, I think I ran below my potential in this crucial segment because this five mile stretch took me 64 minutes to complete, a full five minutes late than the first five miles. Between the 9th and 10th mile, I also seem to run out of energy but a couple of “blocks” helped me to regain my focus. Since there were close to 200 participants only for this half marathon, the run seemed more lonely as there were considerable distance amongst runners.

10 -13.1 Miles : The small pain in my right knee was not bothering me anymore. I was tired but I think the last two months of training helped me to pull along. The course was so flat and predictable that sometimes you seem to get bore after running 10-11 miles. That’s when I think some help from your co-runner and / or some music helps. But neither had I had the luxury of any co-runner nor I like to run with any kind of music. The final couple of miles was no doubt a drag but surprisingly trying to walk a little bit seemed difficult than running and hence, I continued running to the finish line. At the finish line I waited for Siva to complete his race as well and cheered him up while he was finishing.

I completed in 2:47, a little over 12 minutes / mile pace. I would like to break the 2:30 finish time some day. I am sure it will take me to increase my training a couple of notches more to achieve that goal. Overall, I was satisfied that I completed the race comparatively stronger than my last two races and as long as I continue to finish strong and remain injury free, I don’t complain.

I plan to run this race again next year because of the feel of a smaller race where you don’t feel overwhelmed by the occasion and all the race necessities are available within 10 meters of start point. I would strongly recommend this race to our Fremont running group members to include this race in their itinerary for 2011. Thanks to the organizer for the nice arrangements and a beautiful finisher medal.