Windemere Run Like the Wind in San Ramon Half Marathon
And the winner for "Longest Title for a Race" is... the City of San Ramon! Congratulations, come on up!
It was good to get out and run a "real" race again. So far in 2007, I've been racing on trails. And my experience has been that those events are more of a survival struggle than competitive running. Which can be fun too, it's just different.
Luckily, I knew the course like the back of my hand, seeing how I work in San Ramon and do my long run there once or twice a month. In fact, I bet you could blindfold me and set me anywhere on the course, and I could tell you exactly where I was based on the grade and the feel of the pavement under my shoes.
I can also tell you that the course was not "fast". There were two significant climbs along the way, and most of the rest was rolling terrain.
I felt like I ran the race well. I mean, no pacing mistakes; I felt fairly strong most of the way, no aches or pains or anything. Yet inexplicably, I kept getting passed and I can't figure out why. It's not like I was running out of gas and slowing down. But every ten minutes or so, someone would stroll on by and I was incapable of hanging on.
The finish was on a straight downhill, and I could see the clock from far off. I thought I would manage a 1:26 time, but it wasn't to be. As I realized I wouldn't make it, I dropped a fairly loud f-bomb amidst many children with their parents, which caused some angry glares from the crowd.
I rolled on in at 1:27:08, and spent a long time trying to figure out if I had had a bad race or a good race. It felt like a good race, but the evidence -- an unspectacular time and the many people who passed me -- suggested otherwise. I've decided to write this one off as a "tie".
The winner -- who I had seen coast to a 100-yard lead within the first mile -- clocked in at 1:12. That is insanely fast! I placed third in my age group, so I ended the day with two medals: one for that, and one for just finishing. I also got an extra souvenir in the form of a blood blister on my left foot, which I could do without. I just hope it heals up fast enough for a 10K I am running next weekend.