santa cruz half marathon

Last Sunday I ran the Santa Cruz Half.  I had been training for this race for thirteen weeks.  I have done four half marathons but I have never trained as hard before as I did for this one.  My usual goal is to "get 'er done."  My goal this time:  do it faster.

You see, I've always been kind of a half hearted runner.  Yeah, I like how it makes me feel, yeah it's a great way to lose weight, blah blah blah BUT I never just ran because I enjoyed it.  With this training, I actually got to the point of looking forward to it.  I relished the sweat, the soreness, the time and effort mainly because I was seeing results.  I was getting faster.

The course was gorgeous, the weather was perfect.  After I got over the disappointment of not getting a swag bag (what the heck?!), I got myself psyched for the race.  I needed to make a 2:30 time in order to get placed in an actual corral for the Disney half, instead of at the back with the walkers and gawkers.  I didn't feel nervous at all, I felt... prepared.

Pre - race rituals went well:  I ate a banana with almond butter, and there were no lines at the porta potties.  So far, so good.  I got off to a great start and paced well.  Other than some stomach issues that I will not expand upon here, I felt SO HAPPY.  I felt like I was finally..... a runner.

Unfortunately despite the fact that five people were waiting for me at the finish, noone saw me cross the line..... in 2:19.

But here's a picture of what you really wanted to see anyway.... what I had for lunch the day before:

Spinach, cucumbers, Newman's Italian (I measure out one tablespoon, yeah call me obsessive), hummus and two kinds of fish:  tuna and cracker.  Let me tell you goldfish make the best croutons.

I am very, very happy and very, very proud.  And you can bet your life I'm buying a Spibelt and taking the damn camera with me at Disneyland.