Running the Bases

Tonight I'm headed to San Francisco to run the Giants Half Marathon tomorrow morning! The race fits into my training schedule perfectly, subbing for my long run this week. The plan calls for 15 miles with 12 at marathon goal pace, so I plan to run the race at goal pace and just add on a warm-up and cool-down. I'll admit that I've been dreading long runs lately, not so much because of the distance but more so because I've been doing them on the same stretches along the bike trail that I am intimately familiar with from doing the majority of my runs and rides on it. Don't get me wrong, it's a great trail  with 30+ miles of paved, scenic trail along the river with water, bathrooms, and no traffic, but it's become repetitive and soul-sucking lately (dramatic much!?). So needless to say I'm eager to run on some new terrain this weekend!

From looking at the course map, the half is basically an out-and-back along the Embarcadero toward the Golden Gate bridge, quite similar to the San Francisco Marathon course actually. If I'm remembering correctly, this part was mostly flat with lots of great scenery, so hopefully I'm not forgetting any major hills : / I'm also hoping for some typical San Francisco weather, too, which will undoubtedly be a nice break from the 90s we've been having in Sac. Perhaps the most exciting part, we get to finish on the field! I was just at AT&T park a couple weeks ago for a Giants game and it really is a gorgeous stadium. Plus, being a big Giants fan, finishing on the field is pretty darn cool : ) So while I won't be aiming for a PR, with my game plan I should sneak in just under 2 hours, putting me pretty close to my current best of 1:58:12...so I guess we'll just have to see! Either way I think it should be a fun race!

can't wait to finish here!