Sunday, October 5, 2008 [18M]

Rock 'n' Roll San Jose Half Marathon, 1:10:39. I made it over to San Jose at 7AM, chilled for a few minutes and jogged towards the start line trying to find a bathroom. The line was pretty long and I didn't get out until 7:25, so I only had about 35 minutes until the start of the race. I ran back to the car, switched to my Hyperspeeds and headed back towards the start. I got into my corral with 15 minutes to go and stretched for a while then got out again since there was no room there for some strides. I made it back with 5 minutes to go and had to stand there until the start of the race. My foot was hurting a bit in the warm-up but I was hoping I wouldn't notice it once the gun went off. I was in the first coral, behind the elites, who were given a 5 meter gap for some reason. I got out and made my way towards the elite women front pack but got a bit antsy, thinking we were running slow and moved up on my own. My goal was to run 5:20 pace but I was a bit fast coming through the first mile in 5:13. The elite women caught up some time in the second mile and I stayed in that pack for the next 5-6 miles. I dropped off in the 7th mile and had a small mental lapse but I managed to recover quickly and get back on pace. My legs were feeling it in the last 4-5 miles but I managed to hold on reasonably and finish not too far off my goal. I was hoping to break 1:10 but this is still a PR so I can't really complain about it. I was pretty spent at the end and jogged some slow miles for cool-down, had some food and jogged back to the car. I got into an ice bath once I got home and spent the rest of the day resting on my couch.