Erin at dinner the night before the race
In April my younger sister Erin decided that she wanted to run in a 1/2 marathon, her first. She saw a flyer for the Innaugral San Jose Rock N' Roll 1/2 Marathon and signed up for it...then she thought, "I guess I should quit smoking now." And that's just what she did. It's been about 5 months on non-smoking and I'm happy to report that she completed her first 1/2 in 2 hrs. 5 min.
Erin at our hotel
After volunteering at the Big Sur Trail Marathon, 1/2 Marathon and 5 miler on Saturday (event organizer Dave Horning, www.envirosports.com) Erin and I drove up to San Jose and while she checked in, I decided that I would run also. A last minute decision on my part, but I thought it would be a good training day.
Our huge tub in the hotel
Erin and I stayed at a hotel a little over a mile away from the start. We woke up early (Erin wanted to make sure that she was up and awake)...5:15am!!
Erin, race morning
The race was to start at 8am and Erin would start in corral 7 and me in corral 1, just behind the elite runners...and let me tell you, there is a huge difference in body type of elite runners and elite triathletes! The course was mostly flat with local bands playing approximately every mile or so, which helps keep you motivated! I can't believe people were actually wearing iPods during the race???
Andrew and Erin and the Train concert
From what Erin told me about her race, she had a great time and was able to negative split her entire race! As for me, I took it out way too fast!! It felt comfortable and so I ran with it, but eventually I felt my legs begin to get heavier and heavier and even felt the soreness setting in. I had a feeling I might be the first "amatuer" female and I was until I got passed at about mile 10! I ended up 2nd overall "amatuer" female and 1st in the 30-34 age group with a time of 1:22:21 (about a minute slower than my PR).
Me and Erin at the Train concert
Both Erin and I were so pleased with how we did and mom and dad were there to see us compete. We hung out in SJ after the race...went to eat, check out of the hotel, visit the Tech Musuem and then went to the HP Pavilion to see Train in concert (free entry with 1/2 marathon registration!). I was very impressed with their performance and we had a great time! We drove home afterwards...actually I drove while Erin snored in the passenger seat!!
Train
Erin is so excited that she signed up for the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay in 3 weeks!
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