13.1

At 4:45am on Sunday, July 26th...I groggily awoke to the sound of my cell phone alarm clock

chiming; I quickly silenced it so that Meghan and Caitlyn would not wake up. I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. This helped me to wake up. I started thinking about the day. In a little over three hours I would be embarking on my 1st half marathon in San Francisco. I had the same feelings of anticipation that I had had in high school when I ran cross country and track races. My heart felt light and fluttery; my stomach rumbled.

I scrambled an egg and placed it in between two halves of a warm onion bagel with some shredded cheddar cheese. My friend Nate, who I had been training with used this as his morning meal before a race so I thought I'd try it out. Just the right combo of protein and carbs and most importantly: delicious! I devoured a banana and stretched until Nate picked me up at 5:30am. We were at the Embarcadero by about 6:00am; the sun was rising; it was a serene sight; today 20,000 people were running a marathon, a half marathon, or a 5K that day.

I was in awe of the natural beauty illuminating the bridges and buildings stretching and reaching for the sky. In my race alone, there were over 2,700 participants...and this was just a half

marathon, 13.1 miles in comparison to the 26.2 mile marathon.

Nate and I took in the sights for a few minutes; this is where we would finish. We then boarded one of several buses that were shuttling the 2nd half marathon participants to Golden Gate Park near Ocean Beach where the race would begin.

Approximately 50 portable toilets were lined up near the start line; approximately 100 people

were in line. Thankfully, the line moved quickly.

Nate and I ran a few laps around a pond nearthe start area, stretched, and then headed towards the start area. Nate and I had been

following Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Training Program. We followed the intermediate plan as closely as possible. Caitlyn was born a month before the race so there was a couple of days that I

missed. Nate moved, went on vacation, and got sick a week and a half before the ra

ce. He was understandably in low spirits on race day; I was amazed that recovering from the flu, Nate

was going to go ahead run the half marathon.

My goal was to run a 8:oo minute/mile pace which would have

me finish at 1:45 or less. There was a woman in my heat who would be running a 7:40 minute/mile pace; the pacers carry a sign for the entire race signifying their pace. I would be thrilled if I could stay with her. Nate and I wished one another luck, knowing that we wouldn't be

running together because of Nate's health. The race started at 8:15am; I was about 50 yards behind the pacer that I

wanted to be with. There were about 250 people between her and I; I started weaving through the crowd focused on the pacer's sign bobbing above the mass of heads beginning their 13.1 trek. It took me a mile to catch up to the pacer; I looked at my watch which showed me both my

elapsed time and my heart rate. Mile 1 took 7minutes and 15 seconds...a little nervous about how fast I had run the first mile, I decided to stay w/ the pacer. I stayed with her for about half a mile and realized that I had more energy; I slowly accelerated from the pacer; at mile two my watch read 14 minutes and 25 seconds. I was starting to breath and sweat; my heart rate was at 160 beats per minute. Every 3 miles there was a nutrition station that offered water, electrolyte fluids, and GU. I took water at every opportunity; I had GU in my back pocket along with two saltstick capsules. I took a GU every 45 minutes and a saltstick capsule ever 30 minutes. At mile 6, I realized that I was still running a low 7minute/mile pace; I felt good and I knew that the

next mile would be down hill; I picked up

the pace.

It was amazing to run with over

2,000 people; I was not racing against them; I was racing against myself. At mile 10, I started to get a side ache. Just 3 more miles, I thought. The side ache dissipated at mile 11. While there were so many people in the run, I did not talk to anyone until mile 12.

Throughout the course, every 2 miles there was a DJ, a band, or a solo instrumental act; this was very encouraging for me...it kept me going. At mile 12 there was an amazing salsa band. For the last mile I had been focused on a man up ahead of me who had a nice stride and a similar pace to me; I was trying to catch up with him. I was about 5 feet behind him when we came up to the salsa band; he

stopped and started dancing...I clipped him with my shoulder and kept going, smiling as I went. The man caught up to me and said, "Sorry, man." "No worries," I replied. "You gotta love it." "This view is beautiful; people pay millions to see this." he said as we approached the Bay Bridge near the finish. "Where do you live?" I asked curiously, thinking that he was from a distant land. "Berkeley, you?" he said. "Oakland," I chuckled. Because we were running such a fast pace the conversation didn't go much further than that. As we came to the last quarter mile, he encouraged me to go and I encouraged him to come with me. I heard Meghan scream out "GO RYAN!" He tiredly replied, "No, you got this..."

I accelerated. He finished just seconds behind me. I came across the line at 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 14 seconds, far better than I had hoped to do. My average pace per mile was 7:03. I was thrilled. My legs felt like rubber as I walked after having run so fast for over 90 minutes. I could fill the lactic acid building up in

my legs as I filed through the finish area, filling a bag with food...bananas, chips, and granola. Nate finished at in 1 hour, 58 minutes. He had run a 9:00 per mile pace; impressive for someone who had been sick for the past two weeks.

Hannah was so excited to see me. "HI! I saw you running dad!" she said. Meghan took pictures while Caitlyn was sound asleep strapped to Meghan's body. We hung out with Nate's family at the Embarcadero for a while and then Meghan, Hannah, Caitlyn, and I went Pier 39. We shared a clam chowder bread bowl and then toured the Aquarium By The Bay before heading home.

I slept well that night and registered for the Big Sur Half Marathon a few days later. I had run my first but not my last half marathon. My goal for the Big Sur Half Marathon is sub 1:30...e.g. 1:29:59 ;)

Peace...