I started out 2024 with my first-ever 5k, thanks to friends who persuaded me I didn't have to run if I didn't want to; we would just walk one together, and chat, and then drink hot chocolate and go home with cute jackets. That went well enough that I then fell into a pattern of doing monthly races with friends - the Chinatown 5k in February, the Oakland Marathon 5k in March, and then the Cherry Blossom virtual race in April because there wasn't a local race I was interested in for that month.
And then I got sick right after the Cherry Blossom race and fell off the calendar. May was basically a wash; I missed both the San Jose 8k and the Presidio 5k in June that my friends were doing. But next up: the San Francisco Marathon at the end of July, so I signed up for the Saturday 5k while![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hyounpark signed up for the Sunday half marathon. And in the meantime, I started actually working on a vaguely Couch to 5k plan, tested out various interval combinations, and resolved to try that for my race.
It was foggy and chilly and on the borderline between mist and drizzle, but it was lovely to be out somewhere pretty. I'm on the slower side; I finished in the last 20% of racers. But I also got to see a lot of cute dogs, and play encouraging auntie-type to a lot of kids racing with their parents. And there were definitely a few other racers doing a very similar interval pattern to me, where we kept passing each other and then catching up to each other, so it made me feel more reassured that I wasn't "doing it wrong," thank you anxiety brain.
( There were some hiccups. )
But they had portapotties reasonably close to the start/finish line, the volunteers handing out the water were friendly and efficient and encouraging, and I was mostly able to stick to my plan and feel accomplished but not totally gassed at the end.
Consider this foreshadowing for our experience of the half marathon the next day.
( the night before )
( the day of, first set of flusterclucks )
( the day of, things get better, featuring THE BEST FRIED POTATOES I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE )
( the day of, second set of flusterclucks )
Moral of the story? I am even more grateful that my first 5k got to be such a smoothly-run, professional experience, thanks to the reassuring competency of the Hot Chocolate Run organizers. That made me feel encouraged to keep going, accomplished for having taken the first step, instead of a slow-ass reject who wasn't worth making sure there'd be food for post-race when it had been advertised. That they had the sense to give us all of our swag at the expo the day before except for the food and medals, or even mail it to us beforehand, rather than try to distribute it amidst the pandemonium of the finish line. That THEY BELIEVED IN SUFFICIENT SIGNAGE.
(This is also why H never got his Bay to Breakers shirt, either, the finish line chaos there wasn't quite as bad, but the shirt line was an hour long, and who wants to stand around waiting in line for another hour after you've been running for two hours? Makes me suspect they under-order on the swag you paid extra for.
In addition, I earned a "challenge medal" by doing both Oakland and San Francisco this year, and so did Hyoun, and said medals hadn't arrived for distribution in time, so we need to email the organizers about getting them mailed to us tomorrow. And I figure we might as well ask about him getting his jacket sent as well, given ALL OF THE ABOVE. But I've also found out that the same people who run the San Francisco Marathon are the same people who run the Berkeley Half, so I am Really Not Sure I want to give these people my money again even for a 5k. Which makes me sad, because that's probably my closest actually-local race. At least the Giant Race I'm doing with friends in a few weeks has different management, so we'll see how well that's run? And maybe I'll find an orange tutu to wear for it?
And now? Today was a 19,000 step day on the day I wasn't even running a race, yesterday was a 14,000 step day with my 5k, and I have been up for almost 21 hours. So to quote the sagacious Mr. Samuel L Jackson, I am now GOING THE FUCK TO SLEEP.
And then I got sick right after the Cherry Blossom race and fell off the calendar. May was basically a wash; I missed both the San Jose 8k and the Presidio 5k in June that my friends were doing. But next up: the San Francisco Marathon at the end of July, so I signed up for the Saturday 5k while
hyounpark signed up for the Sunday half marathon. And in the meantime, I started actually working on a vaguely Couch to 5k plan, tested out various interval combinations, and resolved to try that for my race.It was foggy and chilly and on the borderline between mist and drizzle, but it was lovely to be out somewhere pretty. I'm on the slower side; I finished in the last 20% of racers. But I also got to see a lot of cute dogs, and play encouraging auntie-type to a lot of kids racing with their parents. And there were definitely a few other racers doing a very similar interval pattern to me, where we kept passing each other and then catching up to each other, so it made me feel more reassured that I wasn't "doing it wrong," thank you anxiety brain.
( There were some hiccups. )But they had portapotties reasonably close to the start/finish line, the volunteers handing out the water were friendly and efficient and encouraging, and I was mostly able to stick to my plan and feel accomplished but not totally gassed at the end.
Consider this foreshadowing for our experience of the half marathon the next day.
( the night before )( the day of, first set of flusterclucks )( the day of, things get better, featuring THE BEST FRIED POTATOES I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE )( the day of, second set of flusterclucks )Moral of the story? I am even more grateful that my first 5k got to be such a smoothly-run, professional experience, thanks to the reassuring competency of the Hot Chocolate Run organizers. That made me feel encouraged to keep going, accomplished for having taken the first step, instead of a slow-ass reject who wasn't worth making sure there'd be food for post-race when it had been advertised. That they had the sense to give us all of our swag at the expo the day before except for the food and medals, or even mail it to us beforehand, rather than try to distribute it amidst the pandemonium of the finish line. That THEY BELIEVED IN SUFFICIENT SIGNAGE.
(This is also why H never got his Bay to Breakers shirt, either, the finish line chaos there wasn't quite as bad, but the shirt line was an hour long, and who wants to stand around waiting in line for another hour after you've been running for two hours? Makes me suspect they under-order on the swag you paid extra for.
In addition, I earned a "challenge medal" by doing both Oakland and San Francisco this year, and so did Hyoun, and said medals hadn't arrived for distribution in time, so we need to email the organizers about getting them mailed to us tomorrow. And I figure we might as well ask about him getting his jacket sent as well, given ALL OF THE ABOVE. But I've also found out that the same people who run the San Francisco Marathon are the same people who run the Berkeley Half, so I am Really Not Sure I want to give these people my money again even for a 5k. Which makes me sad, because that's probably my closest actually-local race. At least the Giant Race I'm doing with friends in a few weeks has different management, so we'll see how well that's run? And maybe I'll find an orange tutu to wear for it?
And now? Today was a 19,000 step day on the day I wasn't even running a race, yesterday was a 14,000 step day with my 5k, and I have been up for almost 21 hours. So to quote the sagacious Mr. Samuel L Jackson, I am now GOING THE FUCK TO SLEEP.
