See Jane Run 13.1

Sunday, June 5th I ran the See Jane Run Half Marathon in Alameda, CA.  I learned of this race after reading fellow runner TriciaRunning blog when she posted her upcoming race schedule.   As soon as I read chocolate and champagne I knew this was the race for me.

If you are new here then I should let you know that my 2011 goal is to become a Half Fanatic with 2 Moons.  Yes getting in isnt enough I’m going for the next level.  I hope to run 8 half marathons this year along with a few other races.  This put me one closer to my goal.  It also provided me with a race in June and broke up my 3 month dry spell of double digit races.

Leading up to the race I was so excited for it.  My runner’s high was start building in anticipation.  However, other than my two races in May my running dropped off after finishing the Country Music Marathon.   I woke up Sunday morning and prepared to drive down to Alameda and it was at that time I started getting really nervous.  I realized I hadnt really done much training in the last month and knew this race wasnt going to be as easy as I originally thought.

I was so excited that there was same day pick-up so upon arriving I went straight to will call to get my bib and chip.  They used these weird detention belt chip timers that velcroed around your ankle.  I had never seen chip timers like this before and knew I should have brought my body glide with me.  I had about 45 minutes before the race start so I grabbed a piece of sidewalk and started to soak in the racing atmosphere.

10 minutes before start time I headed toward the start and took my spot in the crowd.  A few minutes after 8 we headed off.  I felt slow and nervous at the start but once we really got moving I felt really good.  The route was nice.  You ran out of the park over a bridge onto a neighboring island.  Most of the run was along the outside of the island on a running path.  I love that!  There was a short stint that you ran through a office complex which was fine with me there was no traffic to compete with.  I found most of the course really relaxing along the water.   I felt they had enough aid stations and two of them had GU which was great!

This race had one of the best post race events I’ve ever seen.  Its tough to beat unlimited chocolate and champagne but there was so much amazing swag.   They had a bunch of massage stations set-up.  I didnt actually take advantage of them but many other runners did.  Among the vendors there giving away free stuff were Luna Bars (cliff bars for ladies), FRS, and Zico are my personal favs.   There were a lot of food stations but I went straight for the champagne.  I literally saw people walking around with boxes of free stuff… boxes.  It was unbelievable.  They also gave you a real champagne glass made that was engraved AND a medal.

I definitely filled my glass up a few times and a luna bar or three and then headed back home.  I was trying to get under 2:30 for this half marathon thanks to fellow runner SugarMagnolia70 who was running the Rock N Roll San Diego Half Marathon that same day with the same goal.  My official time was 2:30:17…. DAMN!  I blame my mile 6 pit stop but I had to go to the ladies room so bad and end the sloshing going on in my bladder.  Oh Well.  Next time!!  I will definitely do this race again.

Next Race – Kenwood 10K on July 4th

Next Half – The SF Half Marathon #2