Race: 28th Annual Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon
Date: February 6th, 2011
Start Time: 8:00AM
Location: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA

This half-marathon marked the first race I did in 2011. It also marked the first time I ever raised funds in a half-marathon for a cause. That cause was for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PANCAN). This was the race where we also debuted the “Team Herman” shirts which I designed and screened (along with my friends, Joel and Sharon)!

I used this race as a training event for the Los Angeles Marathon in March and with that in mind, I was already at ease because there was no pressure for me to get a personal best. My goal was to finish and try to enjoy the course as much as I could.

The Course
I had only briefly seen San Francisco’s Golden Gate park during the other San Francisco Half Marathon which I did in 2009 so it was a pleasant surprise to have started and ran most of the race inside the park. This ended up being a godsend, too, since temperatures were steadily rising throughout the day. The pro’s about doing it within the park were the trees (and the shade it provided from the sun) and the fabulous scenery. The cons were the hilly portions! Hehehe… Anyway, the latter part of the course was done on the Great Highway which ended up being nice and flat but devoid of trees which meant that you can really feel the sun baking your skin (or in my case, whatever exposed parts of skin I had since I tend to wear my long-sleeved compression shirt!).

It was also on the Great Highway where I saw the most runners laying on the side of the road (compared to the other races that I had participated in). Maybe it’s because that’s the only view you can see but it seemed like every mile, there was at least one person lying on the side of the road being treated for heatstroke. It’s odd because I wasn’t bothered much by the heat — I guess waking up late to train during the weekend does help!

The Experience
I’d say that I had a fairly pleasant experience! Finished at 2:42:21 and that’s with a bit of holding myself back from pushing it because I didn’t want to end up being one of the downed runners! I was surprised that I stuck to my 7/1 intervals, though at some points, I skipped some walk breaks because I was feeling great! However, when my heart rate shot up to 196bpm, that’s when I knew I had to take it easy.

My arches (both feet!) did hurt at one point, as well, but that’s because I was breaking in a pair of Saucony Kinvaras… LOL The verdict: awesome shoes (but for my arches which need some getting used to them).

All kidding about many downed runners aside, one guy did perished at this race (he was only 35!) and was feet away from the finish before he collapsed. My sis, Minel, had seen a runner being attended to on the side of the road close to the finish line and then when she went back to the finish area, the runner was still there, but his body covered with some yellow tarp! Here’s another blog post regarding this incident. RIP dude.

I leave you know with some silly pics of me; one taken at the race and the other post-race (with some Policemen on horsies)

Thumbs-up at the Finish

Me and Park Police