Knowing Your Limits

Beautiful San Francisco sunrise...

Over the weekend I travelled to San Francisco to visit my sister, Stephanie, who lives there.  We had originally planned on running the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon in San Francisco on Sunday.  But, since I injured my knee I knew I wouldn't be able to run a half marathon at this point in my recovery.  We decided we would go to the race that morning and run as far as I could go and then when I felt like I needed to, we would stop.  I’ve never gone into a race with the mentality of not finishing it before, but this was a special case.  I was preparing myself to DNF (Did Not Finish) so that when the day came I wouldn’t push myself and go too far.



The morning of the run was perfect; in fact, the whole weekend was perfect weather.  There were no clouds in the sky, no fog (highly unusual for San Francisco), and a beautiful sunrise.  We had a quick breakfast and got a cab to the start line, with my sister's cousin Andrea.  (So you aren’t confused, Stephanie has family that I’m not related to because we have the same father, but different mothers, but we are sisters nonetheless.) 

When we got to Golden Gate Park we got our race numbers and shortly after pinning them on the race started.  I turned on my Garmin and we took off, at an easy pace, about 12:00 minute miles, doing a 5:1 interval (5 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking). 



Hey look! A waterfall in the middle of SF!

The run was really pretty, through Golden Gate Park.  I was struggling a little bit the first three miles, as I always do, after about three I usually find my groove and start enjoying myself.  Mile six was where I planned on stopping, I knew I was going to feel like I could keep going, but my knee would pay the price later.  At about mile 6 I knew I was close to needing to stop, my knee wasn’t hurting, but it was feeling a little weak.  I stuck with the girls until mile 7.  At that point I knew I had to stop or my knee would pay the price later.



I ALMOST made it to the Great Highway.



Just about where I turned around

We were right near the finish line, so I sent the girls to run the rest of the race and I proceeded to the first aid area to get ice.  This meant that I had to cross the timing mat for the finish line, but I figured there would be a timing mat at the out and back turn around between where I left the girls and the finish line.  I thought that since I would miss the final mat before the finish line I would get the DNF and be done with it, more on that in a moment. I got my ice and sat on the grass enjoying the sun.  I knew while I was sitting there that I had made the right decision.  I peeled the neoprene sleeve off my knee that the doctor recommended and let the ice work its magic.

After about an hour the girls finished and we proceeded to exit the park to find a cab.  While on the hunt for a cab we stumbled across a town car, and got a ride back to the other side of the city for breakfast in style.  My knee definitely felt achy and sore after the 7 miles, and for the following two days.  I am very glad I stopped at 7 miles, but I feel like I should have probably should have stopped at about mile 5.  And, I am glad that I took the pace down to a 12:00 minute mile.  Any faster probably would have been pushing it a little too hard.



Andrea and Stephanie - YAY for the finishers! (Andrea's first half marathon!)

We travel in style... ALWAYS

At this race I recognized what my limits are and didn’t over do it.  A couple of months ago I probably would have just gone on and finished the whole race, without a second thought.  But, I know that to fully recover I have to limit myself and not push too hard.  I know that I could have finished the mileage, but I also know that if I had finished the mileage I would have been in more pain and it would have taken longer to recover.  I have not run since Sunday, and I am going to rest again today.  My knee is feeling better, but I don’t want to push it.  I am doing what it takes to recover.



After the race my sister looked up the finishing times and discovered that I didn’t get a DNF, as there were no other timing mats besides the start and finish.  I got a time of 1:37.  Whoops.  I came in 25^th in my age group, SO not what I meant to have happen.  I really expected to get a DNF and I was happy with that.  Instead I got a killer PR!  Too bad it’s not real.  One day I will get to that time, or closer to it than my current PR of 2:34.



I’m looking forward to increasing my mileage as time goes on and my knee gets stronger (and improving my pace).  And, I’m really looking forward to running the Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska in June.  Check out my fundraising page, and make a donation, every dollar helps!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/anchor11/ewallersco

The results... showing my 1:37 finish, 25th place in my age group.  Maybe one day I'll be that speedy... (Click the image to see it bigger)