408k

Back in October I registered for the 408k here in San Jose. I had a good friend running it and some of her other friends. As it turned out it's the perfect distance for this spot in my half marathon training plan. On Thursday night Jacob got a gig for this morning so he wasn't going to be able to be there to support me; his job was scheduled for 8am in Oakland, and the race started at 8am. Then late last night Jacob got word that his start time had changed to 4am, and then my friend had to make the decision to skip the race because of a nasty cold. I was looking at running it on my own, but thankfully I was determined to get up on time (despite the time change).

Looking West from the Shark Tank, through Downtown San Jose.

I got the the HP Pavilion parking lot at 7am, before the sun was up. I waited in my car keeping warm and getting my gear ready. This is a one way race, but they offer busing back to the starting line, or I was also contemplating walking/running back - more mileage is always good  and I knew the short cuts that would shave the return trip to 3 miles. By 7:20 I was ready to get out of the car, if only to get to a spot where I could get a picture of the sunrise before it was over.

All set and ready to go!!

A quick bathroom stop and I headed to corral C to wait for the official 8:10 start time. I love my music for times like these, 30 minutes of waiting around with my own music to keep me moving and warming up. I was surprised at how many young kids were gathering for the run, seeing things like this makes me wish I had started pushing through the things that made me quit athletic things all those years ago.

The mass of Corral C

Come 8:10 and it was time to go! I started off great, but it was cold outside the Corral. I hadn't realized that all of the other runners were keeping so much cold air from reaching me. Just keep trucking is the name of this game. I felt good and was enjoying running through one of San Jose's historic and beautiful neighborhoods. A lot of residents were showing some great support from their driveways, clapping, yelling, even some cowbell! Mile 2 of the course actually took me right by my high school and all of the other stomping grounds from back then.

Kinda weird to run past it, I NEVER ran here but today it was just a small marker on the bigger journey.

About mile 3 my ankle was a little sore, but I moved myself to the middle of the road and the change in grade made it feel better. Mile 4 is also known as the Mariachi Mile, we were serenaded by three different Mariachi bands as we ran to and through Valley Fair mall. As we turned into Santana Row and the finish line was in sight, I tried to ramp it up and finish strong, actually finishing at a just under 10' pace. Of course I had turned my music up for the last push, otherwise I would have heard someone calling my name as I made it across the line.

As I stood in line to collect my all important t-shirt, Jacob found me!! He finished work in just enough time to be at the finish line as I crossed, he always works these kind of things out! Plus now I had a ride back to my car! It's great to have him support me  like this!

So in recap I ran 8k in about 55 minutes - my running app got paused when I stopped to take the picture of Lincoln, so it's about .15 miles off. but based on the start time of 8:10 and crossing the finish line before 9:05, I'm proud!! Waiting for the official chip results to be posted. Here's the app's map anyway, even if its slightly off (it thinks I magically flew through the missing .15 so the average pace is a little off); at least the map shows the route.

Now to resume the weekend, feeling proud and accomplished!

Update: For women 30-34 I finished 237/510. Overall I was 2069/3769. Not bad, right in the middle of the pack as I expected.