first half marathon

I am running a half marathon (13.1 miles) the first weekend in February. It goes through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

I registered for the race and have my "bib" so there is no going back! I am number 4183. I have not, as yet, come up with any special mathematical significance to this number. It is not a prime number, alas. But perhaps it will be special from now on?

This is my first real race. I've done church 5k runs in the past, but this is the first race that I've had to register and train for. I am excited!

I started training in early December and am using a training schedule from the race website. I have two short and one long run per week. It has been really interesting to see how my body reacts to running such long distances. I jumped into the schedule midweek in week 4 (or the week starting dec. 6) and did the 6 mile run. I was already used to running 2-3 miles 3x a week, but I was so tired after that first long run! I was very fatigued for the next couple days. Since then I have been taking naps on my long run days and that helps a lot. Unfortunately I have missed the last two weeks of training because I have been sick, but I am getting back into it this week.

I don't have any great aspirations for running speed or time, I just want to do a race and train for it. In fact, I'm more worried about getting to the race then running it! Driving in San Francisco is one of my least favorite activities, but parking in San Francisco is worse. I do have moderate goals for the race though. I want to run the entire race and finish in under 3 hours. We shall see!