Semper paratus

I like to be prepared.  When I have a big trip or event when I know I'll need certain clothes or shoes or other items, I make sure they're clean and take them out of circulation (or even pack them in my suitcase) well in advance, so that I don't have to do last minute laundry or other scrambling.  Case in point:

I laid out my clothes and shoes and race number for today's San Francisco half marathon days ago.  I also diligently ran (almost all) my scheduled training runs, starting back in November, in order to prepare for this race, the first one where I really had a time goal and was (cautiously) optimistic about what I might be able to accomplish.

The only problem with early preparation is that then all you have left to do is wait.  Which, if you've ever flown with certain of my German forebears, you know we're not genetically predisposed to doing patiently, or without worry.

So on Saturday, while I waited, I read some of the aforementioned cookbooks and made these caramel pecan bars (from "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar"):

By the time this morning rolled around, I was ready to get the show on the road:

Luckily, this half marathon involved very little travel.  Heck, I could have walked the mile-ish to the starting line, however, Kevin kindly offered his chauffeur services.  The race course runs primarily through Golden Gate Park, which is my home turf, and where I do pretty much all my training.

It was perfect running weather. About 55 degrees, partly cloudy with no wind. My goal was to run under 2 hours (about a 9 minute pace) and I was pretty sure I could accomplish that, but I wasn't sure I could do much better and I worried about how fast I could go early on without regretting it later. I started out fairly fast (for me) at an 8:30 pace and sped up a bit by mile 4 to settle in at an (approximately) 8 minute pace for the rest of the race.  I guess those tempo runs and 400 repeats really did help!

Because the course was close to home, Kevin was able to stop by to cheer at a couple different points.  At mile 5:

And mile 12, when I was really starting to feel tired (but what amazing scenery!):

After the finish, with my medal and t-shirt:

My official chip time was 1:47:17.  A more than 20 minute PR, and more than 10 minutes faster than my goal.  Plus, only 10 minutes slower than Kevin's PR... no wonder he was so impressed!

We planned ahead to have a celebration mimosa brunch at Park Chalet. A perfect end to a pretty great race!

I guess for me this drives home the idea that part of being prepared is trusting that preparation to get you where you want to go.  Sure, having low expectations does heighten the surprise of success, but a little faith helps get you through rough patches, knowing that you are, in fact, capable of great things.