On March 3rd, 2018 I decided to once again run the San Joaquin River Trail Half Marathon. This is a local race that my friend Nate race directs, and it's on the trails that I run on the most of the time.
The course has a decent amount of elevation gain. It has approximately 2,500 feet of climbing and covers about 13.75ish miles. Yes, the course is a little longer than 13.1 miles, but it's a trail race so to me that is slightly expected. I would honestly prefer it to be a little longer than shorter.
This was my 4th year running this race. The first year it was held was back in 2015, and I have been able to run it every year since it started. I would like to say that I have ran it faster every year, but I have been doing quite the opposite. The course is by no means easy, and is one of the races that I definitely have to specifically train for in order to improve my finishing time. I hope that one year my training schedule will allow me to run a little faster. My goal is to eventually run this event in under 2 hours. I think that this goal might be attained by 2020 if I am able to improve upon my trail running speed.
I really enjoyed the race this year. It was my friend Sunny's first trail half marathon, and Alisha was out there too. Alisha has been running really strong this year, and I am always excited to see how she does at the end of these events.
The weather was pretty cool at the start of the race. Before the race began I ran to my car really fast and realized that the short 100 meter run got me warm enough to know that the a light jacket was going to be a bad idea. I decided to leave the jacket at the car and just brace the slightly cold weather in my shorts and singlet until the race would start. This was a very good decision because about 3 miles into the race the weather got really nice and it started to warm up. By the time I got to the half way point of the race, I was pretty hot. I couldn't imagine how horrible it would have been to have had a jacket with me.
The race has one short out-and-back section. As I was finishing up this section I saw Alisha running towards me, and she was moving really fast. We gave each other a vocal "good job babe!!" acknowledgement with a high-five.
Just seconds after I saw Alisha, Sunny came running right behind her. Sunny yelled at me, "She's running too fast now!! I can't keep up!!"
I was really happy to see Alisha and Sunny at this point, and I was happy to know that they had been running together some of the race. Alisha and Sunny are my most consistent training partners, and I love running with both of them.
I came up to the last mile of the race and ran across the bridge that I had proposed to Alisha just a couple weeks earlier. I was feeling pretty tired, but wanted to try to run as much as I could for the last mile that is pretty much all uphill.
I ended up finishing in 2 hours and 27 mins. This was my 3rd slowest time at this event, but considering the training I had leading up to the event, it was what I was expecting.
Alisha came in just a few mins behind me and received 3rd place in her age group. She's been running really strong this year. I have a feeling that in the next year or so, she's going to be waiting for me at the finish line. Alisha is getting faster and faster on the trails, and also more confident. She maintains a very good training schedule while balancing everything else in her life. I'm constantly impressed by her work ethic. Alisha definitely keeps me accountable for my own workouts as well.
My person best time at this event is 2 hours and 15 mins. I hope that if I can stay healthy and train properly, that I can shoot for a sub 2 hour 7 min finish next year... and if I can do that, then try for a sub 2 hour finish in 2020.
