Stinson Beach 25K

Our second year at the Stinson Beach Marathon but this year we would be doing the half... This year we also had lots other "activities" planned and friends to spend time with on the trail.Good times in the making.

Jeremy and Liz were having Monique, Mandy, Marius and Me (Mx4 - I know its dorky but I had to point it out) over for the weekend and the plan was to push out the run and get on to the food and a nice long ride the next day through the Marin hills. Monique and I got up the day before so we had some good sushi with J and L on Friday night too.



I did not have any expectations for the run myself except to keep it steady and that would be starting at a pace that would not bring on too much pain in the end. Last year was our first marathon ever and now I knew the trail so I wore my HR strap and told myself I would keep the bar around 165bpm. After a we all made a few stops to the bathroom we were almost ready to go

Mandy and Liz decided to hike a bit and Monique, Marius, Jeremy and I all set our sights on the 25K which we thought was a half marathon (13miles) but found out after the run it was more like 15miles. Better to find out after!



The marathoners took off first and shortly after we were on our way up a big climb through the fog. My HR limit was out of the questions as I was quickly at 170BPM and "warming up". It is amazing how much the time trails have helped me to determine exactly when I am reaching my LT and I can back off just a bit. I kept at that the entire run and ended up running about 170Bpm until the end. I have never run a race like that but it helped so much. Consistency.



The first climb up in on the famous DipSea trail. Lots of steep climbs and people at this point. It is crazy to see some people sprinting and getting all worked up on the first climb. People! We have a long way to go here. Chill... have a gu and smile.



At one point on the first climb, I thought that I was pushing to hard when I heard music from the forest...I didnt have my iPod on and it was still early in the race but maybe I am hearing things? Well, to my surprise and relieve there was some dude playing a banjo in the forest sitting under a tree. San Francisco rocks!!



Monique charging through the miles and still looking good.



About half way point for the 25k




heading back down to the beach




done and warm



Time for some recovery!



The food set in and we were done for the day. We had a long day of riding ahead of us and would need all the sleep we could gather.