The Rock n Roll San Jose Marathon is 3 days away – as the Chronicle says, 96 Hours… so let’s think back to October 14, 2007 to prepare for this weekend.
It was my first RNR race and first local event outside of San Francisco, so it was a pleasant change of scenery. I was still recovering from a severely sprained ankle (still convinced I tore something, but never had the MRI) and was working my mileage back up. The weather was great, the crowd support was the best I have seen since Florence and all around it was a fun race. It was very well organized and some high profile runners participated, including local NBC news anchor, Lisa Kim. (2:00:35). The top finishers were Kenyan runners who finished in just a little over an hour for both the men and the women.
This year, I am participating again in the RNRSJ and AGAIN am working my way back from injury. I feel like my IT Band is well recovered, but have not run over 8 miles in the last month and am concerned that I may have a slight case of runner’s knee. But I have chalked this run up to a fun maintenance run and will be racing to finish, not to set a PR. I’ll be racing with two friends with the same mind set and will enjoy a great event with a wonderful route through downtown San Jose and through some nice local neighborhoods. Last year, neighbors came out and cheered from the sidewalks with friends and families on their lawns as almost 9,000 runners pounded the pavement through the streets.
Although for almost a year I have been saying that my goal was to beat Lisa Kim (which would involve me matching my PR: 1:59:28). It looks like I will have to hope to beat her in 2009. I guess it is more nights of me screaming at the TV: “You better be training Lisa Kim.” LOL.
