I did it! Another postpartum PR! I improved my time on the Rock n Roll San Jose course by over an hour! (I was 8 months pregnant last year.) I bettered my time on my last half marathon a couple of weeks ago by 7 minutes!

I’m encouraged by this growth. Especially because my training has been hit and miss. I followed a “run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes” interval plan during today’s half. This helped me to feel strong throughout the course and not burn out towards the end.

If you read my previous post, then you know that I almost didn't make it to the RnR San Jose starting line. I'm so glad that everything worked out and I was able to make it to San Jose!

My alarm went off race morning at 6am. If I had driven to San Jose race morning, my alarm would have gone off at 3:30! It was so nice to be able to sleep in! After getting up and taking a shower, I pumped a bottle for baby (yup, still breastfeeding... 10 months and counting). I finished getting ready, double checked that I had everything, I left the hotel by 7am. While walking out of Starbucks with my coffee in hand, I ran into a familiar face! We walked together to the starting line.

Next, I made my way over to the We Run Social meetup. We Run Social is "a crew with the sole purpose of running all the miles and winning life on the interwebs". One of the biggest things I love about running races are all of the people I've met in doing so.

Finally, the countdown on my Garmin Forerunner 235 read "00:00" which meant it was GO time!

From the start, I felt amazing! I, in fact, ran a 9:32 for my first mile! I think this was my first sub 10 minute mile post baby! I may have gone out a little too fast, but I was feeling good and got caught up in the crowd.

Some of the highlights of the course included running into Jane, Samantha, and Carrie while out on course, getting a selfie with a mariachi band, and finding a man who was passing out free donut holes while cheering on the runners (yes, I most certainly DID eat a donut hole)!

I’ll be honest and say I didn’t really remember the Rock’n’Roll San Jose course since last year I was so slow, really pregnant, and in pain for the majority of the course. It was after the Rock’n’Roll San Jose course that I knew that I was done with half marathons and I downgraded my remaining half marathon while pregnant to a 10K.

I read that David loves the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose course. He in fact said that it was his favorite course. I can see why he loves the course. The majority of the course is shaded and there’s great community support along the route. The course is also flat with only a few little hills where the course follows an underpass.

Let’s now talk about how I felt post half marathon. Although my body was a little tired and stiff I felt pretty good overall. No blisters and only minor chafing (I still have about 25 pounds to lose.) I was able to bend down with the baby and get back up without looking like I was about 90 years old. I was able to walk back to the hotel, walk to lunch, and then later in the day go grocery shopping. I attribute feeling good post half marathon to my run walk intervals.

One of the benefits of the Rock 'n' Roll San Jose race is that there’s so many hotel choices near the convention center/start and finish line. It’s all located within downtown San Jose which makes walking to restaurants easy. This was my second year to stay at a hotel near the finish line and I would definitely do it again next year. I’ve looked into staying near the finish line of Rock ‘n’ Roll San Francisco but the hotel prices are just so expensive. I like how the hotel prices near the course are reasonably priced.

A Monday tradition that I have with my students is that I wear my race finisher shirt and my medals to school the next day after a race. My students love to see pictures and hear stories of my races. I hope to encourage them to go out and run their own races. Baby girl loves checking out my medals. Her favorite one from this weekend was the Cali Combo medal. Participants earned this medal by running two of the three Rock 'n' Roll half marathons in California (San Francisco, San Diego, and San Jose).

Hope to see you next year in San Jose!