Bang!

The morning of New Years Eve indeed started with a bang! Well, more like a crash! As I headed out to San Francisco to run the New Year’s Eve Dash held by The San Francisco Marathon folks, I was excited. I was going to run the 5k and then head out to the Placerville area where I was to ring in the New Year! Yes, it was a day jammed pack and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As I pulled into Golden Gate Park, I was forty minutes early. No big deal I thought as I would add in some extra mileage. I drove around some looking for the start line. Out of nowhere, a car in front of me stopped in the middle of the street and began to make a U-Turn. With no signal, no warning, I hit the back of his car. Luckily I wasn’t hurt and my car suffered minimal cosmetic damage, but I was pretty shaken up by the ordeal all just the same. The other car was a guy who was also running in the Dash. He felt horrible as he explained he was a bit lost and was not thinking when he made the U-Turn. Clearly. Even though I hit him, it was not my fault. We swapped information and he helped me put my car in order. Time passed quickly, and with now having just minutes to spare before the start of the race, I had to pull myself together. I decided that I wouldn’t run the 5k. I was stressed out emotionally and just wanted to relax and catch my breath so to speak.

Thankfully, at the starting line of wave 1 where I met up with Katie to wish her good luck, she convinced me otherwise. With seconds to spare I put on my bib and off I went. I didn’t run my fastest nor did I want to, but it was a great feeling to let go of some of that built in tension I had recently accrued. Apart of the course was on grass which was really hard to run on, but otherwise running around Stow Lake felt effortless. As I crossed the finish line, I noticed that my Garmin stated 2.90 miles at a 7:40 average pace. I found out later that the frontrunner had taken the turnaround sooner than what was marked. That might have explained that grassy knoll part. 

Renee and Katie

The finish line offered mimosa’s which I welcomed with open arms. I am glad Katie convinced me to run! Things don’t always go according to plan and sometimes I just need to adapt to the circumstances and keep going. Life just doesn’t stop. There is no way to freeze time so why should I put the things that I love on hold? 

2012 SF Marathon Ambassadors Courtney and Alyssa

My favorite race buddy Meg

The Yogis Lft - Rht - Kabri, Katie, Mike, Cate, and Renee

And After the quick jaunt, I did feel better. Rejuvenated even! It was also nice to see some friends and meet some new ones to boot. In case you are wondering, I did make the trek to Placerville afterwards where I was able to put all worries aside and celebrate the beginning of a New Year! And what a great start it was at that!

Happy New Year!