Like last year, the Sacramento California International Marathon (CIM) was the last race of my running season (more like a full year really).

While I was complaining of the cold weather last year, I should have bit my tongue because that was nothing compared to what we got this year. The race started with a sub-freezing temperatures (low 30s) and never reached higher than the upper 40s. Like someone else mentioned to me later, I think I did not feel my fingers for the first 20 miles of the race.

My goal was to finish in 3:20, a challenging goal based on my latest races. Still, I thought I would give it a try and try to run with the 3:20 pace group. Unlike last year, I found the pace group at the beginning of the race and managed to stick with it for the first half marathon where I was still right on pace (1:40). Not surprisingly, that pace was too fast and I soon lost the group. By mile 22, I had slowed down almost 1 minute per mile. I finally completeed the second half marathon in 1:45 for a final time of 3:25:25.

After running so hard, I was really looking forward to some food but I have to say the after race food area was really badly organized with only one very slow line.  Frankly, CIM is really well organized in general but that sucked. Gladly, Alicia was here to take care of me and bought me 2 hot dogs that I swallowed without thinking about the culinary/dietetic consequences. Those were yummy and definitely helped me recover faster.

I am happy with my new marathon PR beating last year by more than 4 minutes. Still, I am not running fast enough to hope to qualify for Boston anytime soon. So, for the next year, I will focus on getting faster and to do that, I plan on running mostly half marathons until I am able to complete one in 1:30 or less. I want more speed!

The San Francisco Half Marathon 2007 was my first half marathon ever. I had been training pretty well but I was not ready for the distance and the treacherous hills of San Francisco. By the end of the race, I was completely dead and cold (the mist over the bridge had not helped). Still, this first race gave me enough desire to go on with my running and I guess it will still hold some special place in my heart.

I did not run last year because I was in France. I was not to miss it this year. First, it was fitting well in my schedule and it was a great way to see how much I have improved in 2 years.

I woke up early and drove to San Francisco, found a parking spot very easily 1 block away from the starting line and got myself ready. The race is very well organized and running over the Golden Gate Bridge is always something special. My friend Luc woke up early and managed to get station himself in the middle of the bridge and took some beautiful pictures of the race (including the 2 pictures in this post).

My race went well. It felt very different than 2 years ago. The hills did not seem as bad and I felt strong throughout. I am definitely a stronger, better and faster runner: 10 minutes faster to be exact :).

Now, I really want to run the full marathon… maybe next year?!