Even through my hamstring has been bothering me, I wanted to get over 13 miles.  Since I don't have a race this weekend and because I have some though races coming up, I wanted to go long.  Mike came over and we started out running our 501 Rattlesnake Loop.  That would have been 11 miles.  But we decided to add another loop.  When we got to Foothill college we ahead up Moody run to the twisters.  In the end we ran 15.5 miles...501 Rattlesnake BIG loop.

Mike, my son and director of "A Long Run," and I just have not had a lot of opportunities to run together.  Most weekends I am racing and we are both so busy during the week, it has been tough to get together for a training run.  I love running with Mike and for sure I would not have gone more than 10 miles without him today.  Even with all the filming, Mike has been getting in at least 30 miles a week...the magic number!

We really could have used some more water along the route.  There was a water fountain at the six mile mark but that was it.  One of the issues in doing long training runs is getting water.  I do not like to carry water.  Luckily it was not too hot.

Catherine was there when we got back home two and a half hours later.  I was hoping my hamstring would hold up.

I ran with a Hot patch as I call it on my hamstring.  I wore it during the SF half marathon on Sunday too.  I am not sure if I could have gone 15 miles without it.  It seems to keep everything together.  I have that feeling that my hamstring could pull up at any time. 

Catherine picks these up for me at CVS pharmacy.  They are like one dollar a patch and I cut it in half.  It is like using one of the sport tapes and beyond.  This patch has Capsicum on it which heats up the area bringing more blood flow to the hamstring.  I have had many hamstring issues over the years and this seems to be working for me.  In addition, later in the day, I also got an hour and a half massage from Asaka.  My body is so tight and I am trying to loosen it up.  I had gone in on Tuesday too.

Next up: we leave for Boston next Thursday.  We are going to do some filming in Boston on Friday morning and then head to Falmouth which is about an hour and half away in Cape Cod.  On Saturday we are meeting up with Bill Rodgers and I am exciting to be doing a training run and interview with him.  Then on Sunday I will be running the Falmouth Road Race.   A 7.1 mile race August 12.   I have heard so much about this race.  They are celebrating 40 years.  Bill Rodgers has run this race many times and have won.

I was ready to break 1:32 this morning but I blew it with some slow early miles. (Lead Photo - at the start)  The first miles is mostly downhill and that was great.  I hit the mile at 6:30 and it felt pretty easy.  But my legs all of a sudden were feeling heavy.  My second mile was 7:10 and my third was the slowest of all.  I ran that one in 7:17.  There were a lot of marathoners on the course (they started at 5:30am) and I did have to slow a few times. 

After seeing 20:57 at the three mile mark and I knew I had to pick it up.  My next two miles were 7:03 and 6:48.   I really started feeling my hamstring tugging a bit at this point.  I am sure glad that Catherine massaged it the night before.

I am also glad I had put on a Hot patch before the start.  This kept it together and I am sure if I had not had on this patch, it could have gone south.  But it didn't.  I am going in for a massage on Tuesday to get it totally straighten out.

On this course they close down one road and then direct runners to another and then back and forth.  This way cars can get through.  I was about 20 seconds behind the guy I thought was in my age group but then I lost track of him when we had one of these breaks at about the 7.5 mile mark.  I didn't see him again until about a half mile to go.  It was too late to catch him.  He did tell me he was going for 1:32 and he ran 1:31:59.  I should have been there. 

My sixth mile split was 7:02 and then another 7:02.  I then hit 6:49 and feeling strong.  But I did not see the guy I was shooting for.  I think we hit some more hills and I slowed a bit to 7:08, 7:04 and then 7:11.  I looked at my watch and I knew that I needed to do something.  I ran 6:58 and 6:54 my last two miles.  And my last .1 was at 6:28/mile pace.  My final time 1:32:23.  I was 172nd overall and I was 20th age-graded overall. 

This was the fourth straight year I have run this half.  I beat last year's time by over one minute.  This was my second fastest time so far.  It is a good course but challenging.  It is tougher than Napa to Sonoma.  After 31 races I have raced 208 miles.  My average is 6:56/mile and I am 14:16 ahead of pace.   Photos by Catherine Cross

Mike along with his crew Waitman and Catherine are getting tons of good footage for the movie. 

Great job Bob at the SF Half. Only 19 to go!
Justin Wall 7/30/12 8:48 am

Bob, way to hang tough in this one. Great age graded result too. By the way, how do you choose which half to run at SF?
Bruce Gilbert 7/30/12 10:00 am

Like wise Bob...great run. Some how that number 19 seems to sound more manageable.
Barry Anderson 7/30/12 12:16 pm

Bruce, I run the second half in SF because it is not as hard as the first half...and 19 more does sound more manageable...only 142 more miles of races to go by Dec 31...at under 7 minute pace/avg..that's all
Bob Anderson 7/30/12 1:24 pm

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