How did my San Francisco Half go, you asked?

I’ve run countless races from the 5k to the marathon.

But this was the very first race, ever, that I very nearly DNF’d.

And no, not because of the hills, which were plenty. 950 feet of elevation gain and loss is no joke.

I’ve slacked a bit from formal training, though that is changing now with the LA Marathon and later races on next year’s calendar.

San Francisco’s traffic is abysmal, and I left my cell phone, _again_, this time at the Expo (I quickly realized my error and found it within about 5 minutes, so that wasn’t the issue).

The issue? A fib. Around 2AM, I woke up to my heart flip-flopping around like a gerbil on holiday. Happens occasionally, once or twice every 3 months or so, and it usually clears up in a couple of hours.

Got to the start line at 8 for the 8:15 start, and my heart was still flip-flopping around. We started, and at the first big hill at mile 1 (this is SF) I knew it was a lost cause. But I pressed on, through the magnificent Presidio, the jaw dropping views of the Baker Beach bluffs, through the magical Golden Gate park.

As we entered Haight Ashbury, I thought I was going to die. When your heart rate jumps by 20% while you are running DOWNHILL, there is a problem.

I was facing two deadlines: a mandatory checkout time, and a 3 hour deadline in order to be counted as an official finisher. I crossed the halfway point knowing I would not be able to cross the finish line in time.

But something about the Haight Ashbury district must have inspired my heart somehow, because suddenly my HR dropped, and the uphill I was on got a lot easier. By that time, though, my body was cooked. I walked/”ran” to a 2:50 finish of a half marathon that I would otherwise have finished in 2:05 with no problem.

And folks, I AM DAMN PROUD of this accomplishment. Did I want to do a hell of a lot better? Yep! The plan was to take on the last six miles, mostly downhill and flat, as a chance to ‘negative split” to a sub 2hr finish.

But I found a way to FINISH a half marathon in under 3 hours while my heart had decided, at 2:30AM, to work against me.

We carry on.