Tony and Sue,  Whooohooo!!! Congratulations on your marathons!! Tony, so glad you were happy with your race. After being so disciplined with your training runs, you certainly deserved it!  Sue, I LOVED your race report; it brought tears. 5:53 is a fantastic time! I would be very pround of that! You finished and it sounds like you had a few obstacles in your hips and quads. Two miles walking to get back to the hotel? Ugh!!

Dan, so sorry about your wife's injury. Hope her treatment goes well and she heals fast!

Debra, you are a super fan! Glad you are able to enjoy your son's events as a family.

Ray, good thing you didn't get stung during the race?

Marie, glad you're on the mend!

Like Kathy, I was just checking in for the race reports. Still waiting to hear from Phyllis. I'll post some pix if the site will let me. Having problems with it. AGAIN

Great runs to all!!

Congratulations Sue!!! You are a MARATHONER!!! Very few people ever reach that status! Just remember that! 5:53 is nothing to be embarrassed about at all!!! That is a great time!

Take it easy and recover before decidind about the next one.

degregorius  Welcome back!! Glad you stopped by. Once nice thing about the cooler temps is the coinciding disappearance of those pesky gnats!

Sue!!!!Whoo HOO!  Yes, you are Ms Marathoner!! I'm so proud of you!

I had a pleasant 5 miler today. Looking forward to attempting 20 this weekend. eeekkk.....

Sue Congratulations Ms Marathoner !!!!! you did it. enjoy the success. You must be kidding about being embarrassed about your time. you just completed what 99% of our populations has never done. How many 57 year old ladies do you think have had this experience. Great race report. I also was in corral E but opted to start in L with a group I met at the expo.

mKay A picture is worth a thousand words.

Marie hope you doing a little better this week. hang in there. Disney is just around the corner.

Dan . praying your wife heals quickly. will be sending you a private message later tonight.

Again Thanks to all your support "mighty masters"

Hello Group,

I was posting on the "Mighty Masters continuing from C25K” about a year ago. Last Oct I was mountain bike riding and took a bad fall. My Doc released me in Aug to start running again. I am looking forward to the exchanges here and look forward to getting to know this group. The old group has not had any post for a long time and I wonder if there are people here from that group?

HI Mary K

No, No, No --  I had been operating under the impression that my partner and I had done oour 12 mile long walk in 2 hr 20 mins, but that was a mistake - It was actually 3:30, which is much more realistic.

Sunday I did it!!!  Finished the San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon on my own two feet - every step of the way.

The morning broke clear and cool, after the week previous having a mini heat spell with temps between high 80s and mid 90s.The Team In Training group met a mile away to get a nice warm-up walk prior to the race. We were in the next to the last corral where we stood around for about a half hour before the gun went off. It was chip timing so it was OK. By the time we got to the start all the rabbits were long gone and we walkers had the main street of San Jose all to ourselves. There were plenty of us, but not so many you couldn't choose your track or move up past slowers.

There were rock and roll band stands every mile that kept us smiling and the rhythm helped to stay on pace. I chose to stay around 16 min/mile for the first mile, and then to up it to mid 15 for the next 9 miles. There were ample water and Gator Aide stations along the route where there were also high school cheer leader groups going through their routines. The route snaked around San Jose, taking in a couple of residential districts as well as looping back into the city center a couple of times. In the residential areas, people were standing in front of their homes in their robes, drinking coffee and cheering us along. I made it a point to react to every stimulus - waving and hollering "Good morning!" to the by-standers. When I passed the cheer leaders, I held out my hand which would bring out several cheer leaders with their pompoms and high fives.

There was also a "mini marathon" of 5 miles. Part of their return route was on the oposite side of the street from our 3 or 4 mile outbound route, so I could enjoy the costumes that those runners were wearing. By mile 7, I was beginning to slump; but still could remind myself to straighten up and relax my shoulders. I was maintaining a mid 15 min mile pace, and still able to reel in racers ahead of me. There was a woman who kept passing me and then I would pass her. I told her that I was keeping my eye on a couple ahead of me that looked like they would fold at any time. She laughed because she had her eye on them too. Then someone behind us called out that they were working on us.

There were Team In Training mentors and coaches who would pop up along the route to support us. Two in particular, Susanne and Rosemary would run along with me, making sure I was getting enough power fuel drink and eating my fig bars. After a while, they would drop out to support another team member then take a short cut through the neighborhood to meet up with us further on. This was invaluable

About mile 9, I caught up with a woman who had an 85 years sign on her jersey. I greeted her as I passed her. She looked perkier than I was feeling. A friend had said she would meet me at the 10 mile aid station - was I ever glad to see her! She walked along with me for the rest of the way. By mile 13, I was wobbling (something that happens when I get fatigued), she offered me her arm, but I was determined to do this the whole way on my own power. But she felt it necessary to point out the cracks in the pavement as we went under the railroad underpass. I had been laughing about that one tenth of a mile on the definition of a half marathon, saying it would probably be very important at the end - well now I knew. I began to feel like I wasn't getting enough oxygen to my brain. My friend, Linda, was talking but I couldn't understand a word she was saying. I didn't even bother to ask her to repeat. I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

When I turned the corner and saw the huge finish arch, I didn't have much gas left. As I passed over the strip that allows the announcer to know who it is, I raised my arms in a victory signal - and them let them drop. The announcer called out,"OK, Phyllis lets see you wave those arms!" That gave me a last shot of adrenaline, and I was able to not only hold my hands high and wave, but I also danced a little rock and roll jig as I crossed the line. I had completed my first half marathon! Time: 03:29:05

Post race note: I did not take an ice bath when I got home. I fell into a bathtub of piping hot water and soaked for a half hour and then took a three hour nap. After dinner, I took another hot soak before hitting the bed. Monday I was almost as good as new. I am making plans for continuing my training so I can complete with more reserves.

Another post race note: One of my team mates clicked on the names of the Over 80 Age Group first and second place winners. She noted that they didn't look old enough. I sent a message to the race committee and they agreed that these gals were playing games with the honor system and removed them. In a day or so, the record will reflect that I came in first and the lady who came in just behind me deserves the second place award (she is only 85!).

It's been a heady week - I'm still not down to earth.

Congratulations Phyllis on your FIRST HALF MARATHON! You did AWESOME and should be very proud of yourself as all of us are!

Also, congrats on your 1st place AG !!! Shame, shame, shame on the 2 ladies that were lying about their age in order to place. Very shameful. I am so glad that this was taken care of by the race director!

Jim (Riverrat) I remember you from the old forum! Welcome back! Actually there are several of us here that are "originals".