Today I was suppose to run the Virgin Sport SF Bay Half Marathon, but unfortunately it got cancelled due to the wildfires in the Bay area and the unhealthy air quality that has taken over SF this week.
It’s not easy to accept that something you worked so hard for isn’t going to happen. The half marathon in the middle of marathon training is always one of my favorite, most celebrated days – it’s a great motivator and fun celebration at the halfway point of training; many of my half marathon PR’s have come from this mid-cycle race! I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that it’s not happening.
But then I read the news…so much devastation has hit Napa and Sonoma counties from the fires, and there is still more to come. Thousands have been evacuated with their homes completely devastated. If a tiny race cancellation is the only way that this disaster has affected me, then I should consider myself extremely blessed.
The poor air quality in SF has definitely put my training back a bit. All week the air here has felt like a sitting next to a campfire and it is pretty hazardous to even be outside. I went out for 6 miles on Wednesday and was hacking the rest of the day so I made the decision to stop running until everything has settled down in order to keep my lungs healthy and safe.
We can’t plan everything in life. It’s definitely hard to accept when things don’t go our way, but what’s more important is adjusting and staying positive no matter what. A few missed runs will likely not make a difference on race day; what will make a difference is keeping my lungs healthy and staying grateful for all the blessings I have.
I’m now more excited than ever for the CIM Marathon in December. I will have even more pent-up race energy and will definitely not take for granted making it to the start line 🙂
My sincere prayers go out to those who have been affected by these devastating wildfires ❤
Running aside, life here lately has been pretty tame. My next actuarial exam is T-minus 5 days away, and so I’ve been pretty focused on studying. Most of my weekend looked like this:
So next time I blog, hopefully I will be one step closer to being an actuary. Wish me luck!!
Week 6 of marathon training
The smoke was pretty bad here in SF from Monday-Friday, and so I didn’t get much running in then, but luckily it cleared out by the weekend and so I was able to sneak in some miles and not to let this whole week go to waste. I think this coming week will be safe enough to get back on the training schedule 🙂
Monday: REST
Tuesday: REST
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 60 minutes of yoga with Anna
Friday: REST
Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: 4 miles
I Run Like A Girl 
The wildfires are so devastating.
I was supposed to do Ragnar Napa Valley in Nov but it got cancelled. Peanuts compared to what other people suffered.
Take care of your lungs. As an asthmatic, poor lungs get in the way of a good quality of life.
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Oh no, I’m sorry to hear about your Napa race. Thank you, I will definitely take care of myself!
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