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Tuesday, October 22

We Run SF

This year I participated in the The 10th Annual Nike Women's Marathon - SF on October 20th, 2013. It was my first ever half marathon and I was really excited that it was going to be in SF and with Nike.
Up until this point I have only done two 5K races; The Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning last year and the Donate Life Race, which you may remember from here.

Saturday morning, Brett & I drove up to the city early to check out the Expo that was happening in Union Square. It started Thursday, but with 30,000+  people coming into the city for this race we knew it was going to be busy. The earlier we could get started, the better.
On the way up there, we made a quick stop to start the "carb-o load" :)

The Expo that Nike put on was amazing. The main sponsors of the event were there handing out some free goodies, offering free shuttle transportation through the town as well as an area to create signs that people can hold up on the sideline's to support the runners. Brett made me a couple of amazing signs!

Sunday morning came and at 5AM sharp my phone started playing loud music that I was not ready for. I looked outside and it was pitch black. I grumbled and eventually rolled out of bed. Soon, my sleepiness turned into nerves as I could hear the thousands of women outside my hotel and the announcer's voice booming through the streets. I got dressed quickly and froze. It all became so real when I put on my shirt and looked down to see my bib number.  This. Is. Really. Happening. We made our way into the streets in the pitch black, freezing cold with thousands of women.

Before I knew it, fireworks were being shot out of the starting line and my feet started to go. It took until about mile 3 when the sky lightened and the sun rose. Not that you could see the sun or the sky  as the city was covered in a thick blanket of fog all morning.
13.1 miles came and went faster than the blink of an eye. (seriously!) I rounded that corner and saw the finish line in sight. As soon as my feet hit the red carpet, I couldn't believe it was over. I anxiously went over to receive my little blue box as two handsome firemen congratulated me and posed for a picture. It was over, just like that.

Despite the typical cold San Francisco weather, I had a really great race and beat my expected time which I am really excited about. Maybe this is the start of a beautiful new hobby.


 X x

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on finishing the race so quickly. I'm so impressed with what you accomplished with just a few months of training. keep up the good work!