I DID IT

I DID IT. I RAN THE NIKE WOMEN'S HALF MARATHON IN SF.

Okay, I'm a little overexcited... But I have to explain why.

I am not an endurance runner. I can sprint like nobody's business, but I can't run over long periods of time. When I signed up for this half marathon, I 'forgot' this fact. But this had been on my bucket list ever since I had found out it was in San Francisco, and that they gave you a Tiffany's necklace at the end. Heck yes, sign me up.

We made it in to San Francisco the Wednesday before the race (which was on a Sunday). I was a bundle of anxiety, but we still had loads of fun running around the city. I had signed up for a training session with Nike, and I didn't end up going. I should have, along with a short run they did Saturday morning, but it was fine.

Finally, Sunday morning came, bright and early. We were planning to be at the start line around 5:30, with the race starting at 6:30. Matt dropped me off a block or so away since we couldn't drive any closer. It was chilly, which wasn't surprising for an early morning in San Francisco. I found my sister and friend, we hung out, stretched a little, and then got ready for the beginning of the race.

We didn't even get near the start line until 7:10, and didn't start running until 7:20.

That would be all fine and dandy if we didn't have a time limit of three hours, and the gun had gone off an hour before, but that's what happens when you have over 20,000 runners.

We began to run.

I haven't actually been running since my last half marathon a month ago, and even before that my furthest run was six miles. I really stink at training. Even though I was anxious beyond belief, I knew I could do it within three hours... hopefully.

The run itself was really beautiful. We also had so many people cheering on the sidelines, from gospel choir groups, which particularly beautiful, to high school marching bands and cheerleading squads. It all amounted to lots of motivation, and lots of stopping for photos. I can honestly say that this did help a lot during the run.

I openly admit that I walked a lot of it, mostly the hills. I knew from my last half marathon that around mile eight I crashed really, really hard and didn't want to finish (and that was with a six hour time limit), so this time I made sure to do it right. I went easy the first few miles, a little harder in the middle, and then pushed myself the last three.

Well, sort of.

I did the first two alright, and even though I didn't crash at mile eight, I still pulled back a little. There was a huge hill coming up, and I knew I wouldn't be able to run up it. The views were impossibly gorgeous but I couldn't concentrate on them. All I could think about was eating and drinking enough, and making it up that damn hill. 

Motivational posters were scattered through out the race, but there was a significant increase of them on the hill. Hilarious, inspiring, or just sweet, it did help. 

But at the top of the hill was the best motivational poster ever. My husband. 

Cheesy, I know. 

We hugged, kissed, and then he said that I was almost done, so keep moving! I ran off with a new surge of energy, but quickly lost it when I realized I still had three miles to go, and my feet were hurting pretty badly. I could feel a panic attack coming on, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time in my entire life I was able to push it away (I have no idea how I managed to do that...)

I started doing sprints followed by walking, because that didn't hurt quite as much as just running (different muscles being used in different ways and all that). It was working! I pushed harder, and with .2 miles (or even .1) I saw my sister on the sidelines with my nephew, our friend's husband, and their daughter. I ran over, kissed my nephew, and gave my sister a hug. I told her that I was done. I was too tired, and she said "I know. But you're doing great. Keep going." and I'm pretty sure that's what pushed me to finish.

As I crossed the finish line, my panic attack made a hard and fast comeback. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. I just followed the lines of people away from the finish line. I even forgot about my Tiffany's necklace until they handed me that little blue box.

Finally, I found Matt. I could relax. We got out of the crowds, and I texted my mum and sister who had been cheering me on via phone the entire run.

(And they had firemen in tuxes for the runners to take photos with!)

Finally, after the run, we went to the beach and soaked in the freezing cold ocean water.

Overall, the race was fun. I felt a lot better than my last half marathon (which is shocking since that one was all down hill, and this one was a lot of uphill!), although I did worse.

My other half I ran in 2:30, this one I ran in 3:00 (exactly three hours, go me!). I was a little disappointed that I added on half an hour, but I think the huge thing is that I actually finished!
I was also disappointed in the necklace itself. Very dinky. :( But it's fine.

Would I do this one again?
Possibly. If my oldest sister decided she wanted to do it, I would definitely run it with her. Otherwise, no.

Would I run the other half I did a month ago again?
Yes.
Without a doubt.
But that's a post for another day. ;)

Here's the thing about running; if you are in front of me, good for you. If you're behind me, good for you, because at least you're off the couch, out of the house, doing something. At least you're working towards a goal, whether it's losing weight or just having fun, you're working towards a better you.

A year ago I wouldn't have imagined that I would run two half marathons this year... maybe I'll have to cross a full off of my bucket list next year!

So this is my story of the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco. It was fun, exciting, challenging, and a huge pain in the butt, but I did it. I did it with my sister and our friend, and it was amazing.