Race Review: The San Francisco Second Half Marathon
That's me - in the zebra tights - looking totally exhausted. Life does not always go as planned and last weekend was one of those times. I'm all about pushing yourself and never backing down from a challenge - but perhaps last weekend I should have.
It's not that I didn't have fun because I absolutely did. It's just that the fun that I had came with a price. A nagging throat and ear issue (cold, infection, I don't know) that just won't go away has been my payment for attending a live 45 minute NTC workout on Saturday morning, hiking in the afternoon and then running 13.1 miles Sunday morning.
In my opinion, life is short and it's meant to be lived. I had friends flying up from Los Angeles to run the race with me and I didn't want to let them down, let myself down and miss out on running the second half of the San Francisco Marathon. So I ran.
I ran because it's who I am. I ran because I had been training for this race and I ran to prove to myself that I am resilient. I learn something about myself from every race and this race I learned many things.
- It's never a good idea to run with a cold.
- My diet has not been on point and I need to get it back on track - hello vegetables!
- I need to stretch, stretch and stretch some more. Yoga is my new best friend.
- Friends are the best - thinking of seeing them at the finish and our post race celebration got me through the tough miles.
All in all - the race was a success - I finished in 2:10:07. Far from a personal best (actually my 2nd worst time) but still a good finish all things considered. The race itself was beautiful - it rolled through Golden Gate Park, then through the city streets.
I ran past the #WeRunSocial crew and they snapped this awesome photo of me. So fast it's blurry :)
Photo: Pavement Runner
I ran the hills, I ran the flats and I ran with heart. I finished the race. I had fun with friends and I gave it my all. In the end, that's what truly matters.