firemen and tiff

It would seem that I didnt have enough crazy shit going on in my favorite month of the year, but no I also found it necessary to throw in my very first half marathon. The Nike Women's Marathon. The training sucked something fierce, and I found every excuse to not run, run a shorter distance, or substitute soccer for training days- which only worked training wise in the beginning. (boo for me)

The above photo is taken while I am standing in line to get my bib. It was.... INSANE. I got there fairly early on the the first day of registration and was standing in line for about 15 minutes. I made sure I got lots of people watching in and secured bib number 588. I think there were about 25,000 people that ran the race, total.

Sam joined me at about mile 8 or 9 to help me through the race and to make him document the scene. He is such a good sport. :) above photo is actually taken around my neighborhood, which was annoying cause I really just wanted to go home and sit down, perhaps have a latte and some breakfast. instead I ran more...

I think this above photo is my favorite of all the snapshots Sam got, it was the best view, right over Ocean Beach, you could see the finish line, which was a good and bad thing, cause at this point I really just wanted to sit down.

thats not really my time, it took us almost a full 15 minutes to even start running when they start the time at the beginning of the race. So please, minus 15 off that terrible time ticker. And at that point all I was thinking about was the awesome Tiffany's necklace and the firemen that hand out the finishing gifts at the finish line.

Secured my tiff and I am a happy girl! :) it was very liberating and inspiring to run this marathon. Lots of the proceeds from the race go to cancer research, and while I was running I saw a few cancer survivors, it was a heavy wakeup call at some points when I didn't want to go on any more, I saw them and knew I could accomplish anything I wanted to.

I finished the race in 2 hours and 19 minutes, making for a 10 minute and 41 second average mile time. Not too shabby for a first timer who didn't train enough. I think I can beat that time next year, for sure.

And more inspiration: running with your friends, they were a huge motivator and a great way to get some hang time in while doing something healthy. :) Congrats to Court and Karrie on their completion of the race too!