MY Great Race- Nike Women’s Marathon 2011 (NWM Part 2)

My girlfriends and I arrived in San Francisco (one of my favorite cities in the WORLD) the night before the race. We had a delicious dinner at a restaurant down the street from where we were staying, painted our nails a fabulous neon pink, and went to bed. We woke up at 5am, I had some oatmeal and an energy drink, pinned on the race bib, and hopped in the car.

The starting line was INSANE! There were so many people, and everyone was so excited! The energy was contagious! As we stood around waiting for the start I became very nervous. I knew what I was about to put my body through, and I was not excited about the pain that was sure to come.

So, once we made it through the start (a whole 20 minutes after the official start of the race, but I could have cared less) I hit a pace I was comfortable with, and ran! I felt good, I was excited and totally ready for the next 13 miles.  I kept my pace at around 9 minutes for the first 6 miles (except for a quick bathroom break, which was seriously necessary), and I felt that I would be able to keep the pace for the whole race.  That was until I came to the first hill.  I had been dreading this hill since I looked at the course map, so I knew it was coming, but I was totally unprepared. The hill kicked my ass. Luckily I caught up will a good friend right before the hill, and she kept me going.  But, the hill defiantly messed with my mind, and the rest of the race only got worse.

Miles 6-10 were good. Not as amazing as 1-6, but still pretty good. There were LOTS of hills, but what goes up must come down, so there were some nice downhill sections too! And the views were STUNNING!

It wasn’t until mile 10 that I hit the “wall”. Now, it wasn’t “THE WALL”, but it wasn’t fun.  I just blocked out the pain, and kept going.  It was slow, but I made it!

"I Run To Be."

NMW11

Crossing the finish line was simply amazing, an indescribable feeling.  And the hot firemen with Tiffany Necklaces, were the cherry on top of an unforgettable day!