It's done!

Dave and I finished "The Other Half" US Half Marathon in San Francisco!  

Hooray!

Dave and I just before we left for the starting line.

Random thoughts:

- The Ghiradelli parking garage is tight for an '02 Toyota Tundra

- Seeing the sun rise over the East Bay just as the race started was gorgeous

- We chose to put our own names on our bibs but the guy who put 'Super Genius' on his was hilarious

- Running over the Golden Gate Bridge and then back under and back over again... priceless

There's a moment that the course takes you under the Marin side of The Bridge.  Wow.  You come down this dirt trail with the sun shining in your face and the most gorgeous purple cone shaped flowers and The Bridge is above you to the right and The City is off to your left.  It is amazing.  

 The flip side to that is you have to get back up on The Bridge... yes, the dreaded uphill.  Not fun at all.

Dave and I ran together for about 5 miles and then somewhere on The Bridge he said to me, "Run your race."  I looked up at him and said, "I love you" and he said the same and that's when we split up.  His IT band just wouldn't shut up and he had to walk.  We looked at his heart rate monitor and he basically had to stop 2 times each mile.  He explains the pain as someone sticking a knife in his knee.  Um, ouch. 

I won't bore you with all the details of the running I did between mile 5 and 13 which was basically me just running and running and running so instead I'll post a photo of The Bridge.

Ah, so beautiful!

I got choked up just as I ran passed the 13 mile marker.  I kept thinking to myself, 'Keep Going!'  The tears sprang to my eyes and I had that weird happy ecstatic smile going.  Kind of like an ugly cry covered in sweat.  Speaking of sweat, some lady right at the end had a sign that said, "Sweaty girls are hot!" and it made me laugh breaking the crazy emotional moment I was having.  And then I was done.  The announcer said my name (see this is where having your name printed on your bib comes in handy) and I crossed the finish line.

I wobbled around and found the lady that was taking your chips and then giving the medals out.  She handed it to me and said, "Congratulations!"  

I had just enough time to get a free recovery drink and a cool stainless steel water bottle and stretch for a moment and then look for Dave.  He ran over the finish line and saw me.  Gave me a big smile, a high five and a kiss. 

So, now I have 2 really cool souvenirs from when I ran over the Golden Gate Bridge.