Picking up from last time –
I was hoping they’d have photographers on the Golden Gate Bridge. This was obviously the moment of the race and everybody looked so silly taking selfies of it (though I’ll admit after telling myself I wasn’t gonna do it, I did it at the end of the bridge).
But yeah, I hoped for a nice wide shot with the bridge in the background.
So, I was super happy to see photographers practically lining the bridge. There were so many, I knew there had to be at least one good shot of me on the bridge.
After the race though, the one disappointing thing was that none of my shots from the bridge have the bridge in the background. You can’t really tell where I am at all. But oh well. You win some, you lose some. I remember it well, and I suppose that’s all that matters.
I did have the best time on the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so beautiful. It was the perfect amount of San Francisco fog to not be overpowering, but to just have a really pretty misty overlay. Also, I felt so strong! There was something serene yet powerful about it all at once. And as my various jams blasted in my headphones, I felt super empowered!
I hadn’t been feeling super empowered lately, kind of just stressed and blah blah blah. So, I wanted to run it all out in this race!
Even with stopping for a couple of pictures (even turning around to grab one of a sign I liked and almost missed), and simply walking up hills, I still beat my best half marathon time. So, when I was running, I must’ve for real been running. Boom! (Just running life out, baby!)
I felt super empowered in the moment on the bridge with my workout playlist lifting me up!
Once we were done with the bridge, I’m pretty sure about 10 miles were done. What? Only a 5k left? Let’s get this!
Once I got into the park, I knew I was going to beat my old time, but not by a ton. So, I just kept steadily jogging it out, so excited to finally see that finish line!
As I finished, I put on the theme song from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, just trying to remember that I’m unbreakable! I say all the time you are who you decide to be. So even if I falter and have rough patches here or there where I embarrass myself or things don’t go perfectly, if I decide to be a strong, awesome, kind, caring woman, then I will be. After all, “females are strong as hell!” 😉
As I ran in, my friend Michael was waiting for me and waved happily from the side of the finish line!
He greeted me after the race. I got my special “half it all” medal for finishing both half marathons in two consecutive years. Then we went back to my friend Jaime’s apartment and she made us loads of pancakes!
I’ll be back next year for the full marathon! (And my awesome 52.4 sweatshirt that you get when you do the two halves and the full). And my friend Jaime will be running the gorgeous, spectacular first half!