My goal going into the San Francisco half marathon was to just have fun and keep “racing Page” on the back burner. In the past, I always tell myself this and my competitive spirit gets the best of me. But today was a different story – the running gods cursed my Garmin and in turn, it was one of the most exhilarating half marathons I can remember. So without further ado, here’s how it all went down.
The weekend started out with San Francisco ambassador meet-ups.
A quick Lululemon shake-out run with good friends.
Carbo-loading on the best donuts you will ever have in your life (Pebble’s donuts: organic and vegan in the Ferry Building).
Meeting up with Swimmy Kimmy.
And working the expo with my fellow ambassadors.
On Saturday night, I was in bed by 9 p.m. for a 3 a.m. wake-up call. A quick freeway hustle to the city and I was ready to for the 5:30 a.m. start gun. While the start time of this race is one of the most painful I’ve experienced, being done by a little after 7 and your entire day ahead of you is worth the extra cup of tea.
With my belly full of oatmeal and ¼ of a PB&J bagel, two bathroom stops and my shuffle ready to belt its tunes, I went to start my Garmin and got a seemingly sign of running doom. “Low Battery.” Again. This was impossible! I charged it all night and unfortunately, this has happened more times than I’d like to admit. Thus, I think my little hunk of red, Garmin love may be seeing its final days. (P.S. Chicken Face: my birthday is in August and that new Nike watch is looking prettttttty appealing. Hint, nudge, hint, hint.)
My original plan was to stick with the 3:20 pace group, which a friend from running club was leading. We huddled together, chatted and within moments, we were off. Far too often, I start out too fast. But with no real goal in hand and my Garmin resting in peace, I started the race casually weaving throughout the throngs of runners and chatting with friends.
As we made our way down the Embarcadero, through Chrissy Field, and across the Golden Gate Bridge, I found myself smiling.
Smiling as I took in the stunning views.
Smiling as I saw friends on the bridge and we cheered each other on.
Smiling from the perfect, cool weather.
Smiling as I saw one of the guys from the Bachelorette. (I later found out it was this guy.)
Smiling because I was running according to how my body felt – nothing else.
As I smiled my way across the bridge, I realized just how lucky I am and how life is so, so good. My legs and body can carry me across the Golden Gate Bridge, I just married the man of my dreams, I’ve met so many great people through blogging who are now good friends and so much more. I was happy, strong and ready to take on the rest of the race.
With my running high fueling me, I powered through the run at a pace that felt strong but still fun. No struggling allowed. When faced with the infamous hill climbs, I simply upped the music volume, shortened my stride and pumped my arms. No problem.
As with all of my races, as soon as I could see the finish I kicked it in. When you see that finish line, it’s time to dig deep and pretend like someone’s chasing you.
Run, push, run, breathe…DONE. 1:35.
UPDATE: I checked out the official results this morning and was shocked to see this (I guess all the super fasties took the day off):
Is it wrong that I’m abnormally excited about this?!
With that, I finished the first half marathon of the San Francisco Marathon with a smile and a great run under my belt. To top it all of, I was able to complete the Half It All Challenge and earn one of the most amazing pieces of race bling blang that I’ve never seen.
It’s a spinner medal with a different image on each side. HOLLA!
We spent the rest of the day cheering on Aron, Kristin, and Ron, which was almost as fun as the race itself. They all finished strong and had an awesome day.
So here’s to running for the love of it…
Happy Running!
Congratulations page! What a beautiful race experience. You sound like you are in a very happy place and this race played right along. Congrats on everything. 🙂
OMG, I LOVE the spinner medal! That is so cool! Good job!!
Great job girlfriend! Life truly is amazing right?? I love how happy you are and glad i’m not alone!!! 🙂 life is AMAZING!
What a great race for you & cool metal!!
Dammit, I want to see Ames runnin! awesome. Wonder if he lives in the bay…..oh right, I’m taken.
I’m not surprised your had a great race, you always manage to find the bright side of every situation — even thought your Garmin has been a pain. I know all your commenters will agree: 1:35 is an amazing time, and even more amazing that it is your “taking it easy” pace, or “fun page” running pace.
That donut shop must be new! Never seen it. Despite my hate for the city, I adore ADORE the ferry building. Love.
congrats!! sounds like you had a great time 🙂 and congrats on getting married!
awesome! so cool that you got to really just ENJOY this race. oh, and that medal is amazing!
Great job! Sounds like so much fun! You totally rocked that race!
This osunds like such an awesome race. I can’t wait to run it one day! COngrats!
Hi Page,
Congratulations on a great race. I loved this part of your report: “As I smiled my way across the bridge, I realized just how lucky I am and how life is so, so good.” This is exactly why I love reading your blog — you seem so happy and positive all the time, and it makes me feel so good. There were one or two times in my life when I also felt like this (definitely not now!) and your blog reminds me of those good times. So thank you for brightening my days! I hope your life continues to be so good — you deserve it!
PS. What a gorgeous bride you were!
Congrats on an awesome, FUN, HAPPY race!! Rock on sister!! 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS! top 10, so exciting! you’re a superstar.
Congrats on a super happy race! Those are the best feelings for sure 🙂 Great job and hooray for placing!
Congratulations again!! You are an amazing runner, and I love that you made it a great day and relished every moment.
Garmin note: My old garmin wasn’t keeping a charge, but deleting all its history and then charging it up in the wall (not the computer) fixed it. It did die a few months later, but I don’t think that was a related cause.
Congrats on your top 10 finish! 🙂
I can’t believe that you had a donut on Saturday, no way I could have done that, haha For me donuts are the worst food ever to run on.
Bummer I couldn’t see you guys at the expo, I was only there from about 10 AM to 1115 AM or so on Saturday.
Hopefully chickenface gets the hint on the new watch, lol
Sounds like you had a perfect race! That is awesome that you sort of had a running moment on the bridge! Those really are the best moments ever.
Congrats on the top 10 finish, that is awesome! If this is you not completely pushing it, that is insane. 1:35 on the first half is phenomenal!
And don’t shortchange yourself, you are a fastie!
That half it all medal is the coolest medal I’ve ever seen, seriously!
I LOVE Ames! lol. Great report. I’m jealous everyone is wearing long sleeves and pants!! What do you get for 3rd iyour age group?? I want to be fast like you! Maybe after another year of running. 😉
holy crap, CONGRATS!! what a time 🙂
Congrats girl! That is awesome!!!
You did SO FREAKING AMAZING! I love how halves just click with you and you get these perfect races. Congrats and it was so fun hanging out with you all weekend!
Congratulations!! I love this entire recap! Your joy in the race is palpable. And those types of runs/races are the ones that I live for!! They make all the other crappy times worth it.
And congrats on the place!! I would be super excited if it were me too – especially when it’s unexpected like that. Awesome job!
Congrats on an amazing race and 10th place……that’s insane!! Love the medal.
Definitely been a good month for you. 🙂
You are such a superstar – congratulations on running such an amazing race!
Are you serious?! Amazing job making the leader board and congrats on a great race!!!!
DUDE! Freaking rockstar, Page. CONGRATS!! That is absolutely amazing.
holy crap!!! Congrats on your race and top 10 finish!!!
Ok, my first thought was that you need a new Garmin. But then I read this rest of this, and I’m starting to think that maybe you don’t need a Garmin (or even a Nike watch for that matter) at all! You are amazing and when you run based on feel you do great things & apparently you are enjoying it. And how amazing that you are in the top 10 leaderboard?!? WAY TO GO! 🙂 🙂
xoxo,
A
PS I have bling envy.
I saw you in the restroom in the Ferry Building before the Lululemon run. I did a double-take, like, “whoa, I know that stunning, redheaded blogger!” But you were dashing into a stall, and I knew better than to knock and introduce myself …
Congrats on making the top 10 on Sunday! I ran the first half, too, and I thought I would die from lack of training and sleep, but I actually PRed by three minutes. Everyone told me I wouldn’t be able to on a course like S.F., but I think the hills, sights and crowds of wild runners actually drive people to do better than usual.
Ah! You should have stopped me and said hi! Congrats on your PR!!!
That is some serious ‘blingage’ – holy cow my neck hurts just looking at that thing.. Great photo of the SF Golden Gate bridge at night as well. I have never seen that lit up. Well done on a tenth place finish that was just for fun. Post any blogs or charity links on our FB wall whenever. See u at an expo!
Mike
http://www.facebook.com/WhyMarathon
I am so excited that you broke the top 10!!!!!!!!!! That is so freaking badass! So great to see you, so sad we couldn’t hang out more! Thanks for the shout out!! 🙂
It is typically referred to as Salmon Patch or Oil
Drop since it has that characteristic. Don’t forget you have psoriasis and it will influence your nail matrix causing decaying and possibly total loss of the nail.
The only way to wholesome weight loss and, even tougher,
is a radical adjust of your life style.
I visited multiple sites but the audio feature for audio songs present at this web site is genuinely fabulous.