1st Half Marathon!!!

First a quick update of my week!!

I took James on a tour of San Francisco, we took the BART and walked alllll the way down to Pier 39 so we got a mini work out in. We walked past tons of runners which was making me jealous! I would love to be able to run down the pier every day especially with that weather and all the interesting people always there. So that was tons of fun! SATURDAY! Normally races are early in the morning but this one was at 7 at night. So I had to hold off on the huge BBQ Rib cook off my dad was having at the house :( There was deviled eggs, potato salad, tons of chips and different dips, and 4 cakes!!! I definitely did not feel like testing out my digestive system for my first half marathon though. Soooo I just had oatmeal in the morning and whole wheat toast with a little bit of peanut butter on it through out the day, then just had some tortilla chips with salsa during the party. I wasn't really able to have a small meal before so I made sure I brought an extra GU with me to take 20 minutes before the start. 
Before I left I made sure I have everything ready:
*Shoes 
*Socks
*Tech Tee W/ Bib pre-pinned
*Hand held bottle W/ GUs
*Head phones
*Toilet paper or tissue (To blow my nose or bathroom stops!)
*Hat
*ID (for my free post race beer!)
*Petroleum jelly (Cheaper than BodyGlide for chaffing) 
Quick note: Toilet paper is definitely a must have to bring on a run, there's been so many times I've needed to blow my nose and I'm not too comfortable with the whole snot rocket thing yet. Then of course the dreaded runners trots... just in case I have to jump in a bush (hopefully that will never happen) or use a porta potty with out toilet paper I'll have some handy.     *SPOILER! Here's my finish picture, I guess a picture is worth a 1,000 words... 

Okay, back to the race!
When we got there it was packed!! There was over 1,600 runners for the half and the 5K and 10K had about 4,500 people all together! I really liked how organized the event was, there was someone one on a mic constantly explaining the times for everything and who needed to be ready next and there were big markers for where to stand depending on your mile pace.
Through the entire race I was terrified of having to take a poop stop but I made it all the way through without any problems! It was really frustrating feeling like I was on mile 5 and then passing the 3 mile marker. -_- The last 3 miles were the longest miles ever, they each felt like 2 miles. The only times I stopped to walk was when I took my GU at mile 5 and a few more times when I had to sip some water. It was definitely great to have my hand held bottle instead of getting held up at the hydration stations. It was so exciting to see mile 11 and mile 12 markers and knowing I was so close to being done!

I was expecting a 2:45 finish but I ran a 2:29!! I'm still soooooo excited about it!!! My feet hurt so bad and my legs were about to curl up into mush, but again it was the best feeling to have finished and better than I thought I would. Also, my past few races I ran alone but this time I ran it with family so it was awesome to be greeted at the finish line and cheer on others as they finished.

FINISHED!!!!!!

After the race I finally got to eat my ribs, tater salad and cake. I did have a few beers to catch up with the party... which wasn't the best thing to do for recovery but I did make sure I had a bottle of water for every beer I had.
So It was a great race and weekend and I cannot wait till September for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach!!!!
-Kimi


P.S. My breakfast from today. Nomnom crepes!