Guys, I ran the best/most difficult/challenging/amazing race of my life. San Francisco was amazing. I had the best weekend, and I’m so thankful it didn’t end too fast. I didn’t get to explore very much of San Fran, but the few places we did see were amazing.

Also, not only was I visiting California for the first time in my life, but I also flew on an airplane for the first time. Crazy stuff:)

All last week, I seriously could not wait for Friday to come. I have never been so excited to travel. The fact that the destination was my dream race did not make being patient easy at all. I packed all my stuff Thursday night and made sure to have my race clothes, shoes, and anything else I needed in my carry-on just in case my luggage were to get lost. Luckily, we all made it there and back with our luggage.

Friday:

I woke up Friday morning around 7:30 since our plane was supposed to leave at 12:30, and the airport is about an hour away from my house. My brother was supposed to pick me up at 10 to get to the airport, but he was running late. I was really scared that we were going to miss our flight since I’ve never been on a plane before. We got there with just enough time before we had to board our plane. I ended up sitting behind my brother and sister-in-law, and I luckily got to sit next to a really nice lady. We chatted almost all of the way to Vegas. We finally arrived in Vegas, and we ate lunch, then played a bit on the slot machines while we were waiting for our next flight. I won $60 which I thought was pretty awesome since I have only played once in my life. We finally hopped onto our plane to head to San Francisco. It took less than 2 hours to make it to San Francisco. We hopped off the plane, grabbed our luggage, then waited to get a cab. Once we stepped outside and saw all of the cabs, we knew we weren’t in Oklahoma anymore.

Outside the San Fran airport

Traffic was insane. I was definitely not used to it so I’m glad we took a cab instead of getting a rental car.

Our cab driver took us to our hotel, we checked-in, then headed to the expo. I was so happy it was only 2 blocks from our hotel.

#WerunSF

I picked up my race packet, then got my goodie bag and walked around the expo a bit since it was about to close. We then walked across to Macy’s to eat because my sis-in-law wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory, but there was an hour and ten minute wait for a table. We decided we didn’t want to wait that long.

We ended up going to the next floor and eating at a burger place. After that we walked around a bit then headed back to our hotel since we were tired from traveling almost all day.

Saturday:

We woke up the next morning, got ready, grabbed some Starbucks, and headed to the Nike store because I wanted to grab some of the race gear. We had to stand about 15-20 minutes in the line before they let us in. Once we were in though, it was packed. I grabbed a hat, water bottle, t-shirt, jacket, and socks, then headed to pay. By the time I went to line up to pay, the line had died down a lot. I had mentioned to brother earlier that outside the Nike store, they would put all the runners name on the glass windows, so while I was paying for my stuff, he found my name!!

My name on the Nike wall!!

I have always wanted to see my name on their. This was definitely exciting for me. It also made me more excited because my brother was excited that he found my name, and he thought it was awesome.:)

After that excitement, we went to grab lunch, then headed back to the hotel. My brother and sister-in-law took a nap, and I watched Modern Family and ate a snack. When they woke up, my brother went back to the expo so we could check it out. It was pretty awesome.

I got this airbrushed on my arm for inspiration!

The expo was about to close so we went to grab dinner at Subway and headed back to the hotel so I could get to sleep since I would be waking up pretty early. I foamed rolled my legs since we had walked quite a bit during the day.

Sunday: Race day!

I woke up around 4:15am to eat breakfast, get ready, and stretch my legs. I ended up being ready with plenty of time to spare. I had my usual coffee, toast with almond butter, and banana pre-race breakfast. I took my chews in my spibelt, along with my phone. Even though the starting line was only 2 blocks away, my brother walked to the starting line. It was so awesome because he was so amazed that there were so many people there to run. He couldn’t believe there were so many people dedicated to this. It’s cool when other people who aren’t runners realize how cool races are. He told me “I really respect what you all do.”  I finally got to the starting line, and it was crazy! There was loud music, and everyone was pumped up to start. I think I finally crossed the starting line about 6:50 which wasn’t too bad.

The start!

I absolutely loved the scenery of this race! Running by the bay was amazing, and the weather was almost perfect. It was a bit humid, but I was too distracted either by the scenery or the hills to pay too much attention to the humidity. I tried not to think about the hills too much before the race. I knew there would be intense, but I didn’t realize how intense they would be. I felt like I was climbing mountains.;) I tried to just take one hill at a time, which worked out pretty well for me.

One of the hills.

I was feeling pretty strong until about mile 8. My energy dropped a bit, and I felt pretty thirsty. I had my Gu chomps, but I don’t think I ate enough of them to help keep my energy up. Or maybe the hills took a little more out of me than I expected them to. At one point, I did pass the 2:15 pacer which made me really excited, but I think they passed me when I was walking up a hill. Ooops. I finally made it to the end, and I was sooo happy. This was definitely the most challenging course I ever ran, but it felt so great to complete it.:)

TIFANY & CO NECKLACE!!!! EEEEE!!!!:)

I’m so obsessed with my necklace! I’ve been wearing it proudly because I definitely worked hard for it, and it’s also from my dream race.:)

Isn’t it beautiful? 🙂

After the race, it did take me a while to find my brother, but I was so happy when I finally did. He found me, gave me a hug, and told me congratulations for finishing. It’s really awesome to have people to be supportive of something you love and work so hard towards. My two other brothers texted me good luck since they were there with me and told me they also were very proud. My parents did too. I’m very blessed with an awesome family.:) They knew this race meant a lot to me, and they supported me through all of it.

Back at the hotel with my finishers medal:)

We headed back home after the race, and we didn’t arrive until about 11pm. It was a quick trip, but so fun, and I loved every minute of it.:) I really think the weekend didn’t go by too fast because I was soaking in every moment.

Overall, this was one of the best races I have ever ran. I thought it was well-organized and there were so many great volunteers along the course. I would definitely love to run it again if I can.

It was seriously such an amazing weekend, and I’m so glad God kept me healthy and injury free all the way to the start and finish of the race. I’m happy to say that finally

I RAN SAN FRAN!

Who else has run the Nike Women’s marathon or half?

Did you have any big races this weekend?