Marathon Girls - Team Lucky 13.1

Marathon Girls - Team Lucky 13.1
Originally uploaded by denisebue.

The night before the big race. Note: the ladies we in bed by 8:30 pm!

The fourth half

Do four halves equal two wholes? Last Sunday marked the completion of my fourth half marathon in 12 months. Three pairs of running shoes, two different HRM's, lots of laughs, hundreds of training miles....and a wonderful weekend with a great group of friends.

Once again, the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Fran proved to be fantastic. Nike gets an A+ for exceptional event execution!

Favorite quotes from the weekend...

Pat Gibbons, stunt car/town car driver with a raspy smoker's voice ...."GIVE ME A NAME....Tina Sharp and our flight is at 7AM"
Young Punks in line at Clift......"they are Carbon Copies of the last group but just....a bit older"
Drunk "girlfriend" at the W Hotel....."those girls are boring, let's go out!"
KC...."I Rule"
"Someone please talk me out of buying these shoes"

Favorite moments...

The breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge...the bridge was peeking through the veil of fog that was hovering over the bay and the sun was shining on the bridge...Majestic, absolutely majestic.

For two of my friends, this was their first half marathon, so seeing the sense of accomplishment on their faces was amazing.

Seeing all of the race supporters andtheirr inspiring signage...every sign told a story of honor, motivation and memories of loved ones.

Water buffalo in Golden Gate park? Who knew?


Saddest moment...why, mini why? Yes, my iPod mini gave out on me at mile 3.5...right in the midst of John Mayer's "Why Georgia why"...yes, dead, completely dead! The Apple store confirmed mini's demise. I will admit, I was devastated. This may sound strange to people who don't listen to music while they run, but I was so let down and my perfectly orchestrated playist was for not.

In the end, I didn't hit a PR, but I did beat last years time. I know I should be thankful to have the ability to run 13.1 miles, but I have the nagging feeling that I could have done better. I hate the feeling of leaving "something" on the table and feeling like I didn't give all that have, but I guess that is who I am. Always, always striving for more.