In the words of Nike, “Hills were crushed. Miles were logged. Bragging rights were earned.”

Official time: 4:07:46.

Just shy of my sub-four reach goal, but I PR’d by 20 minutes, so I can’t complain.

Long story short? I ran the whole way (just walked briefly through water stops to drink), charged up the hills and felt great until around mile 20 when I was passed by the 9:09/mile pace group. That was my mental and physical breaking point; cardiovascularly, I was still going strong, by my legs got stiff and started to really seize up. It was a fight to the finish, but I ran my own race, left it all out there on the course and finished with nothing left in the tank, so I’m happy – and thankful.

Of course, as soon as I finished, I told Hubby I never want to do it again. He said give it two weeks ’til I’m planning my next race. He knows me too well. 

Stay tuned for the full recap here this Wednesday where I’ll share all the specifics – i.e. the good, bad and (borderline) ugly – of race day!

But in the meantime, here are a few highlights in photos…

Before the race in the starting corral:

During the race, around mile 19:

After the race with the official finisher’s shirt:

Oh, and best race sign of the day? Well, although some of the naughtier ones always make me laugh (“Is that a gel in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”) and others are super motivational (“Blisters are Braille for awesome”), those of us who are locals appreciated the Bay Area Rapid Transit strike humor: “You guys are all running better than BART right now!”

Source: Lululemon