SF!

Last weekend, Eman and I drove up to SF for my half marathon. We left at about 6pm Friday evening, got up there after 1am (we were stuck on the 5N due to a brush fire). We stayed with one of my friends from grade school and her bf. We went to the expo to pick up my goodies (bib, chip, tech shirt, etc) Saturday morning followed by a long wait for brunch at Mama's. We were introduced to olallieberry. Very tasty food! Afterwards, we hung out at Fisherman's Wharf for a few hours before heading back home to carbo-load. Carbo-loading was very delicious! It was a nice ambiance, and our waiter was wonderful! He was super sweet to us, and he even gave us a free dessert! Very yummy.

The next morning, I woke up at 6:30am. The SF race began at 8:15. Good thing that Linda & Casey lives so close to the park! I got my gear on, packed up my ipod shuffle and jelly belly energy beans, and was ready to go. Upside - it was in the morning. Downside - it was TOO cold that morning! I must say, this was the most difficult race I've ever done. The hills strained my knees (my knees never ached from these races before), and some streets did not have decent pavement to run on. My legs were killing me. This was the first time where I went nonstop for the first 6 miles. However, by the 9th/10th mile, I wanted to cry and let it be over already. When I finally saw the finish line from a distance, I ran as fast as I could towards the goal. My knees were in extreme pain to a point where I wanted to stop running, but I knew that slowing down would feel much worse than what I was already doing. I looked as if I wanted to cry so bad from being in all that pain. Emmanuell, Linda, and Casey were all at the finish line cheering for me. Once they saw my face, they thought "oh sh!t, that's not good". I knew my finisher photo would be horrible. At the finish line, I got my SF medal, picked up snacks (including Jamba Juice), and waited in line for the Cali Dreamin' medal as I waited for my cheering squad to find me.

After the race, I was waiting for one thing - House of Prime Rib. Linda made a dinner reservation. It was a delicious protein-loading treat! It made me happy!

We left SF at 7:45am Monday morning to head back to LA. On the way, we made a pit stop at Gilroy for garlic and strawberries and then to Casa de Fruta for lunch and treats, including an olallieberry pie (which took over a wk to finish). They had one of the best cafe mochas I've ever had. We got home, rested for a couple hours before Emmanuell had to go to his softball game (I was too crippled to move).

I FINALLY got my medal! Thanks to Linda and Casey for being such great hosts! =D