Mission Accomplished!

 Baby Girl likes the medal!

I successfully completed my first post-baby marathon, yay! I even scored a PR by over 3 minutes with my finish time of 3:45:47.

Yesterday's San Francisco Marathon was a blast! Yes, the course is very hilly, but it's San Francisco! Here are the highlights:

• Expo: way too crowded. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
• Start: It was early (I was in wave three, so, I started at 5:42 am). However, we stayed at a hotel near Union Square and getting to the start was very easy. There were plenty of porta-potties and an efficient bag drop system.
• Early miles: For once, I didn't start too fast. I had to keep reigning myself in, but averaged my planned 8:30 pace for these miles.
• The bridge: Running on the Golden Gate Bridge was awesome! I allowed my pace to get a little too fast at times, but it was too fun. We were lucky and the bridge wasn't fogged over. So, there were great views!
• The Avenues: The uphill after the bridge is followed by a huge downhill. I definitely took the hill a little to fast and paid for it on the rollers of the Avenues.
• The Park: It was great to feed off the energy from the 1st half finish. I was surprised how much the long, 'easy' hills in the park sapped my energy. Still, it was nice to be running in the green surroundings!
• Haight St: This district is interesting just to walk through, so, it was good for some entertainment in these later miles. At one point, the officials re-routed traffic right behind me (the course alternates on some parallel roads). For about a mile, there was no one behind me. It felt weird... and a little like I was losing the race!
• Final Miles: I do this every time; I lose the motivation to 'push' myself the last three miles or so. I settled into a slower, more comfortable pace and just cruised. Once I knew I was going to PR but not hit my 'A' goal of 3:40, I just kind of shrugged and rolled on in =)
• The Finish: The best part of any race is the finish line. This one was even better because my husband and baby were there waiting for me! Somehow, my husband managed to be at the finish line on time and with a fed, awake, happy baby. That is an accomplishment to rival any marathon!

It's hard to believe that I'm at the end of the journey this blog was intended to get me through. I initially started this blog with the hope that it would help motivate me to continue running through my pregnancy and then get in shape afterwards and complete a marathon. Fortunately, it has done just that!

I'm going to step away from the blog a bit. I may still post a race report now and then. Perhaps I'll even be back to blog through a future pregnancy =)