26.2 miles to a Tiffany Necklace

I completed the Nike Women's marathon on 10/23 up in San Francisco. It was my third 26.2 mile race! Only this time, the finisher's medal was actually a cute Tiffany's necklace packaged in the famous blue box, served to me by a tall, dark, handsome stranger in a tuxedo when I crossed the finish line. Too bad I wasn't looking my best, all red-faced, sweaty and limpy. Oh well. The race course was beautiful - started in Union Square to Embarcadero, through the Marina and Golden Gate Park to the Great Highway along Ocean Beach and around Lake Merced. This was a rather "posh" race - there was an oxygen bar, chocolate mile, pedi-care station and cell phone zone where a guy would dial whomever you wanted and actually run next to you until you were done talking. Not your typical hardcore marathon. I ran the whole way with my friend Amie. Unfortunatley, our training plan was lacking due to busy work and travel schedules. We didn't do many hill workouts and there were a few doozies along the way. We ran up them all...oww. Needless to say, we were huring pretty badly during the last 5 mile stretch. It hurt to stop. It hurt to walk. It hurt to run. Let's just say I was a little sore afterward..ok, a lot sore. It didn't help that I had to get on a flight to Boston after the race, I wouldn't recommend traveling after running a marathon unless you have access to vicoden or some other form of prescription painkillers. It was a blast though, I'll definitely do it again next year. I hear there's a different Tiffany necklace each year. By the way, I saw on eBay that this year's necklace auctioned off for over $300. Hmm, maybe I should sell mine. Nah, I worked too hard and endured way too much pain during those last 5 grueling miles at the end to give it up for money.