As someone who's been consistently running since 2012, sometimes I get so caught up in getting a small finish time, I forget the very reason why I run which is to celebrate being able to move my body regardless of what size it is. Last year while out at dinner with my librarian friends, my friend Nichole said that she'd like to run a race with me. I'll admit, I initially didn't think she'd follow through with it considering I've had friends before who've said the same thing the eventually flake out on me.
A few weeks later, I contacted her on Facebook to with a link to a race we could do together, the Kaiser Permanente San Franciso Half Marathon & 5K on February 4, 2018 in Golden Gate Park. Nichole shared with me that she had not gone running in 10 years due to health issues and being a busy single mom to three boys (two with special needs.) After we decided to do the 5K, she started training for the race and despite her being in a car accident and totaling her car, she still stuck with her training and we completed the 5K in 1:05:23. I am proud that she decided to do the event and listened to her body in reference to taking stretch breaks and keeping a brisk pace. By helping her complete this goal, this taught me that I don't have to achieve a PR with every race I do, sometimes I need to just stop and enjoy the race course and having a conversation with a friend. Below are some photos from race day.
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| Pre-race selfie |
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| Me & Nichole pre-race |
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| And we're off! |
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| Nichole at mile 1 |
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| Nichole at mile 2 |
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| Nichole & me rocking our medals post-race |
After the race, I was really hungry so we decided to drive over to Berkeley for sandwiches from Ike's Love & Sandwiches followed by a vegan cinnamon roll from Cinnaholic. The sandwiches were delicious and the cinnamon roll was the perfect treat after the race.
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| Chester Cheetah sandwich (aka vegan grilled cheese) |
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| Chocolate topped cinnamon roll |
