Meet the Morans: San Francisco 1/2 Marathon

Corey and I just returned from a long weekend in San Francisco, where a bunch of us met up to celebrate Sara's birthday as well as to run the San Francisco 1/2 Marathon on Sunday.

We stayed in a house on Douglass Street, which was a perfect central location for all the activities we had planned. Everyone arrived Saturday and that even we carb loaded with some great pizza and headed to bed early since the race began at 5:30 a.m. (our wave actually started just after 6 a.m.).

(On a long side note: I'd come down with a fever and really sore throat on Thursday evening, which continued Friday, along with some aches and an even higher fever. I normally would have ridden it out but knowing the trip and race were coming up, I popped into the doctor to see what might be going on. Given my symptoms, she tested for strep. The initial test for the most common type came back negative, but my pulse and blood pressure were high, so she advised me to rest, drink lots of liquids, take Tylenol and cepocal drops, and play Sunday's race by ear. She also sent a throat culture off to be tested for other kinds of strep. My fever had mostly gone away by Saturday but my throat was still killing me and I lacked energy and honestly couldn't imagine running one mile let alone 13, so I was starting to worry about missing the race, which would have really bummed me out after months of training. But, by some miracle, I woke up Sunday feeling pretty good - energy, appetite, and my throat hurt considerably less. So, I made the call to run the race, and the chance to drop out if needed.)

Luckily, running with friends and taking it super slow, especially at the beginning, was all I needed and I made it through the race and actually felt really good. It was by far my slowest 1/2 marathon time (~2:30) but honestly, with it being my first half post-kiddos, I wasn't aiming for a certain time and really just wanted to be with my crew and finish the race. Corey did AMAZING, especially for his first half, finishing in just under 2:08! He was the first in our group to finish. I was so proud of him for his strong race, and of our friends, especially the four (including Sara) who had never run a 1/2. The last few miles were especially tough for everyone, considering the continuous steep uphill/flat intervals, but being able to run in a new city and across the Golden Gate Bridge, was pretty cool. Corey and I even passed by each other on the bridge, which was a fun surprise.

After the race, we all refueled with an amazing breakfast at The Vestry, and spent the afternoon napping. And while I wasn't expecting to hear back from my doc until Monday, she had received the results of the culture on Sunday and called to tell me that I actually did have strep throat (no wonder my throat had been SO sore!). She was able to call in a prescription to a pharmacy near the house we were staying in, so that I could start taking the meds sooner rather than later.

That evening, Corey and I went to dinner with Curtis and his partner Charles, who we hadn't yet had the opportunity to meet. We met them at Poesia and it was so great to chat with the both of them and enjoy some amazing homemade pasta.

While we were all sore on Sunday afternoon and evening, our resting that afternoon and walking around that evening helped us all to feel almost completely back to normal by Monday. That day, we enjoyed some shopping and a day exploring our neighborhood and hit up a final meal together at a great nearby Thai restaurant. Our trip came to an end with a group viewing of the Bachelorette finale last night.

We loved getting away for the race and to see many of our friends, and are so appreciative to "the Grammas" who watched the boys at our house, so that our trip was possible. The Grammas reported back that the boys were on their best behavior and slept well, ate well and that they all had lots of fun.

Here are a few photos from our time away.