I ran the Rock N’ Roll San Francisco Half Marathon today and half mary 5 of 13 for 2013 is done! I just realized that I’ve done 3 full marathons too – should I count those in my goal of 13 for the year?!
Yesterday I hung out with some friends who thought drinking wine and eating cheese ALL DAY would be a good idea. Okay, it is a good idea – but not a good idea before a race.
Then, we went to a big fancy dinner at Dobb’s Ferry. It was amazing. We stared with fried green apples and risotto balls and it only got better from there. Um I am traveling through life on foot and eating my way across the U.S. – this is Heaven, right?
This morning I was tired, but carb-loaded up to the max! The race started down by the Aquatic Park / Fort Mason. It was pretty easy to find and about a mile from my hotel.
The RnRSF course was great! Sure it was hilly in some spots – that’s to be expected in San Fran, but it was very pretty too.
Since I ran 11 miles yesterday and ate 11 courses at dinner I was running this race to enjoy the sights of San Fran, not for time (I would never run a hilly race for time hello). So, I stopped just before the bridge and asked someone to take my picture – I NEVER do that!
Running across the Golden Gate bridge was awesome! But, the sidewalk here is narrow and it’s hard to pass people. Since I wasn’t at my normal pace I was with people a bit slower than me and it was frustrating to have to slow down even more here.
But once we got to the other side of the bridge the view was AMAZING and I knew I already blew any chance of a decent time so I stopped again to take a picture.
My friend Dave was running near me at the time so I asked him to take a picture, but he was taking forever to figure out my camera! Or he was taking pics of me acting silly when I thought he didn’t know how to work it…
Then, we waited even more for Steve to catch up so we could take an INGClass picture. Remember my peeps David from Run Like a Clydesdale and Steve from Marathon Train?
Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. 
I finished in about 2:16 feeling okay.
After the race I refueled with Chocolate Milk…
Refuel Chocolate Milk is at all Rock N Roll races so you can get some if you run one too! 
Speaking of chocolate milk…
Yesterday when I hit up the expo I stopped by the booth to say hello to the Refuel team and randomly spotted myself on the sign!!! It was embarrassing and awesome at the same time. They didn’t tell me I was on it and I saw that same pic on the flyer in the swag bag! Ha! I’m such a happy dork 
Question: What was the best thing you ate this weekend?
Fried.Green.Apples.
Hi Monica,
My friend told me the san francisco half marathon would be one of the best. Would you still recommend this marathon after one year or can you think of a better one?
Thank you for your answer.
Love Jerald
So random… TWO of the bloggers I follow were at the same race this weekend! REALLY fun to read both race recaps in one day! I’m SO loving reading about the RnRSF – will have to consider heading out there for that one some day!
Can’t help but mention, I registered yesterday for my FIRST half-marathon, and will be traveling out of state to run it with my family and friends in my home town! I’m ridiculously excited about it!! Will be taking inspiration from all the rest of your 13 in 2013. Thanks, RER!!
Fun! Who is the other blogger?
Good luck on your half!!!
it was Diary of an Aspiring Loser
http://www.diaryofanaspiringloser.blogspot.com
Hi running friend! Wanna do me an amazing favor and vote for me to join Team Refuel too? 😀 http://gotchocolatemilk.com/team-refuel/melissa-kolbeck
Done 🙂
Congrats! The poster is super cool!! You look absolutely amazing!! Can’t wait to read what you’ve been doing! I’m stuck in a rut and could use some pointers. 🙂
I love taking pictures along the course on races that I just want to run and enjoy! I had white cake with white icing on Saturday night. Yum!
I didn’t eat anything exciting this weekend! I need to get out and enjoy food a bit more. I did do a 20 mile run yesterday, but that was all the excitement I had.:) Great job on your race.
I ran my first half marathon this weekend, and a lot of my inspiration comes from your blog, so thank you! I did the 2nd annual San Luis Obispo Half Marathon. I live in San Luis Obispo, CA, so it was awesome to be able to practice for the run and all the hills that were in this one. It was a lot of fun. I’m hoping to do more and maybe even do a Rock N Roll one some time.
Thanks for all the inspiration!
And the best thing I ate all weekend was…the spaghetti & meatballs I carb-loaded on Friday night. A friend of mine said carb-loading is best done two nights before a race rather than one. I followed her advice.
Congratulations on your race!!!
Thank you! And I forgot to mention that my time was 2:26, so your time of 2:16 seems amazing to me 😀
You look in such great shape! Your arms are awesome. Best thing I ate this weekend = a rice krispie treat the size of half a brick.
Chocolate milk is my absolute favorite. You are killing these runs! I love that you stopped for pics too. Glad you’re having fun with it 🙂
That is so cool about your picture on the poster and flyer. You’re a superstar! You are really living the dream, eh? Way to go!
Holy crap, girl – you look tiny! Congrats on all your running and weight loss success. You look great! What’s your secret?
I’m severely depressed.
Kidding.
I don’t know, I really haven’t lost that much weight. I think my secret is my new camera phone makes me look better… I should buy stock in them.
Word. The iPhone works some mysterious angles. At least for me. Nevertheless you do look great, old friend.
So great seeing you out there yesterday. I am the one who “tried” to say hi to you while running down the trail on the far side of the bridge but didn’t have a voice! Due to that and the crowded bridge I also gave up on PR’ing and just took in the scenery. Such an awesome course…best RNR I’ve done.
Hello! Thanks for saying hi 🙂 Yeah, between the bridge and the hills (which I thought were going to be worse) I was like ‘forget it, let’s just have fun’ and I did!
Sounds like a really fun race! I also get really frustrated when there are too many people or obstacles that make me slow down when I feel like I’m moving at a good pace. Fried apples sound really good! I have to admit that the best thing I ate this weekend was a recipe I found on Pinterest for eggless, edible cookie dough that I wanted to make- it was very unhealthy but very delicious.
Good job! I’ve done one RnR half and it was so fun! That’s so great that you’re on the chocolate milk ad!
Lookin good chicka. Glad you had fun at this half mary!
Great photos… the one with you pointing at you on the sign is too cute. Good for you! Keep up your healthy ways, but don’t over-run yourself!
Best thing I ate was quinoa with plain almond milk & blueberries + a pinch of stevia 🙂
hihi you are right Rose, that is a great picture!
And the best thing I ate/drink this weekend where 2 nice home made smoothies 🙂
Anyway you look great girl!
Sounds like a super fun race! Still a good race even with all of your picture taking, slow bridge pacing, friend waiting!!!
Now I’m going to try and find a recipe for Risotto balls – that sounds good!!! And, what do you fry apples in – breading??
The best thing I ate this weekend was a buffalo burger!
Nice job just enjoying the race. If I had the pennies to throw around and friends to run with I think I would do that too, just to enjoy them a little more! Best thing I ate… pan fried goat cheese salad. For your viewing pleasure: http://wp.me/p2aqae-16z
Don’t know what I am more jealous of, your trip to San Fran or your amazing iron stomach! I have to be SO careful about what I eat before or after a race, and years of training have not changed that one bit. I have total risotto ball envy. 🙂
That food looks so YUMMY!!
And congrats on a kick booty Race!!! Love all of the adorable pics too!
That looks like an awesome race, especially running to just enjoy it. Very cool! Best thing I ate this weekend was probably the mac ‘n’ cheese we threw on top of a frozen pizza last night. We keep it classy.
We have fried apples here in missouri at cracker barrel. The don’t look near as amazing as those though!
This weekend I ran my first offical half marathon and we celebrated with St. Louis style Imos Pizza!
Sounds like such a fun weekend. Seriously though…..I could only hope I may have it in me to finish my first half in 2:30…..and here you take a casual, slow half and still finish in a crazy time! You are inspiring. I aoso hope I love halfs so much that I will beable to do them for fun and not care about time!
Come to boston and whip me into half-shape!!!!!
What a beautiful run! My best eat was grilled rib eye steak.
Really you have enjoyed every bit of the day. I find out varieties of salads to be more interesting for the weekend as it can be manage with different vegetables.
How about 13 HM and 13 M instead? 🙂 Doable but very tough.
Anyway, had a pretty nice time chowing down cashew nuts while watching NCIS last night; didn’t go out this weekend or maybe I’m saving myself for this coming weekend.
That is crazy, but would be awesome. I love cashews.
Nice exercise, nice foods, nice treats 🙂 Nice post!
I can’t imagine my self running 21km+ woah! You’re cool 🙂
I ate squash patties cooked by my dearest friend. It is very rare that I experience to eat what she cooks and I am happy that I experienced it once more.
You are too cute! That would be awesome to see yourself on a poster. I ran a half on Saturday and surprisingly PR’d by 1 minute even though it was hilly and windy. And I finished first in my age group…one of the advantages of being an older runner in a small race. Even though I’m slow I was proud of it.
That looks like a gorgeous race! Nice work girl.
Best thing I ate this weekend? This is so random but a huge veggie omelet. With toast. It was amazing.
Looks like perfect running conditions! I ran the Hollywood Half on Saturday. Original plan about 4 weeks ago was to PR at under 2 hours. Then I had lots of knee pain that required cortisone shots, and a family funeral to attend 5 days before the race. Given all that I ran a respectable 2:10. For the fast runners that time would be horrible, but for me, I was okay with it. I was not prepared for the monstrous hill in the middle of the race. It trashed out my calves, which continued to cramp for the remainder of the race. To say I was not prepared for a hill that steep and long is an understatement. Uphill was just over a mile, and then we came down, then turned the corner and went up another, much smaller, hill.
Note to self….train more hills.
The medal was really cool though! It was in the shape of a star on the Hollywood walk of fame! Well worth the pain and the reminder that I need to train more hills. Live and learn!
Very cool run and advertisement! I love SF and would love to run it one day.
Where is the cardigan your wearing in the dinner picture from? So cute!
Target 🙂
Looks like a great race to run! That’s cool that your picture was on the poster.
you are tots famous! Congratulations and I would count a full as 2 😉
I ran my first 1/2 marathon yesterday (!!!) but there was no chocolate milk after. Though the only way I could refuel with chocolate milk would be with chocolate ALMOND milk – do they ever have that? If not, I’ll rep them when they offer that. 😉
No almond choco milk 🙁
Best eats this weekend was a tempeh salad sandwich from a local cafe here in St. Louis. And before that, I went on a coffee crawl and sampled a ton of coffees 😀 It was too. much. caffeine.
Congrats on your run! I think I’ll do the Rock n Roll race when it comes to DC next year!
Best thing I ate all weekend, probably spicy sushi rolls. But a veggie filled, avocado salad came in a close second.
Congrats, Monica! And what a B.E.A.UTIFUL course to run! This its one of my dram races, and now I’ve been reminded why! Glad you had a great time, and thanks for the recap 🙂
You look great!
Congrats Monica!! Ok, I have to ask.. WHEN are we going to get a weight
Loss post? You look so fantastic, and I need some motivation and guidance! Please! Whatever you are doing, it’s working! 🙂
Wow! Looks like such a fun race!
My mom made some kale and apple salad that was pretty bomb (yes, my mommy still whips up some dishes for me that she knows I’ll love).
Congrats on another one Monica!
Wow, the view. I wish I could do a run/race like that one day!
What a course! San Fran is one of my favorite places, ever. That half is going on my race bucket list.
I also ran a half today. Sadly, there was no chocolate milk. Bummer.
I know you hear this all the time but you really do look AWESOME! You deserve every compliment you get. Also, is that chocolate milk in a bag?
Yes! Chocolate milk in the bag 🙂
I think I am about to make some fried green apples right now. Thanks for the idea! I am never short on green apples, that is for sure…congrats on another half! I would love to run on the west coast!
you look so skinny girl way to go!! are you going to be doing a post about your weight loss any time soon??
SO many awesome things in this post. 1 – THIRTEEN halvsis this year? You’re cray-cray woman! 2 – Stopping to take photos in a race with beautiful scenery – LOVE! 3 – YOU’RE FEATURED ON A HUGE SIGN – FREAKIN’ AWESOME! 4 – Drinking wine and eating cheese all day before a race 😉 Great job with a successful weekend! The best thing I ate was chocolate ice cream at a blogger get-together in Minneapolis, amazing!
Awesome job! I love that your on the poster – how fun!
Ahh this just made me so excited for my first RnR race this summer! I’m doing the Seattle marathon – it will be my first marathon and my first time in Seattle. You are so inspiring!
The big dish of mac and cheese I made following my long run on sat. Way to go representin’ Refuel.
That’s awesome that you’re on the poster! You’re like a celebrity! 🙂 I wouldn’t run San Fran for time either- yikes
Gorgeous race! I cannot wait to be there in June!!
Best thing I ate today – my BIRTHDAY, WHEEEE – was a ‘Cherry Blossom’ cupcake at Baked + Wired in Georgetown. It had big chunks of marschino cherries inside!!
Fun! My long (LOOOONG) term goal is to be able to one day run a Half. It’ll happen! Haha, I feel like you should make a “Will Run for Chocolate Milk” shirt!
I’ve had nothing yummy this weekend–boo! But I did just drink a pretty freakin awesome half margarita/half melon frozen concoction. That counts for something!