Monday Motivation: Oakland Half Marathon Edition

Yesterday, I completed the Oakland Half Marathon with my dear friend, Emily aka Shorty. I cannot stress how much motivation plays such a key part in accomplishing this goal. Even though this was my second time running a half, I was still psyching myself out a couple days before the big race. On and off throughout the days before I would question myself, "Did I train enough? Am I ready? Can I do it?"

Team Hella Fast: Emily Esguerra & Xiomara Rosa-Tedla

The start.

Parents made us each a sign :)

Our reaction every time we saw my family cheering our names. What a boost!

So glad we ran the half!

 

Lake Merritt. When we knew the end was near.

A 7-year old beat us! Now that's motivating!

We did it!

About to cross the finish line!

Resting/posing at Snow Park.

The 'bag man' of the day. "Can you hold this please? And this too? Thanks!"

Beers were one of our biggest motivators during the last 2 miles!

Having a great running partner was one of the key reasons why we both overcame the aches and pains and finished the race with no breaks in-between. Another motivating factor was my family driving all the way down from Sacramento, meeting up with my boyfriend, making signs, and cheering us on all throughout the race. We didn't know where they would be, but they surprised us on four different occasions and with each wave of encouragement, bursts of energy started bubbling and pushed us on. Strangers even filled us with loads of energy, endless cheering, cowbell-banging, bands playing, DJs posted up everywhere, flaming art structures, and lines of high-fives. We saw the funniest signs that put big ass smiles on our faces. They read, "Stop reading, keep running!" "Why do all the cute ones run away?" "Move yo ass!" "Just finish (that's what she said)!" I mean, how could you NOT laugh?!

All the energy I received from my family and friendly strangers made me want to motivate my fellow runners. I randomly cheered on a woman who had abruptly stopped running towards the last 1.5 miles in the race. I clapped on by and cheered, "C'mon girl! You can do it! We're so close. We can see it!" After we crossed the finish line, she tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I just wanted to thank you for motivating me towards the end. You really helped me to keep running! Your belief in me helped me believe in myself." OMG my heart melted.

This whole event made me realize how real and important the transfer of positive energy is. The encouragement from everyone and everything gave us so much energy to stay happy, keep going, and finish the race strong. For that, I am so grateful. And another plus, my goal was to finish the race in 2 hours and 15 minutes...we did it in 2hrs and 10 minutes. How sweet is that?

Happy Monday.


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