10/21/2009 06:42
nike women's recap in pictures
I completed the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon last Sunday along with 3 of my friends and Shelley from EP and 20,000+ other women as well! Unfortunately there are no official times posted, but overall I totally kicked my goal's ass. The course was absolutely beautiful, the weather was perfect, and really the only thing I could complain about was getting up before the sun in order to queue up. Oh, and the crowds. The crowds also were not fun. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. I arrived in San Fran and immediately went to the race expo (after checking in at the Diva Hotel, of course). The sign above greeted us. "Run like a girl" seemed to be a central theme running through the weekend. Immediately we could tell that Union Square seemed saturated with women. Mobbed might be a more apropos word. Niketown, which was right across the street, was also totally mobbed. I was able to meet up with a few of my friends who live in the Bay Area now (one from high school, her bf, and then one of my friends from college) and enjoyed a nice Italian dinner with them.
On race day morning, before the gun went off, my race group got together and grabbed this candid shot. It's a little blurry because there was no light (as I said, it was definitely not even the crack of dawn...) and we were jumping into the air. That's me second from right :D
Anyway, I decided to line up in the timing group with the rest of my team, which was one heat behind the one I would have started in had I been without them. Because of the large number of women running, we didn't cross the start line until over 20 minutes after the gun went off! Craziness! The first four miles for me was difficult because I was dodging various walkers and slower runners, trying not to step on heels, and weaving through traffic. By the time I hit mile 6, I was thinking I could go on forever. That's when the hills started. Whew! Those hills were not a joke. Up, down, up, down, up down. I was having text messages sent to my friend's fiance's phone (he was following us through the race with a camera) and I was embarassed I might have a very positive split. Luckily, I think training at elevation (random fact: Abq is as high or higher than Denver) saved me and counteracted the hills.
However, the race was really well-supported and anything it lacked because of the sheer masses of participants was made up for by thoughtful organization and planning. There were water, gatorade, Luna Moons, Luna Bars, fruit, and even Ghiradelli chocolate(!) stops along the race course. There was a bag check pre-race. There was a gospel choir and a full on bag-pipes troupe cheering us on at specific mile markers. And of course there was the beautiful Bay Area scenery. Between all of that and my iPod, I was cruising along and the race actually ended a little too soon! Of course, meeting up with my friends again at the end was nightmarish and I didn't get to meet Shelley, which was disappointing. However.... as I crossed the finish line, this man handed me a little blue box with a white ribbon...
Except for my quads of course, which took a definite pounding going down some of those hills. My quads are still shouting expletives for putting them through the hills. However, I did it and I also beat my most recent 1/2 marathon time by over a minute per mile! (I think! If they would only post our times...) All in all it was a great experience for me and I'd do it again, making some changes of course. For example, I think I'd start perhaps even two heats ahead of where I started this time, and I'd definitely arrange for a ride after the race (back to the hotel) instead of using the "shuttle bus" service. I leave you with a final tribute to the race: the finishers "medal". I love my Tiffany's necklace! My first item from Tiffany's...
Cheers!
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