Nike Women's Half

Let's skip to the finish - the results - for the Nike half marathon I ran 1:37:27 (with my first few miles at 6:30) and placed:
14th in my age group - out of 1840
33 female overall - out of 10939
54 overall - out of 11533

Happy happy morning! The Nike Women's Half (and full) was yesterday and it was an incredible race. (Yes, this is the same puffy pink sweatshirt race crew I ranted about months ago - I'm proud to admit I can change my opinion). My friend Jamie wasn't feeling ready to run so she gave me her bib (which was INCREDIBLY nice considering how many people try to get in and can't). Saturday we made our way to the expo and battled the crowds of women getting mani pedis to get the number. The expo itself was a pretty cool event (and I still think it was Oprah worthy) - there were Jamba Juice stands giving free smoothies, manicure stations, makeup giveaways, fitness evaluations, and more. All this contributed to the overflow Union Square faces on weekends but since I was partaking it was pretty fun.

Saturday night we went with Matt's family and friends to North Beach for a carbo load Italian dinner - the place was packed with other runners talking about how to overcome the "wall" and mindgames one can face while running. After dinner I was off to bed early to be sure I wouldn't miss the 5:30am alarm.

When my alarm rang I wasn't sure I wanted to do the race anymore - bed was so comfortable. But I got up and did the runner morning ritual - shave, brush, clothes, power bar, coffee, nerves, and Matt drove me over to Union Square. It was an incredible site with over 20,000 runners lining up. I made it up fo the 6:30-8:59 group and started stretching and getting more nervous. Before the race there were a few speakers - a SF politician, an amputee (who was amazing - she just did the Kona Iron Man), and a Leukemia survivor. The seas of purple around me cheered for all the speakers but the loudest roar was for the survivor - many of the purple clad were running for family or friends and it was truly heartwarming.

The course was amazing - down to Fisherman's Warf, over to Chriss Field, up to Presidio and around, down to the park, end at the breakers in front of Beach Challet. At the finish line firefighters in tux's handed out Tiffany's necklaces and there was more schwag to be had.

All in all, an awesome race! I hope to get in again next year.