Marathon Recap (Finally!)

I am now the proud owner of a Nike Women's Marathon Tiffany's necklace... one that was hand delivered by a SF Fireman in a tuxedo! Overall, the race was pretty good. My finishing time wasn't as fast as I had trained for, but I finished and I have recovered really well! The couse was crowded at the beginning and I had a little trouble with my knee, but it loosened up a few miles in. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was great during the run. 55-60 degrees and overcast, great conditions for marathon running. There were a few moments I remember specifically... the orange slice station where Christina squirted herself in the eye with the juice... Meeting up with coach Rick at mile 7, 14 and 25 and the time he ran with us...the Ghiradhelli Chocolate at mile 21 (which noone told me how hard that would be on my digestive system)...trying to get an eyelash out of my eye at mile 20...Singing "Jesse's Girl" and "We are the Champions" with Michelle at the top of our lungs... and sprinting through the finish line with the girl from Conneticuit that I met on the course. After the race, we headed back to our hotel room for an ice bath, then went out for a cheeseburger and a beer (which actually ended up as 1/2 a french dip sandwich and a glass of water... boo.)

The most memorable part other than the marathon itself was the inspiration dinner. We were greeted upon entering by tons of cheering coaches dressed in funny hats/clothes, etc. I was overcome by emotion, and actually got a little choked up on my way in. The speakers at the dinner were Joan Benoist Samuelson, John "The Penguin" Bingham and a race participant/lymphoma survivor. I also want to congratulate Mindy, one of my fellow team in training members. The Nike Women's Marathon was her first marathon, and she qualified for Boston! Awesome!

I had a really great time with Team in Training. I want to send a huge thank you to Coach Rick, my staff contact Gail, my mentor Lisa, and everyone who donated to help me reach my fundraising goal. I am so proud to have been able to participate in this organization and I would love to do another event with them sometime in the future! By the way, the group that participated in Nike (both the full and half marathon) this year raised just over $180, 000 together!

Marathon Weekend Day 2

Today was our sightseeing day.

We started off the day with an early morning run through downtown San Francisco.

Back to the hotel to decorate our race shirts (and our nails) in true Team in Training Style

Then off to the best farmer's market I have ever been to! We had organic apple cider, homemade tamales, and a mexican egg dish (I can't remember it's name!) and had some lovely entertainment while we ate.

We headed down for the Alcatraz tour, only to find it sold out for the day. Here is as close as I got to the prison...

Playing in the water in the San Francisco Bay.

Then, off to Ghirardelli Square. This ice cream sundae was worth every calorie!

The day was full of lots of good food, beautiful scenery, and hiking up HUGE hills to get back to the hotel. Next up... Marathon Day Review!

Marathon Weekend Recap-Day 1

Travel Day:

We arrived at the airport at 8am (ok, it was 8:15, you all know that I can't be anywhere on time!) We took some pics...

Christina & I at the airport

Had some Starbucks and got onto the plane. 4 hours later... Hello San Francisco!

Cody and I on the shuttle to the Hilton!

We visited the Nike Expo, where we picked up our race packets, tried out the new Nike LunarGlide shoes and made a smoothie by biking on a spin bike! Really cool!

Making Smoothies on the spin bikes

Then we headed down to Pier 39 for some sightseeing and dinner. We ate at North Beach Pizza, where they had all you can eat pizza & pasta. (and REALLY good clam chowder)

Cody was in 7th heaven!

Cody and I at North Beach Pizza

Last Group Training Run

I met the team at Forest Park Saturday morning, not sure how my knee was going to hold up. I got an IT Band brace from Fleet Feet that I hoped would help. About half a mile in, I thought I was going to have to turn around, but I decided to stick it out. Total milage = 6 mile loop. I stretched and iced and foam rolled when I got home, but am feeling pretty sore today. I am planning on taking it really easy for the rest of the week.

One more week!

Ok, I edited that last post because I figured nobody really cared what bands are going to be at each mile along my marathon course. Point is, there is going to be a different band/cheerleading group/entertainment at each mile. Along with water and gatorade, it looks like we will be offered fruit, LUNA bars and the long awaited Ghirardelli Chocolate Station is at mile 21!

I will have to say, this is going to be one cool marathon course.

Wishful Thinking

How come... when I have to run, I don't always want to... but when I can't, it is all I keep thinking about?! My knee is still pretty sore. I have been stretching every day and using my foam roller whenever I can. I am going to try some yoga on thursday afternoon. My final group run is on Saturday. It is supposed to be 10 miles, but I would be really happy to have a pain free 4 miler.

Here it is!

The Nikon Coolpix s630.

I finally brought it home today after visiting it online for the last 2 weeks.

I can't wait to learn how to use it!

It's raining, It's pouring...

Thursday morning was a great day to sleep in. A cold, rainy, gloomy day. So, I did what any rational person would do... I laced up my shoes and headed out for a run. Needless to say, mother nature didn't think that I really needed to get in that last 2o miler. After 12.5 soaking wet, freezing cold miles, we decided to call it quits. Having some pain in my right knee, but don't know what caused it. Still hurting quite a bit today, nothing like a little R.I.C.E. for the weekend!