So I wanted to make sure I took advantage of all that the race weekend had to offer, so I headed into SF on Saturday, the day before the race, to check out the "Expotique." I had already picked up my packet at the Nike Stanford store the previous weekend, so the purpose of the Expotique visit was all pleasure, no business.
The Nike Women's pretty much took over Union Square in San Francisco this weekend, which was pretty cool. I couldn't even figure out where I was supposed to go when I got there, I just wandered around and saw lots of lines, mostly for packet pick up and photo ops. There was also some sort of wall to sign, which appeared along the race route today. However, the length of all the lines deterred me from waiting around for this!
I did check out the gear that was being sold at Macy's, which was pretty awesome. They were doing free manicures, in the Team in Training lounge, in the teal blue color of the race, with little golden gate bridge and 13.1 logos... I waited around for a half hour for these manicures and the line barely moved, so I gave up on that too. Luckily, I had some awesome orange nail polish that matched my orange outfit for the race, so I painted the nails myself on Saturday evening.
On Sunday morning, I got up at an ungodly hour to get ready for the 6:30 start time of the race. I wore a new Nike top and sports bra in honor of the race (of course, I had tested the bra and top on a long run before the race!) and blue capris - I was definitely brightly colored this weekend!
(Yes, that time on my watch is correct!)
Pre-race photos and selfies!
I got to the corrals super early, after A was nice enough to drive me (and then immediately drive back to where we were staying, and go to bed!). The "corrals" were basically 2 city blocks to accommodate all the people, and there were huge balloons marking where each expected finish time group should go. I had put on my registration that I'd run between 10-10:59/mile pace, so I was placed in that corral... now, I estimate I might be able to go slightly faster, but oh well! They gave us these little bracelets so we could enter the correct corral... but they didn't seem to be checking very closely.
My usual pre-race checklist is: Port-o-potty, gear check (after sunscreening), warm-up. I hit the bathroom a few times (just to be sure!) a few times, then did the gear check, which was well-organized into numbered buses. They placed stickers containing exactly where our gear bags were placed on our bibs for easy post-race retrieval - seemed like a great system! I warmed up by running back and forth a bit, but by 6:00-6:15, people were already heading towards the front of the corrals, so I wanted to make sure I got a good spot and headed that way.
Some Nike trainers lead a warm-up (over the loudspeakers) and the crowd around me started getting excited. It was fun to see the group of so many women starting to gather! There were ladies of all ages there, as well as some guys, which was pretty cool! There were ladies in tutus (a lot of tutus!), sparkles, and fun outfits, and several with full faces of makeup. To that end, I wonder if these made up girls consider that they will soon be running 13 miles, but hey, to each her own!
We stood around in the corrals for quite a bit waiting. There were 3 or 4 waves before I went, but they spread out the start times by 5 minutes or so, so we didn't start until around 6:55 or 7. I tried to jump around a bit to keep my legs warm, but by the time I crossed the start, I didn't feel super fast. Also, due to the number of women (and men!) running, it was a bit slow-going to start, so I decided to pace myself to warm up, and not push it too fast right away.
The start weaved through Downtown, and some less nice areas of town, although they were already full of a lot of spectators for the race. There was only one random homeless person crossing the street sighting!
The race went through the city streets, up and down some smaller hills, until we got to Golden Gate Park. The weather was rather foggy and misty all morning, and even as the day got lighter, the fog remained... but I have to say, I much preferred this to the sunny, hot weather of the previous race! Although the trees in GGP dripped on us a little, it was a pretty, scenic race weaving around the nice parts of the park. The hills were gradual and rolling, which was really nice. We completed about miles 4-8 in there. My favorite part of being in the park was seeing a drum group perform along the course. I started clapping along, and others danced along as well! The "Free Hugs" guy (I feel like there's one or more at every big race - some guy wearing a "Free Hugs" shirt) also appeared in the park, although I didn't partake.
There were plenty of water stations along the course - I think 6? They had water and Nuun, which I have been using in my training, so that was nice that I could get in my electrolytes as I went!
As we exited the park, we went up a bit of a steeper hill in the Sunset, then down the same hill. As we continued downhill into the Seacliff area, I knew that the giant hill was coming. In fact, they mentioned the big hill at mile 10 a bunch during our warm-up pre-race speeches over the intercom, and people had signs stating that we were almost at the hill, and more. I find I often work myself up over these hills, as mentally, I get psyched out a bit. Although I didn't really plan how I'd attack the hill during my training, I made a decision as I went up. Since it was foggy, when I thought I was close to the end of the hill, I climbed a little more only to realize I had MUCH further to go! It was intense. So, I decided I was going to try and walk a little. I walked for about a minute or a minute and a half up the hill, feeling solidarity with all the other ladies walking and (slowly) jogging up around me! When I started to run again, I felt like I had it in me to power up over the top of the hill, rather than slogging up as I would have been if I had jogged all the way. Since I got this new jolt of energy, I started getting excited and high-fiving some cheerleaders and November Project members who were lining the course at the top of the hill... then at the top, I was relieved to see the giant sign saying "You Made It!"
The last few miles of the course felt great, first a big downhill after the giant uphill, then a couple miles of flat until the final stretch. My legs felt like they still had something left, amazingly, as I ran towards the finish. When I saw my time at Mile 12, I knew I could still make it close to the PR time I had set previously at the Rock n Roll Half... so I booked it! My last mile was pretty fast, and I finished with a PR!
Time: 2:10:56
Pace: 10:00/mile
I love comparing my old times with personal records. When I started to run last April and did a 4 mile race, I did so at a 10:42/mile pace. Now, I'm doing half marathons at a 10:00/mile pace!
At the end of the race, I was under the assumption, I guess, that there would be firefighters handing out Tiffany's necklaces. This was true, except that it was teenage volunteers, not firefighters.
SADFACE.
But, if you wanted to wait in a long ass line (we will be getting to more long ass lines shortly), you could enter the "Firefighter Photo Opportunities" tent... no thanks. A jokingly suggested that he would dress up as a firefighter and give me the necklace at some point. Little does he know that it's actually going to happen! Muahaha.
But - the necklace! Speaking of the necklace! It is so pretty and I love it. I hardly ever wear silver jewelry, but this one I wore twice this week. As much as I love my medal display in my room, I love being able to wear a pretty necklace that signifies finishing this awesome race. Besides handing us the necklaces upon finishing, we were also given reuseable Whole Foods bags with a banana and other free food samples, a water bottle, and chocolate milk. Yum!
Because this race was gigantic and insane, A had trouble finding parking, and didn't make it on time to see me finish. This did give me time, however, to pick up my gear from gear check, and scope out the free stuff. Now, I'm used to sponsors having tents, sometimes with free samples, at the end of races, but the sponsor tents at the Nike Women's were insane.
I waited in the shortest line while still waiting for A, which was the Morningstar Farms tent. When I got to the front of the line, I saw that there was a vegetarian cooking demo inside, and I was given a recipe booklet, towel, and three substantial hot food samples. Whoa!
There were also tents for Whole Foods (more elaborate food samples), Neutrogena (photo booth etc.), and Kaiser/massage tent, but the lines were SO long, and I hadn't planned on staying all day waiting around in lines! We left, I showered, and I got a giant burrito at one of my favorite places in Noe Valley on our way out of the city.
I guess the moral of the story of all this business is... loved the race. Awesome course. Felt great on my legs. I felt the love out there. But would I sign up again? Yes... if I had a group with me! I think the finish line festival/waiting in lines, getting all the free stuff, and taking firefighter pictures would be a lot of fun, if I had some girlfriends (or spirited guy friends?) to go with and planned appropriately to be there for a good chunk of the day!
So if you're in for next year, walking or running, coming from close or far (you can make a weekend trip to SF! Woohoo!) let me know!
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