THIS IS ME: A Look into My Thoughts & Events...My Life: October 2013

Yesterday, was the annual Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. And for the fifth year in a row, I did the half marathon. This year was the 10 year anniversary so it was huge. I think last year there were about 20,000 people that ran. This year I believe around 30,000 people ran. The expo was beautiful. But, there weren't as many vendors as there normally are, which means the swag bag that we normally get was quite sparse. Very unfortunate, because in all the years past the Nike Women's Marathon expo was THEE ONE that me and my friend's always looked forward to. The clothing wasn't too exciting either. I like the clothing that represented San Francisco clearly. With a big San Francisco or the bridge, something indicative that this was the San Francisco race. There wasn't too much of that this year. So, in year past where I've had to calm myself from spending so much, this year I only bought 1 thing. Oh well, better for my pockets. But, I did splurge on the anniversary series shoes. Of course in a Tiffany blue color.

Now for my race report. I can say that I actually trained a little for this race. With so many hills, I forced myself to do at least one 8 miler before the run. Thankfully, I forced myself to run 8.64 miles around Lake Merced the week before. This totally helped! Race morning was a lot warmer than expected. Yes, it was cold, but it didn't have that brisk bite that we've grown accustom to expect. I had a thin shirt that I planned to throw away and covered myself with a garbage bag, that I got rid of much earlier than expected. I was actually scared that it would warm up too quickly and that I wouldn't have such a great run. I don't really like running in the heat. But, the weather was perfect all the way through. It wasn't too hot or too cold. Perfect running weather for me. And I was just wearing my Running Divas SF tank. I started the race with my Running Diva SF crew. And throughout the race, like always we separated. I started the race a little quickly and settled in around mile 3. I was at a really good pace. Mile 6 the dreaded hill, the worst hill in all the race. I felt good. Like always, I kept my head down and tried to keep pace on the hill. It's so hard to do so when the walkers are in your way. Note to all newbies, "WALKERS ON THE RIGHT!" (I'm going to make a video on running etiquiette) Anyway, I was able to take the hill and refilled my water bottle after the hill. I kept treking through and knew mile 8 was coming. My favorite mile, which happens to be the Kaiser mile. They give out baby wipes to wipe your face and oranges at this marker. Oranges are sooooooo refreshing. And wiping off the salt on your face feels pretty damn good too. Mile 9 - all down hill from here baby. At mile 10, as you are coming down you see the beach and on a clear day you can see the finishline. There's also a timing post at mile 10, I did the math and noticed that I was at about 2 hours. I was right on time with my 12 min pace. Woo Hoo!!! So, I charged down the hill with all intention of beating my time. At mile 11, I noticed, I was a little behind pace, so I picked it up. And coming in the straight away, I picked it up even more. I officially came in at 2:37:46. I shaved 7 minutes of my time from last year! YEAY!!!

I didn't feel overly exerted. My muscles didn't seize up, no exhaustion headache. I felt good. And today, I'm not super sore. I'm thinking of heading right back in to the gym today.

The 10 year anniversary limited edition shoes