2012 Nike Women's Half Marathon Recap

The Race
To run the Nike Women's Marathon you either need to win the lottery or join a charity group. I didn't do either. I got lucky! On January 8th, I ran the Nike+ Virtual Half Marathon with Team Victorius. A few week later, Nike made this announcement:

"Thousands of women came together as one this past weekend for the Nike+ Women's Half Marathon. Over 75 teams were formed, and one came out ... VICTORIUS. Over 1000 women joined this team, and for that they'll be rewarded! Welcome to NWM SF 2012. That's right. NO lottery"

No lottery! Yahoooo! Fast forward 9 months.

Saturday, October 13th 

We left San Diego at 6:20am and arrived in San Francisco at 8:00am. From the airport, we took the BART train which left us in Powell Street, a few blocks from our hotel. We were also very close to Union Square where the Expotique was held. We left our luggage at the hotel and ran to the expo to pick up our race packets.

My first impression of the Expotique was "wow, it's small". My second impression was "wow, this is totally different".  They had very few vendors but very unique ones including Safeway, Neutrogena, Yurbuds, Paul Mitchell, Luna and Zico. They had a Nike Women's Bra Bar and a Cold Weather Boutique. They offered 15-min free hair styling sessions too. I was surprised to see so many women were waiting in line to get their hair done, especially the day before a BIG race. From a marketing perspective, I understand the concept. Nike wants all women to feel pampered from head to toe. From a running perspective, I am not sure.

Nike Women's Marathon's Beautique

We walked around looking for the official 2012 NWM merchandise, but we couldn't find any. Later on, we realized that this was available across the street at Niketown.

The Niketown wall shows the name of every participating in the race

25,000 runners. We found our names!

Niketown was a big party. They turned the entire store into a nightclub, DJs included.

Tiffany colored Nike shoes, available exclusively at Niketown

After the expo, we headed to my favorite chuch vegan restaurant in the city, Gracias Madre, located on Mission Street.

From there, we took a taxi cab to Ghirardelli's square to continue the pre-race carb-loading at San Francisco's finest ice cream & chocolaterie. Yum!

Sunday, October 14th - Race Day

We woke up at 5:15am and met some friends from the Embrace The Crazy running group in the hotel lobby. We had a small breakfast ( bananas with almond butter and coconut water). We took a couple of group pictures and walked to Union Square, just a few blocks away. We had over an hour to kill before race started. No problem. Time to take more pictures and videos.

From San Francisco with Love.

Here I am practicing Japanese while May is working on her Spanish :)



We headed to our corral around 6:30am. We were a large crowd. 25,000 runners, most of them women.

This is what we call in Spanish "marcha" or "party time".




At 7:00am the gun went off. We were in the second corral, it took us just a minute or less to cross the starting line. It was very crowded and I couldn't pace myself too well. The first mile was a nice downhill sprint. As we were passing the Embarcadero, running along the Piers, I kept thinking that just 24 hours before we walked the same route on reverse (from Ghirardelli's Square to Union Square) but it took us 2 hours. Soon we arrived at the Fisherman's Warf and the first two hills of the course around Ghirardeli's Square.

My friend May and I were running side by side but we lost each other around mile 3.  Then I saw this guy holding a funny poster.  Just in case you haven't heard, the Republican Vice Presidential Nominee, Paul Ryan, claimed in a radio interview to have run a sub-3 marathon when his finishing time was actually 04:01:25. Hmmm, I don't know of any marathon runner that don't know their PR or at least an approximation. Want to know what's your real PR according to PR?  Check this out.

Ok, back to the subject. There were hills at mile 6, 7... I stopped counting after mile 8. My goal this time around was to finish the race without walking the hills. I didn't care about timing. After all, I had ran a full marathon the weekend before. This was just another training run to my road to Valencia Marathon.

Going UP, UP, UP. 

I was looking forward to the amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge from Chrissy Field, but the bridge was nowhere to be found. It was too foggy. The temperatures were on the cooler side. I thought of my friend Tessa with whom I ran the RnR Edinburgh, a very hilly and cold race.

I spent half of the race thinking "OMG, here it comes another hill" and "Come on, we are in San Francisco. What do you expect?". While my mind was busy with this internal debate, I soon realized that we were at mile 11. This is where the half marathoners and full marathoners split. Only 2 miles to go!  I decided then to not look at the watch again and give it my 100%. The last 2 miles were all downhill. Perfect ending!  I crossed the finished line in 2:12:30 feeling strong. Again, not bad considering I just ran the Long Beach Full Marathon 7 days before.

Few minutes later, I saw my friend May in the crowd. Good timing! We walked around, took some pictures and indulged in post-race snacks. There was a lot to choose from, including the most delicious lavender tea I have ever tried, courtesy of a company called  David's Tea.

All finishers received a Tiffany necklace handed out by a San Francisco firefighter wearing a tux. What else can you ask for?

The finisher's race reward.

After the race, we took the bus shuttle back to Union Square. We had 6 hours to spare until our flight departure. We decided to get foot massages and eat authentic Vietnamese Food. Gotta love San Francisco!

Oops I did it again!

2012 Long Beach International City Bank Marathon Recap

First of all, how did I get here?

Last Wednesday night, my friend Tessa "Speedy Gonzales" was presented with the opportunity of running the Long Beach Marathon on behalf of a colleague. Of course, she didn't turn this offer down as she knew that I had signed for the Long Beach Half Marathon. We could run 10 miles together, just like we did in Edinburgh. On Friday, she stopped by my house with a waiver so I could pick up her race packet. We joked about doing the full marathon together but I knew it couldn't be this one.  My longest run since the OC Marathon (May 5th) was 17 miles. Besides, I have the Nike Women's Half Marathon next week, Oct 14th. 

Expo - Saturday, October 6th

The Health and Fitness Expo took place at the Long Beach Convention Center. It was conveniently located with easy access $10 parking. 

As soon as I arrived, my friend texted me "Marathon?". I smiled and replied "Let me check the price difference. I am not sure". She replied "Marathon! Marathon!" My husband laughs and tells me "You can do it! I have no doubt". There was no contemplation in his voice. "Ok this is the deal, if it's less than $50 go for it", he says. We walked to the Solutions Desk and they informed us that I just needed to pay $20 for the upgrade. "What do you think?" I asked my husband. "You can do it!". I closed my eyes and handed my credit card. I am trying to stay calm but it's impossible. I am freaking out. I am exciting more than nervous. I replied back to Tessa "Holy sh*t! I did it!  NO Boston PR for you, slower pace and stick with me until the end :)". OMG, what did I get into? Butterflies all over my body. My legs suddenly felt heavy, just like they did when I signed up for the OC Marathon at the 11th hour. 

I exchanged my bib for the full marathon, picked up the race shirts and did a fast walk through the expo. 

I learned that we were going to have special mile markers. They were created and painted by young patients from Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach (MCHLB) as part of the hospital's "Artful Healing of Our Heroes" campaign. You can see some of the markers in the pictures above and you can learn more about this program here. The other pictures in the  photo collage are from the Artist Village group. They had a crew of musicians, photographers, models and painters onsite putting on a show. Surprisingly, they were not selling products at the expo, but awareness. It was something new. I kind of liked it but my 7-year old daughter thought it was inappropriate. "They are half naked, Mommy!" hahaha

  

Race Day - Sunday, October 7th.

I woke up at 5:30 am feeling great. To my surprise, my 7-year old daughter had left me a good luck note in my running pouch  : D 

Dear Mommy

Running is fun. Keep on running and don't stop.

Remember me during the race.

Love You

She made my day!!

I met Tessa at 6:00am at the hotel lobby. We took a free shuttle which left us very close to the starting line. I was not nervous but excited to run with my friend again. I had never visited Long Beach, and I knew very little about this race course. All the information I got was from other bloggers, race recaps and of course the official race website. I know they mentioned that it's "fast and flat" but  I've read about some crazy hills around mile 17. No problem. I was here to have fun. No PRs. This was just a looooong training run for my Valencia Marathon on November 18th. We took some pictures, visited the crazy-busy porta loos, and before we knew it was time to go. 

The course starts on Shoreline Drive, crosses the Queensway Bridge and runs near the Queen Mary, a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936-1967. 

I was thinking "What a beautiful view!" and "OMG, it's already hot" and "I am feeling grateful for running this morning". My thoughts got interrupted by a nice encounter with my friend Caro. She was running ahead of me, dressed up like a ladybug. "Hellooooo". I shouted.  Wait a second, she is running with wings. Isn't that an advantage? She could potentially fly :-) Then some guy with funky shoes passed me.  I had to ask "What are you wearing?". "It's called Kangoo Jumps, mam".  

 What do you think? Could you run 26.2 miles with this?

We circled back around the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Lighthouse and before we knew it we were back by the Shore Village. 

                          

                           

Tessa and I were running side-by-side at a 9:20 min/mile. This is a little too fast for me at this point. I tried to slow down but there were so many people around us I kept with the flow. Tessa called her dad back in Switzerland, I shouted "Ciao papa". She also took pictures at mile 5. We were in awe. This was way nicer than the RnR San Diego. It looks way cleaner too. Soon we arrived at the bike path or beach path. I am not sure what it's called.

It was a little too crowded and narrow until mile 10 where the half marathoners and full marathons split. We continued on Ocean Blvd and passed the Belmont Shore. At mile 12-13, I could not longer keep up with Tessa. I slowed down to 10 min/mile pace. We passed the Marine Stadium. I passed Joe Taricani, the  host of The Marathon show. I shouted "I am your friend in Facebook". Later after the race, I sent him a note:

I am the crazy one with the Team Sparkle skirt. The one that told you that Spain will beat Italy at the soccer tournament. OK enough references :-) Hope you had a great race!!

We made a u-turn at the end of Marine Stadium. I saw Tessa on the other side. She wanted to wait for me but I told her to keep going. Then I heard "Ciryyyy!!". It was another friend from West Coast Road Runners. Nice! We passed the Colorado Lagoon and headed towards California State University Long Beach. I looked at my watch and thought "It can't be! We are at mile 17. Where is the crazy hill everyone is talking about?". At the campus we received a nice welcome from the students. We travelled the university grounds for a couple of miles. There are mild hills. Many people were walking. I was smiling thinking of La Jolla. Now, those are hills. "Hell no, I am not walking today", I told myself while thinking of the note my daughter wrote to me. We passed the Pyramid Sports Complex and headed back to Colorado Lagoon which we passed earlier. I was in "familiar territory" again.

Soon, we were back on Ocean Blvd. I could see the Aquarium in the horizon. Big smile on my face. At mile 24, I looked at my watch and realized that I was very close to finishing around 4:30. I decided then not to look at my watch again and see how fast I could go. My legs were happy but the inside of my right foot was hurting a little bit. I ran the last 2 miles at 9:00min/mile pace. My official finishing time was 4:33:30, a minute slower than my PR. I'll take it! Right by the finish line were my husband and kids screaming. It was soooo awesome. Few feet away, my friend Tessa was waiting for me. She finished in 4:20.

Beautiful Finisher Medal

After the race, we picked up our goodie bags and headed to the Team VW (the race sponsor) VIP tent. My friend April who is running the Goofy Challenge with me, hooked me up with some delicious food, fresh fruit, fresh juices, and yogurt. I am the luckiest girl in the world!!

These are my stats:

Not bad at all for a last minute marathon!!! BIG thanks to my husband for encouraging me, for embracing my craziness and always being there!

My BIG birthday celebration

For a couple of months now, I've been looking for the ultimate challenge to celebrate my next birthday. The BIG 4-0 is around the corner, so to speak.  I looked into several ultra marathons and some of my favorite international races.

Maratona Di Roma

Greece Athens Marathon

3 Countries Marathon ( 3-Laender marathon)

 However, nothing seemed to fit our schedules in 2013 until I came across the perfect race: the Goofy Challenge. What's that? You run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday followed by the Walt Disney World Marathon on Sunday. 39.3 miles in two days! It's intense! It's perfect! It's Goofy!
 

As soon as I signed up for this race, I found out from other runners about the Dopey Challenge. It's basically the Goofy Challenge plus a Family 5k the day before, Friday. Since this will be our first trip to Walt Disney World with the kids and we are not planning on doing this too often, I went overboard and signed up my husband and kids for the 5k too. Now we are talking 42.4 miles in 3 days!

The "challenges" were supposed to stop here but then a couple of friends convinced me that I had to sign up for the Tinkerbell Half in Disneyland the following weekend (Jan 20th). Afterall, I've been talking about becoming a Tinker legacy runner down the road. This will make me eligible for the Disney Coast to Coast Challenge.  What's that?  It's consist of running a half or full marathon in Disney World and a half marathon in Disneyland on the same calendar year. This is the extra medal, we will get for completing the Coast to Coast. Beautiful!

Here is the plan:

Jan 11th - Walt Disney World Family 5k
Jan 12th - Walt Disney World Half Marathon
Jan 13th - Walt Disney World Full Marathon

Jan 20th - Disneyland Tinker Bell Half Marathon

2 weekends. Coast to Coast. 55.5 miles. 4 SUPER early races. My legs are going to be happy :) Anyone else is joining me?

2012 Disneyland Half Marathon

The Disneyland Half Marathon usually takes place on the first weekend of September, which is Labor Day and more important my special 3-day birthday weekend. Last year, with a little help from my family, close friends, friend of friends, friends of friends of friends, a few strangers and a couple of awesome bloggers, I was able to get enough entries to win the iFitness contest, a free entry to the 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon. It took place on my birthday, Sept 4th. I will never forget! This year, I happily signed up for the race again. After all, is there a better way to celebrate a birthday than running at "the happiest place on earth"?

Saturday, Sept 1st -The Disneyland Health & Fitness Expo

After picking up my running shirt and bib,  I walked around for 2 1/2 hours!! This must be my new expo PR!  I purchased a running skirt, a pair of compression socks, 2 sporty glasses, a visor and a couple of GU energy gels.  I should have left the wallet in the hotel room! Lessons learned: Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry.

2012 Disneyland Half running bib and shirt

At the expo, I met some friends from the Embrace The Crazy running group.

I also met a super special friend, Jennifer, who drove from San Diego with a nice birthday present too. Love it!

My new tinkerbell half marathon necklace

Afterwards, we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory for some pre-race carb-loading. I am prety sure I didn't burn all the calories I ate running the next day.

Sunday, Sept 2nd - Race Day 

I woke up at 3:15 am. Yes, you read it right, 3:15am Zzzzzz. OMG, sooo early! I left the hotel at 3:40 and arrived at the staging area at 4:30 am. There I met my friends, the "crazies", once again. Coincidentally, we were all dressed up like Minnie Mouse.  We took some pictures before heading to our respective corrals.  Last year, I was in corral C. This year, I was in B.

The "crazies"

The race started on time at 5:45am after the National Anthem was sung, the fireworks exploded in the sky and the race VIPs, Mickey and Minney Mouse, sent us off.

Photo Credit: Run Disney 

Photo Credit: Run Disney

The first 2 miles were very slow, slower than usual, due to the large crowds. There was no way I was going to PR running at 10:00 min/mile and I couldn't go any faster.  I told myself, "It's OK. We are here to have fun". I reminded myself that my goal for this race was to run the entire 13.1 miles without making any stops for character greetings and pictures BUT still have fun. You see, I didn't have any luck taking good pictures at the Tinker Bell Half Mararathon nor at the 2001 Disneyland Half Marathon. No, this time around I was not going to stop 5 minutes in line to say hi to Dark Vader.  My plan was to take it all in an keep running.

 
Almost immediately after this thought, we entered in California Adventure's Cars Land. This part of the park was under construction last year. Running in Route 66 was soooo awesome!! I couldn't help it. Of course, I had to stop to take pictures in Radiator Springs. Are you kidding me? Forget about PRing.

Photo Credit: Run Disney

From California Adventure, we went to Disney Downtown where the crowds were waiting for us before entering the Disneyland park. I love running through Disneyland's Main Street.

Again, I was planning on running non-stop through this park when I saw Merida from the movie Brave. Oh yes, I am taking a picture with her!

The first four miles inside the park flew by really fast and soon we were on the streets of Anaheim heading to the Honda Center. At mile 7, there was an All American Classic car show, just for us runners. Unfortunately, the sun was soo intense that I couldn't see half of them. We were running towards the sun for many miles. It was only 7:00am but it was getting really hot.  At mile 9, we reached the Angel's Stadium. I always dedicate this mile to my yogini friend Catherine S who sent me to the Disneyland Half Marathon last year. She is also a crazy Angels sports fanatic.

Hundreds of people and cheerleaders were waiting for us. I loved every second of it. This year, once again, the Jumbotron cameras were pointing at us. I stopped to take some pictures. I tried to find the camera to take a nice shot of myself in the Jumbotron but I missed it.  If you are reading this and you know where it's located, please let me know.

After leaving the stadium, we were back on the streets of Anaheim with a few miles to go before entering California Adventure again and the Cars Land backstage area. Soon after, I could see Paradise Pier hotel. Great! Less than a half mile to go!  The sun was intense, the crowds were getting loud and in the horizon the finish line where Mickey and Minnie were waiting for us. I crossed the finish line with a BIG smile on my face. My finishing time was 2:12:54 including several stops for pictures. This time around, they turned out fine.

The finisher's medals were the same as lat year ( except for the year) but it didn't matter. They were beautiful!

Distance	HALF MAR
Clock Time	2:20:03
Chip Time	2:12:54
Overall Place	3375 / 14836
Gender Place	1397 / 9341
Division Place	223 / 1473
5K	31:27
10K	1:03:22
15K	1:34:31

The overall female winner of the race, Cindy Lynch, finished in 1:24:25. She is the owner of Running Skirts. We were wearing the same running outfit that day.  BIG congratulations to her!