Saturday, October 20, 2012

Nike Women's Marathon & Half

We came, we ran, we conquered the Nike Women's Half-Marathon.  By we, I mean Patty,Marisol, Megan, Caryn and myself.  I think I would be safe in saying that we all had a fantastic time.  Most of us had never been in a race of this size and the energy from all the participants, not to mention the amount of estrogen, was really something to witness.  Our fears about the hills were never realized and in fact, it seemed our training prepared us well.  I guess that's one of the benefits of training in a hilly valley.  The only thing we were unprepared for was the number of people, particularly the number of walkers.  Dodging the walkers was the hardest part, other than that, it was one of the easiest races we've ever done.  Maybe it was because we didn't run it particularly fast, running for the experience and to remember the sights along the way.  But for whatever reason, I remember coming down toward the last half mile as I looked over at Patty and remarked how this was probably the best I've ever felt in a half-marathon.  She admitted feeling the same but didn't want to jinx it by saying so.

The weather also was perfect.  Although typically San Francisco wet and foggy, it also kept the weather really cool, a welcome relief from running all summer in the heat of the Santa Clarita Valley.  And of course, there's the Tiffany Necklace.  We were all so worried that we wouldn't like it, but it really is perfect.  I think we're all hoping that we'll be lucky again next year and will get picked in the lottery again.  Hopefully it wasn't just beginner's luck.

3 comments:

Patty said...

It was so much fun, and our training truly paid off!! I have to admit that those 6:15 am long runs were dreaded, and I started thinking I was just burnt out:( the combination of cooler weather, and hills that weren't nearly as hard as I thought, gave me an extra boost at the end which was nice! I don't know how you would run this race faster, but maybe if we would have started with a faster pace group, there would not have been so many walkers???? Maybe we will luck out and get another chance next year;)

marathon mom said...

You'll get another chance in a few weeks in Monterey ;) I do hope we get in again next year though.

Patty said...

I know, I have to keep my enthusiasm up but it's hard! I feel like staying inside with this cool windy weather:) I have mentally moved out of training mode!