Nike Women's Marathon San Franciscio 2013

The 10's annual Nike's Women's San Francisco Marathon is a tough marathon. There was over 26,417 half marathoners and 4,364 full marathoners. The marathon and the half marathons all started at the same time.

 Around 0625, the race began. It took about 15 minutes to get to the start line. In the first 5 miles, the course is mostly flat, with a slight hill at mile 2. The course winds through the Financial District and Marina District. We ran past Piers 1 through 45. Honestly, it was not a congested at the Rock & Roll San Diego race. The city of San Francisco gave us the entire street at times!

I snagged this from the Nike on Facebook.

At mile 5.29, begin the hills. To say there are hills is NOT an exaggeration. Here's the meat & potatoes on the hills:
Hill # 1 at mile 2.5 - 3.3
Hill #2 at mile  5.3 - 7
Hill #3 at mile 8-9.5
Hill #4 at mile 10.50 - 13
Hill #5 at mile 17.5- 20
Hill #6 at mile 21 - 22
Hill #7 at mile 23-24.5

The full marathon runners parts from the half marathons around mile 10 and run around Golden Gate park. Here someone yelled, "only 3.1 to go!" I responded "yeee haaaa, only 16.2 to go!"

This marathon is beautiful and challenging. As we turn around to head out of the park, there is a jumbotron posting inspirations along with your name! Nice! Mine said "Stay Focus and Strong Patricia!" The sun did come out for a little bit here.
At mile 15 we join the half marathoners again through mile 16 where they turn to finish the half marathon. The course changed this year. Instead of running around Lake Merced, we ran out a little past San Francisco State University then back the way we came.

 Here at mile 21 there's another jumbotron videoing you as your run towards the turn. Pretty cool!  It's over cast the rest of the run with temperature in high 50's. Lot of people cheered us along the way. Some of the water stations, I had to wait for a cup of water, but there was water. Nuun was the choice for electrolytes and it is just nasty. Mile 23, my running pal & walked. My abdomen was hurting.

Time tracks are at 5k, 10k, 15, 21k, 25k, 30k, 35, and 40k.
At mile 26, Ann's son & his girlfriend shocked us but showing up and cheering us to the finish line! It was soooooo cool!
I had a health complication encountered 2 weeks before this race, but made the choice to run it anyway. Hopefully, by the end of the this year, I'll be able to begin training again for races. My goal was to finish and have fun. Even with the pain, having a friend like Ann, made this marathon amazing! By the way, who ever the runner was at mile 24 that almost knocked us over, we hope you finished strong! Thanks Ann! You rock!

My course times played out as:
Over Place: 3745
Chips Time: 5:56:16
Pace 13.36
Women 45-49 place: 271/313
5k: 36:36
10k: 1:15:30
15k: 1:55:55
21k: 2:46:33
25k: 3:17:25
30k: 3:59:10
35k: 4:47:50
40k: 5:37:57

My Dogs Are Tired!

My Saucony Triumph 10's are no longer my favorite running shoes. The sole wears down quickly and the mesh cannot sustain a few run on a dirt road. I wish they would reinforce where the seam meets the shoe. Augh! So, after 275 miles and days of geeking out over running shoes, I went with the New Balance 1080v3. The New Balance description says, "supportive arch-securing mid-foot wrap while you're surfing the road on your smoothest ride ever"!
I thought I might have to replace my custom inserts because for months now my calves and feet have been aching during my runs. Removing the inserts, I found them almost flat! I pulled out my previous inserts and found them completely different. I began to pull out all of my older custom inserts and all them compared to the one in June still had their shape. Surrounded by stupid inserts, I picked up a pair and put them into my  New Balances. The next day, no foot/calf pain and none since. Dang it! I looked a lot like this and sound like:
               http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QnDxPG3KrtA

 

Calmer now, I hate these kinds of lessons. Cowboy came up to me, gave me a look that said, "cool it Sailor mouth, I can hear you all the way downstairs" and began to lick me. Somehow Cowboy kisses make the foobar inserts a distant memory.

Thank You Baby Jesus For Healing My Foot!

Eeeegads ! I despise injuries as much as stopping to pee during a marathon. But it's over, sorta, but enough to move on. Why can't I my brain and lack of motivation understand strength training is essential when training for a marathon? Boy, I can be so stupidoooooo at times! *shrugs*
Eight weeks left until Nike Marathon San Francisco with serious training ahead. Today's run was nuts and summer training is no joke! I was sopping wet by mile 5 and by mile 12 my brain felt as though it would explode because of the heat. There was no wind and after repeating to myself" just one more", a thousand time, lost it's effects and I gave up. I could imagine leaving a wet trail like a snail as I was running that slow.
I must have been shuffling my feet something horrible, because my shoes and socks were covered in dirt. Not once did I try to push the tempo because I didn't want to sweat any more than I already was nor did I care. A girl carrying a water bottle past by me. Although I had water, hers looked way more refreshing than one I was packing near my ass. Mile 10, I was fantasizing  about doing the Nestle plunge in my pool. My mood was poor by mile 11 and I finally gave in.  Uncle! Uncle! Uncle! Loading my Garmin later, said the temperature was 78. It felt like 88!
Cooling off on the tile floor inside and after kicking off my shoes, I thought I could run the other 3 miles to complete my goal of 15 miles. I put my shoes back on, but when I stood up, my body screamed, "hit the shower"!  I'll begin again tomorrow, then again the next day, and the day after. It's never ending isn't it?
 As I've said before, I'm a non runner. Sometimes I wish I was flat chested, then maybe it would be cooler!

Cruise Ship Running From Seattle to Alaska

 
                                                  Alaska IS breathtaking! We went on a 7 day cruise and spent 4 days touring Alaska. We flew to Seattle to board the cruise ship. The morning before heading over to the docks, I manage to squeeze in a 3.3 mile run.  My family stayed at funky and colorful Hotel 5.  I would love to come back to Seattle and run a marathon!

Seattle has views, art, and awesome hills!

The first day is called Fun at Day at Sea. We ate and roamed around.

Our second day, we went through Tracy Arm Fjord. The cruise line

had a well equipped gym but you'll need to get up early to get on

a treadmill. I ran out on deck for 4 miles. The last mile I had to

bob and weave. People were beginning to come up on deck.

Took tons of pictures of floating icebergs. None smiled :(

On our balcony.

Told you it was breathtaking!

Glacier!

Getting closer!

It's windy!

Nighty night!

Morning Skagway :)

Rock art.

Loading on boat for our excursion to the Eagle Preserve Wildlife River Adventure.

Hehehe juuuuust kidding. Our boat was next to this one.

It's beginning to sprinkle.

Heading to Haines Alaska for excursion.

This excursion provides jackets, blankets, gloves, and ear muffs.

Boating down the Chilkat River.

Eagle in upper right corner of picture. It's 600 lb nest in lower middle.

Bald Eagle

Clouds get low here!

Night Skagway

Morning Juneau!

Good day for a run!

Wow!

6.6 miles and I'm so excited to be off the ship and running!

Night Juneau.

Morning Ketchikan!

The ship was here only 4 hours. We recommend the museum.

Back to the ship!

Ketchikan is a busy port!

Night Ketchikan.

Evening Victoria. Our ship couldn't dock because of large swells and wind.

Bye-bye Canada. 

Back at Seattle airport. We had a lotta bags! Then

back home to LAX!

 

 

 

Halfway Through Training For Nike Women's Marathon San Francisco 2013

You know when you getting closer to being ready for a marathon when:
1. Last week you bought your second pair of shoes since the beginning of training.
2. Choosing your marathon running outfit excites you!
3. At the end of your workout, you have more salt on your face than a potato chip.
4. Not only have you geeked over the marathon course, especially elevation charts, but you repeat this cycle several times just to make sure you don't miss anything.
5. You pee Gatorade.
6. You say, "I went running" when people ask you what you last weekend.
7. You eat your weight in spaghetti.
8.  As you run, you are already thinking about the next 5 miles and the next 5 miles and the next 5 miles.
9. As you drive into work, you see another runner, and are tempted to call in sick so you can go running.
10. You can calculate miles without a Garmin.

Tetanus

Wednesday night while running on scary road, I was attacked by a tumble weed and snared by branches. At mile 3, I ran by a mutant bush and my right calf brushed up against it. Afterwards, my calf felt wet! Ewwwww! All I could think about for the next 4 miles was that I should get a tetanus booster.