Nike Women's Half Marathon Playlist

Straight from my iPod to your computer. The tunes that helped me push through. Enjoy;)

Nike Women's Half Marathon

Two weekends ago I headed to San Francisco to hang out with 20,000 other women who all love to run. October 17th, 2010 marked the 7th annual Nike Women's Marathon. The race is one of the largest marathons in the US & is consistently ranked among the best to run. Couple that with the fact that you race through the streets of San Francisco to raise funds and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and how could you not want to make this your first road run half marathon?

The event was flawlessly executed with amazing attention to every detail. There was an electric (contagious) energy around the event that kept me up the night before sleepless with incredible excitement.

We were up early on race day 5:30am I ate a quick bowl of oatmeal and suited up for the race. My race day outfit consisted of; Black lululemon shorts, bright pink lululemon sports bra, black lululemon racer back T and the finishing touch a pretty pink lululemon headband.  (I'm not sure if I've ever shared but...I think I could win the award for most lululemon headbands owned by a non-employee. I just counted...I own 30.) I digress...this has no point to the race -sorry.

We headed to the starting area where we were confronted by a massive crowd of excited racers.

After a quick photoshoot (see my lion-ness hair below - Rawr) we were ready to check our bags and warm up.

I switched up my "race strategy" (if that's what you can call it) - last minute (i.e. 10 seconds into the race). It was a self seeding race and it turned out a lot of people seeded themselves in a faster pace group then they should have. Having run the Vancouver Sun Run early this year I thought back to great advice my friend Brad told me before that race. "Poach the sidewalk KT" and "rip for the first km's to get a head of all the slow humans". So I poached the sidewalk and gaver. At the 5km marker I noticed my time and realised if I wanted to finish this race I would need to dial back the intensity:) 

With that thought I settled into a pace I could maintain for the remainder of the race and began to enjoy the run. The route features spectacular views of the city, union square, the ocean and Golden Gate Park. The race was lined with cheering spectators and encouraging signage - my top three signs:

1. Run like you stole it!

2. I got up damn early, you better run fast!

3. Skinny jeans ahead

There was even a chocolate mile where they were handing out Ghirardelli chocolates. And if all this wasn't enough incentive to keep running upon crossing the finish line you were greeted by firefighters dressed in tuxedos handing out Tiffany's necklace to all participants who finish the race. The finish area was also home to massages, manicures, yoga classes, the Nike Expotique, tons of food, music and Ghirardelli chocolate.  What more could a girl ask for?

My buddy Pricey ran the race barefoot last year and filmed it click here to watch the video it shows some great parts of the race and of course his bare feet...yes he's crazy

The loot was wicked!
Official finisher necklace designed by Tiffany & Co.
100% recycled Nike Dri-Fit PINK finisher T-shirt
Bright pink race day bag
Tons of F/B samples

total time 1:45:04
32/2403 in my age group
188/20000+ overall

My my fab friends pictured above netted out as follows:
NB (in orange far left) -> finished her first half marathon in 2:17:00
KB (second from the right) -> finished her first half marathon in 2:07:00
LS (in blue on the right) -> finished her 10th half marathon with a PB 1:50:00

A fantastic way to spend a rainy saturday morning in San Francisco! Apres the race we headed by to the hotel to warm up and then for brunch and pedi's. I will admit the following;

1. I am so looking forward to my next race the Haney to Harrison Relay in 10 days
2. I'm debating running another road half marathon in November
3. I can't wait to return to this half next year
4. But I still LOVE & ADORE trail running so much more