Giveaway: 5 Slots to Nike Women’s Marathon SF!

Photo source: Nike

I woke up this morning with a tummy bug and am not feeling very well at ALL, ugh- yes, I skipped my long run, yes I am very upset about that but hopeful for tomorrow!  As I was on my way to die a slow miserable death horizontally on the couch I checked my email and was happy to see that Whole Foods Market had reached out to me, offering a give away of FIVE (yes, 5- I keep re-reading the email and it still says 5!!!) slots to the sold out 10th anniversary running of the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco this October 20th.

Please note that this give away is just for a ticket to register, NOT a paid entry to the race- winners will have to pay for their own entry, transportation, commemorative schwag, etc.

I know you know this will be my 4th Nike race and I know you know that I put together a group ID for the Nike lottery in June- and WE ALL (over 200!) GOT IN!!!!- so if you decided not to register for Nike SF via my group yet now wish you had, you still have a chance!!!! 

My Nike Training Plan

Photo credit: Nike

If you follow this blog and/or my Facebook page, you know that I created a group ID in order to enter the lottery to get into the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco this October. Thanks to the power of social media, approximately 200 happy readers/runners utilized the code and our entire group was selected!!!  WOO HOO!!!

This year is the 10th anniversary of the race and will be my 4th Nike run- I did the SF full in 2011, the SF half in 2012, ran Nike DC half earlier this year, and now am getting ramped and amped up for #4!  I’m wrapping my head around training for all those hills and getting my plan together for a successful 13.1 come October 20th. 

Group ID for Nike Women’s Marathon SF

Yesterday, the random drawing for the Nike Women’s Marathon (and half) in San Francisco finally opened. Nike SF 2011 was my very first full marathon, so the race really holds a special place in my heart.  Further, this year is the 10th anniversary so even though I ran the half last year, and recently completed the inaugural Nike DC half, I still feel very compelled to be a part of history and try my hardest to get into this incredibly exclusive race.

To that end, I went ahead and created a Group ID in order to enter the lottery as a group and if you are interested in joining my group- please click here for more information.

“Why enter the lottery as a group instead of as an individual?” you may be wondering, and rightly so! Since the selection for this race is “random”, within a group, if one person from the group is selected, we are ALL selected. Nike says that the size of your group does not effect your chance of getting in but, as far as I am concerned, it certainly increases our odds.

More For Boston

Oakland’s candlelight vigil in honor of the Boston Marathon (photo credit: See Jane Run)

Last Thursday, I attended a 3 mile run (1 mile for each victim) followed by a candlelight vigil in honor of the Boston Marathon. The event was organized by See Jane Run and it was fantastic- we ran the streets of Oakland with police escorts, gave several moments of silence for all the victims within the supportive arms of our running community and found a bit of comfort therein. We brought awareness to our city and showed that we won’t be stopped- I felt so honored running through my hometown, people clapping as we ran by saying, “God bless you, runners, go Boston!”  It was moving, it was emotional and it was healing…

PLUS, yours truly got interviewed for the local news that night- click on this pic to catch the brief news segment… I said lots of deep and profound things about how the events in Boston have effected our tribe as a whole but they only used these 5 seconds- I’ll take it!

Click here to see the news clip– I’m at 1:20 (photo credit: BFF Amy)

Today’s Reason: Boston

As soon as I woke up on Monday morning, I started up my lap top, placed it on the stove in my kitchen, and began making my kids their school lunches while I watched the Boston Marathon. The elites were about an hour and a half in and on their way to victory, I was cheering on Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan and explaining to my children the importance of Boston and how much the event means to all running kind.

Just hours later, friends began texting me about the explosions at the finish line and I just couldn’t believe it… came home, turned on the TV and there it was, the horrifying images of this unbelievable tragedy… my heart broke and the tears came.

I haven’t really been able to find the words to describe how I feel- as a runner, marathoner, spectator, and American. But today, I will try my best…

Friday Favorites: Races

My first race ever was in April 2009 and to date, I have run close to 50 different races- wow, that seems like a lot to me! I don’t like to repeat race courses and I really want to try them all (at least all the ones here in northern California) yet there are a couple that I will keep coming back to because they are so well organized and just plain fun- well, as much “fun” as one can have endurance running. Here are my 5 favorite races of all time… so far…

Today’s Reason: The Long Run

I was out with a friend for dinner last night and she asked me, “How did you figure out you loved running?” And I really had to pause to think about that… I told her it all began for me 6 years ago because of Oakland Adventure Boot Camp, or really, in the absence of it.  After I started going to the gym and stopped going to boot camp, I kept challenging myself to do what my boot camp trainers had challenged us to: run the entirety- all 3 miles- of Lake Merritt.  That seemed SO HARD to me back then!  “Justholdonasecondhere- you want me to run, without stopping, all the way around the whole entire lake? It’s so big! Who does that?! 3 miles?!?!?! No way!!!!”

Despite how daunting those 3 miles seemed to me at the time, I kept trying and trying and trying to propel my body around that lake 3 or 4 times a week, every week. I’ll never forget the moment I finally accomplished my goal of running the whole entire lake- I was elated and so proud of myself that I went ahead and signed up for my first 5K race in April 2009 and for about a year, that 3 miles was my long run.

I Resolve NOTHING

9 days into the new year, pressure of the holidays over, home after a brief vacation to our cabin, kids back in school, and I can settle back into my “normal” routine and FINALLY find some quiet time to myself to write a blog post! Yippee!!!

I read somewhere that 60% of Americans do not make new year’s resolutions whereas 20% do (and the other 20%, who knows, maybe they’re the “it’s just another day” types). In the past, I’ve fallen into the 20% who DO vow/pledge/promise themselves at the start of a new year to change all the things I wanted to but didn’t the year prior. This year, however, I became one of the 60 percenters who did not bother to make even one lousy resolution.

Why? Well, cartoon Calvin there has a good point…

So… Now What?

I’ve thought about going for a run several times since the marathon, but haven’t.  Honestly, I really did consider it, I swear, but my recovery has taken a strange even though much better path this second time around.

After the marathon, I was elated for about 2 days but then the inevitable post-marathon blues set in pretty heavily.  Endorphins gone, a disappointing race on top of it all, my Team in Training season over, and I became a miserable lump of self-pitying-good-for-nothing.  Knowing this was bound to happen, I made sure to fill my social calendar with good friends who would make me laugh and not chastise me too much for blubbering about my marathon woes.

BRF Anya making fun of me taking pictures of food… and seemingly snorting a toothpick all at the same time.

Race Recap: San Diego RnR Marathon

I read once that the best failures make the best stories… let’s see if that’s true…

My Rock n’ Roll adventure really began last November when I decided to start training for my second marathon while raising funds once again for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  As a current Team in Training mentor, it was easy to brave the winter with my teammates and despite several bouts of illnesses along the way, I still hit all of my long runs and most of my strength training days and felt great doing it.