Nike Women's Half Marathon San Francisco

Last year I ran the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco.  I met five girlfriends from Carlsbad there for a girls' weekend of fun memory-making that included the race.  They all ran the half marathon, some together but most individually.

This year we decided to try our luck again with the notion that if we got in we'd run it TOGETHER.  Nike had decided to make it a Half Marathon event only so it'd be perfect for the six of us to experience together.  Unfortunately, our group was not selected.

Several weeks after the disappointing news, I was at a Neighborhood Block Party that our old neighbors in Portland were having.  Another friend from the old hood who also did not get in and asked if I was going to try for the Second Chance drawing.  Who?What?Where?When?How??  I hadn't received this e-mail from Nike Women's that she spoke of.  She forwarded it to me on the spot.  The window frame was really short so quick decisions had to be made.

I immediately texted my girlfriends in Carlsbad. Some were not interested and that was understandable.  The Second Chance would not be a group entry; everyone was on their own.  Three of us decided to throw our names in again.  Only two of us got in.

Melanie and I began to make plans for our much-smaller and shorter girls' weekend in San Francisco.  Her kids have the two weeks following the race off from school so they were going to make it part of their family vacation.  We decided to meet up Saturday to do the expo, stay downtown together Saturday night and run the half marathon together.  She had started training for her first marathon (Carlsbad Marathon in January 2015) so the Nike Women's HM fell perfectly into her training schedule.  We would run the race as a training run for her.  I had just run the Portland Marathon two weeks earlier so a slightly easier pace (for me) sounded perfect.  It would also give us 2 extra hours to  hang out and catch up.  I miss my Cali friends!

I flew into San Francisco Friday afternoon.  I rode BART into the City and hopped off at the Mission & 16th station.  Another old neighbor (from the same hood as the Neighborhood Block Party I mentioned...  It really was a good time on our street during that time of our lives!) lives in the area where the Mission and Castro neighborhoods merge.  She has a one bedroom apartment with her 12 year old daughter.  She had made arrangement for her daughter to be at her dad's (he's another friend who lives just a few blocks away) so I could stay at her place and we could go out.  This night was so much FUN.  It was so great to just hang out with my friend, drink too much, dance too much, and just have a good time.  We didn't stay out late but I was pretty exhausted when we got back to her place.  I remember taking off my boots and laying down right where I was in the living room and falling fast asleep.

Saturday morning Melanie's husband dropped her and their two kids (6 and 8) off a block from where my friend's apartment is.  He does Ironman events and is currently training for Arizona.  A two hour run in Golden Gate park was the least we could give him.  Melanie, her kids, my friend, and I enjoyed a very leisurely breakfast without him.  After eating we said our goodbyes and Melanie and I took the kids on the trolley into downtown.  We must have eaten really slow because soon after getting to our hotel her husband pulled up to pick up the kids.  The rest of the afternoon Melanie and I spent going through the expo, shopping at the Nike store, getting lunch, and just hanging out.  Our hotel was 1/2 a block from the race start, Union Square.

The friend in Portland who told me about the Second Chance drawing also got in.  She and her husband made it a very long weekend in San Francisco to celebrate their 18th anniversary.  We met them for dinner Saturday evening and bored her husband with our running talk while we consumed our weight in pasta.

Finally!  Race morning!