Nike Preview

It's no secret that my training for the upcoming Nike Half Marathon has been non-existent. During the past couple of weeks I've been trying to get my butt in gear, with limited results :( Two weeks ago I went for a run with Lindsay... we did about 5.5 miles, part of which we walked. Last week I decided to walk the Lafayette Reservoir and then on Thursday I went on a nice 3 mile run with Claudia (which left me very much out of breathe!). That's pretty much been the extent of my training.

On Saturday the area Team In Training teams were doing their "Nike Preview" run where they got to run part of the Nike course. Claudia and I decided that would be a good run for us to join the team on. Initially we had intended to run our longest run (10 miles) since that was what the team was going to do. After realizing though that we still had 1 month left until the race, we decided that we really didn't need to do more than 8 miles or so, and then we could do our long run in another week or two. Boy I was nervous about this run!! I knew it was going to be a challenging run, since it would include some of the biggest hills that are in the Nike course, and we were planning on going 3 miles further than my longest run so far!

I ended up heading to the city super early on Saturday morning alone, since Claudia was sicky. :( I got there about 7:00 and joined all the other TNT peeps at the Sport's Basement in the Presidio. The 10 mile route was going to head out to the right from the parking lot towards Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 and then come back past Sport's Basement, go up a massive, seemingly never ending hill before coming back down on a series of trails. Since I was only planning on doing 8 miles (or 7 if I wasn't doing well), I went out towards Fisherman's Wharf but turned around after about 2 miles. Those first 4 miles went very well... the weather was perfect for running-- cool, overcast and at some spots drizzly-- and there was only 1 small hill that I walked up on the way out and back.

After the first 4 miles, the course really got hilly :) Since I've done this race so much, I knew what was coming and had planned on walking the long hill. On and on it went, and finally I got to the top where there was a water stop. The water stop was actually manned by a girl I went to high school with so we spent a few minutes chatting. After hydrating, I continued running down the road (and finally got to enjoy a nice downhill section) before I realized that something wasn't quite right. Since I had turned around earlier than most everyone else, I was one of the first runners, but I soon realized that not only were there no runners in front of me, there were also no runners behind me. I got the sense that I had gone too far, and should have made a turn somewhere near the water stop. Part of the problem was that there were a few other TNT teams out there, and they were doing a different course... I had stopped seeing our markings, but was still seeing other TNT markings. I stopped along the side of the road to try and figure out what I should do and I saw a trail cutting across the bluff to my right. I thought maybe that trail would hook into the trail that our team was going to be running on, so I headed down the trail to check it out. The trail ended up petering out so I headed back UP the trail, and then back UP the road to the water stop. Well, at least I got a little more hill training in!

Once I got to the water stop, I saw that everyone was turning off onto a trail so I followed them. The trail would along the bluff and we got to enjoy some amazing views. We ran underneath the Golden Gate bridge and then back down to the bay. The team was doing a small extra loop out to Ft. Point and back, but since my Garmin told me I had done almost 8 miles, and I still had .8 miles to go to get back to the start, I decided to skip the extra loop. I ran back to the start and ended up with a total mileage of 8.66! I was so excited to have finished the run in one piece, and to have done more than I thought I could do! Even though I know I won't have a Nike PR this year, I feel less nervous about being able to actually do the race!

Throughout the run I felt really good, and only had to walk the hills, not any of the flat parts! I also felt great... just a little soreness in my knees and hips. I hung around for a little bit at the team potluck and then headed back home so I could shower and take a nap :D That night I celebrated finishing the run with my friend Ann... we went to a cute little restaurant called Pappo in Alameda! We sat outside and enjoyed some wine, food and yummy Creme Brulee. After all the talking and visiting we did after dinner, we were still hungry when we left the restaurant and decided to go get an ice cream! Ahh, the perfect end to the day!

Sunday I didn't get to sleep in too long... I met my friend Katie in the city and we spent the morning and early afternoon at the SF MOMA... we checked out all the art (some of it very weird... I don't get some art) and also went to the Frida exhibit, which was amazing! We were starved by the time we left the museum so we headed for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. SO good! I was pooped by the time I got home so I took a nice long nap and then spent the evening watching the Emmy's.