Runner Leana

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2007 Nike Women’s Half Marathon Race Report

October 23, 2007 By: Runner Leana

Nike Women's Half Marathon Race Report

Pre-Race Rambles

It was a pretty restless night from about midnight to 4 am. Nervous race anticipation? I woke up, had a quick shower and scarfed down some bread and jam and drank some water. We were out the door before 6 am heading to Union Square.

SF - Oct 07 115

The best thing about the location of our hotel was it was along the street where the gear check bag buses were, so we were able to check our bags far up the street and avoid the crowds. Union Square was so busy with people and so loud! I felt sorry for anyone staying at the hotels around there that weren’t running the race. I wasn’t able to find Instructor S and her group of running gals, but Maddy recognized me so we were able to say hi and grab a picture before starting.

SF - Oct 07 117

She was shooting for a 4:30 marathon and I was aiming for a 2:15 half so we hung out with the 4:30 pacer at the start line. It took us about 9 minutes to cross the chip mat and we were off, slowly but surely.

SF - Oct 07 121

It was great chatting with people in the first few miles. Maddy and I were able to run together until we lost each other about 2 miles in or so. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what my game plan was for the race. I’ve run 4:1, switched to 9:1, but also run 20:1 with Instructor’s S group. I decided to play it by ear, try just walking at the water stops and see how I felt. The water stops were fairly well spaced out, about every 2 miles or so. We ran from Union Square down to Embarcadero and along Fisherman’s Wharf.

SF - Oct 07 126

SF - Oct 07 144

The first 6 miles was all fairly flat, and then it was a straight uphill climb for the next mile with a gain of about 250 feet or so. The course narrowed at this point and people slowed down but my aim was to keep running. I felt like I had great momentum and I knew that if I stopped to walk at any point it was going to be hard to get running again.

SF - Oct 07 153

That hill climb was tough….but it felt amazing…and I knew my hill training was paying off. At the top we got a nice downhill run and some great views. There were some more hills along the way – you just went up and down for several miles after that but I didn’t really notice it until a climb at mile 9 when they had a water stop halfway up the hill. I stopped to walk to down some Gatorade and some water and it was tough getting going, but I was back up and running. I saw a lady with a Strides Running Store shirt from here in Calgary so she and I chatted for a bit and I said hi to anyone I noticed who was TNT from Canada. I was having a great time enjoying the race and the views.

SF - Oct 07 154

They had an orange slice stop and a banana stop along the way but I bypassed it all. Once I started drinking the Gatorade Endurance I got a tiny knot in my stomach – not too bad – but I didn’t want to try anything new. I was eating my Sport Beans along the way, but unfortunately the bag came open and at one downhill point I could hear my Beans falling out and hitting the pavement behind me. Good thing I packed lots! There wasn’t a ton of on course entertainment in the middle half of the race. We turned into Golden Gate park and it was so pretty running through the trees in there. At mile 10 I realized I was on a great track to reach my 2:15 goal if I just kept running steady….such a good feeling!

SF - Oct 07 156

Around mile 11 we were on a dirt path for a short bit and this just zapped the energy from my legs. I saw the chocolate mile up ahead though and grabbed some Ghirardelli chocolate squares and stuffed them into my waist pack for later. Mile 12 felt pretty good, but when we hit the final turn to the finish line at Mile 13 my legs were like jelly. I saw the finish and I wanted to sprint hard but there just wasn’t much left in my legs. I looked down at my watch, saw I was still good for 2:15 and it was the best feeling in the world. I crossed a chip mat and they announced my name just before I crossed the finish line.

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2:14:56….amazing!!!!! I got my little blue Tiffany’s box from a very handsome firefighter in a tux and went to get my chip cut off my shoe. As I put my shoe on the footstool for the kid to cut my chip off my leg started shaking like you wouldn’t believe…. It was good to be done. I got my finisher’s shirt, some grub and waited from TK and Suz to cross the finish line after walking their half in 4:00. What an amazing race! A tough course, a great time, I can’t say enough about it. I will definitely be back next year.

SF - Oct 07 165

Official Stats

2:14:56
Overall finish: 2381 out of 12196
Age group (25-29): 434 out of 1998
5k: 32:45
10k: 1:04:36
15k: 1:38:16

SF - Oct 07 160

more from Runner Leana

  • Nike Women’s Marathon 2008: A Public Service AnnouncementNike Women’s Marathon 2008: A Public Service Announcement
  • Nike Women’s Half Marathon – Trip Report – SaturdayNike Women’s Half Marathon – Trip Report – Saturday
  • Nike Women’s Half Marathon – Trip Report – FridayNike Women’s Half Marathon – Trip Report – Friday
  • Nike Women’s Half Marathon…coming soon!Nike Women’s Half Marathon…coming soon!
  • 2007 Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K Trip Report2007 Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K Trip Report

Comments

  1. 1

    MissAllycat says

    October 23, 2007 at 5:39 pm

    Woo hoo!! Way to totally rock this race! You are amazing!

  2. 2

    DGB says

    October 23, 2007 at 6:08 pm

    LEANA RULES! You are my running hero! Good luck this weekend!

  3. 3

    Angry Runner says

    October 23, 2007 at 8:19 pm

    “I saw the finish and I wanted to sprint hard …”

    That’s the spirit!!! Once again, well done.

  4. 4

    Downhillnut says

    October 24, 2007 at 3:23 am

    Well done! Sounds like you left it all out there – fabulous effort.

    Ooh, and a Ghirardelli chocolate stop – YUM.

  5. 5

    P.O.M. says

    October 24, 2007 at 8:13 pm

    I heard the hills were treacherous! Great job on reaching your goal time. You must have trained hard on hills.

  6. 6

    Laurel says

    October 26, 2007 at 3:25 am

    Woo-hoo! Awesome race! That is so great that you ran all those San Fran hills! They are killer.

    Way to go on hitting your time!

  7. 7

    Claire Dial says

    October 28, 2007 at 2:47 am

    Found your blog…I, too, ran the Nike half. Last year I ran the full and the year before I ran the half. I only live an hour and a half from SF so it is an easy drive over for our TEAM. Love the course…
    I am also flying to Florida to run the Goofy. My husband did it last year and I really want the medals! What a crazy addiction.
    Congrats on a great race!!
    Claire

  8. 8

    Greg On the Run says

    October 28, 2007 at 8:08 pm

    Keep on going. I read yours and went out registered for the San Francisco Half in August. It’s a goal to work towards.

  9. 9

    DGB says

    October 29, 2007 at 3:25 am

    anxious to hear about your tower of terror results!

who is runner leana?

6 x Ironman Finisher, 11 x 70.3 Finisher, geeky engineer and recent MBA grad.

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