Saturday Training Run

The countdown is on...2 weeks until the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon. I'm really looking forward to this race, I've heard great things, plus I've heard that the course is really flat (yay). I've been training really hard the past 6 weeks and am hoping to crush my PR on this course.

Earlier this week, I was browsing Facebook and a training run for this marathon popped up in my feed.  The run was open to anyone and was being hosted by a local running club. I've been wanting to make some running friends, so this event intrigued me.

I got up early this morning and headed out to the Sports Basement. I love this place, but kind of a pain in the butt to get to. I walked half a mile to the bus stop, took the bus and then had to walk to last mile to Sports Basement. When I got off the bus, so did another girl. She was wearing her running gear and some sweet Mizuno's - so naturally I assumed she was headed to the training run as well. I assumed right.

We became fast friends. Sports Basement was buzzing with people. We had a little bit of down time before starting the run, so we checked out the Mizuno booth. Mizuno was sponsoring today's run and they had test runners (shoes). I was wearing my Wave Rider 15s, so they fitted me with a loaner pair of the new Wave Rider 16s. They are a full ounce lighter and were a rad pink/salmon color. I was a little hesitant to do a long run in them, but the fit was so simliar to my own shoe that they ended up working out.

We headed out to warm up shortly after 9. I did a fast head count while stretching and there were more than 70 people attending the run! Amazing! I signed up to do the 10 mile course and started off at a good pace with my new friend. We were pacing the same as one of the coaches from the running club - she was really awesome. My new friend fell back after the first few miles and I got to chat with the coach. She was really awesome and we were having great conversation which made the miles fly by. Around mile 7 or 8 we were running through Fisherman's Wharf and I saw a guy I went to high school with - guess he is here on vacation...how random.

I finished the run with another lady from the running club. My time was a little slower than my 10-miler two weeks ago (finished at 1:34), but I was still really happy with the pace. If I can maintain a simliar pace during the race, I'll definitely drop some minutes off my PR.

When we got back to the Sports Basement they had a table with bagels and juice. Yum! Plus, all the runners got a 20% discount. I couldn't resist picking up another pair of shoes - so now I have 2 new pairs around for backup. I'm sure the hubby loves this.

So yeah...awesome run today and I'm signed up to meet up for next week's training run. I'm also looking into officially joining the running club. I met so many amazing people today and they pretty much sold me on it.

Are you part of a running club? How do you like it?

RnR SF Kick Off Party

This week has been pretty busy. My little sister moved in on Saturday afternoon. She just got an internship in the Bay Area and is going to be hanging out on my couch for the next 4 months. Our little one bedroom apartment is a little cramped, but I think it's all going to work out.

Naturally, being new to the city, I decided she needed to see the sites. So last night I dragged her to the Rock n' Roll San Francisco official kick-off party at one of my favorite places - Sports Basement. I mean, who wouldn't want to go there. Seriously, it's one of my favorite stores.

Last night was one of those times that I really wish I had my own car. Getting to the Presido from downtown isn't the easiest. I was feeling lazy and didn't want to take the bus, so we called Lyft - better known as the car with the pink mustache. I've used this service a few times and love it, but last night led us on quite an adventure. We only missed our turn about 3 times and then almost got on the Golden Gate Bridge, but in the end we arrived.

The kick off party was small, but awesome. Sports Basement offers such a great community setting for local athletes. There were a few vendor booths set up (Mizuno, Gu, Gatorade, MarathonMatt), free snacks and beer....yes, free beer....does it get any better? There was also a raffle, although I didn't win anything, but I scored these beautiful Mizuno Wave Inspire 8s for $65!!

Ooooh, so pretty! 

Didn't win the raffle, but the guys at the Mizuno booth saw I was getting shoes and gave me a pretty sweet water bottle. Score!

Also got a cool poster. The iphone pic doesn't do it justice, it's super cute.

I think the race is only 12 weeks away. I'm pretty excited, not only is this the inaugural Rock n' Roll marathon for San Francisco, but it's also my first Rock n' Roll marathon. Can't wait to see the course details - hopefully it's not as hilly as the US Half was in November. That was killer.

Have you run a Rock n' Roll Marathon? Was it awesome?

US Half Marathon Expo

Tomorrow is the big day, it's only my second half marathon. I'm really excited - the weather is looking to be gorgeous and who wouldn't want to run over the Golden Gate Bridge and look out over the Bay.

This race has it going on - their website, Facebook page and emails have made being a participant easy. I've been able to find all the info I need, I'm hoping tomorrow goes just a smoothly.

The expo was being held today at the Sports Basement in the Presidio from 10A-6PM. I love this store, but the city buses don't get you all that close to the store. Lucky for us runners, the race arranged for shuttles to take us to and from the expo. The shuttles were easy to find and were running on time. I scored a seat on the first shuttle at 10 this morning.

The expo was set up in the back of the store and was easy to navigate. I was able to pick up my race number and tee with ease - then there was plenty of time to explore all the vendor booths. I picked up some great goodies - vendors included Honest Tea, Zico, Clif, Lara Bar, The North Face, 5-hour energy and a few others. There were also booths promoting upcoming races including: Turkey Day 5K (which I will be participating in), See Jane Run and the Grapes of Rock Half Marathon.

Here's some of the treats I brought home. Yum!

And of course the race tee. This is an awesome shirt, it's made by Greenlight Apparel. The shirt is super soft and they are a company committed to social and environmental responsibility. Also, the race bib has my name on it, pretty neat. They also had the option to customize, but I couldn't think of anything clever at the time - so they just put my name in. 

My favorite part of the expo was getting 15% off my purchase at Sports Basement today. I found a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 15s - they usually retail at about $100, but they were marked down to $65, plus I got the 15% discount. I've been looking for a second pair of shoes to run with, so I was excited to get such a sweet deal. I've read a lot about these shoes on SkinnyRunner's blog, and can't wait to start running with them next week. 

Well, that's all I've got today. I'll post an update tomorrow with the race results! Hoping to finish in 2:10:00 or less. We'll see what happens.