11.03.2010

Finally... the Marathon Update!!!

Race day was a smashing success and the weekend that surrounded it was full of such fun memories.

The weekend began on a gorgeous sunny afternoon in Union Square where thousands of marathoners met to pick up our race day bibs and partake in some of the fun!


Here I am with my friend Diane Smith. We pedaled as fast as we could to blend those smoothies...
they were delicious!




We got to check out the course map...which looked a little daunting but also took us through some beautiful areas of San Francisco. We started in Union Square, ran along fisherman's wharf, got a couple great views in and after a loop around lake Merced, headed in via the Great Highway. There were SEVEN hills, three of them were over 300 ft. climbs!


Niketown cleared the way for the Nike Women's Marathon. Every participants name was listed on the outside of the building and they had shirts you could personalize.





This years theme was, "I run to be" so Candice wrote, "Finished" and I used one of my favorite quotes from the season, appropriate for San Francisco... "It's a hill, GET OVER IT!"






The inspiration dinner was a gathering of 5,000 Team In Training participants who were greeted by hundreds of coaches and captains. We loaded up on carbs, heard from a few famous marathoners and then it was off to bed for an early morning marathon!






At this point I hadn't been able to run for six weeks because of my calf injury so going into the race I was just hoping to finish!


Team Kasey

The buzz in Union Square before dawn was incredible. It was so exciting to line up with 30,000
other runners, listen to the national anthem and wonder what the next four hours held! The weather was perfect and I was feeling good!
Union Square 7 am

The first half of the race was gorgeous...hilly, but gorgeous. At the 5k mark I rejoiced at having completed my first 5k ever! The same feeling passed through my mind at the 10k, 15k and half marathon marks. I saw dad along the sidelines at mile 16 which was awesome. I blew him a kiss and kept on running! He said I looked like I was in another world...and I was. I was running super strong, super consistent and was paced at a 10 minute mile.


The second half wasn't nearly as much fun. It started raining around mile 12 and continued to get worse. There were several miles along the ocean which would have been beautiful, but instead meant freezing ocean wind blowing the rain sideways. I was thankful to have my visor on, to keep the rain out of my eyes! Needless to say I got a bit cold in my tank top and shorts. I started thinking more about the blanket waiting for me at the end than the Tiffany's necklace!

Still smiling at mile 25...even running in the rain!


I finished in 4:24, a great time considering my injury, those San Francisco hills and the terrible weather! You can see me right on top of the blue mat with my arms raised over head! I finished just as strong as I started...26.2 miles later.

It was SO nice to have dad (and three layers of warm clothing) waiting for me at the finish line... oh, and don't forget those cute firemen with the blue boxes!













Then it was time for my final ice bath of the season and I finally realized just how helpful those handles can be in the shower!
I was SORE for weeks!!!!!

Before I left California I just had to make one more stop!

In N Out!






With your help I raised $3,385 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Our chapter of Team In Training raised $356,000 and the event itself raised 13 million.



In it's seventh year, the Nike Women's Marathon has raised over $105 million dollars to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Thank you SO much for helping me accomplish this huge life goal and for becoming part of something so much bigger than ourselves! I have officially joined that crazy 1% of people who have run a marathon in their life and I would gladly do it again. The experience taught me so much about what the human body is capable of achieving with determination, amazing support and a positive mindset!

If you've been meaning to donate but haven't had the chance to yet, it's not too late but this really is your last chance!


Go Team!