We came, we ran, we conquered...

Race day finally arrived.  I woke up at 4am, did a few leg swings and hip rotation warm ups, updated my blog and waited for room service that never came!  Yikes...10 min to go before I head to the lobby and meet the rest of the girls and I've eaten nothing.  Luckily, the race kit that was provided had a peanut butter and chocolate energy bar - phew.  Better than nothing!

When we exit the hotel we're greeted with cheering and loud music.  The energy was just overwhelming and I loved every bit of it.  Definitely gives you that extra boost you need to overcome any nerves. 

Last Nike+Fuel shoot before we take off!
Karen, Renisha, Elizabeth, Tiara and myself

Huge sea of runners

 Lunerglide+4 buddies

And we're off..

Once we started, we made our way through an amazingly scenic course.  The first 2 miles I ran accompanied by my new friend Renisha.  We ran through financial district past the Transamerica Pyramid, all along the waterfront of the Embarcadero where we lost each other :( I waited for her, even jumped up and down to see if I could find her, but sadly I never did.  So off I went alone -  just me and 27,000 women pounding the streets of San Fran.  

I continued past Fisherman's Wharf, Fort Mason, along the Marina Green, past the Palace of Fine Arts and Crissy Field, then headed up a long huge hill at mile 6 into the Presidio, exposing views of the breathtaking Golden Gate bridge under thick fog.  The excellent training schedule Marie Purvis provided definitely made me more than prepared for these hills. I rocked them!!!  The scenery and the energy from other runners also helped to distract from the inclines as well.  

This is where the tight crowd started to break from the walkers to runners.

Made it to the top of the 1st hill!

                                               

The fog was like soup - the Golden Gate bridge is somewhere underneath it... 

At mile 10 I hit the Great Highway, which was a nice downhill mile, until the course cuts into Golden Gate Park at mile 11 for one last gradual, but difficult uphill mile not because of fatigue or pain, but because my left contact lens starts to blur - sand or dirt flew into my eye and I can't see clearly!  GAH! So I step to the side, blink rapidly and finally whatever was there is now gone.

Finally, we reached mile 12 and we looped back out of the park to head to the finish line on the Great Highway along the beach.  There were numerous supporters along that last mile helping to cheer the runners on.

As soon as I saw the finish line, I don't know what got over me, but I just bolted and gave whatever energy I had left. Even the commentator saw and said "Wow - check out the burst of energy on that one, she wants that Tiffany's necklace bad"  I did and I wanted to find Justin ASAP as I knew the longer it took, the harder it would be as more racers came in.  I found him in 10 min and he greeted me with a big warm hug :)

The course overall is breathtaking and the cheer stations a huge bonus - from a Gospel choir, break dancers and cheerleaders and random strangers giving me high fives as I zipped past them.

                                     

I finished 2hrs17min  not to bad considering the search for Renisha and photo taking I was doing along the way :)

                                               

so worth 13.1 miles - so pretty

Fuel check as I crossed the finish line 

After getting the "OK" that there would be no more photoshoots or interviews as the wi-fi service was bad at the finish area and we couldn't find the other Nike girls, I was sent back to the hotel and told to relax & have a free day to myself.

I did just that, freshened up and headed to the nearest diner to refuel with a much needed chocolate malt shake :) YUM!

refuel w/chocolate malt shake :P

                                                                                         

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, eating, and relaxing.  

Justin and I took a tour bus to Muir Woods and Sausalito.

Very narrow winding road to Muir Woods on a tour bus - this was scary!

The tallest coastal redwood at Muir Woods is about 258 feet, approximately the height of a six-foot person stacked head to toe 45 times. Further north, these trees can reach heights up to 379 feet!!!

                                      

Then it was off to Sausalito - house boats everywhere and a gorgeous view of the city.

Walked along the Fisherman's Wharf and took in the sights and sounds.

made from bread!

Sunset view of Alcatraz from the piers 

Sea Lions taking naps on Pier 39

catching the sun-rays before it sets 

Our last meal in San Francisco at John's Grill - one of the city oldest and most famous establishments.  Food was top notch :)

Crab cocktail

Lobster ravioli  

Prawns and mushrooms

Ended the evening with a stroll along the hilly streets on San Fran. - way to  earn that Nike Fuel :)

  

My #1 fan from home - Tenchi :)

                                       
This will go down in the books as one of the most memorable experiences of my 20's - Will I do this again? Maybe...I will definitely keep running in my exercise regime ;)   

A HUGE thank you to Lydia Lauer ( North America Digital lead at Nike) and the people at Nike Women and Nike+ Fuel team for giving me this opportunity.  
Róbin Arzon of Team Epiphany & a member of NYCBridgeRunners ,  who with great patience made us look bad-ass and fierce for most of our shoots in San Francisco.
Jerome Love photographer 

Thank you for all the cheers and support!!! I heard each and every one of them as I ran - you guys ROCK!!

Nike Women's Marathon is here!!!

The big day is finally here! I'm feeling good, scratch that - I'm feeling awesome and pumped to do this run.  How will I tackle my first marathon?  My plan is to take it easy just before the first steep hill at mile 6, that's when my quads will really feel the burn and where the crowd will start to break from the stronger runners to walkers - depending on how that goes I may resort to walking the hills (they are brutal !) ...we'll see, then at mile 10 I'm going pick up my speed and crush this marathon!! I haven't set a time as to how long I want to take to complete this because it's my first race and to be honest I'll want to take pictures along the way too :)



Yesterday, we had a shake out run with Marie Purvis along the Bay.  It was really neat to warm-up for 3mi run with one of my favorite Nike woman and the person who put together my training schedule.

Renisha @RenewedFitness and I on our 3mi shakeout run

Gorgeous scenery everywhere in San Fran - had to get the Golden Gate Bridge picture post run  

After the photoshoot and interview with the Nike+ FuelBand team, it's off to China Town one last time to grab souvenirs.
                             

                               

 Won Ton Soup w/ Shrimp for lunch - I think I've had prawns everyday since I've been here hehe

                                       

3 Wise Monkeys "See No Evil, Speak No Evil and Hear No Evil

Took it easy the rest of the night with the BIG run to look forward to.  So now off I go.

***Remember to cheer me on or track me live NWM Live Results - I'll hear your cheers along the way :)

I'm running the half marathon and bib# 11821 

WISH ME LUCK!!!
                                       

Day 2 - Stretching w/Marie Purvis, Alcatraz and dinner w/Nike Team

Yesterday morning started off with some much needed stretching w/the mastermind behind the Nike Training Club, Marie Purvis at the piers of San Francisco. This is where we also had our 2nd photoshoot w/the Nike+FuelBand team.

Group shot from Thursday's shoot w/Jerome Love - more pics on the Facebook Nike+FuelBand page

Nike+FuelBand photoshoot at the piers

  After that it was off to the Nike Expo to pick up our race kits.  The atmosphere was energetic - there were stylist booths, hair and make up sessions, NTC mini sessions and so much more.  Nike really knows how to keep the marathon participants pumped and primped for tmr's run.

Then we had free time before dinner.  Justin and I took the time to visit the must see Alcatraz - very creepy, I can only imagine how scary it would be to so the tour at night!  I highly recommend doing the 45min audio tour *shudder* the background noises while you walk around will def add to the experience.

Beware!

John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris inmates at the prison used cardboard, cement chips, and human hair from the floor of the barbershop to create fake human heads.  They spent one year chipping away at the vent behind toilets for escape routes.

                                           

 Dinner time at First Crush located in Union Sq. w/ the Nike Women management team!  Food was fantastic.

Time to get in the carbs a few days before Sunday.  Never carb load the night before a race.

                                            

Definitely one of the highlights was meeting Marie Purvis.  I've been a huge fan of her workouts since she launched the Nike Training Club app for the iPhone in 2008   

                                   

Fuel check time while winding down after another fun filled day with the #SistersInNike

                                       

About to start Day 3 with a shake out run w/the ladies and Marie before the big day tmr!  I will try to squeeze in a post before...if not def after the race ;)

Thanks for the support and remember to check Facebook for the live tracker details.

Race will commence around 10am EST 2pm GMT

http://gonike.me/nwmresults

My bib number is 11821 and I am running the half marathon  

Nerissa Mata 

Day 1 - Arrival in San Francisco...what a crazy and fun filled day!

Wow...just wow.  I really had know idea what to expect upon arriving in San Francisco.  SFO has an art exhibit on display at the newly renovated Terminal 2.

artist Janet Echelman's Every Beating Second

When I arrived at the hotel I was greeted by Lydia, who I've been communicating with through this entire journey and works for Nike in the media dept.  She recognized me almost immediately and told me where to get set up and meet in another room to get ready for a photoshoot.

I got to the hotel room, opened the door and found a big Nike bag waiting for me on the bed!

WHAT?!!! more Nike gear whoah

I quickly got ready and headed to the other room where I met Robin who works for Team Epiphany (a NYC based non-traditional influencer marketing and PR firm) she quickly did some finishing touches on my outfit and hair. I also met finally in-person Karen, Elizabeth and Renisha ( the girls I have been tweeting with through this whole journey minus Tiara - her flight was delayed like the rest of us)  She eventually met up with us at the shoot.

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So off it was to the van and photographer Jerome Love was there as well to take our pictures.  He was very easy going and very patient with us while it took us some time to get into our fierce look faces - haha I'm excited to see what our profile pictures will look like.

OMG - check out the drop on that hill!! YIKES!!

Robin doing final touches on Karen

Lydia getting a text from Tiara -she is on her way :)

group picture!

We all went to dinner after the shoot at the lovely Scala's Bistro. Delicious!

Dinner at Scala's Bistro

Got back to my room and found yet another surprise! The very limited NWM Lunarglide+4 

The shoes are so pretty!

Wanted to stretch my legs before bed, so I took a walk to China Town with Justin.

Dragon Gate

PHEW! What a day, can't wait to see what they have in store for Day 2.