Nike Women's Marathon - San Francisco

And after my trip to Chicago, came San Francisco for the Nike Women's Marathon weekend with Team in Training! Check out how cool our hotel room was at the Monaco. I loved the variety of colors, patterns, and fabrics used. Definitely nothing I would have ever thought to pair together, but it seems to work!

Loved the huge round mirror!

We stayed about 2 blocks from Union Square, which was where all the marathon action took place. The race expo was set up here as well as well as the start of the race! And there was shopping galore on every corner!

The Nike Women's Marathon is where I ran my very first marathon two years ago in 2008 and it was truly an amazing and life changing experience! I trained and raised money with Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and have been involved with this great organization ever since! I was so excited to head back to San Fran this year and support the 33 women who I've been coaching all season long! This race caters to women and nothing is more empowering than to run for a great cause with 20,000 other women right beside you!

Right across the street from the expo was a 7 floor Niketown, this place was sheer chaos all weekend long! Check out all the people outside the building lineup up to find their names on the wall!

The names of all the race participants for the weekend were printed on the side of the building! It took a few minutes, but I was able to locate my name "Lauren Kapeluck"! How cool is that to see your name amongst thousands of others on the Nike building!

Saturday was a day spent touring the city. A group of us took a 5 hour shuttle and ferry guided tour to hit up some of the famous landmarks. Our journey started at the Ferry Building, which is the most fabulous Farmer's Market I have ever seen featuring fresh and local produce, flowers, gourmet chocolates, breads, cheeses, meats and so much more! It's also where I bought cupcakes from Miette Patisserie that I featured here.

Our first stop on the tour was Lombard Street...aka crooked or zig zag street! We actually walked down this steep road and the girl in front of me was wearing about 4 inch heels, I don't know how she made it down without twisting an ankle!

Then we saw the famous Painted Ladies. Love all 7 of these Victorian Homes. These homes have been featured in the opening credits of Full House...anyone remember that show, I grew up watching the Tanner family! The house on the left was also featured in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire, one of my faves and also just recently went on the market for 4 million dollars!

Finally the moment I had been waiting for the entire tour was the Golden Gate Bridge. On my previous trip to San Fran 2 years ago I could hardly see the bridge it was so foggy, so I was super excited this time to not only be able to see the bridge up close but to get to ride across it. WOW, it was gorgeous!
What an amazing photo opportunity!
Here's a pick of the ladies that went on the tour: Stacy, Heather, Deanna, Kimberly, Me, Micah

Did you know the Golden Gate bridge is the 2nd most photographed landmark in the world next to the Eiffel Tower.


On the other side of the Golden Gate bridge was Sausalito, a quaint town with lots of unique shops and restaurants. I wish I had more time to spend there. I was in awe at all the mansions built up on the hillside, these homes were unbelievable.

We grabbed lunch at Venice Gourmet Delicatessen.

What better to get than the Sausalito Turkey Sandwich...turkey breast marinated in sun dried tomatoes, salsa and cracked pepper with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato on sourdough. This is probably one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten! I would be one happy girl if I could eat this every day for lunch!

After lunch in Sausilito we took the ferry back over to San Fran. It was time to get ready for our pasta party and carb load before the big race the next day!

Sunday was race morning! All the ladies are decked out in their purple Team in Training jerseys!
In this picture: Jennifer, Kimee, Mary Kendall, Meredith & Kim!

Here's our HUGE team of ladies from Mobile right before we headed to the starting line! The weather was perfect, cool and in the low 50s, but later on in the race came some rain! Luckily everyone was prepared as we did one of our 20 milers in the pouring rain! All our ladies were troopers and endured the nasty weather to finish their 13.1 and 26.2 mile races!

One of the coolest parts of the race, is as you cross the finish line there are firemen in tuxedos holding silver platters with blue Tiffany & Co. boxes...and here's what was on the inside! I love my new necklace! The theme of the entire weekend was "I Run to Be"...strong, powerful, healthy, etc!

After the marathon it was time to head to the victory party and celebrate everyone's achievements! In this picture: Jennifer, Kelly, Michelle, Me, Kim & Kimee.

In this picture: Micah, Megan, Me, Katie, Robin, Kimberly, Heather, Melissa, Beth!

Great job ladies, you all did amazing on your races and I'm so glad I got to be part of your Team in Training experience over the last 5 months as your coach! So sad the race is over, but so glad to gotten to know each and every one of you! Keep on running!