The Nike Women's Marathon

I'm registered to run the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco on October 19, 2008. This will be my fourth marathon, and it has tons of hype surrounding it. Here are some of the perks:

• a It's a women only marathon. 20,000 women running together... Girl Power!
• a The race expo the day before features massages, pedicures, and fun lady things.
• a The finishers medal is a necklace designed by Tiffany.
• a Said necklace is handed to you at the finish line by a fireman in a tuxedo.
• a The views along the course are fantastic.
• a The snacks along the race and at the end consist of champagne, strawberries, fine chocolate...

So I'm excited about it. But I'm struggling for motivation. I don't have a running partner or group here in Washington. Yesterday I even posted on Craigslist trying to find SOMEONE to run with me! Today I bought new running shoes. I'm back to the Saucony shoes. I briefly cheated on them and went to Brooks. But I see the error of my ways, and am hoping Saucony will forgive and forget (and keep my feet cool, dry, and blister-free).

I'm hoping one of the teachers at Komachin will be a runner. That still puts me over a month away from meeting him or her, but I'll get there.

Until then, I've got playlists to compile on my iPod, new shoes to break in, and hours and hours of books on MP3 to listen to. Not to mention all the time I'll spend imagining what my Tiffany necklace will look like.