The Women's Nike Marathon - Race Day!

Race day was Sunday, October 19th and we started at 7am. Before we headed out all the Distance Divas took a group photo together outside of our adorable hotel - The Cornell - the oldest hotel in San Francisco. It was a cold morning, but we were all excited about our race through beautiful San Francisco. Amanda took her camera on the run so she got some photos during the race so you can see a little bit of how beautiful it was...but the photos don't do justice.

I was one of 20,000 runners that day who ran either the Half or Full Marathon through San Francisco. They had a wall of all our names and I'm pointing at my name on the pink wall here. Most of the runners were women and at the end of the race we all got a Tiffany's necklace, given to us by firemen dressed up in tuxes at the Finish Line. And yes, it was even in the little Tiffany's box! See photo on right with box and the finisher's necklace.

I finished the race just under 4 hours and felt great! I am feeling really ready for the Philiadelphia Marathon set for November 23rd.

Overall our San Francisco trip was FABULOUS! What a beautiful city that I definitely want to visit again soon!

To view more photos from our trip - you can check out Amanda's Shutterfly page - http://arsimpson.shutterfly.com/

Our Trip to Alcatrez - San Fran Trip cont.

On our 2nd full day in San Francisco we decided to go take a trip to Alcatrez. It was such a cool tour. We took a 15 minute ferry ride to the island and then they had an interactive audio tour for you when you got inside. We added a couple friends for our trip. Kalina, who is married to another Kiewit boy, Luke, joined us since they live near San Fran. Then Sarah, Amanda's best friend who she went to school with also joined us because she too was running the race the next day. Here's a photo of all five of us that day - left to right: Kalina, Amanda, Amy, Sarah & me. Below are more photos of our day in Alcatrez. When we were done with the tour we walked around the Fisherman's Wharf area and Pier 39, where hundreds of sea lions hang out and bark all day! What a life!

Wine Country - San Francisco Trip

I just got back from San Francisco on Monday night and had such a wonderful time! Although the original trip was planned because we signed up for the Women's Nike Marathon...we did so much more than run! On Friday we decided to take a 9 hour wine tour trip. This may have been my favorite part of the trip. Our 9 hours started with a shuttle ride into Napa Valley, going over the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we stopped at 4 wineries, enjoyed a beautiful picnic lunch, drank lots of wine and headed back to San Francisco on a ferry boat ride! It was wonderful. Here are some of my favorite photos from the day. (The photo on the left is us getting to the Ferry Building in San Fran enjoying some hot tea and Asian pears - which were so delicious! It was such an enjoyable morning. The four of us girls stayed together throughout the trip even though we met up with 20 other women (Distance Divas) who were running the Marathon too.

The photo on the right is of us at my favorite winery stop where we had out picnic lunch and bought lots of wine too! From left to right: Amanda, Amy, Melanie and Me. Here's how we all know each other - Amy and I used to work together at NCHS in Omaha, Amy & Amanda are neighbors in Omaha, and Melanie used to work with Amanda in Omaha at Kiewit and now she lives near San Fran still working for Kiewit. And it was Amy & Amanda actually introduced Philip and I)

Here's a link to all of Amanda's photos from our San Francisco trip! - http://arsimpson.shu/tterfly.com/

The sign below reads "Marathon Hydration Station"

We found two other women running the Marathon that were on our wine tour too!

Two New Haircuts!

I am so excited to report that not only did I get a haircut recently...but Philip finally shaved his mustache! I couldn't be happier. When I returned home from San Francisco on Sunday, he had a clean shaven upper lip. This was the best gift he could give me! Here's photos of my new cut and Philip's non-hairy face. Yeah!

A fun weekend - seeing Philip's Jobsite

Besides running the race this Sunday, Philip and I had a pretty good weekend of hanging out with his work friends on Friday, watching the Husker Game at the Irish Rogue on Saturday and taking a tour of Philip's jobsite, the Willis Avenue Bridge on Sunday. Here are some photos from the weekend. On right, me & Philip smiling for the camera at the Bruckner Bar & Grill, which is right near their job site. They had a Kiewit Friday afterwork function there including karaoke! Here's a photo of some of his work friends on left (l tor: Philip, Nick, Casey & Kevin) at the Ship of Fools, cause we had to go there after the work party - where else would we go?!

On Saturday we watched the Husker Game at the Irish Rogue in the most comfy seats ever - couches! It was great. Some of Philip's work friends (Nick, Katie, Merideth, and Josh & Michelle) met us out there too. It was a great game - but not quite good enough to beat the 7th Ranked Texas Tech (31-37 L).

After the Westchester County race on Sunday, Philip and I stopped at his jobsite on 125th Street so I could see where he works every day. I got the official tour and walked across the Willis Avenue Bridge, which they are rebuilding. It's $650 million job! My camera died while I was out there but I got a few photos of the bridge. It was pretty neat. It is a very complicated job - I don't know how they coordinate everything going on there each day! What a great experience for Philip.

Legally Blonde The Musical!

While I was home in Omaha for the weekend I saw Bridgett and her husband at Luke & Andrea's wedding in Iowa, and we decided that we finally had to go see Legally Blonde The Musical! We had been talking about seeing it 3 months ago and since the show is ending October 19th - which is so sad - we had to go soon! So, last Thursday Bridgett, Andrea and Courtney and I all went to the show and had dinner beforehand at a fun restaurant called Hell's Kitchen. It was so good! Then we went to one of the most entertaining, fun, girly and pink musicals I've seen. I loved it! The "Elle Woods" of the show, Bailey Hanks, was actually the winner of the MTV Show that picked the next Elle Woods for this show. And she was fabulous...so adorable, great singer/dancer/performer. I wish I could see it again and I really want the CD now. It was a very fun night for all of us girls and the first time Andrea and Courtney had seen a Broadway Show. Hopefully we'll be able to go see more! Snaps! :)

Lots of Races & Running!

Recently Philip and I have entered a lot of races and have been doing a lot running! Just this past Sunday we decided to take the train to White Plains, NY to do the Westchester County Half Marathon & 10K. I ran the half and Philip ran the 10K so it fit into our individual training schedules. It was a beautiful course with streams and lots of trees and we both ran our fastest times! Philip ran his 10K in under 50 minutes with a 7:32 pace and I ran my half in 1 hour, 42 min with a 7:52 pace. Philip was 4th Place in his age group and 27th overall. I ended up being 5th Place in my age group and 106th overall. Not bad. It was awesome and I'm hoping this means I'll be set for my 3:40 goal at the Philly Marathon. Here's a photo of Philip and I with our medals after the race.

A couple weekends ago we both did the Fred Lebow 5K in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. It was actually a very difficult race because it was cross country through hills and trails. It was fun to do it together though. I pretty much trailed behind Philip the whole way and then in the end he let me beat him by a second! With my training program for the Women's Nike Marathon in San Francisco next weekend and the Philadelphia Marathon on Nov 23rd, I've also tried to add some races for my long runs. So on Sept 28th I did the 18 mile New York Road Runners Marathon Tune-Up which was held in Central Park starting at 7am. It was great - just like running a race with water stations and everything. It definitely is a much better way to run 18 miles on my own!

This coming Thursday I leave for San Francisco to meet up with 20 girls who are running the Women's Nike Marathon. I am really looking forward to seeing friends Amanda & Amy. It will be a vacation of wine country, Alkatrez, running and checking out beautiful San Fran! I've never been before, and I can't wait!

Luke & Andrea's Wedding in Iowa

While I was in town I was also able to go to Monroe, Iowa to see my sister and go to Luke & Andrea's wedding on Saturday. Luke is my sister Kim's brother-in-law. I was very excited to go to their wedding because Claire and the twins were all dressed up! Claire was the flower girl and Finn & Tad were in their tuxes. They looked so cute! Here's some photos of them...
It was also very fun because I saw my friend Bridgett and her husband, Josh, who also live in New York City. Josh and Luke have been friends forever. Here's a photo of the two couples.

At the wedding, Bridgett and I decided we were going to see Legally Blonde The Musical the next week.

It was a very busy trip back home - but it was so wonderful being able to see so many family and friends!

My first trip back home!

Over the weekend of Oct 3-5 I took my first trip back home to Omaha! It was so wonderful to come back and see everyone! I had a packed Friday of breakfast with my Dad and Donna, lunch with high school friends at Old Chicago, and a visit to Nebraska Children's Home Society to see my old work buddies. I was so excited to see my Ralston friend's as many of them are recently pregnant and I got to see Kris's baby Brock for the first time too! Here's a photo of all of us at Old Chicago (from left to right: Lisa, me & Brock, Kris, Shannon, Melanie and Kellie). Both Lisa and Melanie are pregnant - which is so crazy and very exciting!
One of the reasons I came into town was because I was asked to sing at Alison Cox's wedding, one of my early childhood friends that I grew up with through high school. The wedding was Friday night and it was absolutely gorgeous! I am so glad I was able to come and sing at her wedding. Here's a photo of us at the reception.

Afterward, I met up with some of my friends from the Omaha Jaycees and Shannon came out too! Here's a photo of us at 2 Fine Irishmen (front row: Me, Heather, Tonya; backrow: Shannon, Mark & Brad). It was so great to see everyone!

Oyster Festival at Uylsses

On Saturday, Sept. 27th Philip and I met up with his work friend Kenta and some of his friends and family at this Oyster Fest at the Uylsses in the Financial District. It was actually a lot like Oktoberfest and there was plenty of sampling of beers and lots of food, especially oysters - which I am not a fan of and won't eat. But anyways, it was a very fun atmosphere! - tons of people, great live music, good food, drinks and a fun time! Here are a couple of photos from the Oyster Fest. Kenta is the guy in the middle with the white shirt and arms up! Oh and yes, Philip still has his mustashe!