Preview: Giant Race Half Marathon

Pretty cool race swag! My team grows...

The Giant Race Half Marathon is in two days. I stopped by the expo today to pick up my race bib, timing chip, tech t-shirt and my Matt Cain Bobble Head!

When I signed up for this race, I was looking for 13.1 miles to get a sense of where I was in my marathon training. I chose this race because the finish line is on the field at AT & T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giant's! If that weren't enough, I found out a month later that the race swag included this Matt Cain bobble head. I've always been a pitcher's fan, and after Cain threw a perfect game this summer, I thought this would be a perfect addition to my bobble head baseball team on my desk :)

This will also be the first race I have participated in that provides pacing groups. For those who are not familiar: a pacing group is led by a runner who is capable of running the race at least 10 minutes faster than the goal time in which he or she intends to finish the race. When I signed up, I chose the 1:45 pace group, and that is still my goal, which will be a PR for me at the half marathon distance. 8:00 miles for just under two hours? I feel like I can pull it off; my Achilles is under control, my chiropractor has given me some good stretches to work on, and I have to leave it all out there on the course, because my marathon training will be derailed the following week due to our vacation.

Wish me luck!

The expo, in all, was a little disappointing. Not many giveaways or product samples, just Chobani yogurt and some laundry detergent :(

At least the t-shirt is tech, so I'll wear it! And of course, the Perfect Cain bobble head will always remind me of the event... Watch for the race report on Sunday.