San Diego Half Marathon

Well this weekend I completed my 2nd race of the year...and as of right now, this will be my last race of the year. This is the first time in 18 months that I don't have an upcoming race on the books. It feels weird. Knowing that after this weekend I wouldn't have a race scheduled, I went to a few websites to browse through the remaining races in 2012, and nothing exciting caught my eye...either the race itself was unappealing, and/or the rare appealing race was way too expensive! So we'll just have to see how the rest of my racing year pans out at another time.

As far as this race was concerned, I absolutely LOVED it! In fact I loved everything about it! I was one of the first 500 people to register for the race, so the price was unbeatable! I can't remember exactly what the price was, but I'm thinking it was somewhere around $40...that is unheard of for a half marathon! And then, the course itself started and ended at Petco Park and lead you through all of the beautiful sights of downtown San Diego. PERFECT combination of price/location. In addition to that, your registration price included post race activities which featured a fun zone for kids (complete with games and bounce houses) AND admission for you and a guest to a headliner concert with the band Lifehouse. I knew that because I was going to be celebrating my anniversary this particular weekend, that my kids wouldn't be there to take advantage of the fun zone, and that Rick and I wouldn't want to spend our time together at the Lifehouse concert. However, I thought the opportunity was SUPER cool and generous for all other racers, and if it was on any other weekend other than my 10th anniversary weekend, I surely would have wanted to participate in the post-race fun! :0)

Other than the price, and the race course, my favorite aspect about this race was that I was already staying downtown...at the US Grant...and so it made for a delightful pre-race experience! I didn't have to wake-up at o-dark-hundred...The race started at 7:15am, and I got to wake up at 6am...AMAZING! Also, our hotel was about a half of a mile from Petco Park, so I was able to walk to the starting line, and was able to avoid traffic, public transportation, and ridiculous parking fees downtown...SCORE!

I had known a few other people that were signed up to do this race, but I wasn't planning to run this race with any of them. I trained by myself...and I pretty much planned to run this race by myself. For whatever reason, I didn't feel as physically fit as I did for my first half marathon (exactly a year ago), or as I did for the full marathon I did about 9 months ago...but none-the-less, it was still my goal to PR (personal record) this race.

Exactly a year ago...daylight savings weekend...my friend Katie and I ran our first half marathon together at Safari Park...



And on this day, in this year, we found each other again...



We had no plans to run the race together, but we did start off together. We found more racing buddies...



...got into our "wave"...



..and approached the starting line...



Katie and I got to run together for just over 2 miles. It was a super fun time. Just like the Tinkerbell Half Marathon with my sister, I so much more enjoy the experience when you get to chat along the way. Katie has been super preoccupied in recent weeks with preparing for her biggest Triathlon yet, and I have been preoccupied with all of my personal responsibilities in life, and so this was really neat for us to get some one on one time together catching up on the ins and outs of our lives all the while giving it to a sport that we both love/hate. ;0)

From the start, Katie had to go to the bathroom, and after 2 miles, she found a bathroom that didn't have a crazy long line, and so she had to take her opportunity to get relief. That was when we parted ways, and I didn't get to see her again for the remainder of the race.

I put my ear buds in...turned up the Dirty Dancing soundtrack...and pushed myself even harder.

The first few miles of the course were through the downtown streets, and then along the embarcaderro. Shortly after running past the airport...



...I hit the 5K marker...3.1 miles down...just 10 miles to go...



Right around that point was a sign that read, "A half marathon is just a 5K...with a 10 mile warm-up." HAHAHAHA!

I continued to race past beautiful sites...



...and encouraging mile markers...mile 4, and then mile 5...



Mile 5 was all about running to and through Point Loma...







... and the Naval Base...



One of the best places to visit in Point Loma...Corvette Diner of course! ;0)



After passing by another favorite restaraunt of mine...



...and a couple funny signs...





...and then a sign that made my think of my Wyyyyyyatt...



...we finally made it to the 10K marker...6.2 miles...



I was feeling pretty strong at this point. Although, I was curious to see when I was going to start fading. After the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in January, my longest run has only been 6 miles. But in my defense, I have been running that distance 3 or 4 times a week...so I have been racking up the mileage as a whole.

I was surprised to find that I was feeling good past mile marker 7 and even past mile marker 8.

But at about the 8.5 mile area we went up a steep ramp...and that was exhausting. I thought that was the one and only incline they referenced on the course map, but I was wrong. Shortly after the ramp, we turned on to a street which lead us straight.up.hill.for.one.entire.mile. It was GRUELING!!! While I was running up the hill, I kept wanting to think that this was the hardest mile I have ever run, but then sound mind would interject and I remembered that truly any mile from miles 18 through 24 of the full marathon were hands down the WORST miles I have ever run!

After getting up the hill we hit some flat land, and while it was a nice change of pace, I was pretty wiped, and it seemed like AGES since I had seen a mile marker! Where was mile marker #10!? Where was it?...where was it?...WHERE WAS IT!? Finally I asked a runner next to me, "Have you seen the 10th mile marker!?"...and she responded, "Yep, we just passed it." You would think that would have been comforting news, but I was secretly hoping that the 11th mile marker was in our immediate future, and so to find out that we "just" passed it, was discouraging. :0(

But I just kept on keeping on...

They had said that the final 2 miles were down hill, and they were SO right!

Eventually I made it to mile marker 11...and then the race went by SO fast! It felt like 2 minutes later I had made it mile marker 12!...Just one more mile to go!...



And again, in what felt like just 2 minutes later, mile marker 13 popped up! We were right outside of Petco Park!...just .1 miles to go!...



The Friar ushered us into the tunnel of the ball park for an Olympic Stadium style finish...



And, just as I entered the tunnel, there were spectators along the fencing in the stadium, and one man called out to me, "Hey 556 (my race number), you aren't giving it your all!"...and just like that the fire arose up inside me and sprinted to the finish line like I have never ran so fast before! I felt like my legs were going to detach themselves from my torso and take off in front of me, lol! It was an incredible feeling to be running so.darn.FAST! It was an amazing finish!...



And of all of the most exciting/shocking/odd-feeling things, they had members of the United States military giving US medals! That was an interesting twist!



Right after the race, I booked it straight back to our hotel to continue our Anniversary festivities. My hunny was kind enough to take my post race picture :0)...



I love adding another medal...



...to my growing collection!



I can only wonder when I will achieve my next one!?

Oh...and by the way, I did PR this race! I beat my previous Half Marathon record by 16 seconds!!! HAHAHAHA! Just ask any olympic gold medal winner...every second counts! :0)