San Diego Half Marathon 2014
Quick post to wrap up this weekend's race: my third San Diego Half Marathon. It was not my greatest race, but I definitely learned stuff!
I hit the expo on Friday. This is the third year of the SD Half, and I've run every one so far, so I'm a "legacy" runner. In addition to the race shirt, all of us legacy runners got sweet sweatshirts!!! Totally unexpected and made me super happy. Now I have to keep running this race, because who knows what they'll give us next year???
Outside was this cool giant logo that you could write on with chalk. Had to rep for Geek Girls Run! Also, the expo was at the pier, right next to the Midway Museum, so super cool backdrop!
Saturday I spent organizing my sewing room. I got so into it that I...sort of forgot to eat enough. Or drink enough. Or go to bed early enough. And I thought...eh, well, no big deal. I've done tons of half marathons; I'm sure it'll be fine. Famous last words.
Sunday, race morning, I woke up, threw on my Wonder Woman outfit (made by Betsy, loaned by Janine-- thank you lovies!), and drove downtown. The sunrise was quite lovely.
There's our new library, that looks to me like a mad scientist's lair...
I was sleepy.
I put this on the back of my shirt to advertise!
I got some nice compliments on the outfit. But they paled in comparison to this guy, who was dressed as Ryan Lochte. Genius. (Not my picture; swiped it from someone on Twitter.)
I started in Wave 5 (of 15 total). Definitely the right choice for me pace-wise. Here's the start line with the announcers standing on the bridge above (it goes from the baseball stadium to the hotel across the way):
And we were off! It was a bright sunny day...and I'd left my sunglasses in my gear bag, like an idiot. Alas. But look at the pretty ships as we ran past the Maritime Museum!
Then many miles of running, out past the airport, through Point Loma, back under the highway...and up a giant mile-long hill.
Plus side: it was early enough that most of the hill was still in the shade. Yay.
Minus side: I was *really* feeling my lack of adequate nutrition and hydration. I ate *four* Gu packets on the race and gulped water at every station, and I still had to stop and walk a bunch because I was getting foggy and dizzy starting at mile 4. Bleh. Many many thanks to my friends who heeded my Twitter call for encouragement, because they got me through miles 9-13.
I yelled "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO" at this sign:
Running down the homestretch into downtown, I had to stop and take a picture of this adorable pug for Janine!
I like this picture of me running toward the finish line because it captured how very very happy I was to be done.
These strapping young men were waiting to give us medals.
Also ladies!
And this picture was taken when I saw that there was a whole table of CHOCOLATE MILK waiting for us!!!
Chocolate milk FINISHER!
(Full disclosure: the chocolate milk turned out to not be very tasty. Sad.)
Mean thing: they make you climb STAIRS to get your post-race food. And then they make you go back down another set of stairs to get out. Nice thing: the post-race food includes delicious chocolate.
Finish line chute views!
And now, a sampling of the post-race entertainment! Dancers!
A mariachi band!
Cheerleaders!
People on stilts with...giant Nike swooshes?
I call this one "spot the one who ran the race":
We finished up right by the convention center. Always weird to see it when it's not Comic-Con.
Bouncy castles! Too bad my foot hurt so much. :(
And walking back to my car...Petco Park! It's almost baseball season YAY!!!!
And finally-- finisher medal and bib!
So, big lesson from this race: DO NOT neglect pre-race nutrition and hydration. I was overconfident and too casual about my prep, and as a result, my body was completely wrecked for Sunday and Monday both. Despite that, I did mostly have fun, although I'm bummed that my foot really started hurting around mile 12 and is still pretty painful. :(
Race stats:
Chip time: 2:09:30
Pace: 9:53
Overall: 2669 out of 6031 (top 44%)
Age group: 217 out of 632 (top 34%)
I hit the expo on Friday. This is the third year of the SD Half, and I've run every one so far, so I'm a "legacy" runner. In addition to the race shirt, all of us legacy runners got sweet sweatshirts!!! Totally unexpected and made me super happy. Now I have to keep running this race, because who knows what they'll give us next year???
Outside was this cool giant logo that you could write on with chalk. Had to rep for Geek Girls Run! Also, the expo was at the pier, right next to the Midway Museum, so super cool backdrop!
Saturday I spent organizing my sewing room. I got so into it that I...sort of forgot to eat enough. Or drink enough. Or go to bed early enough. And I thought...eh, well, no big deal. I've done tons of half marathons; I'm sure it'll be fine. Famous last words.
Sunday, race morning, I woke up, threw on my Wonder Woman outfit (made by Betsy, loaned by Janine-- thank you lovies!), and drove downtown. The sunrise was quite lovely.
There's our new library, that looks to me like a mad scientist's lair...
I was sleepy.
I put this on the back of my shirt to advertise!
I got some nice compliments on the outfit. But they paled in comparison to this guy, who was dressed as Ryan Lochte. Genius. (Not my picture; swiped it from someone on Twitter.)
I started in Wave 5 (of 15 total). Definitely the right choice for me pace-wise. Here's the start line with the announcers standing on the bridge above (it goes from the baseball stadium to the hotel across the way):
And we were off! It was a bright sunny day...and I'd left my sunglasses in my gear bag, like an idiot. Alas. But look at the pretty ships as we ran past the Maritime Museum!
Then many miles of running, out past the airport, through Point Loma, back under the highway...and up a giant mile-long hill.
Plus side: it was early enough that most of the hill was still in the shade. Yay.
Minus side: I was *really* feeling my lack of adequate nutrition and hydration. I ate *four* Gu packets on the race and gulped water at every station, and I still had to stop and walk a bunch because I was getting foggy and dizzy starting at mile 4. Bleh. Many many thanks to my friends who heeded my Twitter call for encouragement, because they got me through miles 9-13.
I yelled "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO" at this sign:
Running down the homestretch into downtown, I had to stop and take a picture of this adorable pug for Janine!
I like this picture of me running toward the finish line because it captured how very very happy I was to be done.
These strapping young men were waiting to give us medals.
Also ladies!
And this picture was taken when I saw that there was a whole table of CHOCOLATE MILK waiting for us!!!
Chocolate milk FINISHER!
(Full disclosure: the chocolate milk turned out to not be very tasty. Sad.)
Mean thing: they make you climb STAIRS to get your post-race food. And then they make you go back down another set of stairs to get out. Nice thing: the post-race food includes delicious chocolate.
Finish line chute views!
And now, a sampling of the post-race entertainment! Dancers!
A mariachi band!
Cheerleaders!
People on stilts with...giant Nike swooshes?
I call this one "spot the one who ran the race":
We finished up right by the convention center. Always weird to see it when it's not Comic-Con.
Bouncy castles! Too bad my foot hurt so much. :(
And walking back to my car...Petco Park! It's almost baseball season YAY!!!!
And finally-- finisher medal and bib!
So, big lesson from this race: DO NOT neglect pre-race nutrition and hydration. I was overconfident and too casual about my prep, and as a result, my body was completely wrecked for Sunday and Monday both. Despite that, I did mostly have fun, although I'm bummed that my foot really started hurting around mile 12 and is still pretty painful. :(
Race stats:
Chip time: 2:09:30
Pace: 9:53
Overall: 2669 out of 6031 (top 44%)
Age group: 217 out of 632 (top 34%)