I know, I haven’t blogged in forever! I keep thinking, I’m going to do better but then I get distracted and then it’s been way to long and I feel like I’ve missed my chance :). I am going to try to do better & at least get my race recaps up.
After being sick most of February and missing out on my big race, Black Canyon 100k, Sean & I decided to pile on all the races for March. I saw a 20% off code from Lululemon San Diego YAY! and we signed up the week of the race.
We went up to Moonlight State Beach to pick up our packets the day before, there was an option to pick up your packet day of, but it was an additional $15 per person. They really made sure you were aware of this fee, it was on the website & then put it front & center in every email notice that went out.
Race swag was decent with a nice tech shirt, a bag full of Beanitos, a Kashi bar, a Larabar, Bare Republic sunscreen & a travel size bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Soap. The next day we would also get a coffee mug.
We did a quick shake-out run, had a late lunch/early dinner at Veggie Grille with our favorite Pressed Juicery Freezes for dessert & then just headed home to chill.
The race was about 35 minutes from our house and the race started at 7:30a so I think we left the house just after 6am. We managed to get to a great parking spot, were able to chill for a bit before walking over to the start.
It was cold out when we were getting ready to start and I wasn’t really thinking, I should have taken off my long sleeve or worn my arm sleeves instead but alas I did not.
We got over to the start line, after a surprisingly quick wait for the porta potties. It was a little confusing at first because they had start on both sides of the banner so it wasn’t clear which side you were supposed to be on until they finally announced that we needed to be on the other side.
The course was interesting, we went down a pretty steep hill right after the start and then we headed down towards Leucadia on Hwy 101. It nice and flat. I felt like I was struggling from the get-go. My nose was running and I just didn’t feel like I could breath right. I just decided to relax and not worry about any time goals. After having been sick for a good portion of February, I didn’t really run much so that might have been part of my issue, along with the fact that I probably still had a touch of the cough/cold going on.
We did a turn around at mile 2 and headed back towards the start line – as we headed up a steep hill, I took off my long sleeve and kept chugging along.
Around mile 5 we headed towards the water, I saw a booth with Otter Pops so I grabbed one, I love otter pops at ultras! Ok, so it wasn’t quite warm enough to merit a Popsicle but they are always nice! But, and this cracked me up, they forgot to open them! So it took me a few moments to get mine open.
The best part about this race is the view during this stretch. We had 7ish miles of ocean views. There were a few minor hills but nothing like Carlsbad.
Since it was an out and back, I spent the time looking for Sean & some of my other friends. That took my mind off the fact that I couldn’t walk on the flat areas 😉 and that my nose was still dripping like crazy.
I finally got to the second turn around at mile 9ish, at Solana Beach. I remember some of the shops from the time we had run with a few friends from Fletcher Cove.
As I was heading into mile 12, one of my running buddies from the #run619 group said Hi as he passed me. And like all these races, there are always hills at the end of the race, lol. After getting up that last hill, I ran into fellow Altra & OM ambassador Steve who was working as a race guard at the race. He got this photo of us while I was heading into the last .1 of the race.
I finally saw the finish line and tried to move as fast as I could, my legs felt dead but I was almost there! I honestly didn’t check my watch at all after about mile 3 so I had no idea what my time was. Even though I didn’t feel amazing, I managed a 2:04 and change. For me this is actually quite good. And I did all but 2 miles under 10mins/mi.
Paces were 8:51, 8:42, 8:58, 9:15, 9:46 (I took off my long sleeve during this mile), 9:35, 9:01, 9:36, 10:09, 9:15, 9:55, 10:03, 9:48.
I got my medal, saw my friend Jenn, got some water, they had that Boxed Water, got a few texts from Sean congratulating me, grabbed my coffee cup and a packet of Barney butter almond butter and headed out to meet Sean.
We got a few photos before heading back to the car so I could change and we could get breakfast. We went to the super yummy Eve Encinitas, a vegan place I’d been wanting to try.
Overall, even though my body didn’t cooperate fully, I really enjoyed this race and would go back. I liked this race more than Carlsbad ;).
Pros: Good race swag, beautiful course, the run-through photo booth
Now for the cons: Photos took forever to be finished, over a week, and they are expensive! The run-through photo booth photos, they told me when I ran through they would be at the finish line, but they were in the beer garden/post party. I didn’t have my ID with me so I couldn’t get mine, they did put it up on line, but it would have been nice to get it at the finish line. I guess all my cons are related to photos, haha.
