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| Surfers at Torrey Pines State Beach- Picture randomly thrown in to make up for lack of photo-taking that day! |
I got ready, donning one if my running skirts. After all, it was a women's race. I ate a bagel, same as the day before, except this time I ate a whole bagel since it I had more time before the race. I packed up and checked out as well since I was changing hotels that night and wouldn't be back before noon. I also grabbed some coffee for the road. LOVE that they had a Starbucks right in the hotel. If given a choice, I usually won't choose Starbucks, but in this case it was very convenient!
The race was in Del Mar, about a 30 minute drive. It was being held in conjunction with a women's expo so it was at the fairgrounds. They had several other things going on at the fairgrounds that weekend. Apparently I parked on the wrong side since I didn't see any other runners when I arrived, but it was just a short walk to the correct building.
Check-in was quick and easy, then a LONG wait for the start of the race. Because of the rain, they were going to change the course. Then it stopped so they weren't. Then they were going to start the walkers at the same time, then they weren't. We finally started about 20 minutes late.
My plan for this race was to go slow and use it as a recovery day. I probably should have run a little slower than I did, but I found out it's kind of hard to run slow on purpose during a race! I kept telling myself it was just a really big group run. I did a pretty good job of keeping it slowed down until about 2.5 miles when a girl cut me off around a corner, seemingly on purpose. (Really, lady? We're running 10 minute miles here and you feel the need to cut someone off? WTF???) I instinctively started to go after her. I knew I needed to keep it reined in though, and started repeating to myself "Let her go. You have to pick your battles, and this is not it. Tomorrow is your battle." I backed off and returned to my previous pace, finishing in 30:19. The course was significantly short, only 3.01 miles instead of 3.1 miles. And I definitely wasn't running any tangents. It was a good thing I wasn't trying to PR that day or I'd have been really pissed.
Mile 1: 10:11
Mile 2: 10:09
Mile 3: 9:52
Extra 0.01: 7 seconds
This was not a race I would do again. Two of the three miles were through the parking lot. The middle mile was on a trail, but I couldn't tell if it was scenic or not, I had to watch my footing the whole time. The worst part about the race was no water station at the end! They did have some electrolyte drink, but it was a kind I've never had. I wasn't about to try something new the day before the half-marathon. I hung around after the race just long enough to get my shirt and goodie bag. Thank goodness there was a bottle of water in the goodie bag! I also quickly devoured the Chocolate Cherry Almond Luna bar from the goodie bag-- delicious!
I headed back to the car, thought about finding a place to eat, but remembered I still had all my grocery store snacks so I chowed down on another bagel with cream cheese, a banana, and some chocolate. I used a paper towel and some water to clean up, changed in the car and headed to the beach at Torrey Pines.
It was cloudy and cool (about 55 degrees) so there weren't many people at the beach. But the weather was causing some higher surf, so there were surfers out. I wondered what the water temperature was since they all had wetsuits but very few had anything on their feet or head. I never did find out.
Just as I was waking up from my nap, Tanya (yes, THE Tanya from GOTRIbal) sent me a text about getting together that afternoon. We met for fro-yo but when I got there, I was still full from the morning's chow-down so just she ate while we talked. I have really got to get over my fears of meeting new people. Tanya was SUPER-nice (Cherie from the day before was too). It was great to meet her and learn a little more about her and GOTRIbal (already one of my favorite things).
Well, for someone that doesn't usually like to talk to new people, I managed to talk to Tanya just a little too long. I was late for packet pick-up for Sunday's half-marathon! The ladies assured me that I could get it in the morning and I started to head back to my car. One of them came running after me and said to follow her and they could quickly get it for me as the timing company hadn't left yet. I was thankful and very relieved! I also got to briefly meet Marison, another GOTRIbal member. We talked just a little and hoped to meet up the next day after the race.
On the way to Coronado Island, it rained HARD! I just wanted it to get all of the rain out of its system that day so that it could clear up and be nice on Sunday. I wanted to explore Coronado a little more, but between the rain and just being tired, I headed straight to my hotel.
I checked in, let the valet park my car (only $5 more than self-parking and it was still pouring!), and headed to my room. After getting settled in, I decided to order room service for only the second time in my life (and the second time this trip!) And for the second time, they forgot something. What are the odds? The meal wasn't nearly as good as the other hotel. The steak on my sandwich was tough. There was supposed to be blue cheese on it, but I couldn't taste it at all. They forgot my fries! The asparagus was okay, but some of it was very woody.
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| Supper |
The dessert, however, was wonderful! I had ordered the Brulee Trio. There was supposed to be one each of Chocolate-Chipotle, Lemoncello, and Hazelnut. They put two lemoncello brulees on and no hazelnut, but that was just fine with me! They were decadent and delicious!
I topped off the supper with the last glass of wine from the bottle purchased Thursday night and promptly fell into a food coma. I had the TV on, but I couldn't tell you what I watched. I set the alarm for 5AM, double-checked to make sure my stuff was all laid out for the next day and went to sleep.
Next: The Ugly: San Diego Day Three, Silver Strand Half-Marathon
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