Sun Adventures

Let’s talk San Diego. As expected, I really enjoyed the tropical vibe of the city. It is definitely more beach-y than other parts of California and I really could get into that. I whole heartedly enjoyed my mini vacation and of course running. What can I say; I am truly a sucker for a good destination run. Who would have ever guessed that I would be so into such a thing? Funny what life gives you sometimes?

Waking up early really sucks. There is early which is like 5 AM, and then there is the middle of the night which is 3 AM. Yup, 3 AM is not particularly fun and doing it 2 days in a row is even less fun. But with proper motivation we truly are capable of just about anything. To say I was motivated is an understatement. This is about the only thing that would get me out of bed in the middle of the night. Well worth it.  The flight over Saturday morning I pretty much slept. Our plane left at 6 AM, which in all fairness is a time when I would normally still be sleeping. So I pretty much had no problem getting in the 2 hour flight nap. We arrived and picked up our car which was extremely easy. Easier than any previous car rental pick up so that was nice. We got over to the expo and everything seemed to go better than I expected.  I was beyond nervous about the 30,000 participants and the traffic and the flow of events, but overall, as I have experienced with every other Rock N Roll race, they have got their shit figured out.

We got our packets, walked around and ended up at Subway for lunch, and while incredibly boring, I really wanted to keep my stomach into healthy normal foods the day before the run. We then went to the beach which was amazing. Without even realizing it we ended up at Dog Beach. Seriously called Dog beach. I guess it’s the only beach in the area where dogs are allowed off leash to play. We did not google this or read about it, we just ended up there. I told Chris that we have dog radar and if there is a dog compound in a radius of us we will find it. It was so incredibly joyous to watch. Hundreds of wonderful well behaved dogs running free on the beach, in the water, playing with each other. So good for the soul. This was happiness to me so whole heartedly. Amazing. Amazing.

We then ended up in Old Town San Diego. It was adorable and cute and I loved it. Having a car is so nice to be able to travel around with ease. Traffic was much better than I anticipated as well. We had a nice pasta dinner and then tried to hit the hay early as we had to wake up at 3 AM again to make it to our designated parking garage to get to the start line on time. I have to admit being nervous about getting to the location in time. With images of 30,000 people converging on one spot, I didn’t want to take any chances. We were LATE for Arizona and I have visions of that in my mind so I’d rather wake up early and sit where I was supposed to be for a long while, which is what ended up happening.

We were EARLY. We had zero problems with the shuttle busses from the finish line venue to the start venue. We had over an hour and a half at the start line but it was all okay. We sat under some trees and just waited. Time seemed to move adequately with the hustle and bustle of people arriving. There were lots and lots of people. While standing in line for the porta-potty one last time, they started making announcements on the loud speaker. They always do pre-race announcements and hype up the crowd to get them excited which is exactly what they did to me.  I started to feel it. I was getting hyper and ready and then I had a stop me cold in my tracks moment.

This particular race is benefitting cancer research. Therefore, their special guest for the event was a little girl. She was sitting up with the announcers from their booth watching the start of the race. They let her talk on the loud speaker. She was clearly a little girl no older than 8 or so, and she was celebrating her last chemotherapy treatment.  She was so happy and enthusiastic and grateful to be at the race watching her dad run his first half marathon. I literally got teary eyed right there in line for a stinky porta-potty.  As soon as they announced she was celebrating her final chemo treatment the entire crowd started hooting and hollering and clapping for her. How does this not make you emotional? This precious innocent little girl is just excited for this day, to be happy and alive. I had one of those emotional moments where it reminds me exactly why I run, why I am so hell bent on enjoying my life and celebrating these moments. I am not a religious person at all but at moments like this I am reminded that life is so important and fragile.

It utterly puts into perspective all the cool things that I am doing and why they matter. At any moment our entire worlds could be turned upside down by the reality of life, things beyond your control, and I am blessed to be able to enjoy today, these moments because nothing is ever promised. That little girl is proof of embracing the small moments. It made me happy to be there, in a crowd of so many people, with a common goal of running, each of us with various reasons and motivations for doing so, but all with the same desired outcome. Life is what you make it, and I am constantly striving to embrace the hell out of it.  Very cool moment that I will never forget, that little girl and the crowd going wild for her. That right there, that moment, is everything rolled into one why I run. Why I travel to do these epic adventures. Could not have been prouder in the moment.

I felt great the first 8 miles of my run. I was enjoying the hell out of the scenery, the people running next to me and the ridiculously awesome spectators. San Diego did not disappoint. So many homeowners on the course sat out cheering, holding signs, providing their own treats for runners. It was awesome. Most of the race took place thru residential neighborhoods and the roads were all chalk boarded up with inspirational sayings and words for the runners. How cool is that? These homeowners took the time beforehand to decorate their streets with crap for us. Then some of them were out there with hoses and water bottles squirting us. It was hot, so this was amazing. Then some had pretzels and candies and jello shots and various other snacks. It was one of the coolest races ever from a spectator standpoint. I was really just enjoying the scenery around me and being part of an epic experience. I didn’t get inside my head to much during the run and that was okay. My emotional point was beforehand, the race itself was just about fun.

Miles 8-10 I started to feel the fatigue a little but kept pushing on. Then somewhere around mile 11, all of a sudden I felt like the sun was beating down on me at like 110 degrees. It was not 110 degrees but it was HUMID and I felt drained of all my energy. I ran past a water station and I drank 3 cups full of water. I was dehydrated and hot. But I kept going. My time was magical great up until about mile 11 and then the last 2.1 miles were crap. But that’s alright, I finished within 45 seconds of my last half marathon so obviously I have found my spot where I run these at. And I do run. Mind you, in all of this being tired, I run like 99% of these bad boys. So that is always an accomplishment for me. I might be finishing the end of these in a snail paced run, but it’s still a run.

I was thrilled to cross the finish line and receive my awesome medal. One of my favorite medals to date. Get my water, chugged a bunch of water instantly, picked up my snacks and then headed to meet Chris. Chris finishes before me and typically I call him, but I knew my phone was going to die, which it did at mile 11, so I was thankful we had prearranged a meeting place, so I was able to find him. Yeah! So we met up together and hung out before taking off to Lego land.

I was a Lego kid. Yup, a Barbie girl thru and thru but I also enjoyed the hell out of building things with Legos so being so close to LEGOLAND it was a must. I have to say in the end I was slightly disappointed with the park. I thought it was overpriced but some of the models were just ridiculously cool and of course if I actually had kids I am sure it would have been 100% better. But it was still cool and I am still glad I did it. I got burned to shit on Sunday. I am a red crispy critter today because of all that sun exposure, so worth it.

After Lego land we went back to Old Town San Diego and had Mexican food. Delicious. And then it was time to go to bed. 2 days of 3 AM wake up’s plus all that activity, not to mention a 13.1 mile run and walking around Lego land all day. Bed time.  Unfortunately I slept like crap because of my sun burn but at least we got to sleep until like 9 yesterday morning. That felt like a real treat! Yesterday we spent exploring the city some more, hitting up a few more sights before catching our plane home last night.  It was a wonderful trip and I totally loved everything about it. I feel blessed to be able to do these cool things in my life. Oh and for anyone counting, this is half marathon number 10 of the year. 10 halves completed… awesome!