• February 8th, 2015
• Del Mar, California
• San Dieguito Half Marathon
• Sharon: 2:46:27
• Tim: 2:14:27

 

28 down only 24 to go.

Because this HM was so close we got to sleep in Sunday. We got up at 5am instead of 3am.

This HM was run through through San Dieguito park. This is a great park. At some point (when we aren’t ruinning a HM every weekend) I would like to come back and do some trail running here.

Before launching into my race report I’m going to do a followup on last weeks post. After all the bitching I did about my weight gain during our move I am happy to be able to report that in 9 days of intense dieting I have lost all 6 pounds, leading me to believe that some of my weight gain was just retaining water from all the salt in road food. I also ran 2 miles twice last week. Yay – me.

Even though it was hilly and hot I loved this race. It must have been the extra 2 hours of sleep. This race had about the same hilliness as the Griffith Park HM but it was advertised as “hilly”, unlike the Griffith Park race whose course description writer was obviously unclear on what “mostly flat” means. Just like rain, hills are easier for me if I am mentally prepared for them.

This race course was one of the most scenic we have run. It was also extremely well organized. Most races have great volunteers at aid stations but this race wins the volunteer enthusiasm award. They even had beer at one of the later aid stations. Somehow Tim missed this feature. This is a picture from the beer garden after the race but these fabulous people were aid station volunteers. No matter how tired you are it is impossible not to feel energized by a man in a red dress handing you water. I think this was the local harrier group.

This was a beautiful run through the park. Once again I started my music too early. It did help but this time I was a little bored with it. I need to find some new music. I’m putting out a plea for everyone to click comments and tell me what your favorite song to run to is or, if you don’t run, what is your favorite upbeat song?

Tim came out to meet me and run with me for a couple of minutes towards the end of the race. He gave me his, “You’re almost there! You got this!”, pep talk. I love it when he does this. I do always try to finish strong so any distraction is appreciated. The finish line MC cheerleadered me in. This was a very enthusiastic race.

My only complaint with the race was the half mile walk to the food, buses, and beer garden was uphill. To make someone who has just finished running a HM walk uphill is sadistic. I heard many complaints and saw some pretty dismayed faces on this hike.

I always advise people never to do anything new on race day (especially new clothes or food) so I was nervous about wearing my new Sweet Spot shorts. They were fabulous (even if they do make my legs look fat in this picture). These shorts have a pocket deep enough to hold a cell phone and they don’t ride up. They are expensive for a pair of shorts (thanks Tim) but I highly recommend them. Now that I have shorts with a pocket maybe I will try wearing a different shirt. If you have been reading my blog regularly you might be wondering why I am always wearing the same awful white singlet. I have 2 major reasons. The first reason is the giant pocket Tim sewed on for me (thanks Tim). I have to carry my inhaler as well as cough drops, Gu, and sometimes my phone. The second reason (most important) is that I have discovered that this is the shirt least likely to cause chafing. At this point it’s almost dead so I am going to have to find a new favorite shirt.

This race had a very nice after party featuring beer and chili. They had good beer and both meat and vegetarian chili as well as fruit. I had a couple sips but I can’t enjoy beer in the morning. I have never really liked beer. I don’t understand why anyone would drink a beer when they could have a glass of red wine.

Cons

• Brutal hill to get to food, beer, and buses
• Very crowded beer tent

Pros

• Quick easy packet pickup
• Coupon for Road Runner Sports (I got a FitBit)
• Nice long sleeve tech shirt
• Easy parking and busing to and from start
• Casual bag check
• Very organized race
• Plenty of aid stations and bathrooms
• Regular bathrooms as well as port-o-pots
• Very fun volunteers
• Enthusiastic finish line announcer
• Beer aid station
• Great kids yelling out split times on the course
• Nice medal
• Yummy chili
• Beer tent party
• Good value (half the price of last week)
• A place in the shade to sit and eat

This was a great race. I recommend it highly. It was extremely well organized. This race was small enough that crowding wasn’t a problem but large enough that you will never be running alone. There is a 3 hour cutoff but people came in after that so it wasn’t enforced. This is a very beginner friendly race but it does have some serious hills. The volunteers made this one of the friendliest, funnest races we have done. If you get a chance to do this race – do it.

To end I will leave you with this music video (explicit lyrics). I think it is one of the funniest songs ever but I’m weird that way.

Please leave a comment even if you don’t have a favorite running song.