Hot Chocolate 15k/5k
March 25th – San Diego, CA
5K start time — 6:45am* 15K start time — 7:15am*
Race Course (15k)
Thursday, March 22nd
The packet pick-up was conveniently located at Road Runners Sports in Carlsbad. I happen to work 5 minutes away from the store. It was an easy grab and go. But of course, I had to snap some pictures of the chocolate truck first!
In the goodie bag, there were the race bib with the B-tag, some discount coupons and an adorable Hot Chocolate jacket.
Sunday, March 25th - Race Day
The weather forecast for Sunday was rain with 80% chance of precipitation. Oh, nooo! I woke up 20 minutes late, around 5:20 am. Thank goodness my friend Melissa sent me a text message. I was on the road 15 minutes later. I arrived in downtown around 6:10 am and found street parking a couple of blocks from the starting line. Nice! The weather was also perfect! No rain or wind, mild temperatures. The weather prediction couldn't be more wrong. I also had 40 minutes to spare until the race started. I was so happy about that!
I headed to corral A and met San Diego's speedy runners, beautiful Nicole from Haute Running Mama and Skinny Runner who was dressed like a Tootsie Roll. I loved it! Helloooooo fellow bloggers! Since I didn't take any pictures, I am linking back to SR blog.
Then, I met my friends from Embrace The Crazy (Tonja, Abbie, Melissa and Kristin) and a couple of coaches from West Coast Road Runners.
The race started at 7:15am. The first mile was uphill. I was running slow but steady. Then came a a short downhill, a long uphill, a short uphill, a long uphill. OMG! Ups and downs non-stop until mile 6 when we had a very pronounced down hill. I was happy when we reached that point thinking "We are almost done". Little did I know, there was another crazy uphill around the corner, near the Golden Hill Park. Now, I have never been to this part of town and I didn't realize until this race how hilly San Diego is. The good news is that it was all downhill from mile 8. My legs were feeling strong so I was able to make up for the lost time.
I think this elevation graph shows it better.
My official finishing time was 1:30:51. Not my fastest race ever but not too bad considering the roller-coaster course and the fact that I had run a total of 17.5 miles within 24 hours. Now I am facing Madrid more confident. I've been told that the Madrid Marathon is like running two La Jolla 1/2 marathons back to back. Wish me luck!
After the race, it was time to celebrate with some great chocolate!
Pros
- Well organized
- Easy packet pick-up
- Hot Chocolate jacket. They run a little bit small but they are beautiful.
- Awesome post-race party featuring Ghirardelli chocolates, chocolate fondue and hot chocolate. Delicious!
Cons
-No finisher's medal. OK, we got jackets instead.
*********
Coming up ...
April 1st - 22 miles ( 35 km)
April 7th - Hollywood Half Marathon
April 15th - RnR Edinburgh (Scotland) Half Marathon
April 22nd - RnR Madrid (Full) Marathon
I'm still really jealous of you!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a great race and are feeling better about Madrid :-)
Gracias chica! 25 days to go! Can you believe it?
DeleteI heard they had medal made with chocolate, while waiting on the finish line a little too long they were melted so they put them on cup and severed :-)
ReplyDeletehahahaha, I love it!
DeleteEsta carrera te servirá para llegar a Madrid en las mejores condiciones, se trata de sumar km de cara al maratón y con alguna subida exigente.. veo que eso lo conseguiste hoy sobradamente.
ReplyDeleteLa organización de la prueba visto lo visto, magnifica no?.
Bikram te diré que hoy en día tengo una prioridad, es hacer feliz cuanta mas gente mejor, creo que soy afortunado... ya que yo he sido feliz en muchas etapas de mi vida, es un valor que me inculcaron mis padres de pequeño y creo que es una buena opción sin hacer daño a los demás.
Rafa, si tu prioridad es hacer feliz cuanta mas gente mejor, te dire que lo estas logrando. Estoy aprendiendo mucho con tus cronicas. Por cierto, me llamo Ciry. Bikram es mi guru de la India ;-) el que se invento el "hot yoga" jejeje
DeleteAwesome! I'm jealous of the jacket. I may have to pony up and do it next year!
ReplyDeleteIt was nice but challenging! I'll probably sign up again next year.
DeleteLa marca es secundaria, lo importante las sensaciones. Madrid lo tenemos a la vuelta de la esquina. Asi a mantener la moral alta.
ReplyDeleteY contestando tu comentario en mi blog, avisame con tiempo y rapidamente buscamos carrera, ademas tenemos una habitación libre. Saludos.
Gracias Tomás! Lo mismo digo, si te animas a correr la RnR San Diego, avisa!
DeleteGenial, los americanos son maestros en rodear las carreras de un aura de fiesta y de buenas sensaciones. Y admiro la participación femenina tan elevada en USA y esa sensación de correr para pasarlo bien.
ReplyDeletePregunta: ¿no es demasiado fuerte hacer 35 kms a tres semanas de hacer 42? Esto puede restar más que sumar. Si haces 1:30 horas para 15K, este día puedes estar 3 horas y media entrenando. This is in my opinion far too much.
Suerte estas carreras que tienes por delante.
¡Muchas gracias Gonzalo! A mi también me parecen muchas millas pero es lo que recomiendan todos entrenadores por aquí, de 20-22 millas 3 semanas antes de un maratón. Ayer le volví a preguntar a mi "coach" y me dijo que cuando el entrenaba en Inglaterra, recomendaba 30 Km. como máximo, un numero mas redondo, eso son 18.6 millas lo cual me resulta raro. Tu como corres tan rápido, pues hacer esa distancia en un par de horas pero a las tortuguitas como yo nos tocan una tirada de 3 horas y media como mínimo.
DeleteParece mucho pero ponte a pensar que el día del maratón correré por lo menos una hora mas. Bueno eso creo. Este es tan solo mi segundo maratón. En el de Nueva York me tope contra el muro tras hacer una parada inevitable en la milla 20.3 :( El entrenamiento para la RnR de Madrid lo llevo mejor, si bien el recorrido parece muchísimo mas difícil. Ya veremos!
That race looked like a lot of fun! Have you run the Hollywood HM before? That sounds like fun too!
ReplyDeleteThe Hot Chocolate race was delicious :-) I am pretty sure it will arrive in the NW soon. Seems like a lot of people in Chicago didn't like this race but it was nicely organized here in San Diego. As for the Hollywood 1/2, it's an inaugural with lots of hills too :-0 I am just running it for fun and for the medal too :-)
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