San Diego Half Marathon Coming up ...

I have the Rock N Roll San Diego Half Marathon coming up next weekend, June 3rd, but I am not feeling it.  Don't get me wrong! It's a good race at the perfect location and best time of the year.

What's wrong with me? Nothing really ?! OK let's call it runner's low. After running the RnR Madrid Marathon and then the OC Marathon 3 weeks ago, I don't feel like running this distance. I've already participated in this race last year and honestly I don't think I could PR at this half marathon. I've been running at a slower pace lately. I am not totally unhappy about this though. I've been playing with my brand new minimalistic shoes, the Brooks PureFlow which the company should have called PureJoy!!

Oh, I am in trouble!!  Call me crazy but I'd rather run the RnR San Diego FULL Marathon next weekend. Is this even an option? YES, but I shouldn't! Oh well, I am sure I'll find my mojo before Sunday.

What do you do to keep motivated? New Music? New outfit?

The OC Marathon Weekend - Part II: Race Recap

Date: Sunday, May 6th 2012
Race Starting time: 5:30 am
Expo: Saturday, May 5th (9:00 am - 6:00 pm)
Location: Beautiful OC



Race Course

According to the official OC Marathon website "the full marathon course is net downhill in elevation from start to finish. The first 6.5 miles are extremely fast with only minor inclines. Miles 6.5 to 7.0 is the only significant hill on the course taking the runners from 15 feet to 75 feet. The course is then mostly flat through mile 10.5 with a couple of rolling hills to 11.5. There is another 45' incline at mile 14.5 over the 405 overpass and a 40' incline slightly over 1/4 a mile in length at mile 23 after leaving Fairview Park. These are all relatively small hills",

Race Elevation

Do you want to know how I got here? Do you want to hear a crazy story? Read The OC Marathon Weekend - Part I

 Race Day

I woke up at 3:45 am. OMG, so early! I took a taxi at 4:30 am from the hotel to the starting line which was about 3 miles away. I had read that there was a lot of traffic during marathon day so I decided to leave early, just in case. I arrived at the starting line at 4:40 a.m and waited at corral 5 for an hour. There was a guy sitting next to me wearing a Marathon Maniac shirt. I proudly told him that I will be a member of the club after this race. He proudly told me that this would be his 11 consecutive marathon, all back to back.  Now, that's hardcore!

Corral B with my Team Sparklelicious skirt

The race started at 5:45 am, 15 minutes late. The first few miles were beautiful. We ran along Corona Del Mar and Ocean Blvd. We passed the Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs and continued through residential coastal areas.

 It was mostly flat with some rolling hills until mile 6. then came a nice incline at mile 7. Nothing too serious compared to Edinburgh or Madrid.  From mile 7-10, I ran close to the 4:15 hr pacers but I completely lost them around mile 11. There I saw the Team Sparkle girls. They shouted "Go Sparkle!" as I was wearing one of their 'Sparklelicious' skirts. I looked back and thanked them. They shouted "It's Ciry. Go Ciry!" They know me by name. Nice! We've met a couple of times at the Disneyland races.

'Mua', Mrs. Incredible, with Team Sparkle girls at the 2011 Disneyland Half

At mile 12, the half marathoners and full marathons split. We were close to the John Wayne OC airport. There was a big hill on the horizon. Most of the runners walked it but I sped up. I was feeling good.The next 6 miles were a little bit boring, to be honest. There is nothing too glamorous in this part of town,  Irvine or Santa Ana. My mind was focused on getting to mile 18 ( km. 30) where I'd be taking a tiny break to celebrate a brand new day, just like I did 14 days ago with my friend Lynne in Madrid. Unfortunately, the 18 miler sign was no where to be found so I ran to mile 19 with a smile on my face. I stopped, grabbed some Gatoride and my latest favorite sport treat, Powerbar Gel Blast Cola. Ohhhh, it tastes so good. I paused for 30 seconds and blasted out loud "today is a brand new day and I am only running 8 miles! Let's go!" A runner next to me gave me a look. hahaha Madrid dejavu!

At mile 20, I decided to turn my music on. There were a lot of rolling hills which somehow are not reflected in the official race graph. I needed extra energy.  At mile 21 or so, I experienced an incredible runner's high while listening to U2 and Mary J Blige signing "The One".



I ran with my eyes closed for a couple of seconds and almost started to cry, of happiness of course! I thought of my road until this point and how I got injured last year and I couldn't run for a couple of months after my 3rd half marathon in Surf City. But here I was. 14 half marys and 3 full marathons later ( yes, I ran a lot last year!). I was feeling incredibly blessed. I dedicated this mile to my husband for all his support and love. I also thought of my kids, my family, friends in Spain and my recent races in Edi and Madrid.

At mile 22, I was back on this planet :-) Soon we crossed the  Costa Mesa Golf Course at mile 25. My husband and kids were waiting for me at mile 26.  I blew them kisses. Yahoooooo! Only .2 to go. I sped up and finished strong. My finishing time was 4:32:18. 4 min 28 sec faster than RnR Madrid 14 days ago! Oh, YESSSSS! Thanks JT!

 For the first time EVER, I don't have a picture of myself with the medal.  I was too tired to wait for an official one. 

Post-race
After running the full marathon, I went to the hotel, took a shower and headed to Disneyland for 6 hours of soreness and fun at the parks :-) Afterall, a promise is a promise and I had already told my kids the day before that we would be spending the day at the "happiest place on earth" :)

The OC Marathon Weekend - Part I

The May 6, 2012 OC Marathon was the last chance to start the Beach Cities Challenge. 

What is the Beach Cities Challenge? Basically, you complete, in consecutive order, any combo of full or half marathons at the Surf City Marathon, OC Marathon and the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon and you get the fabulous medal posted above.

I saw this medal at the Tinkerbell Half Marathon Expo last January. It was big, heavy and very appealing to my eyes :) Oh, love at first sight. Yeahhh, it's all about the bling bling!! Unfortunately, the OC Half Marathon was taking place on May 6th, just two weeks after my RnR Madrid (Full) Marathon (April 22nd) so I decided to give up on this challenge. I can't run a full and then 2 weeks later a half. It's too much!  That's what I thought.

Then came Cinco De Mayo-Supermoon Saturday, 3 days ago.

My family and I were invited to a big party in San Diego but all I could think about was OC. "I'd rather be running tomorrow", I thought. I posted about it in Facebook and a friend replied back with "come with us! I am driving up in 2 hours". I read this message to my hubby. He said "Do it! It's your mother's day present". I quickly checked online but registration was no longer available. However, they mentioned on their site that you could buy a bib at the Expo. "OK, I am going. Crossing my fingers".

Next, I called the Marriott Newport Beach Hotel & Spa. It was sold out. I called the Hilton OC Costa Mesa. It was sold out. My husband proposed we all go together with the kids and stay at a different Marriott, instead of the official one. The plan was to run the OC Half early Sun and party with the gang at Disneyland afterwards. Everyone was excited!

We left San Diego around 2:30 p.m, I think. We arrived at the expo at 4:00 p.m. There was a lot of traffic. My husband dropped me off at the expo.

I ran to the registration table. It was still open. Yahoooo!

Me: I want to sign up for the half marathon
Staff: It is CLOSED!
Me: Noooo, it can't be!
Staff: We sold out at 10:00 this morning.
Me: But in the website ...
Staff: Sorry ...

My thoughts "OM F#$%^& goodness, I can't believe this is happening to me!!!"

I almost cried. I called my hubby:

Me: It's too late. The half is sold out.
Hubby: Do the full then!
Me: Whaaaat?
Hubby: Do it! You can!
Me: That's crazy!
H: It's your last chance! If you don't run OC, you can't complete the challenge!
Me: 2 marathons within 14 days!!
H: yes! you will be a member of the marathon maniac after this one!
Me: *big smile on my face* ... or maybe it was a grin. I don't know I was so nervous!!!

15 seconds later, I had signed up for the OC (Full) Marathon. How crazy! I was not feeling 100%. My legs were fine but I had laryngitis and bronchitis about a week ago and I was just recovering from a bad cold.  I called my hubby back. I did it! OMG, I am freaking out! I received lots of text messages within the next half hour. Did you get in? Did you get in? Did you get in? I couldn't reply to any of the messages right away. I was freaking out! This is probably the craziest thing I've ever done in my life. To my hubby, thanks for encouraging me!

I can't recall what I did at the expo after I signed up for the full. I was eager to get to the hotel to study the race course. I didn't know absolutely anything about it, except that it was coastal. OMG!!!    

Race Recap Coming Up ...