This was my second year running this race. The course was entirely different this year: still some hills but very shady and beautiful. I thought it was a great course.
The race benefits the Centennial Trail Foundation, so it makes sense to have the course feature some of the most beautiful stretches of the Centennial Trail.
I woke up at 5 for the 7:30 start. Last weekend before my trail run, I felt like I didn't have enough to eat and had too much water before the race. This time I got it right: I had 1/2 a bagel, banana and half a cup of coffee. I also sipped some water occasionally up until about 15 minutes before the race started. I drove downtown around 6 because I wasn't sure how tough it would be to park. Needless to say, I got a spot 1 block away from the start, whoop whoop! #winning I walked down to try to exchange my shirt at late packet pick up in the resort, but they were only doing exchanges after the race. I tried to use the bathroom in the resort across the hall from packet pick up and they had locked the doors!! Boo on you, CDA Resort! #notrunnerfriendly.
Marathoners started at 7 am and Halfers started at 7:30. It was nice and cool, in the low 50s for the start. There was an adorable kid playing his guitar and singing just around the corner from the start - he was rocking out!
I planned to take walk breaks every 5 minutes so I wouldn't completely bonk. I ran the first 2 miles and then started my 30 sec walk breaks. I didn't end up doing this exactly every 5 minutes because I walked thru a few of the water stations and didn't walk any downhills. I didn't take my gel until 1 hour in, which might have been a little too late because I started to feel pretty pooped around miles 7-8, and I think those may have been my slowest miles.
I chatted with a really nice woman around mile 10 - she was from Naples, FL! She had the prettiest southern accent and we traded stories about the Sunshine State. We parted ways at a water stop, but she totally zoomed by me shortly before the finish line.
My time was 15 minutes slower than last year. Yikes! That's a lot, but that is what I get for not getting the long runs and workouts in. I have been running a couple of days a week, but just jogging along for 2-4 miles is not the path to improvement. I am still glad that I did it and glad to have finished healthy. Here's to a great start to summer.
In Brief:
Expo: small, packet pick up is a breeze, shirts are good
Half Mary: About 900 runners/walkers, out & back course (marathoners do 2 laps, so you get to see them run by), some teeny hills, 1 moderate hill, shady with good crowd support, except for coming up out of Sanders beach - where was everyone??!!
Post-race: line for water (wish they had bottles, or some prepped!) was kind of long, bananas, bagels, oranges, cookies, beer garden (but we didn't stick around for it), cool medals (much better than last year)
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