Sunday, July 7, 2013

Costume Party Run

Half Marathon #5 is now in the books!! Crazy that I just ran my first half about 10 months ago...


This morning I ran in the Costume Party Run. I went into it knowing it would be a 'fun run' - meaning I wasn't going to do it for time (I actually somehow forgot to start my Garmin at the start, so I was running 'blind' most of the race anyway). I knew I wanted to run in a costume, but wanted to make sure that it wouldn't be too restricting (not to mention too HOT seeing as it was July). I did some looking online and settled on Batman. I ordered a Batman tank top (cape included - DUH) and a tutu (to make it a little girlie). I KNOW I should have tried running in it before the race, but didn't (a BIG no-no in the running community - NEVER try something new for a race). Everything worked great though. I was even able to try and hold my cape (so that it looked like I was really flying) in some of the pictures I took around the course.






I asked Ryan what time he wanted to leave last night. (They had moved up the start time from 6:30 to 6am due to the heat and humidity wave that San Diego has been having for the last week plus.) Ryan thought 5, but I talked him into 4:45am. We got down to Qualcomm around 5:30am or so. After parking and getting the pup and our stuff situated we walked toward the starting line. I stopped for a potty break and actually was in line for the port-a-potties when the race actually started (oops). This was the first year for the race, so hopefully if they continue with it they get the start a little more organized (seemed like a lot of people were in line for the bathrooms or just hanging out when they said it was starting...).




Like I said, I went into this knowing it would be a fun run. The humidity helped me realize early on that I was going to stick with my original plan and not push it. I took the 13.1 miles to check out the other costumes, cheer on other runners, pace a fellow runner for a bit, and smile the entire time. Yes, I did take a couple walk breaks, but like I mentioned I wasn't going all out - I wanted to make sure not to get too dehydrated or pass out or anything crazy like that (I do NOT do well in humidity, and since this was a race I added to my schedule just a few weeks ago due to the fun factor, I didn't want to derail my other training for it).




The course was decent. We ran around Qualcomm Stadium for about 2 miles, then out of Friars Road down to Fashion Valley mall, and then back. They made it an out-and-back course so that you could see all of the costumes that everyone was decked out in - which was great. There really wasn't much spectator support, other than in the stadium parking lot (which is understandable, since the roads were still open, and if you left the lot you probably wouldn't be able to make it back to see the finish).

I know, I know, not a running shot, but Ryan got this of Walt while they were waiting for me and he is just so cute and a distinguished gentleman that I couldn't pass it up :)

Honestly I didn't even look at my time when I crossed the finish line. I would assume I was somewhere in the 2:08-2:10 range. Not every race will be a personal record (PR), some of them you just run to be with the community, have a great time, and get the BLING.




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