The San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon was three days ago and it was a success! I raised $3000 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and my finish time was 2:22, which was under my running goal! I was sure that I would need to stop and walk a few times during the race, but I managed to run the entire time.
The race was such a fantastic experience. I hit my stride in the second mile and somehow kept it going until almost the 11th mile. I started to get tired in the last two miles, but it was easy to keep running to the finish line at that point.
The bands and cheering crowds along the course made the day incredible. It was surreal to run along the freeway in San Diego with huge crowds cheering us on from overpasses. The race was put together very well with water and energy drink tables every two miles. They handed out salt for cramps and kept the runners supplied with gels. The bands were so great that I did not use my iPod the entire time.
I am pretty proud of myself right now, and so happy that the race was a pleasant experience. I am actually excited to do it again! I loved raising money for Team in Training, but I think next time I will do it on my own.
Levi went with me to San Diego, and my family drove over from Utah. They braved the crowds to meet me at mile eight on the course, then again at the finish line. Their spot in the eighth mile was perfect, because it was right at the top of a hill. I was starting to get a little tired, but seeing them gave me the boost that I needed. Roger also flew over from Utah and he took us all out for a big pasta dinner the night before the race and met me at the finish line.
On Friday night we went to the race expo and ate way too many energy bar samples. We took advantage of our weekend in San Diego by visiting the Wild Animal Park. It was a great place to test out my new Canon camera. After the half marathon on Sunday we explored Balboa Park for a while before my family left.
Levi flew from San Diego straight to Alaska to teach a class, and he will be gone all week. His business trips give me a chance to try out new dinner recipes on myself and hang out with my girlfriends. Tonight is happy hour with Olivia and Saturday will be farmer's market and brunch with Sarah.
I am taking a few days off from running to let me poor toes recover. Only a few days though... next Saturday I will be running the American Red Cross 10K with a girl from work. Last June I ran my first 5K and this is 10K side of the same race. It is fun to see how far I have come in one year. Remember how nervous I was for that first 5K? Now it is like a run around the block. Well... a pretty long block. Wish me luck!
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