The Carlsbad Half Marathon was my best yet. It was amazing because everything down to the last detail went perfectly. Pre run: a decent night sleep, a 5am wake up call with a banana and date smoothie and a half a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, evacuated the bowels (tmi but super important on a race day), carpooled with a good friend and left on time and arrived with a a perfect amount of time to wait, not too much not too little, quick line at the outhouses, weather a bit chilly but not freezing. So far so good. The race: It was full, thousands of people but didn't feel too crowded. It started on time. I felt good. The whole entire time. My newish shoes felt good. My newly purchased spibelt to hold my phone and gels felt good. My watch Kelly gave me for Christmas paced me perfectly. My nutrition ( Vega pre run 8oz drink 20 minutes before and Vega gel at mile 6 and mile 11) didn't cause any nausea and gave me energy. My support team of Kelly and Aiden cheered me on at mile 4 and 10 which I loved. I ran harder the second half than the first. And I finished strong. I beat my Personal Record by 4 minutes. Post race: Met up with my friends, sampled drinks and food at the expo, and then had my traditional veggie burger at the Habit (or Burger Lounge). Nothing really hurt just a bit of soreness. It was awesome!
I feel so happy that my training has made me improve. It is only a 4 minute improvement but I also feel strong and have no injuries. So.... now for the big one? I am nervous. Should I just keep doing half marathons? I enjoyed it! I don't think a full will be enjoyable. In fact it will probably be grueling and the risk of injury is much higher. But still... It pulls at me. I feel the urge, the tug to go for it. Perhaps I should wait until next year like I had originally planned, when I turn 50. Two momentous events at once. Ugghh. I don't know. I want to go for it and I don't want to. But, I think I have to at some point or I will feel a sense of regret. A missed chance.
One small thing I am super happy about are my new running shoes. Running shoes are pretty key to running as you can imagine. And I love my new ones. They are Mizuno Wave Riders. I have never had Mizunos before but they felt great. They gave me support for my feet, knees, hips etc and no blisters despite that this was only my 4th run in these shoes and first long run. So happy.
I haven't posted since my birthday. A surprising theme came up during my birthday and guess what it was? Running! Kelly gave me a roller device to massage my feet which I have been using all morning today. He also gave me compression socks for my calves (which I haven't tried yet as I didn't want to do anything new on the run) and most amazingly some sandals called Oofos. Now these sandals are not exactly beautiful but they are the most comfortable things my feet have ever touched. They are "therapeutic" for after running but I may never wear anything else. They felt so good yesterday after the run. My number one fan brought them for me to wear right after.
For my birthday last weekend Kelly and I went to the Westin Hotel in San Diego using a voucher we bought at the Rolling Hills Foundation auction last year. It was so nice to get away with just my hubby. And on the morning of my birthday I got in a fun run along the harbor in San Diego. It was almost 5 miles and a beautiful morning along the bay. It was such a great way to start my last year in the 40's.
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