Race Recap - 27th Half Marathon Completed!

This weekend was a great weekend. It started out with me picking up my wedding dress! I bought my dress at a trunk sale in Rancho Cucamonga which is about 40 mins North East of where I currently live. I recruited a few friends to drive out there with me to pick it up. After picking it up with a large smile on my face, my dress carefully placed in the trunk, we stopped at a restaurant to "celebrate" with sangria. 

Lauren, Kelsey, and Jenny enjoying the delicious Sangria!

Hummus trio we enjoyed with our drinks

Later that night, my mom flew into town. She was down visiting to a) see me and b) run the OC half marathon. She arrived at 9pm and we both decided that we were a little hungry and thirsty. We decided on a restaurant in Old Town Orange called Gabbi's. It is an amazing Mexican restaurant that I have been to once before and have thoroughly enjoyed both times.

We ordered Pisco Sours and veggie tacos as our late night snack.

The pisco sour

Etta enjoying the warm weather and her Pisco Sour

Our delicious tacos with plantains

Saturday morning my mom and I had a leisurely morning, went to the expo to pick up our bibs for the race, ate a lovely lunch at Rutabegorz in Old Town Orange and made sure to give our legs plenty of rest. At geriatric dinner time (5:15pm), my mom and I headed to a restaurant in Irvine called Prego. We wanted to make sure that the food settled in our stomachs before we went to bed and since we had to be up at 3am the next morning, we went to bed really early. The dinner was fabulous. My mom and I ordered a glass of Syrah from Cline Cellars (a Sonoma winery), asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, a pear and goat cheese salad, and we split a pasta with sausage and mushrooms. We were happy and full.

We came home, set up our race gear, and went to bed around 10pm.

My stuff all ready for the morning

I got a really good nights sleep and woke up almost bright tailed the next morning when my alarm went off at 3:15am.

The OC half marathon (and marathon) is a point to point race, which means it starts and ends in different places. The race started somewhere in Newport Beach, but ended at the OC Fair Grounds in Costa Mesa, so you park there and they bus you to the starting line. Our shuttle time was set for 4:45am. We didn't want to worry about being late and/or missing the bus, so we left my house at 4am and arrived at the fair grounds around 4:20am. This was a smart idea, because when we were on the shuttle to the start line, we noticed a long line of cars getting off at the exit to park. I have experienced this before and ended up being an hour late to the race start which isn't a good way to start a race.

My mom and I at the start line around 5:30am

The race was really fun. I believe about 9,500 people did the half and 1,500 did the full, but the way they organized it, I never felt like I was crowded by people and I was able to run at my own pace the entire time. The course is beautiful and pretty flat. I think there is about 200ft of elevation, but the hills are very manageable and there were ample water stops along the way. The temperature was a pleasant 50 to 60 degrees so I didn't stop at all the water stations.

I finished the race in a little over 2 hours. I was not trying to PR,  just finish. I felt great the entire race and felt even better when I crossed the finish line of my 27th half marathon and received this wonderful medal.

I have to decide on my next 3 half marathons to run by the end of the year. It all depends on where I get placed in my clinical rotation next semester. Does anyone have any suggestion of wonderful races in Southern California or the Seattle area from now until December?