San Diego Beach and Bay Half Marathon

 

As most runners were flying to the East last weekend, I was flying in the opposite direction to run the San Diego Beach and Bay Half Marathon.    And I have to say it was a great decision.   One of my best friends brought up the possibility of this race a few months back, and for Christmas my parents had given me the perfect gift of plane tickets to fly to Arizona to visit her and her family.  So we decided to sign up and take a short hop from Arizona to San Diego, California.  

I flew into Phoenix last Wednesday, and promptly left the dreary, wet and forty degree weather of the Mid-Atlantic way behind. I stepped out of the airport, and into 90 degree weather of the desert.  And for this warm weather loving girl, it was glorious.   Thursday morning I popped up bright and early on East Coast time, but didn’t get out of the house until a few hours later for a five and half mile run, it was 80 degrees and it is one of my favorite ways of exploring a new city.  

 

The rest of the day was spent soaking in the sun, relaxing and reading.  By the way, the Honey Stinger bottle is filled with Nuun’s new immunity line, and not one sniffle from flying.  Spoiler alert, I did not drink it on the way home and guess what?  Last night I was sneezing and had a sore throat.

Friday was another travel day, so an early four mile walk and a quick jump on a plane and a weekend in San Diego was in front of us.  We stayed in a really cute Airbnb that over looked Mission Bay with a deck that was as large as the apartment itself. 

 

We quickly ran over to Road Runner Sports and picked up our race packets.   The parking lot was a little crazy, as they had limited parking, but picking up our packets was ultimately smooth sailing.  The store also gave a good discount, but unfortunately the line was super long and we decided to just grab food and get home as we had an early wakeup call and a pretty impressive sunset to catch. 

Since we were staying two miles from the race, we headed out at 5:30 am Saturday morning and went a bit of a longer route around and pulled right into the well manned parking lot.   Race start was at 6:30am and although we didn’t cross the line until 6:50 am, due to an unknown wave start which was a good decision on the race director’s part and kept the course from ever jamming up.    With the exception of the first mile, the race was entirely along the water either the paths along Mission Bay or the promenade along the Pacific.  

 Support along the course was fantastic.  Water stops every 2 miles at first and then every mile on the second half of the course.  Also on the second half of the course there was an ice water and cold towel stop.   The only criticism I had was the last water stop only had coconut water, sorry for those of you that love it, but I can’t stand the stuff and I had wished they had coconut and regular water.   But that was completely a personal preference.  There were police or volunteers at every crossing that allowed us to sail through the navigation of any traffic. 

At the end of 13.1 miles you finished in a coral where medical was immediately available for those who needed it, and you picked up your medal and a giant blue swag bag.   Ok guys, the swag bag was full of really cool stuff from sunscreen, bars, granola, honey and full sized coconut water, however it turned everything it touched blue.  Hands, clothes, hats and we were afraid to put it in our rental car in case it stained the seats.   The blue did not even come out of my hat after it was washed. 

 We walked back to the car, and easily drove back to our Airbnb rental, and I’ve never been as thankful to the San Diego weather as I napped under the shade of sail cloth before chomping down on an amazing burger at a local open air restaurant called Luce Bar & Kitchen on Morena Blvd.   

 

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful and headed up to La Jolla to grab brunch at the Sugar and Scribe Bakery.  The food was as good as the restaurant’s name sounds.   I could have spent all day on their porch drinking coffee from a local San Diego roaster, Dark Horse.

The rest of the weekend was spent roaming around La Jolla along the beach and in town taking in the weather and sights.   I always forget how stunning the coast is here, and how surprising it is when a seal steals up behind you.   I also checked out the National Geographic Gallery and Legends Gallery which if you grew up on Dr. Seuss, is a must. 

Finishing up in La Jolla at the Pantai Inn with our suite overlooking the Pacific, Bali décor and the sound of the ocean lolling you to sleep in fluffiest bed with chocolate was the absolute perfect end to my vacation.