Patty's Learning to Run!: La Jolla Half Marathon 2013

This is the 32nd annual La Jolla Half Marathon 2013 recap. It's my first time running this race and my first race after my surgery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bHrcy1MRAM&feature=youtu.be . Thank you themarathonshow for the video. Residents of Boston stay STRONG!

I want to take some time to really show my appreciation to the volunteers. The La Jolla Half Marathon volunteers give their time to help organize, sit for hours passing out bibs, answer questions, sit up/pass out water, direct traffic, provide assistance/first aide, smile, cheer, and place medals around sweaty our necks to name only a handful of things they do! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

The La Jolla Half Marathon expo was held on Friday and Saturday at Road Runner Sports. It's easy to get to with a lot of parking in the back. On Saturday, I met my running pal, Ann, to gather bib and race tech shirt. We did some additional retail therapy inside and I caught up with a fast runner....hehehe the first time I've ever been up to catch up!

Sunday morning, we left Ann's house at 0600 to make our way to the start line at the Del Mar Fair ground. I always prep my gear the night before.

There is plenty of parking once you get into the fair grounds. When there's thousands of runners trying to park, it can take a little time getting in.

This race is the shizzle with race day set up. There are shuttles that will take you from the finishing line to the start line and visa versa at the end of the race! The race coordinators did listen to the comments I read about last year's race. Kiwanis Club provided pacer groups and waves. We're in the 2nd to the last wave cuz I run slooooow! The weather was cool but no need for sleeves, base layers, or jackets. It misted a little. There was no wind either. My folks always make fun of us Californians for wearing jackets and coats outside when it's 58 degrees! We do love our warm temperatures!

Race start lines always have characters. We saw a Spider man with Spider woman and monkeys with their bananas. How in the world do you keep from dying in those costumes? They must run really fast so they can get out of them at the finish!

To stay with tradition we mac cheese a mug shot before the race.

The race is on time as the waves move up to the start line. The announcer pumps up the crowd as they blast music.

I am excited but as always get a crazy pit in my stomach. Never fails! My smile isn't of joy it's a sheer nerves! My goal is to finish.

The first 4 miles takes you around Del Mar fair grounds up into a residential area. Surprising enough, there's no bunching up through here. The Del Mar fire department came out to cheer us on around mile 3. Some yelled, "your almost finished". Hahaha fuuuuuuuny! It's a little hilly but there's not one runner who cares about these miniature hills. All of us are focus on the one that has a 1,185 elevation gain. As you head into mile 5, it takes out onto Torrey Pines road down into a beautiful morning beach view before veering off to the right, into a park and recreational parking lot onto the trail path up Torrey Pine hill. Beware, there are guys taking photos of runners here. Act like this is a piece of cake and smile!

Heading up the trail, about 5.2 mile marker, it winds around and around steeper and steeper. Lots of runners are walking. My running pal, GAZELLE, takes off in a speed that always amazes me. I hunker in a slow pace start at 13:51 ending at 12:24. The trail goes up for approximately 2.3 miles. The hill sorta peaks but keeps going through mile 6 and 7 but the incline is a lot less.

Although the weather is cool, there's no breeze and I'm sweating buckets. The water stations seem to be everywhere. Careful here because the path is uneven with a lot of open pot holes. I almost bit it after a water station. I did some sorta Superman pose and came out of it alive and uninjured! Heading out of mile 7, I have to run across a grassy area, onto a sidewalk, then onto the main road. Crazy! There are more spectators here. Thank goodness, but I'm tired and for a few seconds wonder if I'll be able to finish. I lost site of my running pal a long time ago. For miles 8/9 are rolling hills and pretty boring. As the runners turn right to continue on Torrey Pine road, I see my running pal Ann! It has taken me about 3 miles to catch up to her! We run together miles 9 and part of mile 10. We chat a bit. At mile 11, we turn onto La Jolla Shore Dr. Ann's knee is hurting her again. Dang knee! I leave her here and will see her at the finish.

Part of mile 10 and all of mile 11 is extremely down hill and my favorite. My pace through is nuts at 9:26. It opens up to the shore line again at El Paseo Grande at the bottom. Very pretty and crowded! I run along the beach and try to avoid beach goers who didn't see the large orange cones marking the race. Silly people! A quick left turn on Avenida de la Playa at mile 12 takes up another steady hill on Spindrift Dr over to Coast Blvd I slow down to a 12:23 pace.

There are a lot of spectators here. Thanks to guy with his hose out creating a water fountain of water for runners to cool off and the girls passing out OTTER POPS!! Yummy! Wow what a surprise and boost of energy! The top of the hill goes down very steep made up of some type of white slick rock. Careful! The finish lines ends up onto a grass lawn of Ellen Scripps Browning park. I see the awesome Pacific Ocean crossing the finish line.