At the beginning of February, I ran the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach, CA. This was my 4th Half Marathon. I had run Disney’s Tinker Bell Half Marathon two weeks prior to the Surf City Half Marathon.

The Friday before the race, I went to the race expo with my friend and co-worker, Monique. We got to the expo right when it opened and there was quite a long line.

We eventually made our way in to get our race bibs, shirts, and other goodies. I walked around the expo, and ended up buying a tank top. We made it around the entire expo and found Surf City’s own version of the step and repeat. I love their ocean/surfboard and race medal set-ups.

Unfortunately, I had to walk most of the Tinker Bell Half Marathon due to my knee buckling on me because of an injury to my psoas. The next day {Saturday} prior to Surf City Half, I made a visit to an awesome chiropractor/physical therapist. He was able to diagnose my problem and instructed me about stretching out my leg. He then applied some KT Tape for precautionary reasons and sent me on my way.

After leaving physical therapy, I came home and rested for awhile. And read my most current copy of Runner’s World, because, why not?

I then went to work for a few hours as I was only working a partial shift. After work, I went to Wahoo’s Fish Tacos for some pre-race dinner fuel. I got a kid’s chicken bowl and some chips + salsa.

After eating, I went home and showered. I noticed that the KT Tape on my knee was starting to peel. So I headed over to my KT Tape specialist, Kelly’s house. I needed a re-application to my knee. I brought some pink KT Tape Pro with me, because it would match my race outfit, of course!

I showed up to Kelly’s with some frozen yogurt from Yogurtland as a bribe! It worked. She did a great job taping my knee. My knee wasn’t hurting at all. But I didn’t want to take the risk of something happening while I was running.

I then went home to sleep, because I had a VERY early wake-up. I can’t remember what time I woke up exactly, but it was sometime in the 4am time range. Eeek!

Hey look at me! Wide awake at umm 6-ish in the morning and ready to race! Monique and I carpool’ed. We found Casey and Jenn amongst the race chaos before the race started.

I chose to wear a Team Sparkle skirt for race day. I wanted to wear one of their newer designs, a pink/yellow/black cheetah print Team Sparkle Skirt. I wore my Lululemon run shorty shorts {no longer made, boo!} underneath the skirt. I wore a Nike sports bra and a Lululemon black cool racerback {crb} on top. I switched out my plain black visor at the last minute for a pink Team Sparkle visor. And I wore my brand new Brook’s PureFlow 2 running shoes to race in. I totally committed a race sin also, because I had bought my Brooks the week before and had only worn them 2 times, but they felt fine. I had my Garmin 310XT ready to go on my wrist, along with a Nathan Hydration Belt around my waist. I have to ALWAYS run with water because I take a daily medication that dehydrates me and gives me cotton mouth.

Monique and I were able to get a photo together before the race. There are some official race photos of us together, but they are super pricey. So unless a discount code comes along, I’m not buying any.

We then got into the corrals {sections} to start the race. We didn’t really go with our predicted pace times. We pushed up to the front groups because otherwise, it would be FOREVER before we started. I’m glad that we started right away because it was super hot at the end of the race and I would have been dying from heat stroke.

Photo via Casey.

But oh wait, I need to send an Instagram out before the race starts…Ya that didn’t happen. I had barely any cell service the entire race. I heard a ton of people complaining about the cell service after the race. Not that the race management company could do anything about the service. But unfortunately, many people tried to run with Internet-based music apps. I made a music playlist prior to the race based on the music from this post I did. Everyone complimented me on my music along the way. I don’t wear any earbuds while running, so the music just blasts out.

Race: We started running on PCH then we turned on Seapoint right before mile 3. It was a nice change of pace cause running PCH was boring…While we were taking a little 3 mile detour {part of the course though} from PCH, we ran downhill, then uphill, then around, then downhill again. I was able to pick up some speed before mile 6.

We then continued down PCH until mile 8, where we did a u-turn. I seriously thought it took forever from mile 6 to mile 8 turn-around. And then we keep running on PCH. On my way back to the finish line, I noticed a ton of injured people. I saw ambulances on their way. I’m not sure what type of injuries had occurred, but I had never seen so many medics working on people at a race.

At about mile 11, the sun was glaring, and it made me a bit nauseous. I’m pretty sure it was the salt in the air, the ocean view, and the sun glaring at me. I think my usual mile 11-13.1 wall. But I kept going on.

I finally finished the race and I grabbed a water, and my medal of course. I had to sit down for a few minutes because I felt icky. I eventually got up and walked to the finish line photo area. After that, I met up with some friends while I waited for Monique.

After I found Monique, we took some photos and then started walked towards my car. I still didn’t feel quite right, so I asked if I could sit down for a few minutes.

And then this happened…

Monique left to fetch me some water to drink…and came back with the medics a few minutes later. They advised me that my color did not look right. I said that I felt queasy and just needed some water. They hooked me up to heart monitors and tested my blood sugar, which came out fine. They suggested that I go to the hospital but I refused.

So eventually, I made it back to the medical tent via Huntington Beach Fire Department, and got some water. I sat there for a few minutes drinking water while Monique went and got my car. She ended up driving us back to my house.

I had Monique stop on the way home for some Gatorade, which I slowly drank. I felt like I needed to dry heave/throw-up but I couldn’t. When I got home, I drank some water slowly, and then some Coke. I seriously felt a ton better after resting and drinking the sugar/caffeine.

Later that night, after resting, while my husband had 15 people over for a Superbowl Party, I ate some carne asada tacos and felt 150% better.

When all was said and done, I realized that I had PR’ed {personal record} the race by at least 7 minutes from my fastest time. I had no issues during the race, but rather post-race. Stacey the BFF told me that I have a race curse because SOMETHING always happens. And I qualified for Half Fanatics!

I qualified for Half Fanatics by completing two half marathons {Neptune} within 16 days. I’m Half Fanatic #3607. I also completed race #2 of #3 for the Beach Series Challenge Medal.

So as of right now, my next half marathon will be the OC Half Marathon on May 5th. I’m sorta having a hard time training right now because my work schedule changed and I’m not used to running during the day. But I am training!