Summer Racing at the Craft Classic SD Half

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the SD Craft Classic as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews! All opinions are my own.

I think I’m a glutton for punishment. I’m still not fully recovered from Plantar Fasciitis and decided that it would be a smart idea to sign up for another half marathon in July. There are no regrets though. LOL. It’s going to be a fun one. I’m sure of it.

If you live somewhere where it gets super warm during the summer and racing is just out of the question, come to San Diego where you can race a half (or 5k is halves aren’t your thing) and get free beer after the race.

This year, it’s being run by the San Diego Running Company, which is responsible for putting on really interesting events. I participated in their PB Beachfest last year, which is a 5k along the beach. I destroyed my ankles there, but it was an interesting experience nonetheless. In December, they also have a Santa Run, where registration includes a Santa costume and you just run around in Santa suits. LOL Doesn’t that sound like fun?

I’m super excited to see what they do with the Craft Classic this year. Like the theme implies, it is centered around beer.

With your registration, you get a commemorative pint glass, a race shirt/tank that says “On a Beer Run”, free race photos, a beer related medal, and of course a complimentary Green Flash beer.

What things am I looking forward to? 

1. Free race photos, obviously. I love races that provide this. Registration for races is not cheap so free race photos are greatly appreciated. You know I’ll be getting my photos snapped everywhere chance I get.
2. All of the beer – I don’t drink beer, but I LOVE the fact that the first male and female winner of the half marathon wins their weight in beer. THAT’S RIGHT. You read that here. They win their WEIGHT in beer. Isn’t that insane? I wouldn’t even know what to do with that. Maybe pour it into a pool to chill out in.
3. The MEDAL – I love unique medals and this one since it’s beer centered, is a bottle opener. 🙂 I don’t drink, but I can definitely use this for my soda pop. 🙂
4. The Course – This is not an extremely flat course, but I love it nonetheless. There’s nothing like a challenging hill mid course to get you to really appreciate that finish line. I had to walk up the BIG hill last time I ran it so I’ll be excited to see if I can redeem myself. Also, I finished with a 2:00:01 last time soooo it’s time for redemption.
5. The PEOPLE – I really miss running with others. Since being injured and moving away from my main run group, it’s been hard to try and run with others and also keep pace while injured.

If you’re interested in running this race, use code “BIBRAVE10” for $10 off the half and if halves aren’t your thing, use code “BIBRAVE5” for $5 off the 5k. 

So have you ever run a Craft Classic Race OR have you ever done a beer mile? I never have and it amazes me that humans are able to chug 4 beers within a mile. Let me know. 🙂 

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To Streak or Not to Streak…with BibRave

Disclaimer: I received an annual Strava Subscription and Strava merchandise as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

To streak or not to streak, that is the question. 🙂

Now what am I talking about, right? If you thought I was talking about anything other than a run/walk streak, get your mind out of the gutter. 🙂

For 31 days, the BibRave group is run/walk streaking and we want you to join us on Strava. A run/walk streak consists of someone running or walking 1 mile a day for however many days. If you miss a day though, the streak starts over.

Back in 2016, I participated in a run streak held by Runner’s World. From Thanksgiving to New Years day, I had to run/walk 1 mile a day. I had so much fun with it that I kept it going for 120 days until I got too busy and too tired to run every day. LOL That being said, I’m pretty excited to try another run streak and lucky for me, it’s only for 31 days. I still have plantar fasciitis, but I’m still determined to try.

I think it’ll a great way for me to start increasing my miles again. Even though it’s 1 mile a day, it’s still 1 more mile than I’d normally do during my rest days and that adds up.

If anyone is looking to start running or just get back into it, this is a great opportunity. There is no cost to it. Just sign up to Strava, join our group, and start logging those miles in. 🙂

And I promise to give as many kudos as possible to get you all motivated. So how about it? Will you be joining me? Feel free to add me on Strava and I’ll add you back. 🙂

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! – I’m Signed up for Grandma’s Marathon

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Grandma’s Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews! All opinions are my own.

Yep! You read that right. I am officially signed up for my 5th marathon and it’s going to a fun one! (I mean, aren’t all marathons fun?)

Come Saturday, June 22nd, I’ll be racing through the scenic Duluth, Minnesota at Grandma’s Marathon. Now, you may ask, why Grandma’s? Ever since I made my announcement on other social media platforms, I’ve gotten a mixed bag of reactions. Those who have run it have nothing but good things to say about it. Those who have never heard of it have asked, WHY? LOL So I guess I’m here let you know why I’m running it and why I think it’s going to be an awesome race.

The Reasons Why

1. FOMO – Yes, FOMO was a huge reason why I decided to run this race. I heard about it in a podcast and everyone I spoke to about it had again nothing but good things to say about it soooo when BibRave partnered up with them again this year, I was ready to register in a heartbeat. What can I say? I’m easily convinced. That and I’m starting to make my way through races in different states. If I keep going and maybe pick up my pace a little bit, MAYBE I can do a race in every state. I’ve already done California, Nevada, New York, Illinois, Florida, and Hawaii. Why not add Minnesota to the list? 🙂
2. Scenery/course – The course itself is a point to point and I have heard that it’s beautiful. You get to run right along Lake Superior so you are guaranteed to have great views of the lake. When I ran Big Sur last year, I was mesmerized by the ocean and it was a running joke that my neck would hurt from looking in that direction the entire time. 🙂  I also just like point to point courses because I get to explore more of the city.
3. Support – This race, despite being in a small city, has a BIG race feel to it. This will actually the smallest marathon I’ve ever run, with a mere 9,000 runners, but I heard that the entire town comes out to cheer the runners on. Runners are treated like celebrities during this marathon and I do like feeling popular. LOL.I kid I kid. Sort of. 🙂

I am not going to lie. I am SUPER NERVOUS about this next training cycle. I had every intention to try and shoot for a personal record as this course is fairly flat, but because last month’s runs and races didn’t really go all too well, I’m not sure I want to attempt it. I don’t think I gave my body enough time to recover from the last marathon and now I’m paying the price with sluggish runs and plantar fascitis. Boo. Thankfully, I don’t have any races coming up until the end of March so I am doing my best to run smart and not over do it. Then, come March 2nd, when my official training starts, I will decided what my goal for this race will be.

Question for you: What are your favorite type of races? Big ones? Small ones? Themed ones? 

Also, if you want to join me on this crazy marathon adventure, use code “BIBRAVE10” for $10 off Grandma’s registration. 🙂 

My Surf City Half Marathon Race Report

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Surf City Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews! All opinions are my own.

It’s been almost three whole days since I last ran my 24^th half marathon and let’s just say that I met my goal of not freezing to death and finishing the race. HOORAY!

How did the race actually go? Well, that’s another story – one that I’m willing to share. Now, let’s start off with the positives. 🙂

1. The Surf City Expo – Despite the intense rain and wind, I had a blast at the expo. The expo is held outside every year at the Huntington Beach parking lot and thank goodness it was underneath a tent because that wind was HOWLING and the rain was crazy. I had some extra time so I helped a friend out and volunteered at the Honey Stinger booth on Saturday morning. I cut up samples, chatted up some runners, and sold Honey Stinger gels, chews, waffles, and hats! It was a nice change of pace from my usual routine so I had a ton of fun. Plus, other runners I knew would come by and say hi to me and I do love saying hi to other runners. 🙂 I also had a chance to walk around the expo and say hi to other vendors and gush over how much I loved their stuff. LOL.
2. Parking was SUPER EASY. I don’t like having to pay for parking on race day so I appreciated this so much. The race organizers had marked a bunch a different lots for us to park at for free and shuttle over. Made race morning much less stressful.
3. The rain or lack thereof on race day – Hallelujah! I was on weather watch the entire week and up until Sunday morning, I truly believed I’d be racing 13.1 miles in the rain. I was worried about not being able to feel my fingers, but luckily, it only lightly sprinkled for maybe a mile and was dry the rest of the time. 🙂
4. Seeing friends on the course – Seeing other runners yell out my name and me yelling out theirs is a favorite experience of mine. When I needed that extra push, two fellow BibRave Pros yelled out my name (Renee and Linda) and with a smile, I pushed on. I also saw other friends along the way and with each one that I saw, it pushed me to keep going.
5. I finished! – LOL. Wasn’t that the goal? I finished with all my toenails intact (with the exception of the one I lost at the last half) and was able to hobble my way to the shuttle to get home. J I also got a nice pretty medal to go along with it.

Now that I’ve highlighted the positives, let’s quickly go through the negatives.

1. The wind – Oh lord, the wind was so intense and it was pure headwind on the way back to the finish line.
2. The course – This course is an out and back and despite a lot of it being along the beach, you don’t get a lot of different scenery. I think due to the poor weather, everything seemed rather gray, which is really unfortunate, because I remember liking this course the first time I ran it.
3. My tummy – I’m not sure why, but my tummy has been under GI distress a lot more easily lately. It did not help that whatever water they were handing out at the aid stations did not agree with me. Thankfully I did not have to stop by a porta potty (Gross!), but I did have to walk a lot more than I had wanted due to stomach pain.

So there were definitely more positives than negatives so in the end, I did come out a winner. 🙂 Hooray!

Question for you: How was your weekend? Also, are you a fan of pHed water? I’m not, clearly by my reaction to it. LOL

Another Chance To Race in the Rain – Only 4 more days until Surf City

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Surf City Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews! All opinions are my own.

Race weekend is this weekend and wouldn’t you know it, it’s expected to rain again. LOL. Unfortunately, this isn’t a one day rain type of situation. It’s actually expected to rain multiple days so that’s a bit of a bummer, but at least I won’t overheat during the race. Gotta look at the bright side people. 🙂

I have no real race goals going into this half since I’m experiencing a bit of plantar fascitis, but since it’s supposed to be raining, maybe my goal should be to not experience hypothermia. LOL. I think that’s a good goal right? To not freeze to death? It took hours to regain feeling in my fingers after the Irvine Half and I don’t really want to repeat that again. 🙂

A goal.  To finish the race without losing feeling in my hands. Hah! Maybe I should invest in some hand warmers too while I’m making this goal. 🙂 My B goal will be that if I do get hypothermia, I will still try to finish the race. Hehe.  Priorities. 🙂

Despite the rain, I’m still looking forward to seeing a bunch of friends from Southern California. I always have a blast meeting up with people and seeing what everyone is up to. If you’re also running the race, let me know. I’ll actually be volunteering at the Honey Stinger Booth on Saturday so if you’re around, drop by.

Oh if you know of any furloughed government employees who also run, let them know that the Surf City race is giving away a limited amount of entries. You can read more about it here. 🙂

So nothing too exciting planned for this race. I do hope my plantar goes away. I’ve been stretching every chance I get hoping it’ll ease the pain. It’s more bearable now so fingers crossed it’ll get resolved soon. 🙂

Question for you: What plans do you have this weekend? Any races coming up? More importantly, have you experience plantar fascitis and are there any really good exercises and stretches to get rid of it? I’m all ears! 

 

Running for Chocolate Once Again

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Allstate Hot Chocolate 15k as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews! All opinions are my own.

Hello hello again! A week ago, I talked to you about the Carlsbad 5000. Today, I’d like to tell you about the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k race in San Diego, taking place on March, 24th!

This is not a new race to me and it’s honestly probably a race you’ve already heard of since it’s U.S. wide. Some of their information is below.

Distances: 5k and a 15k

Perks: This course honestly has the best bang for your buck. Registration comes with a full-zip jacket with hoodie, a chocolate bar shaped medal for 15k finishers, and a a finisher’s bowl of dark chocolate fondue with marshmallows, rice krispies, bananas, and hot chocolate. What more could you want? Oh right, there are also free race photos!

Aid Stations: In addition to water and electrolytes, they also give out sweets, giving this race their moniker of America’s Sweetest Race.

Course: Both the 5k and 15k courses are not extremely easy. Both courses start on a hill with the 15k having a lot of rolling hills so if you run these races, train on hills. You won’t regret it. I honestly like it because it makes me work for the chocolate at the end and I won’t feel guilty at all after eating it. 🙂

I also reviewed this race last year so you can also read about my review here. If you want to sign up, use code “BRHCSanDiego” for a free arm band. And if San Diego is too far and there’s a closer Hot Chocolate race nearby, check out my race discount page here, which has Hot Chocolate races listed as well as many other races. 

If you are running this race, let me know and let’s meet up. 🙂

 

 

Adding the Carlsbad 5000 to the Race Calender

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Carlsbad 5000 as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews! All opinions are my own.

After the Honolulu marathon, I only really had one race planned for 2019 and that was the Irvine Half. Now that I’m 3 weeks into January, I have 4 more races and I couldn’t be more stoked. I’ll announce each of them within the next two weeks or so and spoiler alert – one of them is a marathon in June. *Gasps* I know. I went from a one a done marathoner to a let’s see if my body can handle 2 marathons in a year. 😛

Anyway, today, let’s talk about the Carlsbad 5000. For those of you who have followed me for a few years, you’ll know that Carlsbad 5000 was the first race I ever promoted for BibRave. This race is near and dear to my heart because it holds current 5k PR. I don’t know what it is about this race, but I always feel super excited when racing it. Maybe it’s the high energy of the people racing or maybe it’s the fact that I only have to run 3.1 miles. LOL. I do love running along the coast and despite the turns, I do think this is a very PRable race.

My lovely friend who came out to cheer

It took a little bit of persuading (two complimentary beers at the end of the 5k), but I did get a few of my colleagues to join and some of them have never even raced a 5k before. Hooray! 🙂 They’re running the “Party People’s” division, which is new this year, where runners are encouraged to run, walk, and dance their way through the 5k. 🙂

A Few Changes to Note

This year, the Carlsbad 5000, is actually under new ownership. IronMan, who owned the Rock N Roll race, recently sold it to a San Diego -based group called Groundwork Endurance LLC. The most exciting part of this is that a part owner of the race is San Diego’s very own MEB KEFLEZIGHI! Yup, the San Diego Boston marathon winner! Woot woot! There will be a meet and greet and fingers crossed, I hope I’ll get a photo with him or have him sign something of mine.  🙂

With new ownership comes new perks. 🙂 This year, there will be FREE RACE PHOTOS! Yes, that is right. FREE. RACE. PHOTOS. I was incredibly sad when my Honolulu photos came at $34 a download so I was super stoked to find out that Carlsbad 5000 will now give you free race photos. If you didn’t know, the camera loves me. HAH! 😛

At last year’s Carlsbad 5000.

You also get the option of not receiving a race shirt and having the proceeds of the shirt being donated to a charity. I love this option as I’m not one to usually keep my race shirts. I have a few key ones, but most of them, I donate.

For more information on the 5k, visit their site here. It’s currently $35 for their 5k and if you want to sign up for the all day 20k, it’s currently $85. I’ve also written about this race numerous times so to avoid being redundant, you can read about them >> (1, 2, and 3).

Question for you: Have you run a 5k? What’s your favorite one and why?