I must say, the run went perfectly for me. I was a little concerned that the weather and the course would be adverse, but that proved to be needless worrying.
Friday was my travel day and I was giddy with anticipation -- both for the upcoming race and for a plain old day off from my job. I checked the weather for Santa Cruz and found it was going going to be weather nearly identical to Chico, at which I rejoiced -- no rain or wind to contend with! We loaded up the GPS for the car and I packed up all my stuff, giving thanks for Alex's perfect packing checklist. My paraphernalia included:
- Garmin 205 wristwatch
- running pants
- running socks
- running shoes
- running t-shirt
- running jacket/windbreaker
- Road ID necklace
- sunscreen
- (can you tell what's missing from this list?)
We filled up the car with gas and pointed the GPS to Oakland, where we stopped to have lunch at my favorite little vegan spot -- the Golden Lotus. I ate a delicious bowl of wonton soup and shared some of Daniel's delicious caramelized chicken and fried rice. We took two pieces of their vegan chocolate mocha cake to go. Later, we checked into our little hotel room and met up with Team Vegan in Capitola at the Dharma Cafe for dinner. I got my super-cool Team Vegan runner's shirt and had a light dinner. Daniel and I headed back to our hotel, where I showered and then soaked in a delicious bubble bath. I don't think I've been so thoroughly exfoliated in a long time.
The 10K race started at 7:15am, and I had instructions to show up about 1 hour ahead, which meant a very early wakeup so I could eat breakfast and use the bathroom at the hotel before the race start. I set the alarm for 5:30am and went to bed early.
Saturday morning was dark, but not nearly as cold as I had feared. The weather said it was 52F, which was six degrees warmer than my coolest run in Chico. But alas, I had forgotten to pack shorts!!!! Oh noes! I didn't want to run in my long pants, because I have discovered that hot running is very fatiguing. Fortunately, Daniel had left his running gear in the back of the car, so I borrowed his shorts and ran in them. Hence, the skirt-like appearance of my shorts.
There were about 8,500 runners in both the 10K and Half Marathon, and the 10K group was much smaller than the HM group. It still seemed like a pretty large group to me. I warmed up by walking by myself on the pier and enjoying a quiet morning. It was wonderful. And, so, I lined up, first in the middle of the pack with a couple of other Team Vegan runners, but then I decided to move to the back of the pack. One of the other runners had reminded me of two things -- one, if you start from the back, you get to pass people as you find your pace, and two,
the uphill at the beginning becomes a downhill at the end. It took about a minute after the timer started for me to pass the gateway with the timing sensors.
I've written far too much...so I'll wrap up quickly. My run strategy was to do it completely in intervals of 5 minutes run / 1 minute walk, which is what I did. Except for the interval when I didn't hear the Garmin alarm because I was distracted by whales! That's right, I saw whales off the bluffs of Santa Cruz! And a lovely friendly little red long-haired kitty. I stopped for the cat--that's how much I love cats! I stayed with pretty much the same group of runners, gazing with awe at the other 10K runners who were coming back the other way before I was even halfway done. The Santa Cruz course has the lovely feature of a steady hill at the beginning...which turns into a fast downhill at the end (of course, fast is relative term...).
I finished and my sweetie was there to take pictures of me crossing the finish line. I wasn't out of breath and recovered really well. I wasn't even sore afterwards!
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