This was definitely one of the more interesting races I've ever done. It was also my first women only event, although I did see a few guys out on the course as bandits. Nearly a mile of it (~.4 each way) was done on the dirt track around the Del Mar horse racing track. I knew in advance that we were starting and finishing at the track, but I didn’t know they meant ON the track. I was so dirty by the time I finished that I felt like I'd gone trailing running. I'm not sure my white socks will ever be the same (see photo below)! LOL

After we finally cleared the track, we pretty much immediately began going uphill. There were some parts that were steeper than others, but it just seemed like that hill just kept going and going. We finally cleared the top of the hill just before the turn on to Pacific Coast Highway which was blissfully flat. Even though I was having to basically walk the whole race due to reinjuring a broken toe, I still made decent time on the flat portion of the course and even managed to pass quite a few other walkers.

I guess the worst part of the race for me was the final half mile. I was pretty tired and really feeling the heat, and then had to face that f'ing dirt horse track again. Pretty much all of the walkers I had passed during mile 2 started passing me once we hit the track. I did manage to summon the energy near the end to finish running. They were showing everyone coming in to the finish on the Jumbotron in the track and I refused to be up there walking! LOL

I did notice as I was nearing the finish that it seemed like I was going to reach 3.1 miles on my Garmin before I reached the finish line. When I crossed, my Garmin showed 3.18 miles. At breakfast a few other folks wearing Garmin devices were all saying the same thing. Most of us in the 5k were registering right about 3.2 miles. Some women in the 10k were showing a distance of 6.5 miles for their race. So, either all of our Garmins were off or the course was off. *shrug*

It was also crazy hot out there today. Since I knew it was going to be hot, I took my own hydration carrier rather than relying solely on the water provided on the course since there was only 1 water station on the 5k course which was at the turn-around point.

Given I’ve been battling the hurting toe all week, had to contend with the dirt track, the hill, and the heat, I’m generally happy with my performance. Would I have liked to have finished faster? Sure, but this race just had a lot of variables that kept that from happening. I'm just trying to focus on the fact that even with all of that, I still went out and did it. We got really cool finisher medals, too (see photo below)!

Do some more hill training since I was sucking major wind going up the hill.

Walked around the expo area for a bit to cool down. They provided the finishers a nice breakfast up at the top of the grandstand. It really sucked having to climb all those stairs immediately after the race, but it was definitely the nicest post-race food I've had at an event yet. They had breakfast burritos (with meat & vegetarian), yogurt, fruit, mini muffins, bagels, cereal, milk, and fruit juices. I picked up a few things and then found a seat in the grandstands in the shade. After eating, I gathered my belongs and made the trek back out to my car and left.


The heat, the hill, my injured toe, and the biggest thing -- as always -- being too damned fat!