Sunday Runday: San Pasqual Half Marathon

So let's see.  I pretty much knew this race was going to be a mistake almost as soon as I registered.  It sounded like a good idea for about 10 minutes, you know, just long enough to sign up.  The price was good, the location sounded nice, and the timing gave me just enough time to be undertrained.

And then after signing up I realized I had signed up for a trail half marathon. 

Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy trail running.  But trail races?  That's a different beast.
See I've got 2 issues, 1- Trail anxiety where I'm convinced I'm going to get lost and eaten by a mountain lion/abducted and killed/bitten by a snake, and 2- not being the speediest of runners.  If I only suffered from one of those issues a trail race would be great, but instead I spend the time worried because I'm so far behind the runner ahead of me.  And I was going to have 13 miles of this!

So I figured I was just going to take it easy, not run for time (because goodness knows there's no way I was going to be beating any of my records on a trail half marathon) and enjoy the scenery.  Besides, 13 miles is 13 miles and I need as many of those as I can get.

The race was supposed to be in February but with all the rains, the trails had flooded and were in no state for running, so it got pushed to March, to yesterday.

I haven't been as nervous before a race since my very first half marathon.

Once the race started, my anxiety lessened a little as we all filed single-file through the brush.  As we got enough room to start passing, I noticed that the woman in front of me was pretty much staying just a few footsteps in front of me, so I didn't need to worry about running alone or getting lost. 

After the first mile though, I overtook her, which was also okay, because I knew there would be someone not so far behind me.  And then I started really enjoying the race.

Around mile 2 there was a bridge.  I love bridges.

The gates to Bandy Canyon Ranch are always so impressive.

Around mile 5, we started the climb up Raptor Ridge.  Which meant it was the perfect time for me to slow down and take some photo breaks.

Once I got to the top of Raptor Ridge, it was all downhill for next mile and a half, until the turnaround point.  And then I got to turn around and run the whole thing backwards.  Which is where things started to fall apart.   The climb up Raptor Ridge on either side is 400 ft. and doing it once was fine, but my legs were just exhausted after doing it twice.  All the energy I had for the first half was completely missing once I hit the top of Raptor Ridge the second time.  I did fine running back down, but those last 4 miles in the sun were painful - physically and mentally. 

I was super excited to see the finish line, collect my medal, and collect myself.

As with all half marathons, I felt fine once I stopped running.  I grabbed a beer and a couple of Sunny D's to rehydrate and was joking and laughing with a runner I had met on the trail as we walked back to our cars.

And that my friends is the tale of my first AND last trail half marathon!