Ventura Half Marathon | Race Recap

You guys I PRed!!! Woohooo!! I am so excited to give you all the details from the Ventura Marathon & Half Marathon event earlier this month. I got to participate in this awesome race thanks to RacePlace. As an ambassador for RacePlace, I was offered this race entry at no cost, but this review and recap are my own thoughts and opinions.

The marathon and half marathon took place on Sunday, September 11 but they had fun events on Saturday too. There were also various bike race distances, an adventure race, 5K, kids races, and K9 Shuffle! Packet pickup and expo were held outside right next to the pier and there was a live band and some food trucks too. It was definitely a beach party atmosphere!

We left Vegas Friday morning. Totally let the kids skip school for this trip! Every year we take a 3 day weekend getaway to the beach right before school starts and this year we just didn’t make it. So, this became a fun little race-cation! More on that part of our trip in another post 😉

We kept to our plan and got to the beach right around 11am or so after our huge brunch at Cajun Kitchen Cafe right on Main St. in downtown Ventura. First stop was packet pickup. Like I mentioned, the expo was held outside right next to the pier. It was super easy and quick to get my bib and swag bag. I loved the goodies we got! Just look at all the stuff I got! I really like that hat and the bag is great too. Roomy and useful. I gotta say I was getting tired of the drawstring bags mot races are giving. Plus, race photos were free!

The expo itself wasn’t super big but that was fine with me. I don’t particularly enjoy those big expos where it’s inside and stuffy and there’s a ton of people all around you! Anyhow, once we were done looking around and getting the kids some ice cream we spent a relaxing day on the beach. Dinner was my usual carb-loading pizza with some protein and lots of veggies 😉

Race morning was smooth and easy. Jason was just dropping me off, so parking was not an issue for us, although it seems there was plenty of parking options. The folks that were directing traffic were friendly and showed us where he could park to drop me off. I had forgotten my Garmin in the room, so we had turn around and grab that for sure! I got to the race, which started right in front o f the pier, with just enough time to get my headphones on and line up near the 2:30 pacer before we took off. Everything seemed organized and relaxed.

I went into this race with zero expectations and just happy there were no hills and it was a flat course. My training had not been as regular as it should have been. I did get my long runs in each week, but only running 2-4 miles once or twice during the week. So you can imagine my surprise when I ended up passing the 2:30 pacer and felt great around mile 5. I was so sad when around mile 6 I had to stop and pee in the port a potty. I considered not stopping, but of course, that just made me have to go more! LOL I sped up a little bit to try to catch up to the pacer again but I reached the turn around point (it was an out and back race) and still didn’t see them. I slowed down a bit and maintained a steady pace until about mile 10. At this point in a half marathon I always feel anxious and ready for it to be over. I found a really nice groove and kicked it up a notch. Once I spotted the 2:30 pacers I took off. I was a woman on on a mission! I came up to them and they told me I was doing a good job. I replied back with a thanks and told them I had been trying to catch up with them the whole race! It was great to hear them cheer me on as I kept going and passed them. I knew I was going faster than usual, but I was still feeling great. I didn’t want to look down at my garmin and see my pace out of fear of slowing down once I saw it! Crazy, I know. I just ran for myself and only when I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch did I see I had a new record! I finished in 2:24:26 beating my previous record of 2:25:27. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m so happy it did! Maybe I can finish my next half in 2:20 😉

Thanks agin to Raceplace for the race entry and to the race directors and volunteers who made this my best half marathon to date! And of course, thanks to my ever supportive family for coming along and cheering me on! They’re the best! XO

Badass Dash | Race 9 of 14 for 2014

I’m officially signed up fro 12 races through September and I’m sure I’ll find 2 more to sign up for before the end of the year. I am kinda surprised at how fast it’s going and how easily it’s been finding races! Thank goodness for living social & groupon deals! LOL

Our Pre-Race Selfie :) — Our Pre-Race Selfie 🙂

The Badass Dash is a 7K obstacle course race with about 30 obstacles throughout the course. My hubby and I signed up through a great Living Social deal and although I had already ran the race last year with my sister, he hadn’t ran it, so I figured it’d be fun to run it together. We also met up with some other running group friends when we got there. Also, some Camp Rhino peeps who’d already ran elite heat decided to run it again for fun with us, now they’re badass!! Having them run with us was a blast and helped push us through the tough parts! The course had a ton of stairs, some water and mud obstacles, tunnel crawl, over and under hurdles, cargo nets and walls to climb. Compared to last year’s race, I think the obstacles were a bit more challenging, so that was a tun of fun! There were no race bibs, but they did provide you with a timing chip at packet pickup along with a tech race shirt. The end of the race had the regular post-race goodies – bananas, orange slices, water, and a sports drink. Oh and let’s not forget the beer! LOL 🙂

Yup, I ended up a little muddy and a few battle scars! But, that's part of the fun! — Yup, I ended up a little muddy and a few battle scars! But, that’s part of the fun!

Have you done any obstacle course races? Do you love or hate them? I’d love to hear from you! xo

Race 1 of 14: Blood, Sweat, and Beers 10K Trail Run

I’ve been a little MIA from my blog and life in general! I have been consumed by WPPI, the Wedding & Portrait Photography Conference & Expo since Sunday! It’s been a whirl wind of non-stop activity for me and although the conference ends on Thursday, life will still be hectic for awhile. As a wedding photographer in Vegas, March-April, is our super busy wedding season. On top of that, I’ve got a ton of races coming up these next 2 months. I see a lot of coffee in my future. Don’t worry, though, I won’t be neglecting my blog just because life is gonna get a little messy (See what I did there?) I plan on blogging the whole messy journey 😉

Ok, so back to my blog post! I am so excited I finally ran my first race of 2014, Blood, Sweat, and Beers 10K. It was really nice to run with my husband too. It was his first official race, if you don’t count Tough Mudder, and I think he’s hooked too!

This race was organized by Desert Dash and they put on a great event! From packet pickup to the morning of the event, it was well organized and offered a sense of community. Everyone from the race directors to the volunteers were so friendly and informative. I noticed they also seem to focus on other local and small businesses, which as a small business owner myself, I think is awesome! Since this was my first trail run, I was a little nervous about what to expect at the event. But, once we got there, we noticed a real laid back, friendly environment and felt like we fit right in. They had a good variety of food and drinks before and after the event too. One of their sponsors is Island Boost, which I love! YAY!! Oh and of course there was beer and root beer from a local brewery, Joseph James Brewing Company.

They offer 5K, 10K. half marathon, 30K, and full marathon distances. Being our first trail run, the 10K was a perfect distance for us! We’d done some trail running to train for it, so we were prepared for it and we had a great time. The trail course was pretty brutal and challenging (that’s a good thing!). We ran 6.2 miles with a 750 ft of vertical climb. Those switchbacks are no joke! The markings along the course were clearly color coded and easy to follow.

I really enjoyed the experience and would totally recommend it to anyone who wants a challenging, but fun race! Just because this is a smaller local race, they do not skimp out on the goodies. You get a nice re-usable drawstring bag with some swag, along with a nice tech tee. The medal is super sweet too. Plus, if it’s your first race, you get to ring a bell and you get some additional bling! And who doesn’t love race bling!?!?

I was definitely sweaty, I drank my beer, but luckily, I have no blood to show at the end of the race :) — I was definitely sweaty, I drank my beer, but luckily, I have no blood to show at the end of the race 🙂