Monday, October 3, 2011

Urban Half Marathon Recap

4:15 was an early wake up call on race morning. But, my body was ready and my legs were hungry for some miles. I ate some oatmeal and drank 1 cup of coffee to help things along before we left for the race. Jason is the photographer for this post. Thanks hubs!

We parked about 1/2 mile away (following the direction fro the pre-race email). Parking was a breeze. The start line was very visible (of course). There were so many things to look at, so many vendors. It was a little chilly in the morning, so I wore my jacket that I gave to Jason to hang on to while I raced. They did have a bag check, if people needed it. Cow stuff was everywhere (not the poop, actual cow stuff):

When they said a 7:30 start, they really meant it. The count down clock barely hit 0:00 and we were off.



Since this was in Sacramento, the course was super flat and fast. Spectators were everywhere!! The held signs, cheered and rang the (annoying) cow bells. People stood outside of their homes and cheered for us. When we were on the bike trail, I watched some guys fishing, everything was so entertaining! Photographers were everywhere (at least that's how it seemed).


My heels never hurt, just a slight hip pain, but nothing major.

My official time is 2:26:58. I finished 218/362 of females 30-34, 1179/2232 in females and 2248/3541 overall. This was a great race and I can't wait to do this one again next year! The only thing that got annoying really fast was all the cow bell jingling. That noise for about 3 hours was deafening. I still had a great time, though!


After chugging my chocolate milk, eating a chocolate chip cookie and about 3 bottles of water (can you tell they also had a great post-race food spread), we headed home so I could take a fast shower, change and head back out. We had a 2 hour drive ahead of us.

We were finishing off Jason's birthday celebration with lunch at a brewery. It's called Laguintas Brewery in Petaluma. We had never been there before, but we've had their beer from Bevmo. It was pretty easy to get to.

before we sat, down, we knew we wanted hamburgers (we both had been craving them for a while now). We ordered our beers, then took a look at the menu, and they didn't have burgers. So, we each got our own panini. They were good, but they weren't cow.


They happen to have a live band playing while we were there, which was pretty cool. The restaurant was mostly an outdoor restaurant (glad it wasn't raining). There were sections were they had a beach theme with sand. It was a very laid back place, which we desperately needed!


After the brewery, we headed downtown to walk around and grab a coffee (it was a very long day). It was a very fun day, but we really wanted to be home, cuddled under a blanket (it's starting to get chilly here), watching movies. So, when we got home, that's what we did!

How did every ones weekend go?




7 comments:

  1. Congrats on the half! I love cowbells occasionally, but constant ringing would get to me too. Looks like a great post-race lunch!

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  2. "They didn't have cow" lol!!!

    congrats on a great race!

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  3. Sounds like a great race. My weekend was fun and full of shopping. Have a great week!

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  4. awesome race!! congrats!
    and I'm jealous that you got to go to the brewery... my hubby and I are fans of quite a few of their beers. :)

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  5. i'm glad you enjoyed the whole thing! (minus the cowbell of course, but doesn't everyone say we need more cowbell?) yum that big ol' sandwich looks delish. not sure how you waited to photograph it after all that running! congrats again!

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  6. Congrats!! Great job on the half!!

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  7. Congrats on your race! Nothing like post race beer and cheeseburger. Sorry they didn't have any!

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