Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego 5K and Half Marathon Recap

Happy Wednesday! Today I’m linking up with Annmarie from The Fit Foodie Mama, Jen from Pretty Little Grub, Michelle at Fruition Fitness and Nicole from Nicole from FitFul Focus for Wild Workout Wednesday!

If you missed my day 1 + expo recap, click here! Read on for the recap for both races!

I run for the bling, so of course I always jump at the chance to earn an extra medal. With the Rock ‘n’ Roll Remix Challenge, you get a medal for each race and then a special remix medal.

Up first, the 5K race! My mom, Karla and I were all staying at the same hotel so we hopped a cab the start line area. Before we got started, I ran into a few Pro Compression ambassadors and #WeRunSocial members!

I finally got to meet Heather! She is the absolute sweetest person. We chatted for a little bit while we waited for the race to start. I was also lucky enough to meet Kaella and Ashley. Also both super sweet women as well. Basically, everyone was delightful and so nice – it was awesome!

The weather was great for the race. A little overcast and humid, but certainly not hot at all. To me, that’s pretty good running weather compared to what we have dealt with in Connecticut the past few weeks!

The 5K course in mainly up and down 6th Avenue and near Balboa Park. The course was a little hillier than I thought! I wouldn’t say there were any massive hills, but there were quite a few inclines! Going into the race I had no expectations because of my knee, so I was just happy to be running! I ran the entire race with my mom – we ran for the most part, but took a few walk breaks. There was also one water station on the course.

What I really enjoyed about the race was the finish in Balboa Park. The park is SO pretty. I actually wish I had spent more time in the park after the race, although I did enjoy my free beer at the Beer Garden 🙂 Oh, and the medal was pretty bad-ass too!

All in all, it was a great race. I would 100% recommend it. In addition, we got a huge water bottle, snacks and fruit after crossing the finish line. I was happy with the amount of food we got for a 5K distance.

After the race, my parents and I enjoyed brunch in Little Italy and stopped by a huge Farmer’s Market on the way back.

After resting a little in the late afternoon, Karla and I walked down to Little Italy for a carb loading dinner. We had dinner at Buon Appetito Restaurant and the food was simply ah-maz-ing!

Let’s move on to the Half Marathon…

Another day, another race and another early wake up call! The race started at 6:15 am (!) and Karla and I took a cab to the start line. Because of my knee and her issue with plantar fasciitis, we were all about not walking an extra 1+ mile to the start line! As soon as we got there we were summoned for a photo!

After finishing up our breakfasts, we went in search of the #WeRunSocial crew and we found them! Well actually Brian called out my name (because I’m always oblivious when it comes to finding people at races) and we joined the group. What was so awesome about this race is that all the Pro Compression ambassadors wore the Neon Waves socks so it was SUPER easy to spot us out on the course.

Then it was time for a few more photos before we started the race.

After we took a few more photos, it was time to start the race! Okay, so I usually play by the rules and start in the corral I’m assigned to, but for some reason I was placed in a really far back corral (almost at the end). Most of the crew was seeded for corral 2 so that’s where we all started. I felt super uncomfortable and thought I might get trampled but it wasn’t that bad!

Before the race Smitha and I made the decision to run together. This was my first time meeting Smitha and she was just as sweet and awesome in person as I imagined. I was so grateful to her for running the race with me since I was injured and I had no clue how long it would take me to finish the race. We ran the entire race together and it was honestly the most fun I have ever had in a race. She also acted as an awesome tour guide as we went through different sections of the race!

Overall this is a very hilly course. I heard that it was changed from last year, but since this was my first time running the race, I’m not sure if it changed for the better or worse. All I know is that the hills were very disrespectful lol. I mean the downhills were nice at times but there was one very steep downhill that felt like you could possibly tumble forward if you ran down it too fast!

Smith and I walked the uphills and basically ran everything else. We did have a few stops along the way…

And of course we saw a lot of funny race signs, but I believe this one was my favorite:

After going up and down the course, we were near the finish line! My parents grabbed this awesome shot of Smitha and I – I LOVE it!!

And of course you need the standard crossing the finish line photo!

Overall I think the half marathon was a great race. The crowd support was INSANE! It just made the race that much more fun. I heard that many goodies were being handed out on the course including champagne, donuts, Red Vines, candy and ice pops. I enjoyed an ice pop around mile 8 or 9 and it changed my life (lol)! There were plenty of water stations and one station had Glukos gels and chews. This was my slowest half marathon to date, but I got a huge PR in FUN! I would say that this was hands down the best Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon I have done, and it’s a close second to my favorite half marathon ever (the Brooklyn Half).

So if you could not tell, I love San Diego. Come back tomorrow for my #WeRunSocial Meet-up recap!