Menifee Half Marathon

Remember this post???

How awesomely amazing my run was and how stoked I was about running 13.1 miles!?!?

Yeah, so do I......

Wish I could say the same about this post......


May 20th, 2012, exactly 3 weeks after the La Jolla Half Marathon, I was signed up to run the inaugural Menifee Half Marathon! This race was put on by the awesome people that also put together the annual Tinsel Triathlon in Hemet, CA. I have raced in the TT twice and plan on doing it every year until I can no longer move! It's a fun event, Christmas themed, and a great time. The peeps that put the TT together asked if anyone was interested in a half marathon. I am assuming that they had enough crazies to say "yes!!!" because I soon received an email about them hosting one!! I was stoked! It was to start and end at the Menifee campus of MSJC. This is fairly close to my house (only about 15 miles) and I am very familiar with the area. I quickly signed up and anxiously awaited this run!

The morning of the race started off the same as my other races.....put on my race gear, laced up my super cute new Mizunos, ate my normal pre-race breakfast, along with some delicious Click, and headed out the door. I was feeling great!!!! I could not wait for this run to start!

Compression socks and Mizunos

Click'n it up in my Starbucks cup!

I got to the campus and signed in, got my race bib, and prepared to start! I looked over to my left and to my surprise I saw one of my patients [Chris] at my work walking towards me. He decided last minute to run the race (after I bugged him to sign up the day prior ;) hehehe) and was there to run 13.1! He has finished an Ironman triathlon and is training for his second one this month, so this was a training run for him!!!! I was really happy to have someone at the start line with me!!!

Before the race

About to head to the start!

And we're off.....

Backing up a little on the story, let me fill you in about Menifee.....if you aren't familiar with the town. It is the complete opposite of the savvy beach town of La Jolla. Menifee is inland, warmer temps, dryer air, deserty feeling. The race had a start time of 8am (which is fairly late for a mid-May run in Southern California.....).

At the sound of the gun, the weather was nice. Not at all chilly, but not too warm either. I started off strong once again. I had no doubts that I couldn't finish this race. By now, longer distance running has become a piece of cake for me. A 3 mile run feels like I am shorting myself of a good workout. 8 miles is a decent run.......11+ is a great run for me! :) 13.1 miles, I got this shit in the bag!


After a mile and half (I made sure to have my Garmin fully charged this time), the first water station came up (there was also a 5k happening). I grabbed my cup of water and kept going. The temperature started to rise and I could feel the heat radiating off the black topped streets. All was good though. I was used to exercising in the heat. I kept playing "tag" with the same couple of people, and even struck up a conversation with this young boy who was having shoe issues. I told him he needed a new pair of shoes and he told me that he knows that, but his parents don't understand why he needs a new pair every other month.....and that he runs about 400 miles a month!!! Don't know if he was exaggerating, but you never know. I felt bad for him and ran with him for awhile to keep him company. Eventually he slowed down and I kept going. We went through some rural areas and on dirt roads. After the 7 mile marker (according to my Garmin since miles weren't marked on the course), I passed Chris on the opposite side (he was trailing behind) and told him at the turn around was 7 miles.....we are half way done! He then slowed to snap a picture of me!!! :D

Is that food in my hand again? What is with me and having pix taken while eating my Gu's??? I am such a porker....

 I took water from every water station. No electrolyte type drinks were given out, which was a huge disappointment. I guess when you're used to putting on a sprint tri you don't realize how important electrolytes are......especially in the summer time.

The heat started to take a toll on me. I ate one of my Gu gels at mile 7 and took some more water. I got to a point where I was all alone.....there were runners in front of me and behind me, but I was running solo. The music coming through my headphones was not motivating me at all. I kept changing the song in hopes that a better one would come on. Fail after fail......

Around mile 9 I took another Gu gel (didn't have to take 2 at La Jolla) in hopes that it would give me some more energy to keep on chugging. It did for a very short period of time (I'd say about half a mile) and then I was bogging again. Blah......Then the worst happened......

Cramping......in the calves! Dammit! At mile 10 my right calf started to cramp and twitch. NOT good! I still have 3 more fucking miles to go and the cramping is going to start NOW!?!?! I tried to push through it, but that only made matters worse. My left calf started to cramp up as well. Do you know how hard it is to run with 2 cramping calves???? If you don't, you really don't want to know.

I would run for about 30 seconds and then walk for a few minutes. I was really hoping for a sub 2 time to PR. I would have had that if it wasn't for the leg cramping. I pushed through and hated the fact that, the last half mile, was filled with spectators and I looked as though I couldn't run 13 miles to save my life. I could finally see the finish line and I put in EVERYTHING I had to get across it!

I did!!! I finished! Not strong, but I still finished! I didn't care what my time was, I just wanted to rest. I grabbed an orange slice, my bottle of water, and decided.....I have to go back and look for Chris! I need to finish with him!!!

I headed back out onto the course. I walked and walked and walked and couldn't find him. He couldn't have been that far behind me, now could he? Finally I spotted his red shirt and ran to him. He said he needed some fuel and asked if I had any......I had eaten both of my Gu's, but I DID have some oh so yummy, life saving, Swedish Fish!!!! Skinny Runner swears by them for long runs.....and if she says its true, it's got to be true!!!! Anyway, Chris scarfed down those candies like he had been lost on a desert island for a week and was starving to death! LOL! Poor guy. We slowly made it back to the finish line. I was still cramping up and cut off right before he finished! We snacked on some more oranges and water and hung out for a few......driving a stick after running over 14 miles is NOT easy.....especially with calf cramping.

At least we look happy!!!! :D

My medal!!! <3

Although this race was hard on me, I DID manage to somehow PR!!! Not by much, but non-the-less, I still PR'ed!!!!

Official Time: 2:11:24

I honestly cannot wait until my next race. I don't have one lined up yet, but once I do, you will know about it! I am still planning on doing the Danskin Triathlon in October, the Color Run in November, and the Tinsel Triathlon in December. 2013 brings a whole new race calendar with many more running events though!!!!

Until then.....

Much <3!

Amy