Palm Springs Race Report

It was a beautiful day at 6 am. 63 degrees when we walked over to the start (a mile away). The sun was just coming up over the mountain, the line for the port-a-potties didn't seem too intimidating, and the START line was easy to spot!  


Overall, they were pretty well organized. Some of the relay people weren't real motivated to get to their hand-off spot, but they probably had some time. 

They started with the National Anthem, and we were off! I posted the route yesterday, which is completely confusing on the map, but it was really well marked, with all the twists and turns. I saw Steve before mile 3 when he was past mile 5. And then I didn't see him again. All the miles were marked well, with a balloon that people started hitting as they passed.

Unfortunately, I have NO IDEA what my Map My Run app on my phone was doing! It said I was at .7 miles at mile 1, and .88 miles at mile two, and I finally gave up because it never gave me a time! So I don't know what my splits were, but I finished 10 miles in two hours, 2 minutes (or so) based on the start time. 

At the 10k mark, there was a "finish line" just to taunt us (actually the CLIF people had shot blocks for the runners). 

It was probably pushing 75 by the time I finished, and I don't normally drink water during training runs because it gives me a stomach ache...but I drank some water anyway....and it gave me a stomach ache! I walked a lot of mile 13, but I finished, and my time wasn't too abysmal (and gives me something to improve on this year). I think 50-60 degrees is the sweet spot for my running temps 

Here is the frozen yogurt I got to celebrate being done! 

Steve ran really well and finished under his goal. It was a neat race (not really flat at all!) and took us past a bunch of expensive houses...that all have gates and hedges so you can't see them! The park where we started was really nice, but they were out of fruit by the time I finished so all I saw were Oreos, pretzels, and chocolate chip cookies. I really, really, really wanted an orange. 

At mile 12, I pretty much always say, "I'm never running a half marathon again!" and now I'm saying, "When is the next one?"