San Diego Holiday Half Marathon

2015 was a great race year for me.  As December was coming to an end, I decided I wanted to do one more Half and signed up for the San Diego Holiday Half Marathon, taking place the weekend after Christmas.  I had heard great things about this race and was looking forward to it.  

Bib pick-up was the day after Christmas at Road Runner Sports-- I was a little bit nervous about this.  A retail store the day after Christmas?  Yes, it was crowded, but everything was well organized and I had no problems getting my bib.  I even picked up a few goodies with the coupon that came with out packet.

Flat Jenn ready for race morning!

I woke up race morning ready to go.  It was a cold one--thank goodness for the gloves and mylar blanket that came in our packets.  A definite win!  I left early to give myself time to find the race area and parking-- both were easy.  I made my way to the start line and discovered the neighboring Double Tree Hotel had their ballroom open for the runners, which meant warmth! Another win.  I met up with Michelle and we caught up a bit before heading to our corrals.  7:30am came and we were off!

The 13.1 miles were pretty uneventful-- we had been "warned" about a few hills in the pre-race communications, but other than the hills, I found the course to be a bit boring.  It wasn't a bad course, just not anything I found to be interesting.  A lot of the course is along traffic and the freeway-- there was minimal crowd support.  (The people out there were awesome. ) They had a good amount of water stations and on course restrooms, which is great.  I will say the best thing about the course is the 3 minute PR I got from it.  

At the finish line area, I waited for Michelle and explored a bit--there was definitely a great post-race energy and the post-race treats were great!  (Although it looked like they ran out of things for some of the runners)  The race finished in Torrey Pines-- I went over to the water area to take pictures with my medal-- the finish area was definitely beautiful.  They also provided post-race shuttles back to the the parking areas which was great!  

Michelle at the Finish Area

Overall, I would do this event again.  The shirt and medal were awesome.  I would like to see if I can PR the course again.  How did you finish your race year?

Until next time, happy running.
Jenn13.1

PS: See that new badge on the right?!  I am happy to announce that I was selected as one of the 2016 Pro Compression Ambassadors.  I am so excited to be joining the team and can't wait to see what 2016 brings.