Surf City was my 53rd lifetime half marathon.
This race came on the heels of my first 50K, which was an incredible experience. After that, I felt a little lost and wasn’t sure what kind of goals to set or what to focus on. This is mainly because I am starting IVF up again, which means I can really only plan out a few weeks in advance. This time around I am trying to be a little more flexible and forgiving since I can’t realistically put my life on pause for such long stretches of time. My psych meds have been adjusted down (which is causing a whole host of issues) and my hormonal medication has been ramped WAY up. (This also causes issues, like moodiness, fatigue, and an increased appetite.)
I’ve decided to make Surf City my forever race…meaning that I will try to run every single race until I can no longer do so. I came to this conclusion after realizing that it’s the perfect benchmark race: the course never changes, the weather is usually consistent, and it is mostly flat (with one small hill). You can approach it as a PR race, or as a leisurely flat course to practice intervals, or a nice walk/run to enjoy the sunshine. Either way, it seemed like a good idea to declare this as my forever race because it means that I will visit home at least once a year. Every year I’ve ran this race, I’ve approached it as a turnaround trip, but maybe in the future I can spend a few days with my parents, a few days with my BFF, and a few days on my own near the beach. Seems like a reasonable goal once a year.
The night before the race, I started up my estrogen patches. I felt a little more tired than usual on race morning, and I felt pretty rough the day after. That’s a big change from how I felt after Dopey and my 50K, so I guess that’s one way to tell it is working.
Anyway, I always have a great time at this race. I’ve already registered for 2023. Hopefully my IVF schedule works itself out by then!
Amara in Training 