Seaside was my 54th lifetime half marathon. I don’t think you can ever really go wrong with a race on/near a beach, especially in California when the weather is so consistent year round.
Something I need to remember, though, is that a race on the beach always starts off VERY cold. Bring a windbreaker or a jacket and take it to gear check. (I’m not the kind of person who likes to discard clothes at a start line.) I ended up borrowing my husband’s windbreaker, and about 0.1 miles in to the race I was already warmed up. The issue with clothing is that it’s only a problem when you have too little…so prepare in advance for all sorts of weather.
Seaside was a good race put on by a small local race company. The course was very well marked. There were police cars at major intersections or iffy parts of the course. There were cones that separated traffic on the highway from the runners. It seems as though people in the area had the patience for a race and drove very respectfully around us. It felt safe enough. There was even a couple out running with their stroller on the course. They had all distances — 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon. They promised to stay for the last finisher. I left before then but the finisher’s arch was still up even with 20 people left on the course, so that was promising. They had a taco truck out catering the event, so all you had to do was rip off the food tag on your bib in exchange for some finish line yums.
Running these types of courses really make me miss living in California. I don’t suppose that will change anytime soon but I can always travel back for more races. It would be great exploring some central coast races…might need to add that to my 2023 list!
I am a few weeks into my IVF/FET meds. I had been on estrogen patches for about two weeks prior to this, and have started feeling some energy drop. I started my progesterone shots the morning of this race, and my energy level definitely plummeted. This felt as hard as a full marathon, but not because of the course…only because of the medication. Also, my watch never updated from Mountain Time to Pacific Time, so I ended up waking up at 2am instead of 3am for a 7:30am race. Maybe it’s time for a new watch 🙂
Amara in Training 