Grace D. Plunk: What I did WRONG & RIGHT at the OC Half Marathon

Hi! I ran the OC Half Marathon today and even though I’ve run this one several times before, this was a new experience because it RAINED. It’s always been hot when I’ve done the half or full OC Marathon so this was a different race.

In addition to rain on race day – I added to the less-than-ideal situation by making some major rookie mistakes. Let’s play this like it’s Good News / Bad News and I’ll list the things I did WRONG and the things I did RIGHT starting with the wrong things…

Things I did wrong this half marathon:

1. I forgot to bring water.

Let me say that again – I, your local Monican who drinks such massive amounts of water every day that she’s probably solely responsible for the California drought… FORGOT TO BRING WATER to run a half marathon.

I don’t even know what my problem is?!! As I was driving to the race I realized I wanted a drink of water and was dumbfounded to realize I forgot it. I don’t even forget it when I go to the supermarket.

Luckily, I did have iced coffee! But I was thirsty before the race and I kind of feel like knowing I CAN’T have water made me more thirsty!

I even put out my packet of Mango Spark for my other water bottle – I usually bring 2 = 1 for water and 1 for Spark. I really dropped the ball on this one.

2. I kind of forgot / ran out of time to eat before the race.

I switch up what I eat before a race but have been eating oatmeal lately. Before races I make it in a travel coffee mug and eat it on the way. As I was just about to step out of my car I realized I didn’t eat. At that point I didn’t want to try and force myself so I just left it.

In my defense – as I was headed toward the freeway at 4:30am this morning I decided last minute to park at the Finish line and take the shuttle to the start. (The OC Marathon / Half Marathon offers 2 shuttle options: 1. Park at the finish and take a shuttle to the starting line 2. Park at the start and when the race is over take a shuttle back to the start for your car)

Well, I was worried I was going to be too cold to shuttle back to the start. I knew I’d just want to get to my car after the race so I changed my mind last minute. That made me late for the race and distracted me from eating.

3. I believed the weather forecaster who said ‘Sunday is going to have 30% chance of rain and intermittent showers’.

Um, that was not the case. Just as the shuttle to the start dropped us off it started to really RAIN. It wasn’t the usual sprinkles or mist that sometimes happens near the ocean. Nope. It was raining – some people even said it was hailing.

People ran for cover under trees and in the lobbies of some of the hotels that surround Fashion Island (where the race starts). I ended up going to one of the hotels as well. I waited there until it was a few minutes until the gun went off to try and stay out of the rain for a few extra minutes. My feet were already wet from walking to the hotel so I knew getting drenched was only a matter of time…

Things I did right this half marathon:

1. Fueled well the day before.

I make sure to have a banana most days the week I’m running a race. This gives me a little extra potassium and helps ward off cramps.

I also carb load and make sure to have salt. I’m a salty sweater so this helps me (do what’s best for your body, this isn’t ideal for everyone).

2. Grabbed the rain poncho from my car.

Since it wasn’t actually raining when I got out of my car – I almost skipped it. I’m so glad I had it! As soon as we stepped out of the bus it started to really come down. This helped me stay a little dry and keep me a little warmer.

Tip: Get a rain poncho from the 99 cent store and keep it in your car in case of emergencies or rainy races.

3. Showed up.

Between the cold rain and my impending nervous breakdown I considered not going at all. I’m glad I showed up. I didn’t PR the race. I didn’t learn anything super amazing about running at this race (except, um maybe bring water newb).

But I did help my confidence a little by just showing up. Sometimes that’s all you can do – show up and be there. That’s better than giving up before you had the chance to check it out.

The race: It rained for the first few miles and then mostly stopped. The OC half marathon course is really pretty. I guess that’s the one perk of having your one friend ditch you – I really just enjoyed looking at the Pacific Ocean and fancy houses in Newport Beach.

It started to sprinkle again when I was done with the race so I decided to rush to the car and call it a day. It’s so weird for it to be gloomy here. I feel like all of my race pictures are so gray!?

OC Half Marathon finish time: 1:47:25

Overall I’m just happy to have another race in the books. I’m going to go over my time and think about how I feel physically so I can assess where I am fitness-wise right now. I did feel like I wasn’t fully recovered from the Boston Marathon when I checked in with myself during one random run this week. I need to do that every run.

P.S. Pineapple Coconut Spark is SOLD OUT. I’m sorry. I know people are still asking for it, but once it’s sold out they don’t really say when it’s coming back. I recently tried the Blue Raspberry and think it’s good. Mango Strawberry is still one of my top picks too.