San Dieguito Half Marathon

Last week, my lovely girlfriend Annapurna and I headed off to San Diego to run in the San Dieguito Half Marathon. Although I say run, it may be not the right word. Instead, you spend two hours talking to yourself, hoping your knees hold up, and quietly singing the words to whatever is on your iPod. Despite my description it is surprisingly enjoyable. The Rancho Santa Fe area is absolutely beautiful. The area is lined with homes, or more aptly, estates with corrals, tennis courts, iron fences, and stunningly paved driveways. 

The day before the race we ran a bunch of errands. We did however have an awesome lunch at Café 21!  Anna had a ham, apple, and swiss panini

with greens and strawberries I had a delicious spicy monte cristo sandwich with their homemade potato chips. It was a REVELATION (I believe that is what your are supposed to say about good food). But anyways, the place was seriously awesome and I highly recommend it.

Fast forward to race day, we arrived around 7:00 a.m. to San Dieguito Park. The place was already popping with activity and the first twinge of nerves began to build. We made our way down a ridiculous dirt hill that wound back and forth. I couldn’t help wonder who was going to drag me back up after the race. After an hour of pre-race warm-up, which mainly involved trying to huddle together in the sun, we were ready to race! As the gun sounded it was remarkable to see the impulse of nearly every runner to immediately manipulate an electronic device rather than start running. The first mile Anna and I ran together, but as we neared the first turn, we parted ways. During the Long Beach Marathon, we ran together longer, but one of my first few songs was Eye of The Tiger, so I couldn’t contain myself.

1 hour and 52 minutes later…

To make a long story short, we finished the race. Although I felt good throughout, as I was given my medal I started to feel a bit dehydrated. The feeling was similar to waking up on the floor in a frat house. I had a bad headache, my eyes felt sunken into the back of my head, and after I started eating a banana my neck began to cramp. In hindsight, I probably should have asked for an IV from the medical staff foreshadowing), but I figured a few bananas would do the trick.

We get home Annapurna’s house and the most exciting crime-detective-drama case was unfolding outside of her house. There were cop cars everywhere! A guy had stolen a car, driven it nearly off a canyon cliff, and ran down into the canyon to evade the police. Rather than solve the case myself, I felt like I should probably lie down.

After a nap, a little lunch and a ton of water, it was dinner time. It was no ordinary dinner mind you; it was Valentine’s Day eve! We went to Sea Rocket Bistro and although I didn’t eat too much, it was great. We ordered a variety of different tapas, clams, cheese, meatballs, meats.

We left the restaurant and I still wasn’t feeling great. We get back to her house and in two seconds BAM I throw-up everything! I will save you the graphic details, but at midnight on Sunday, I was just checking out of the hospital. Thankfully, I had Annapurna, her family, and my family to come hang out and make sure I was ok. Once I had an IV in me, I felt a lot better. There were no serious problems and I was told to hydrate better, what a concept. In the end, Anna and I are retiring for a while with the half-marathons and in search of a new hobby. Any suggestions?