Chips and Salsa Half Marathon (THE BIRTHDAY HALF)

The week before my birthday, I decided I had to find a half marathon on my birthday.  Besides, it's not like a birthday falls on a weekend day every year.  I found the Chips and Salsa Half Marathon in Albuquerque, NM.  Since NACHOS are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FOOD, and chips and salsa is a close relative, I thought this would be perfect.

As is typical for my running adventures, no one could or wanted to go with me. Bleh and boo hoo and all that jazz.  As I was getting ready to head out, I thought I'd Google some things to do.  I found a list that named Downtown ABQ as a good place to hang, so I expanded the list and noticed Hot Yoga Downtown Albuquerque studio.  I've always wanted to try it because I want so desperately to LOVE yoga - I know my hammies certainly need it!  And guess what! They had a class I could actually make...provided I got my ass in gear and got out the door.  The only down fall was my yoga mat was at work (we do lunch time yoga at work once a week).  So I really needed to move because it would still take less time to find a local Walmart and grab a cheapy mat.  That is exactly what I did.

I took the back roads to ABQ.  It took the same amount of time but was about 60 miles shorter than taking I10 all the way there.  I made it to Walmart quick like, grabbed my packet and headed across town.  The interstate system through town was pretty awesome unlike Tucson, so it was easy to get around.

I told the studio I was new to Hot Yoga and visiting for a run. Another guy who walked in with me was also new to the studio and Hot Yoga, so that made me feel a little better. I thought he'd be a pro either way since he showed up in all Lululemon men's gear.  I'd done little research on Hot Yoga...so I had an "Oh crap" moment when I realized it was 90 minutes, but thankful they had a shower (which is standard). I was also thankful that I'd brought my EcoVessel with me to keep cold water in...which I drained with a quickness in the hot and humid room.

As we started going through the flows, Mr. Lululemon started sitting out more and more. I was happy I was hanging although not going as deep as some of the other people. I know it is about some zen meditation, but my miniature competitive streak was still happy. I finished. I was oh so thankful for the relaxation at the end!

After a quick shower...undressing was the slow part. It's hard to peel wet clothes off, I decided to hit the Lululemon store...mainly because I was jealous I didn't have fancy Hot Yoga gear.   The dressing room attendants were awesome.  I chose a pair of Groovy Run Shorts with a pretty cherry blossom pattern.  It turns out the people at Lululemon were volunteering at the race the next day too.  They promised to remember my name and cheer me on. I thought it was sweet.


In my search for ABQ activities, I stumbled on a Mexican restaurant called El Pinto.  Apparently many famous people have eaten there and loved it. It also happens that they have America's Best Nachos according to the Wall Street Journal in 2006.

So here they are! This was a huge portion (and only a half portion at that) with a bit of something on every chip and all very fresh. However, they lacked any real complex flavors. It was simply freshness and nose watering jalapeños.

After my carbo nacho load, I headed to the hotel and prepped for the next day. I got very little sleep due to the storms and the stupid flood mass alert siren on my phone. Bleh.  I managed to crawl out of bed, eat a little something, pack the car and head to the race with a little time to spare. 

I expected the race to be small but I was a bit frustrated with the lack of organization. Most people couldn't find the start line...and none of us could figure out the map. Once we found the start line, we realized we were facing the wrong way...which caused the race to start late since we all had to flip around.  The race director ensured us the course was well marked.  And it was.

The course wound through a lot of neat neighborhoods.  There were many gorgeous houses that I fantasized about owning some day. I even spotted some hot air balloons which always makes me smile.

There were plenty of water and Gatorade stops along the way, but no fuel, gels, snacks, gummies, whatever.  Make sure you bring you own if you ever do this race.

At the second water stop, I saw a hot dog.  The hot dog looked familiar... I was just happy to see someone else dressed up since I only saw a taco racing...and of course I had my sombrero and mustache.  As I passed the hot dog, a girl yelled my name and sure enough it was the crew from ABQ Lululemon!  They remembered me!  It was pretty awesome considered I was wearing a hat, had no name on my bib and wasn't wearing my new Lulu shorts and they still found me!  It made my birthday pretty special since no one else was there to cheer me on.

Around mile 10, my ankles started to hate me and I gimped along the last three miles trying to do a 2:1 interval without a timer.  I need a backup app for that (one that won't mess with Nike+) for when I leave my Gym Boss at home.  As I approached the finish line, people were standing under it holding it up for me.  I hate those things.  It's not the first one to collapse on me and ruin my final moments of a run.  I'm pretty sure I finished close to last with 2:53 (even though there was a 3:30 cut off). 

I then made my way over to the snacks.  Water, granola bars and fig cookie bars...and wait for it....wait for it.... HALF A BURRITO! WTF?! NO chips and salsa?!?!?! This was a Chips and Salsa Half not a Burrito Half! Oh well, I was happy to have half a meal in my tummy for the drive home.

 

As you can see the bling isn't too terribly spectacular.  You'd think they'd do more since it was the 10th anniversary, but oh well. I did at least have the opportunity to double dip and earn my virtual Birthday Bash 5k medal.

Once I got back into town which took a bit longer due to the flooding (I'm sure the car floated at one point out on the reservation), a friend took me out to Blanco's for nachos (of course).  They are tied for number one nacho spot with Sir Vezas.  I had a couple of margaritas (hello Mango Jalapeno) and birthday flan!

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Shinanigans

I took off on Thursday for Disney to do the Dumbo Double Dare (10k Saturday, 1/2 marathon on Sunday).  My hotel wouldn't let me check in 45 minutes early so I caught up with the Endurance Sports Connection crew to help them schlep stuff from hotel to hotel and pack swag bags for our meet up.  The bags were PHENOMENAL! We stuff 500 of them in a little under two hours.  Loads of freebies (I'd say better than the expo)!  When we finished, we went to Trader Sam's at the Disneyland Hotel for some food and drink. Good times! We congo lined around the restaurant and likely earned some weird looks as we slowly but surely took over about half of the outdoor seating.

While hanging out with random ESC people, we learned that there was a 2 mile power walk through California Adventures in the morning for resort guests.  I stayed with a wonderful bunch of people at the Grand Californian so we could hit power walk.  I did run over and finally check into my hotel so my roommate had a place to sleep.

I ended up doing the power walk in my race clothes and managed to not smell TOO bad for race day.  Then I hit the INSANE expo.  I probably waited around an hour and a half to get my shirts and bib, another hour and fifteen to have my ankle taped and another hour to purchase race merchandise.  My feet were killing me!!! Not a good start for the race weekend!  I did manage to wander around Disneyland for a bit by my lonesome.  I hit Indian Jones and Pirates and called it a night. 

The fireworks...those suck...  I'm so used to going to bed early and the race was early.  They went off around 9:30 and made me jump out of my skin!!!  My roomie came in shortly there after.  I felt bad that I was half asleep when I met her but oh well. 

The next morning was EARLY for the 10k.  I was Vanellope von Schweetz.  The 10k went well.  I ran with a couple of people for ESC on a 2 min run/1 min walk interval.  We actually finished around 1:18 which wasn't bad.  We managed to stop for some pictures, but I wasn't really digging the characters.  It wasn't like WDW.  It seemed to lack the more classic characters.  It was princesses and Pixar... I'm just ho hum about both. I want LILO and STITCH and Wreck-It Ralph and of course the Fab 5.

Once the race was finished, I attempted to find my way back to the hotel.  I am incredibly directionally challenged so I wasn't shy about asking an officer how to get back to the road I needed to be on.  HE WAS WRONG! I spent about an hour and a half walking in a weird circle trying to get my GPS on my phone to work!  I finally made it back to my room around 10:30.  I got cleaned up and headed to the park.  I was supposed to meet a friend.  His phone died and so I ended up wandering the parks alone most of the day until another lady from the group came and wandered with me.  We left around 7 and I again tried to sleep through the fireworks.

Then I did something REALLY stupid.  I hopped in the car with another lady and we drove to San Pedro where we registered for another half marathon on Monday called Conquer the Bridge.

The next morning was even earlier for a 5:30 race.  Have I mentioned how much those fireworks SUCK?!  I lost my 2:1 group due to a bathroom break and somehow never managed to catch them.  Well, actually, I passed them at some point.  Oh well.  I managed to take the shorter route back to the hotel this time. 

Of course I had to hit the park one more day!  I went to California Adventures and enjoyed a few single rider lines and fast passes. My roommate joined me later and we had a good afternoon in the park.  We followed that up with the hotel hot tub because I knew I was going to need all the help I could get for the back-to-back half marathon I was about to complete!

Yet another early morning on Monday so I could drive up to San Pedro.  The good news is there was no traffic because of the holiday.  It was cool by the Los Angeles Harbor.  I should also point out this was my second race (first was Vegas Spartan this year) where I ran in just a sports bra instead of a shirt/tank.  I was self conscious, but I was also cheap and didn't want to buy yet ANOTHER shirt on my emergency run to Target for race clothes.  We managed to get on a local news station as we ran by the start...which really made me regret not wearing more clothes.  I warmed up quick once the race started.  The misty air, temps and lack of crowd made this an AWESOME race.  I kept with the 2:1 interval minus going uphill on the bridges.  The whole bridge concept was neat...mainly since it is rare that it is shut down for event traffic.  It stayed in the perfect temperature and overcast range until about the time we went back up over the Vincent Thomas Bridge which was probably around 8:45 or so.  By that point the 5.3 milers had started and it was almost like being at the Disney races all over again.  We actually managed to shave 30 minutes off my (I say my since I finished alone and I'm not sure what my partner finished in) Disneyland Half Marathon time.

I've been on a runners high for almost two weeks... the next race is set for my birthday (September 15th).  I'll be running the Chips and Salsa Half Marathon in Albuquerque, NM. I can't wait...chips and salsa is a close second to nachos and since they are my favorite food in the world, this race seems like the perfect way to celebrate my birthday!