Well... I had planned to run a full marathon on this day but plans changed! I was nervous about running another full since it had only been 5 weeks from my last, but I was willing to give it a shot. The day before the race, I stopped over my friend's Beth and Chad's house to discuss race details. When I took one look at Chad's foot (who was to be my running partner for the full marthon), I questioned if he was going to be able to run the distance since his foot was swollen, tender, and black and blue on top. His wife had been diagnosed that morning with double ear infections and she was to run the 1/2 marathon in the morning. Things weren't starting out good for them going into the race! I had planned to run the full... if I could keep pace, a 3:45 time would have been nice, but in reality, I wasn't sure that I was in shape to pull that off. As the race progressed, the more content I became in the idea of keeping it as a training run and shooting for 4-4:15 time. My friends picked me up a little late, but we were able to make up the time on the highway (speeding a bit- oops). When we arrived at the outlets, we met up with other Americans heading to Tijuana. The trip had been organized by a liaison named Hector whom coordinated our transportation over the border, and picked up our race packets. What an excellent guy and an amazing runner pulling out a 2:32 time on his full marathon! The bus didn't show to pick us up in the USA even though Hector had confirmed everything the night before!! We had to walk/run over the border on foot and then picked up the bus over on the other side. As we all boarded the bus, the taxi's blocked the bus! They would not allow us to leave... politics between the taxi drivers and the bus driver. I don't know the details, but ultimately we had to get off the bus, pile in taxis and head to the hotel that way. Hector had a hotel room for us so that we had a secure area to store our belongings. We then headed over to the race start. About 20 minutes before the start, the start inflatable arch collapsed, so race officials scrambled to move the start over using another inflatable to the other side! LOL! Mexico cracks me up! The race went well for the most part. I had a few times where I felt crappy and had to push through that feeling of wanting to rest. Chad and I saw porta potties around mile 5 and we ducked in to use them. It's a good thing, because we never saw any more from that point on. At mile 7, I walked a bit just to down a gu. A bad patch for me. At this point, I lost Chad. We had a few steep over passes to climb as well and I did rest a bit at the tops of them since I was planning to run the full distance. I was still ahead of pace at a 8:35 or so at this point. nIt was in the high 60's and overcast, so weather was cooperating but I was beginning to see blue sky peaking through the cloud cover. I could feel that the second half of the race was going to test me and it was getting warm. As I veered off to continue on from the half shoot, I now had full sun. I stopped to take in Powerade since the course was not well stocked with this fluid. The fluid stations mainly carried water. I was concerned how the second half of the race was going to be and was wondering where Chad was and how my other friends were doing. Trisha was running her first official half marathon although she had done several long runs to this distance. I was concerned for my friend Beth with her ear infections. No sooner did I finish my fluids and prepared to continue onward, Chad came and grabbed me. He decided to stop at the halfway point. His foot was giving him some serious trouble. We chatted for a few minutes there and time was not a big concern for me. Since I would have been the only one in our car full running the full marathon, I decided at that point to only do the half as well. I just didn't want my friends waiting around for me especially since Chad was hurting and Beth was sick. It was ok. I had nothing to prove and in hind-site, although I am disappointed that I didn't do the full, it was the best decision. I sprinted to the finish line... my garmen registered 12.6 miles and the course must have been short as I confirmed this with Chad's watch. They ran out of medals and many runners were meandering around looking for one! I was so bummed but then shortly, there were more and thankfully we were all still there to get one! Being a nurse, I was very curious about Chad's sore foot post race. It was more swollen and very tender. His gait was altered and he was complaining of calf pain (probably from compensation). I had bought some instant ice packs which I had run with one tucked in my sports bra on my back in preparation for the warm weather. I pulled that out for Chad to use to ice his foot. It really looks like he may have a stress fracture and I am hoping that he will go get it checked ASAP. Chad and I are planning to run our first ultra in September together, so this could be a big setback for him if I am right but I pray that I am wrong. Poor Beth... she finished with tears in her eyes. Her ear pain and not being able to hear really put a damper on her race. She is such a trooper! Afterwards, she was so sick. Dizzy, in pain, and tired, she then vomited. :-( Trisha ran her half marathon with no major issues despite her asthma and the poor air quality that loomed over the city. Andrea cranked it and ran very strong! Post race on the way home, her sugar crashed. She broke a sweat and we had to encourage gels and coke to fix her up. So... yes. In hind-site...I am glad that it was just a half. I didn't kill myself running it and now I can get back to speedwork versus recovering for 2-3 weeks which probably would have been the case if I ran the full. I am so proud of my friends and we had such a great time together!! Post race we collected our belongings from the hotel, took a taxi back to the border, walked over and then drove back to our homes, but not until we took some great pictures with our International group! We then stopped for a fabulous Mexican meal, but in our own country... :-) International races are always such an experience! This was my third race in Mexico! I think we all will be making a point of doing this race together again next year... but a half marathon distance will do!!! | 