I’ve heard tons of great things about Rock N Roll San Diego for years and years. Even though it’s only 80 miles south of me I’ve never run it because we’re either out of town or I have other stuff going on. This year I finally got the chance to give it a whirl run.
It’s a point to point course so runners must park at the finish and be shuttled to the start. We woke up at 4:15am and planned on getting the shuttle by 5am. The start is 6:15am.
I had a BelVita package for pre-run fuel. This is something NEW (breaking the #1 rule of racing) but I was fine.
We caught the shuttle at the Sports Arena. It turned out to be right across the street from our hotel! This was perfect because we didn’t have to worry about driving or parking (traffic was crazy!).
We stayed at the Wydham
The lines for the shuttles were super long, but moved fast.
My running partners in crime – Chandra and Skinny Runner
But the shuttle ride seemed to take a lot longer than expected. I’m not sure the route, but I swear the driver took a detour? I don’t know. But it took 45 minutes and it was a close call to the start.
Since I was running with Team Refuel I got a VIP bracelet and was able to pee in the VIPee area. Get it? I made that up.
I saw a few elites and got a sneak peek into how their aid station is set up. Super cool!
But the bus ride was long and the walk to the VIP area was long so the gun went off when I was still peeing.
Anyways, Chandra and I hurried to the start and jumped in with Corral 5. There were a million corrals (okay 39) so this was still near the front.
I ran another 13.1 miles, just like Saturday.
My legs were tired just like I expected and I stayed with Chandra till Mile 3. Then, I kept going at around 9:15 minute miles and she slowed a bit.
I couldn’t really keep track of my time because my Garmin was dying and since my side button collapsed I can’t get away from this screen. Note the immodium in my baggie…
I told myself I could walk at Mile 10 if I wanted, but I just wanted to get it over with so I ended up running the whole thing albeit slowly.
Rock N Roll San Diego – 2:04:02
I came in right when the winner of the Full Marathon came in! Yes, he ran DOUBLE what I ran in almost the same amount of time.
Nixon Machichim of Kenya won the men’s full marathon. Meseret Legesse of Ethiopia got second. You can read the full article here.
After the race I Refueled with Chocolate Milk. They also had a lactose free chocolate milk which I thought was super cool.
But I stuck with the OG stuff. I waited at the chocolate milk booth for Chandra to finish and chugged most of their stash. We hung out for a bit, but started to get cold and headed back to the room.
After a shower I needed to put my legs up and blog 
I was STARVING and luckily Dupar’s is right next door to our hotel. 
I drooled over their pastry case until my food came.
I started with banana bread.
My dining partners tried to sweet talk me into sharing, but I politely refused.
I had a dumb ol’ salad.
I got a salad for some veggies, but what I really wanted was the entire pastry case. I ordered a donut and the waiter gave it to me for FREE because I was so excited about it! Is that cool or sad?
Finally it was time to hit the road back to Orange County…
We made a quick pee stop at a grocery store on the way home and I got an energy drink. Skinny Runner stocked up on cake mix because they were $1.00 if you bought 6. Luckeee.
Chandra and I spent the rest of the evening enjoying my signature cocktail and foam rolling. It was quite the party.
Dinner was amazing Thai Food…
and of course – YOGURTLAND (aka the reason I run)
We took it back home so I could watch Housewives of New Jersey and eat fro-yo <— My idea of the best time ever.
It was a good day.
My husband ran the half in San Diego over the weekend and while I was standing at the finish line waiting for him I saw you and I was excited! I’m like “I know her”…well, you know what I mean 😉 Fun race, and I’m excited to take my first stab at it next year (I’m pregnant now so I wasn’t able to run this year). One thing he was disappointed about though was that it was not a scenic run at all, kinda disappointing considering it’s San Diego for goodness sakes.
Yeah, I figure so many people traveled for this race and didn’t get any pretty sights. Boo.
Next time we should meet 🙂
Yay you survived your back-to-back weekend! I did the half relay at RnR SD last year because I was working through knee issues. And I know there were a few people I saw walking around the expo with Fontana Days shirts on from that morning.
I don’t really see the appeal of RnR SD – maybe it is because I only ran the last 5 miles of the half, but it was not scenic and there are tons of other races in So Cal where you get to see the ocean during your run.
Yeah, I was sad Chandra didn’t get to see the ocean on the course.
Fun recap Monica! You did so great for doing 2 half marathons two days in a row. 🙂 Yay! You didn’t mention the Jamba Juice at the end. That was my favorite part. Ha. Oh and you VIP status- now that is just awesome! Congrats! 🙂
I did forget! I love me some Jamba 🙂
I don’t know how you can stop yourself from having at least one bite of those pastries! Anyway, good job on finishing the double over the weekend!
I ate that huge donut all by myself 🙂
I am jealous, you always seem to have the most fun when you go out to race! I do too but I’m always alone because none of my friends will run races with me either because I’m slower than they are because they are lazy and hate running…. It’s okay to keep it real. 🙂 I can’t wait to form some running buddy friendships the way that you have. You keep me inspired to run!
I just got lucky and tricked these girls to be me friend 🙂
Ha ha I think I’ll go out and start tricking people into thinking I’m nice and that I run faster than what I do!
Good job! You deserved that donut!
Congrats on the back to back halfs! Sorry about the dying garmin 🙁
Wow! Two halfs in a row! Way to go! That’s so cool that you got to go in the VIP area!
VIPee. Bahaha. We definitely share a similar sense of humor, because I definitely would have cracked a joke like that if I thought of it. Congrats on finishing the race!!!!!!
RHONJ+icing+foam rolling+compression gear is my idea of an exciting night!
yummm! banana bread is the best! i also love it with peanut butter on it… (and chocolate chips on top of the pb isn’t so bad either) 😉
Looks like an awesome race! So cool you got to be in the VIP tent, living the high life! I’ll have to come out to Cali to run a race some day, seems like theres some really good ones.
I ran this race yesterday too! I looked for you since you had said you’d be there, but with 31,000 runners it wasn’t going to happen. Haha. I finished in 2:17 🙂 I’m hoping to be closer to 2 next time.
Your shuttle experience sounds similar to my drop off experience. My husband finally just let me out a little over a mile from the start & I dashed with a bunch of other runners up a super steep hill to get to the start. The traffic was a bit of a nightmare. Glad you made it though 🙂
Good job!!!
This year’s RnR SD medal is so much cooler than last year’s medal was. Now I’m really kicking myself for not running it. but last year, the run up the 163 was the start of my running injury-threw my hips out of alignment.
Did you see Meb or Ryan? I think they ran the half too!
Yeah, I had brunch with them after! Kidding. I can dream though…
Congrats on the half marathon! What an accomplished. You definitely deserved that free doughnut 🙂
Getting a doughnut for free for enthusiasm? That’s called a win-win 🙂
Congrats on your race!
You can NEVER be too excited about a donut.
Congrats Monica. That is really impressive, and I don’t know if I would have been strong enough to go with the salad instead of sweet goodness!
Well, I did get the salad and a huge donut! It was delicious 🙂
OOOH that’s awesome they had lactose-free chocolate milk there!
I’ve never finished a half mary faster than 2:11, so you finished faster than my best time even though you’d run a whole one the day before. Good job 🙂
Also, the first time I ran one, it was a super small race (maybe 200 people?) and the course was a figure eight. I was going through the criss cross after finishing just the lower half, and the first couple of guys who were about to finish the whole thing were there at the same time, FINISHING. So, yeah, I know how you feel when other people have covered twice as much distance. NBD
Congrats on yet another successful race girl! You are such a rockstar!
Your race time is still awesome. 2 days in a row. Great:)
Plus getting a free donut is amazing and exciting, not sad at all.
My best friend and I once got free fro-yo. I think it is because we were loudly yelling at each other across the store about every awesome flavor, topping, etc. (“Hey, look C they have thin mints. Best place ever!”) and they just wanted to get us out. Did I consider it an embarrassment? No, free dessert is always a win.
I love that story 🙂
A 2.04 is awesome, especially after running a half the day before! And how cool that you got VIP before the race?!
I’d love to run RnR San Diego one year.
O I’m excited about lactose free choc milk!
I love that they have lactose free chocolate milk! My girls are lactose intolerant so when they become runners they too can refuel with chocolate milk LOL! 🙂 Great job on your runs this weekend! Coming in at 2:04 is a great time! I hope to come even close to that this weekend 🙂
Sounds like a great Sunday.
Looks like y’all had a blast! I am so excited that I will be in a state with Yogurtland this weekend!!
That’s such a cool medal! Sad about your Garmin, it’s had a long run.