SoCal Wine Country Women’s Half Marathon Race Recap

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I feel so excited that I’m sharing my SoCal Wine Country Women’s Half Marathon race recap! My last recap was in February 2020 (for the Mesa Marathon). While I did several virtual races during the pandemic, I didn’t bother to recap them. What would I say? I went out and ran 13.1 miles by myself. So I guess I won.

Anyway, the SoCal Wine Country Women’s Half Marathon was on Saturday, May 29. If you follow me on Instagram, you may know that it was a trail race. You may also know that I managed to catch a cold about 10 days out from the event. 

Finally! A live race. Here's my recap of the SoCal Wine Country Women's Half Marathon. #running #trailrunning #halfmarathonClick To Tweet

I was hoping that 10 days would be enough time to recover, and it was for the most part, aside from a lot of crud and snot leftover (TMI for anyone other than runners). It did mean that my last 10 days of training put a new meaning to taper time! As it turned out, maybe that was a good thing.

Before the recap though, I have a confession to make. Well, not exactly a confession but, when I reported my finish in this Instagram post on Saturday after the race, I stated that I’d finished first in my division. I have to take that back though because revised results show that I was actually second. I’m obviously quite proud of that too. 

SoCal Wine Country Women’s Half Marathon Race Recap

Before the Race

I got a very early start to the day since I was driving in to Temecula for the SoCal Wine Country Women’s Half Marathon. It’s about a 90-minute drive, a little faster early in the morning. And yes, 4:30 is early in the morning. It was an easy drive though and I made it to the Vail Lake Resort location just before 6:00. I was early enough that there were just a few cars there before me, so parking was easy and I went to pick up my packet.

The SoCal Wine Country Women’s Half Marathon was a fairly small race this year, so some of the Covid restrictions had been eased up. While we were required to wear masks before and after the race, a wave start was no longer required, so all the half marathoners would be started at 7:00 (5k runners started at 8:00).

After I picked up my packet I went back to sit in my car for a bit. It was perfect running weather, in the low 50s, but still a little chilly for this desert rat. As cars started to pull in I got out of my car, scanning to see if I recognized anyone. Nope! I did say hello to the woman to parked next to me, though.

Even though it was a small crowd there was a lot of excitement in the air. This was the first live race for many of the participants and we were all excited, both to compete and to see other runners. It wasn’t long before we were called to the start line to receive our race instructions and then we were off!

The Race

I had very few goals for this race. One was not to fall. As you may know, I’m a klutz, and if there’s an opportunity to trip on something, my feet will probably do it. This fear increased during the first mile of the race as I stumbled five or six times. But, I did manage to achieve my goal. I did not fall!

The other goal was not to have an asthma attack or any of the breath loss experiences I’ve had since I had Covid back in December. Honestly, these things seem to go hand in hand and I’ve experienced issues even before Covid. Getting a cold right before the race did nothing to make me feel more confident about my breathing. I did carry my inhaler and I’m so happy to report that I didn’t need it!

So my two main goals were achieved. The other goal, of course, was to have fun, enjoy the experience of racing again, being around other runners, and to just do the best I could (while avoiding screwing up goals one and two). I’m happy to say I achieved that goal too. 

The first half mile was on asphalt as we headed toward the trails via the campground. We had a decent-sized group of women (and one man) and it didn’t take long for them to start to pull ahead. I saw the woman who was parked next to me as she took off. She was easy to recognize because of her red skirt, pretty InknBurn top, and red ponytail. That was fine with me, I was here for all the reasons above.

When we finally hit the trail, I realized that it wasn’t so different from my trails at home. While I might have more sand at home, let’s just say I’d be more likely to trip over a rock than a tree root on the trails at the SoCal Wine Country Women’s Half Marathon! There was a lot of scrub, medium-sized rocks, and, once we got to about a mile into the race, hills.

More than once I paused (mentally) to appreciate both the hill repeats that I did in training and the general terrain where I live. I felt strong on those hills, and while I was not fast, I was able to keep running through most of the hills, especially in the first 10 miles of the race.

The course consisted of both single- and double-track trails, and fire roads. It wasn’t super technical, but it had its challenges. Even some of the downhills were steep enough to require walking (especially for a klutz like me!). And while all the runners I saw were considerate about allowing passing on the narrow trails, for the most part, I was happy to fall in behind for a bit.

The first few miles were mostly uphill with a few of those steep downhills thrown in. I gradually fell farther behind, which was fine with me. I had a good pace and I felt good. And I wasn’t alone, there were many others out there. I fell in behind a couple of women. They were walking on the uphills then picking up the pace on the downhills. When we finally hit a long downhill on a wide fire road, it was nice to enjoy picking up the pace and catching my breath at the same time. Plus I had the chance to pass.

We passed the first water station at the bottom of that hill. Runners were required to bring their own supplies, no disposable cups were available. They did have refills for water, as well as Honey Stingers and Tailwind. I carry my own Nuun and gels so I didn’t need anything at that point in the race.

I continued on the same, ups and downs until the second water station (at about mile 5). At that point the woman who was leading passed me in the opposite direction. Since this wasn’t an actual out and back course, I had no idea what mile she was in though I hoped she wasn’t three miles ahead of me! 

At this point, I noticed that I was starting to catch up with some of the runners who had passed me early on in the race. I was feeling good and, while I wasn’t really getting faster, I wasn’t slowing down either. I started seeing familiar outfits. That included the woman who I was parked next to and met way at the beginning of the race. I found out later her name was Sarah, so I’ll call her that from now on since we really spent the last half of the race together.

While Sarah and I didn’t actually run together, we took turns passing each other. She’d lead for a while, then I’d pass when she walked for a bit. I found out later that she uses that run/walk method (her Instagram is @runwalksarah). I just walked when I got tired.

The next water station was the same one I’d passed at mile five and I topped off my water, dropping my own Nuun tablet into my bottle. We were just a little over six miles at this point so I felt a little better about how far behind the lead runner I was! We were basically reversing our course, so now it was mostly downhill, which was nice, but that nice long downhill from before was now a not-so-nice long uphill. 

I recognized the terrain as we were approaching the 9-mile mark and I realized that we’d be adding on mileage by heading out along the 5k course.  Sure enough, we continued past the turn toward the finish and we were now running on a smoother and wider course and actually had views of Vail Lake. We went past the 5k turnaround all the way to about mile 10.5, then we were on our way home.

The weather was so nice for this race that even at this point, while it was warming it, it was still a cool beautiful day for running. I know this area can get quite warm, but we were very lucky this year. Sarah and I kept up our back and forth, and I was grateful to see her red ponytail as a guide to where I wanted to be. Then we passed the last water station and I knew we had just about a mile to go. 

We ran through the campground, very close to the finish, I was ahead of Sarah. Then we turned into the final stretch and I could hear footsteps coming behind me. Sure enough, it was Sarah and we crossed the finish line together. So appropriate! Sadly, there wasn’t a finish-line photographer, though we had some great running shots (free photos!) throughout the race.

Sadly, due to covid restrictions, there was no finish line party, so I just hung around awhile, called Alan, cooled off, and finally met Sarah and chatted for a bit. I’m sure I’ll see her again at future races. And then I drove home.

I loved running this race! Not only did I achieve my goals (no falling, no asthma), it reminded me of just how fun racing is, even when it’s hard. Meeting new friends, having a sense of competition, and just being around the excitement of a live race is thrilling. 

The course was challenging and well-marked. There was about 1,300 feet of elevation gain. Obviously (see below) I was working pretty hard! There were plenty of water stations. I like running with my own bottle. I’ve been doing it for years for full marathons, and I have always felt that having my fluids at hand helps me stay hydrated. 

I will definitely run the SoCal Wine Country Women’s Half Marathon next year. I’m sure the post-race party will be extra exciting as we celebrate the normalcy of racing again.

 

 

 

And Now It’s Time for the Runners’ Roundup!

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