Last week, I traveled to Vancouver, British Columbia for Lululemon's 2016 Seawheeze Half Marathon! I've had this race on my bucket list for a while, and I registered back in September - registration sold out within ten minutes and I felt so lucky to be able to do this race. During training, we received a pair of lulu shorts with an exclusive pattern, and everything we were sent before the race was Secret Agent themed - super cute! The expo was on Friday at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Lululemon sells patterns that are exclusive to this event and it's apparently such a big deal that people were lining up the afternoon before. I realize my opinion on this is unpopular, but I don't understand the hype or why anyone would want to wait in line to waste tons of money on clothes that they most likely don't need. J and I waited until later in the afternoon (when the crowds weren't as bad) to check out the expo and pick up packets. We were in line for about 10-15 minutes to get in, and the entire thing was very chaotic. There were people hoarding piles of clothes in the corners and buying things just to resell on eBay for triple the price. Yikes! The expo experience was very lackluster. I picked out two tanks directly off of the restock rack as things were being put out and also grabbed a cute headband and my race things before getting out of there as quickly as I could! The race started at 7 am, which was really 10 am for us because of the time change! We lined up with the 2:15 pacer (poor Jamie agreed to stay with me!) and started a few minutes late. I had no clue how to plan this race - I decided to take it easy and listen to my body. I ran the entire first 5k, which included one of the four big hills of the race. The first couple miles went through town, and the rest was along the water and on the seawall (my favorite!). After this point, I started walking quite a bit. The views while running along the water were so perfect! There was another gigantic uphill before the course took us out and back over a big bridge. There were a lot of people out cheering us on here, and the best part was getting to go back down that hill toward the seawall! Lululemon also had lots of fun things along the course to keep us entertained. My favorites were the group of police (their signs were hilarious!) and the mermaids. The run along the seawall was very curvy and crowded, but the views more than made up for it!! I was so distracted by everything I saw - mountains in the distance, pretty bridges, and the waves hitting the rocks next to us - that I didn't even feel like I ran an entire half marathon! We sped up a lot during the last mile and a half and crossed the finish line in 2:19:53! The finishers were herded on an uphill ramp to get our water, medals, finisher gifts (essential oils from Saje and a navy blue hat), and brunch. It took us over an hour after finishing to get all the way through this! But brunch was so delicious and so worth it!
I really enjoyed this course and I have to say it's definitely my favorite course I've ever run! However, it wasn't my favorite race because of how crowded it was and how much weaving I had to do. This is definitely not a PR race. It's a challenging course with a couple of big hills, but I think we've established by now that I don't mind a challenge :) Seawheeze was completely worth the trip from Ohio and I'm so glad I got to experience this one! Despite feeling wonderful during the race, recovering from this one was difficult for me and I felt more like I had run a marathon. Luckily, our lovely friends Lululemon treated us to a post race couples massage at Vida Spa! Combined with some foam rolling and a recovery run on Sunday, my legs were feeling back to normal in no time!
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Hello, my name is Alyssa!I'm a momma to Emerson Lilly and two fur babies, a distance runner, and just a girl full of sparkle and quirks. I love traveling to races and exploring new places to run! I started this blog in 2014 as more of a journal to keep track of training for my first marathon, and I've continued to post about training, races, and other things happening in my life. Also, I'd like to be your best friend. :) Categories
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