Monterey Bay Half Marathon Recap

We had a whirlwind race weekend, and I am excited to share a recap with you! This trip was rescheduled after last year’s race cancellation due to the fires in San Francisco, so we were very excited to head back to be able to run the half marathon this year.

Tony and I ran the Ocean View Challenge, consisting of the Pacific Grove Lighthouse 5k on Saturday, followed by the half marathon on Sunday.

Half marathon morning arrived, and we were up by 5:30a. My cousin was our awesome driver, who navigated around road closures so we could get to the start line without much hassle or too far a walk. (Thank you again, Mike!) The weather was great for racing, in the low 50s and cloudy to start. The elites took off at 6:50a, and my corral went off by 7:10a.

My goal for the race was a PR, and if I’m honest with you, a decent PR of >7 minutes to get in under 2:20. Current fitness from a shorter race in May suggested my ability to do so, but you never know what can happen on race day which is part of the fun of it!

Race morning view from Tony’s corral

I felt a bit sleepy at the start line, but this is not unusual for me first thing in the morning! My pacing plan was to start out conservatively, knowing there were some mild hills coming up in the first part of the race.

The course description called out one hill, coming just before mile 4, with a steady 0.25 mile climb of 100 feet, so I had discussed ahead of time with my coach and planned accordingly. I told myself, “Your race really begins after mile 4.” Once I got to the top and the road leveled off, I could tell I relaxed a bit, and finally felt like I was Awake. I settled into half marathon tempo, and it felt good.

Just beyond mile 4, we rounded a bend and were back on Ocean View Blvd. Miles 4-10 of the course were an out and back section on the coastal road. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful, but I know many people found this stretch a bit difficult, as there were less crowds to cheer us on and less entertainment. I kept myself occupied by first trying to spot my husband, who would be making his way back after the turnaround point. As I was shoving a fig newton into my mouth at about 75 minutes into my race, Tony and I passed each other, and he was eating something too. I found this funny and blew him a kiss with my mouth full. 

I turned some music on after the halfway point and continued to occupy myself by checking in with how I was feeling from head to toe and also scanning the bay for any wildlife. I had been keeping pretty well to my half marathon tempo - maybe a touch on the faster side, and I was feeling good, though my quads definitely noticed the “gently rolling hills” which were discussed in the course brochure! 

When I got to mile 9, I decided to try and turn the heat up a bit. I was feeling strong but was getting a little hot whenever the sun came out from behind the clouds and could feel my heartrate going up as I quickened my pace. I worried, am I going a little too fast? After mile 10, we started heading back toward the city center. There was at least one more small hill here, that felt like Mt. Everest of course, and I told myself, “This is the last hill,” even though I wasn’t too sure of that!

At some point near mile 11, I caught a glimpse far in the distance of the 2:15 pacer group flag, which surprised me. They were last seen just in front of me at the start line in my corral! I was thinking that I was probably close to a 2:20 half marathon if I could keep up the current pace, but then there they were, a solid distance up ahead, but nevertheless, in sight! It took all of 5 seconds to decide I was going to Chase. Them. Down. I can’t tell you where this motivation came from, just that I wanted to try…so, I took off.

Photo cred: Tony

Didn’t look at my watch very much here. I was just running and trying to spot that pacer flag bobbing up and down. There was a lot of cheering from here on in, and that definitely gave me an energy boost. Coming into the finish, I saw that the pace group was just up ahead! I never did catch them, but I got so close! I crossed the finish feeling what I would describe as a combination of elation and fatigue! I stopped my watch and took a lot of deep breaths, walking slowly and winding my way through the finisher’s chute. 

When I finally looked at the watch, I saw 2:16:xx, which is over a 10 minute PR from my previous half marathon! Not sure where that pace in the later miles came from, but this is one of the reasons I love to race - to prove to myself that I have it in me, and that yep, these are my legs, negative splits and all!

Coming into the finish line! (Photo cred: Tony)

I found the husband at the post-race party, and he had a great race too! We both discussed the “gently rolling hills” and laughed about how it was not like running along the flat river trail back home at all, but that the scenery was absolutely the best trade off.  

As far as half marathons go, this was certainly the most beautiful one we have run to date. Course support is fantastic, it is an environmentally friendly race (from the reusable cups, to the BYOB water stations, to the race shirts made from recycled plastic bottles), and the lovely medal is designed by a local artist. We were so thankful to be able to return this year to run it!

Race weekend medal haul

With that, I’m going to go put my legs up and rest - just for a little while though.

Thank you for reading, and many thanks to our friends and family who cheered us on from across the miles. We felt your positive energy every step of the way!