Our day started early. I love traveling to the west coast because we gain two hours and even though we would be sleeping late in Texas, we are up earlier than most people on the west coast. I sat by the pool Friday morning, reading the paper and working on my blog. Around 6:45 a.m., David and I put on our running clothes and went for a 3-mile run through downtown. We ran to a breakfast place close to our hotel called Café 222. Yum! I had the peanut butter and banana stuffed French toast and David had tamales with eggs and potatoes. Obviously, my head and stomach were feeling better.
After breakfast, we returned to the room and got ready for our day. Getting dressed has been quite a dilemma for me – the days have been cool, which I expected, but it has also been very cloudy, making it even cooler outside. I decided on shorts, a t-shirt and a waterproof jacket, since it looked like it could rain at any minute. It never rained, but I was thankful for the warmth of my jacket. We made our way to the San Diego Zoo, which is touted as one of the best zoos in the United States. It was huge! Our tickets came with a guided 45-minute bus tour around the zoo, as well as a ride on the sky ride (kind of a like a gondola), and unlimited rides on the express buses around the zoo. I am so glad that we had transportation, because I don’t think walking around the zoo for 5 hours would be the best thing for our marathon-ready legs. It was a neat zoo. They have several baby animals, including a gorilla, giraffe and elephant, so that was fun to see. We spent about five hours at the zoo and decided we’d had enough. It was definitely worth seeing, but pricey in my opinion, at $35 per person.
Once we were done at the zoo, we came back to our hotel, unloaded and walked to the convention center across the street from our hotel. That’s where the marathon expo is held. The marathon mailed information packets to us a few weeks ago. When we signed up for the marathon, we listed our predicted finish time as 4:30:00. Obviously, that’s gone by the wayside for me, but that’s David’s predicted time. Our packets stated that there would be 23 corrals, and we were in corral 13. We were right in the middle, and that seemed correct, especially in this walker-friendly marathon with a 7 ½ hour open-course time. However, when we picked up our bibs and chips, we were still in corral 13, but there are only 16 corrals. We are basically at the back of the pack, and they are claiming 18,000 people are running this race. David is concerned, more than me, that we are going to have to dodge people for several miles before we hit a good pace. I thought 4:30:00 was a pretty respectable time, but apparently, it puts us in the back of the pack. It should be interesting.
The marathon expo was great. The marathon has a huge selection of “official” gear featuring the race logo. We each got a great technical t-shirt for signing up, so David got some socks and I got a hat with the race logo. We also picked up a pint glass with the logo because we like to collect these from different places we visit. The marathon also has an official artist who has done an official race poster since the marathon started 12 years ago. We bought a poster and had it autographed by the artist; we plan to frame it and hang it in the house, where it will be a cool memento of our first marathon together. Of course, no marathon expo would be complete without walking the aisles for all the free junk the vendors give away. All this, plus David got a new pair of shoes. I hope we can get it all in our bags for the trip home.
After the expo, we returned to the hotel to rest for a few hours. We got dressed again, and went to dinner at The Prado at Balboa Park. Balboa Park is an amazing park right in the heart of the city, and this restaurant is so neat. We sat out on the patio; although it was cool outside, the restaurant had heaters everywhere, so it was very pleasant. The patio was beautiful, with lights strung over the tables and overlooking a nice courtyard with a patio. Dinner was absolutely awesome. We had the “pressed salad,” which included strawberries, candied walnuts, figs, and balsamic vinaigrette. David had the mixed seafood paella, and I had the adobo-crusted pork osso buco with sweet-potato plantain mash. We ate all of this along with their wonderful sangria, and topped it off with cream cheese flan with caramel sauce. Needless to say, we were stuffed and happy. On top of it all, we had one of the best waiters we’ve ever had. It was a great experience that will be hard to top!
We returned to the hotel and crashed. Saturday’s adventures include visiting Point Loma, seeing the Cabrillo National Monument, prepping for the marathon, eating some fish tacos, and having dinner on Coronado Island before going to bed early to get ready for the marathon on Sunday morning. We’re hoping to see the sun at least one day while we are here, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. I am not complaining, though, because this mild weather is awesome compared to the heat and humidity we left behind in Fort Worth, and it should be fantastic running weather. Trips always fly by way too fast, and this one is no exception. I will report more tomorrow.
After breakfast, we returned to the room and got ready for our day. Getting dressed has been quite a dilemma for me – the days have been cool, which I expected, but it has also been very cloudy, making it even cooler outside. I decided on shorts, a t-shirt and a waterproof jacket, since it looked like it could rain at any minute. It never rained, but I was thankful for the warmth of my jacket. We made our way to the San Diego Zoo, which is touted as one of the best zoos in the United States. It was huge! Our tickets came with a guided 45-minute bus tour around the zoo, as well as a ride on the sky ride (kind of a like a gondola), and unlimited rides on the express buses around the zoo. I am so glad that we had transportation, because I don’t think walking around the zoo for 5 hours would be the best thing for our marathon-ready legs. It was a neat zoo. They have several baby animals, including a gorilla, giraffe and elephant, so that was fun to see. We spent about five hours at the zoo and decided we’d had enough. It was definitely worth seeing, but pricey in my opinion, at $35 per person.
Once we were done at the zoo, we came back to our hotel, unloaded and walked to the convention center across the street from our hotel. That’s where the marathon expo is held. The marathon mailed information packets to us a few weeks ago. When we signed up for the marathon, we listed our predicted finish time as 4:30:00. Obviously, that’s gone by the wayside for me, but that’s David’s predicted time. Our packets stated that there would be 23 corrals, and we were in corral 13. We were right in the middle, and that seemed correct, especially in this walker-friendly marathon with a 7 ½ hour open-course time. However, when we picked up our bibs and chips, we were still in corral 13, but there are only 16 corrals. We are basically at the back of the pack, and they are claiming 18,000 people are running this race. David is concerned, more than me, that we are going to have to dodge people for several miles before we hit a good pace. I thought 4:30:00 was a pretty respectable time, but apparently, it puts us in the back of the pack. It should be interesting.
The marathon expo was great. The marathon has a huge selection of “official” gear featuring the race logo. We each got a great technical t-shirt for signing up, so David got some socks and I got a hat with the race logo. We also picked up a pint glass with the logo because we like to collect these from different places we visit. The marathon also has an official artist who has done an official race poster since the marathon started 12 years ago. We bought a poster and had it autographed by the artist; we plan to frame it and hang it in the house, where it will be a cool memento of our first marathon together. Of course, no marathon expo would be complete without walking the aisles for all the free junk the vendors give away. All this, plus David got a new pair of shoes. I hope we can get it all in our bags for the trip home.
After the expo, we returned to the hotel to rest for a few hours. We got dressed again, and went to dinner at The Prado at Balboa Park. Balboa Park is an amazing park right in the heart of the city, and this restaurant is so neat. We sat out on the patio; although it was cool outside, the restaurant had heaters everywhere, so it was very pleasant. The patio was beautiful, with lights strung over the tables and overlooking a nice courtyard with a patio. Dinner was absolutely awesome. We had the “pressed salad,” which included strawberries, candied walnuts, figs, and balsamic vinaigrette. David had the mixed seafood paella, and I had the adobo-crusted pork osso buco with sweet-potato plantain mash. We ate all of this along with their wonderful sangria, and topped it off with cream cheese flan with caramel sauce. Needless to say, we were stuffed and happy. On top of it all, we had one of the best waiters we’ve ever had. It was a great experience that will be hard to top!
We returned to the hotel and crashed. Saturday’s adventures include visiting Point Loma, seeing the Cabrillo National Monument, prepping for the marathon, eating some fish tacos, and having dinner on Coronado Island before going to bed early to get ready for the marathon on Sunday morning. We’re hoping to see the sun at least one day while we are here, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. I am not complaining, though, because this mild weather is awesome compared to the heat and humidity we left behind in Fort Worth, and it should be fantastic running weather. Trips always fly by way too fast, and this one is no exception. I will report more tomorrow.
Sounds like fun. I'm jealous of the amazing food you're enjoying!!
ReplyDeleteThat dinner sounds wonderful! Can't wait to hear your description of the marathon!
ReplyDelete