Lululemon Sea Wheeze Half Marathon: Race Recap

Race day dawned dark and rainy. Not just a Pacific Northwest mist but a steady, soaking downpour. My weather app said there was only a 30% chance of rain at starting time so I held on to that and agonized over my race outfit. It’d be overcast, in the mid-50’s getting up to maybe 60, with that chance of rain.

I brought a light rain jacket, a tank and a long sleeved top. What would the right mix be? I’m always hot, so I put on the tank, capris and jacket plus a hat that would repel rain if need be. I also brought a trash bag just in case. What I forgot was a Zip-Loc bag for my phone. Oh well, 30% chance, the odds were in my favor.

I headed to the hotel lobby for my 6am cab and found a handful of other runners there doing the same. 4 of us shared a taxi. Two were from Toronto, while me and the other woman hailed from the Chicago area. What are the chances? The rain continued.

We got to the convention center, checked gear then lounged around inside, thankfully since it was still coming down pretty hard. At 6:57 there was still no announcement about heading to the corrals and the gear check line was long so we weren’t going off on time. We headed outside. Miraculously the rain let up to a faint mist and then stopped completely. I hit the potty one last time, relinquished my trash bag and lined up where I could see the 2:15, 2:20 and 2:30 pacers.

Race Goals: Run Happy, just like ZOOMA Great Lakes last week. I planned to soak up the beauty of Vancouver and enjoy the experience. No doubt my body wasn’t the freshest after running a half just a week earlier.

After a beautiful rendition of Oh Canada, it started raining again. A steady downpour. I wish I didn’t ditch my garbage bag but at least I had my rain jacket.

Turns out I started pretty far back. The corrals actually turned a corner, that’s why I couldn’t see the starting arch. We crept up slowly, already soaking wet. Hopefully the rain would stop.

Finally we were off. No surprise the course was crowded. I felt good. Happy to be running. In Vancouver no less. It was a “pinch-me” moment.

Most of the first mile was uphill. I’d failed to even look at the course elevation, wrongly assuming it’d be flatter than Zooma Great Lakes. Very wrong. But I felt good, way better than last week, probably because it was cooler. No walk breaks for me on this long incline through the city.

The first mile clicked off on my Garmin at 9:33. Considering it was uphill, that pace had to be a lie. No way was my happy pace that fast. I blamed the tall buildings for messing with my GPS. My Garmin also said I’d run 1.19 miles at the mile marker. Tall buildings strike again.

We came upon an entire spin class lined up along the race route, complete with instructor and jamming music. There they were pedaling away, cheering us on in the driving rain. It was adorable. I wish I’d taken a picture but it was just so wet.

See how much of the course is along the water? Stunning views for days. 

Lulu’s elevation chart looks more tame than my Garmin’s. Maybe cuz it’s in meters vs feet. 

The first half of the race is in the city while the back half is along the seawall in Stanley Park.

Around the halfway point we proceeded across a loooong bridge. As I neared the end of it I spied the Lululemon Headquarters. Where the magic happens. I’d wondered where it might be, now I know. It’s at the end of the Burrard St. Bridge. We ran past Lululemon then made the turn to go back across that heinously long bridge. The rain continued. My feet were starting to hurt from being so wet.

We headed toward Stanley Park and the beauty of the Seawall. I was surprised how good I felt still. The race course was filled with energy, not because so many spectators came out, but because Lululemon placed so many cheering sections along the way. So many great signs (I can’t remember a single one now, why is that?) made it lots of fun.

The views were so breathtaking, I kept pulling off the course and attempting to take pics, but often it was so wet I couldn’t even get my phone to open.

At mile 10 I sort of hit the wall. I really haven’t trained well enough to run strong past 10 miles or so. Plus now my feet were killing me. I could tell whatever chafing/blisters were brewing on both of my feet had broken. The rubbing was killer. I just needed to finish. At least the rain had diminished to a mist.

Toward the end when I was really hurting, these mermaids made me smile.

By this time my Garmin was so far off from the mile markers. It really messed with my head. I wanted to be done. My Garmin said I was close but yet the finish was nowhere to be seen. Ugh.

At last I was in the finishing straightaway, right along the ocean. I got my medal and heat sheet then it was swag time.

We received Lululemon trucker hats and sunglasses. That’s in addition to the Lulu water bottle and duffel we got at packet pickup. There were also tubes of Nuun, Vega bars and then a nice breakfast back in the convention center.

I was glad I brought the long sleeve top with me cuz I was soaked to the bone and changing out of my wet tank and jacket helped a ton. Some people were suffering with hypothermia. So much for being too hot.

The verdict: While packet pickup wasn’t the smoothest, I really loved race day. The course is a must-run, even in the rain. It’s so stunning I don’t have words. That seawall is incredibly scenic and the energy of the course is amazing. Lulu nailed the medal. I swear it’s the prettiest one I ever saw and shorts are fabulous.

Remember they mailed out the race shorts back in June and I’ve been wearing them all summer. The rest of the swag was completely unexpected, which always makes it even better.

I’ve gotten a huge reaction to the rude people at the expo and the ignorant, ageist remarks but you know what? What that girl thinks of me isn’t my reality. Her opinion of me is none of my business nor do I care how she perceives me. Despite what anyone may think, I am obviously a runner. Obviously not “too old” to complete a half marathon or longer. That is my truth. End of story.

Final words: My feet are effed up. Minimalist packer that I am, I brought no other shoes than the ones I ran in. That means I had to put them back on, still quite wet, the next day for touring and the flight home that night. Yes they hurt a ton. No, I never bothered to buy Band-aids. When I got home and took off my shoes, I discovered my feet had bled through my socks then dried, so my socks were stuck on. I had to rip the scabs to get the socks off. Needless to say I won’t be running for a bit. Maybe this should be a runfession. My bad.

Sore feet aside, I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to check Seawheeze off of my bucket list.

What races are left on your bucket list? What’s the best race swag you ever got? Medal?

I’m linking up with Running on Happy, Crazy Running Girl, Train with Marc and Coach Debbie Runs for the Coaches’ Corner linkup!

Remember Runfession Friday is this week! Join us for the Linkup!