We arrived on Wednesday and the weather was lovely! Blue skies, nice temps. Rain had been in the forecast all week for basically our entire trip. So we took advantage of the blue sky and biked around Stanley Park.
The rain was expected midday Thursday so we made our way up to Grouse Mountain early in the morning to do the Grouse Grind. Very smart to do before a half marathon. We did it last year in the rain, and I really wanted to do it again sans rain. It's a hard climb!! We also overdressed because we thought we'd get rained on eventually. Also, I saw Chip Wilson at the trailhead. I wanted to get my photo with him, but you could tell by the conversation he was having with two other gentlemen that he didn't want to be bugged. He was "listening to his book audio" on the way up.
We got back to Vancouver City and then the rain started... I guess you can say that we got the real Pacific Northwest experience. We've been blessed with nice weather pretty much every time that we are here. After a little shopping, we made our way to packet pick-up and that was super easy.
I decided to volunteer this year, and I did that on Thursday evening. I mostly did it to gain a new SeaWheeze experience. Volunteers also receive a pin and a shirt. I took photos for 4 hours. I think people were mislead and believed me to be a "professional photographer," but I was basically thrown the camera and was told to take photos. It would have been nice to know the camera a bit better. Lighting also got difficult in the evening, so then again I had to figure out the best setting. I also received a lot of questions that I couldn't fully answer and I had one lady vent her frustration to me about not receiving the race shorts. I enjoyed volunteering, but I felt like I didn't have all the information to a) take photos and b) answer questions.
Now the SeaWheeze showcase store... and this one irks me. I LOVE the SeaWheeze and I LOVE the clothes. But this is the only part of SeaWheeze that makes me not want to do it anymore. I liked the fact that people had to register for a time to entire the store. I thought that was a fair process, even though it was a nightmare to even get on the site to register. I also liked the fact that I didn't have to wake up super early to get in a line, especially since it was raining. I woke up naturally around 4:30 am (since I'm still stuck on central time) and I started to read posts that people were already lining up.
They said NO LINES this year... if you arrive early you will be kindly told to leave. I knew that people were already in the "6:30 am line" that had later time slots, so I made my way to the convention center. I got in line and then I felt guilty that people with the 6:30 am slot were behind me, so I jumped out of line. I did that twice. They need to have better line management... I eventually got to pass people with later time slots to get in the store, but if you didn't hear what they were yelling, you were shit out of luck. I HATE this FOMO mentality. The store was crazy. So many people. It was annoying for me because I wear two different sizes, and both sizes were on opposite ends and I had to cut through a lineup of people that were waiting for reflective gear. That being said, I do love what I picked up in the store. I got exactly what I had my eye on, plus a jacket that I probably don't need. When I got out of the store, I seriously felt like a zombie. I didn't participate in the yoga this year... I wanted to do the noon session, but I was just too tired.
The run... I'm dealing with an injury (lower back and hammy). It basically started after the Iceland half in June and has been lingering ever since. Plus all the walking, biking, and hiking made my body even more sore and tired. There was a light drizzle for the first mile or so, and then it turned into a hard rain. Even though I was bummed that it was raining, it was nice to be in Vancouver during a different time of the year. I loved the fall foliage.
I had such a good run last year, so I was hopeful this year would be good too, but it just sort of sucked. My legs felt tired, the seawall was hard... I never felt 100% at any point. Around mile 10 I started to feel queasy and then I got scared that I was going to be sick the rest of the day. But the rain was clearing, and I decided to walk a little to let my heart rate go down. Walking actually made me feel better, and then I did a walk/run to the finish line. The course is super crowded from start to finish. I think all of the weaving makes it more tiring as well. I didn't PR the course, but I did get my second best finish.
I always love SeaWheeze weekend. It still is my favorite running event, I think I just need to stop caring about the showcase store so I can fully enjoy it.
Race recaps from previous SeaWheezes:
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
