It has been a fun couple of weeks relaxing, recovering from the OC Marathon and FINALLY getting situated in our new place! We’ve enjoyed countless days at the beach, gone restaurant hopping all over town (stay tuned for reviews!), slept in and ate seemingly endless cups of frozen yogurt. But enough is enough – it’s time to get back into the groove!
While the OC Marathon was our first of three marathons needed to complete the Beach Cities challenge, the next race in the series (Long Beach) isn’t until October. Although we couldn’t be more excited, October sure seems to be a long way off. After looking around, we came across yet another challenge-series of races, but this time for half-marathons right here in San Diego.
The “Half Marathon Triple Crown – 39.3 Miles of Paradise” has the same structure as the Beach Cities challenge – with participants needing to finish three half marathons, in succession, in a calendar year. The three half marathons are:
- America’s Finest City Half Marathon – August 18, 2013
- Carlsbad Half Marathon – January 19, 2014
- La Jolla Half Marathon – April 27, 2014
We have both become big fans of the race-series style challenges for several reasons. First, they simplify the decision of which race to run and give you something to look forward to throughout the year. Second, they are spaced well enough apart that it will force us to keep our mileage high – especially while simultaneously trying to complete the Beach Cites marathon challenge. Third, they are going to force us to take our training extremely seriously (running year-round while remaining injury free is a challenge in-and-of-itself). And finally, once you complete the challenge you get a cool, custom finisher’s medal … and, let’s be honest, who DOESN’T want that?
So, the race schedule is set. What better way to see southern California than by running up and down all the city streets and beachfront trails! We can’t wait. Stay tuned for training updates, race recaps, and post-long-run meal reviews!
Take care,
GnC
activeharmony 
Quick question… I have those pink Brooks Pureflow & am doing sprints on a treadmill. Well last Saturday my cardio session was awesome but my lower shins killed!!! They were super tight (shin splints??). Well I was wondering if its the shoes since they’re my first pair of Brooks & first time for that pain. I really like them & I’ve had them about 2 1/2 months now.
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Hi there; thanks so much for your comment! I’m sorry to hear you’re having shin pain in the Pureflow 2’s. I just retired that pair a couple of weeks ago (they were my third pair of Brooks in the last 18 months), and I can say they were my least-favorite pair of Brooks. I’m not sure what design changes were made to that version, but I consistently experienced ankle soreness on any run longer than 7 miles. I LOVED the first two pairs of Brooks I trained in (the previous PureFlow model and a PureCadence model). This Brooks line is considered a more minimalist shoe, so if you aren’t used to that I suppose you could experience various soreness. I’m not a doctor, but it could be a combination of the treadmill workouts, the more minimalist design of the shoe and the way you strike the ground when you run. If you haven’t done so, I would suggest visiting a running store that offers free gait analysis. They may be able to help pinpoint what’s going on for you. Happy running!
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