SeaWheeze Half Marathon Race Recap

Race morning dawned at a lovely 64 degrees and overcast.  The weather was perfect for a half marathon.  Our hotel was about a 10 minute walk from the race start line and so we delayed heading down for as long as we could.  Finally around 6:30 we started the walk to the start line.  In our hotel lobby, the race had set up a fresh fruit stand and free coconut water.

We arrived to the race site and the DJ had the scene pumping.  The area was crowded with lots of people but we were able to run into the expo building to use real potties!  It was so nice to have indoor real bathrooms to use.  Then we began the trek to the starting corrals.  It was very crowded and people weren't moving into the corrals very well.  There was plenty of space but everyone just hung near the entrances to each corral.

We split up since Mandy wanted to go for a faster time than the rest of us.  She moved forward with wave 4 and we wished her luck!  The remaining three of us decided we needed one last potty stop and so we snuck out of the corral to visit the porta-potties.

We managed to work our way back into the corral and just minutes later it began to move forward.  Before we knew it, the race was starting.  The corral system worked really well to space out the racers but even so the first mile was crowded.

The first few miles passed by quite easily with some running through the city areas including China Town.  Some of the fun sights during this section were the tall bike riders.  They were along an elevated highway and so much fun to watch.  I even got to watch one mount his bike and it definitely was interesting to see how he got up onto such a tall bike.  Also, in China Town we got to see people doing Tai Chi and run past the Chinese Gardens that I had read about.

All along the course were km markers and they all had fun sayings on them.  The course also had signs marking when it would narrow.  My favorite though were the signs along pedestrian areas that asked others to Respect the Runners and avoid the course since a lot of the course was on the paved walking trail system.

Somehow the one sign I took a picture of turned out a little like a "That's What She Said" joke.

We had a 5K section that crossed over to Kitsilano...this included the biggest hill on the course which was actually the bridge to cross False Creek.  Just before making the bridge crossing you came up a short, steep hill from False Creek to a trio of cheering drag queens.  They had so much energy cheering on all the runners.  This was the first place where the course doubled onto itself so you finally got to see other runners.  I kept my eyes peeled hoping I would spot Mandy to cheer her on...and I did near the end of the bridge.  The cheering spectators were definitely the loudest when we were along Kits Beach!

As I returned from Kitsilano and was crossing back over the bridge one of the tall bikes happened to be riding by and playing some tunes.  The song that he had blasting almost brought me to tears...I definitely got emotional for a minute.  The song was Ain't Nothing Going to Break My Stride and it has special meaning for me.  This song is the song that I associate with my dad and running.  My dad is a strong athlete and he was big into the running boom when I was a little girl.  I'm sure my sisters and I developed our love of running from our dad! This song was part of a marathon recap video that I remember seeing as a little girl and I can't help but think of him and all that he has taught me about being the best me when I hear it.

I pulled it together...it was just mile 7 and I had 6 more to go! Around mile 8, we finally entered Stanley Park and the seawall.  We were welcomed to the seawall by some people in antique swim costumes.  All along the Stanley Park portion of the route there were lots of fun sights and cheer sections.  The mermaids were definitely a Lulu touch!

My favorite was the drum group...you could hear the pulse of their beat for quite a while before you passed them and it just resonated within you.  At this point in the race I thought I would start to deteriorate but surprisingly I just kept having more and more fun.  The fun distractions kept me going from km to km and the water stops were frequent.  My goal for the race was to run this as a training run and focus on not walking.  I only walked during the water stops.

Definitely smiling with the SeaBreeze at SeaWheeze!

Crowded course but very manageable.  

I got very confused on timing along the way.  About the 16KM mark I checked my watch and thought that I was near a 2:15 time overall.  I always hold to the belief that you shouldn't try to do math while running.  It just never works out but it does help distract you!  My math was definitely wrong as I realized when the 2:20 pacers started to pass by me.  I felt strong so I couldn't figure out what was happening with my time.  The last 1KM marker seemed like the longest KM ever in my life.  I had definitely picked up the pace and it was tough to maintain at that point in the race.

Finisher pic in front of the Olympic torch! 

I finished up and loved hearing my name as I crossed the finish line.  My finish time was 2:18:50 which was much better than I had expected.  I ended up running 8 of the 13 miles with a pace within 3 seconds of each other.  That's my best pacing of a half marathon ever...and my final mile was one of my fastest miles in a half marathon ever!  After crossing the finish, we soon received a bottle of water and our finishers medal.  Then they clipped on a kit with some aromatherapy vials for each of us and lastly we received a finisher premium to keep us grooving throughout the year...skullcaps earbuds.  They also gave each of us a wet washcloth which felt great to wipe off the grit from the run.

There was such a mass of people at the end that it really was hard to find my friends and regroup.  I ended up running into Jules in the food line and then we found Mandy and Pauline inside the expo hall.  We were all getting cold and worn out so we didn't stay around the race site too long.

SeaWheeze Expo Activities

Oh my gosh...I was totally unprepared for the extravaganza that Lululemon put on for the 2013 SeaWheeze Half Marathon weekend.  My friend Pauline had participated in 2012 for the inaugural race and so she was our insider who made sure we were fully prepared.

The festivities kicked off on Friday morning with Packet Pick Up and the famous Expo shop.  Lulu had given sneak peaks in the 10 days leading up to the race of some of the special SeaWheeze designs that would be available for sale only at the Expo shop.  The expo opened at 8AM and we began our morning with a workout of course.  Mandy and Pauline were doing a week long workout challenge during our trip so they took Jules to the fitness center and got their workout on around 5:45AM.  I headed to the pool for the good fun of lap swimming! As a side note...we all highly recommend asking for a room on the same floor as the fitness center when you are travelling with multiple people.  It worked out great for our group since we could use the extra bathrooms and showers in the fitness center.

Yep! Swimming Rocks even on vacation!

We finished up our workouts and then headed to the expo arriving around 7:15AM...to a super long line.

Lulu fans get in line early for their exclusive clothing options! I made my first Lulu mistake and was one of the few people not totally decked out in a Lulu outfit.  I just didn't even think about that when I packed for the trip plus I don't own a ton of Lulu pieces.

One of the entertaining things wondering thru the pick up line! 

The line was very pleasant and before we knew it the line began moving.  It was a little like Disney though in that you never quite seemed to get close to the doors!  Eventually we made it in and we debated splitting up.  There were two separate entrances - one for packet pickup and one for the store.  We had decided to have one person go through pickup and the rest wait in the store line but the volunteers ended up telling us it would be faster to get into the store if we went through packet pick up.

Once we got inside for the packet line we got our first glimpse of the circus fun that Lulu had planned.

Jules, Me, Mandy, and Pauline

The pickup process was a little slow at times since the volunteers sometimes struggled to quickly find your bag but otherwise it was pretty painless.  Once we activated our timing chips, we were released into the store.

The store was organized by size groups and then products within each size.  It really made it easy to shop your size however the assortment wasn't the same across all sizes.  There were changing rooms available but most of the shoppers were just claiming some carpet space and trying on as discreetly as possible.  Most ladies were grabbing options and had large piles surrounding them since choices and quantity were limited.

After selecting items for purchase (15 piece limit - and many bought their limit!) you got into the payment line.  The line took about 15-20 minutes to move through but once you got to a cashier they were very pleasant and efficient with the process.  All of the volunteers were super cheerful throughout the expo and shop including the poor souls that had to keep stocking and restocking the product.  They were busy for sure!

The views from the expo center were gorgeous and the view included many seaplanes taking off and landing while we were shopping.   Just outside the store area was the Mantra wall.  We took turns supplying our mantras to the mantra wall.

Pauline on the Mantra Wall! 

Leaving our marks on the Finish Line banners! 

Outside on the plaza was a fun summer beach style retreat.  They had fun games and bright colored chairs to rest on.  There was even a hair and makeup station but we bypassed that line.

Hair and Nail Stations

Instead we ended up getting immediate service at the massage area. It was great to get a relaxing 15 minute massage under the sun and the aromatherapy products were amazing.

All the massage therapists had shirts that read "here for you at the Finish Line"

After our massages, we headed to the Cactus Cafe which was right alongside the plaza.  We sat outdoors and watched one of the largest outdoor yoga classes that I have ever seen.  Then we headed back to the hotel to offload our purchases and plan out our Vancouver explorations.

Tips for the Lululemon SeaWheeze Packet Pick up:
1) Arrive early if you are interested in the shopping opportunity.
2) Wear layers - so that you can easily try clothing on over your leggings or tank for example.
3) Make plans with your friends - have a check in time and check in location.  It's easy to lose track of time and friends within the shop.
4) Make sure you tell your credit card company that you will be traveling outside the US and if you plan to make a large purchase at the store alert them to that so your charges don't get denied.  It was a common occurrence so much so that they announced on the PA several times to call credit card companies while you were in line.
5) Plan to spend several hours exploring all the fun at the expo site.  The massages are great and some of the activities had a line that was slower moving.
6) Bring drinks and snacks - there is a small coffee shop inside the expo hall but otherwise food and drink options are limited.
7) Stop by one of the real Lululemon shops before hand to try out the products and get an idea of your size and determine if there is anything in the normal product lineup that you like better than the SeaWheeze designs when you are at the shop.
8) Have fun!!!

Sea Kayaking on Bowen Island

Over the coming days I will be recapping my trip to Vancouver for the Lululemon SeaWheeze Half Marathon.  In researching the trip, I looked for some fun day trip options for things to do in and around Vancouver.  Our group had split arrival times and so two of the group were heading to Whistler and the other two of us were looking for something to do closer to town.  One place that I discovered was Bowen Island.

Bowen Island is a small island that is a 20 minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay just outside of downtown Vancouver.  To get to the Horseshoe Bay terminal, you can either drive or take the city bus system either the 250 or 257 Express bus.  We got lucky and the first bus to arrive at the downtown City Center bus stop was the Express bus!  It was late afternoon and the bus took a little longer than we anticipated to make the drive but it was fun to see parts of the city.

The bus drops you off at the ferry terminal where you can purchase your ferry ticket to Bowen Island.  The ferry runs about once an hour...except between 1-3.  There are waiting rooms with free wi-fi access in the terminal building.  Once the ferry arrives there is a quick turnover as passengers and vehicles exit and then the loading process begins.  Passengers can walk on and choose many different locations to sit including indoor cushioned seats or outdoor benches on the upper deck.  Several people also chose to stand on the car level which is the lower deck of the boat.  The ferry trip is quite fast and before you know it you'll be pulling into Bowen Island's Snug Cove.

Just off to the side of the dock you will notice several small buildings including Nancy's Tacos, Lime and Moon Pie Company, and Bowen Island Sea Kayaking. BISK offers rentals and guided tours for both sea kayaks and stand up paddle boards.  We signed up for the Sunset and Evening paddle which is a three hour guided paddle for $65.  Our flights were delayed slightly so we ended up arriving off the ferry at 5:30 and still needed to check into our B&B.  The guides told us to take our time and started our tour a few minutes late.

That night there was also a large children's group out for a paddle and lots of locals taking part in local night out paddling the waters.  My friend Jules and I were paired up with a guide named Kyrsten.  Kyrsten gave us a basic tutorial and laughed that we were both super nervous about getting into the kayaks without dumping into the water!

The kayaks had a rudder which was controlled via foot pedals inside the boat.  The foot pedals took some getting used to for both Jules and I.  Luckily we started out going through the bay so the water was nice and calm.  We had fun checking out all of the boats that were harbored in the bay.  There were a few close calls as we learned how to make the turns and navigate the boats around each other.

Midway through we paused for a photo op.  I made the transfer to pass my phone over to Kyrsten with no problems but then Jules and I had to get lined up for the photo.  Just as Jules neared my boat, I reached out to grab her boat and nearly capsized myself.  We were all cracking up at how unbalanced I got the boat.  Once we got the picture taken, we took off heading along the coast to next bay.  We checked out all the "beaches" along the coast and by "beach" I mean small rocky patch.  We saw a beautiful Heron and even a little seal playing in the water.

Being the runner that I am...I wore my Garmin for the kayaking trip.  Every so often I would check out speed in nautical miles which Kyrsten thought was fun.  She kept telling us that we were ahead of the average tour group!  We ended up covering 6 miles in our 2 hour paddle, which Kyrsten told us was 2 miles further than the normal tour group normally goes.  We had plenty of time to add on additional distance but Jules and I were both exhausted from our travel day and we were starving since we hadn't had time to eat dinner before the kayak trip started.  The last 20 minutes were tough for me since I was trying so hard to stay awake.  I had barely slept the night before and then didn't sleep on the plane at all.

Once we were back at the dock, we had to navigate getting out of the kayaks.  We both managed to do it but were surprised at how tough it was.  My bottom had fallen asleep during the paddle and it felt so good to get to stand up and stretch.  We helped dock the boats and then headed to Doc Morgans for some dinner.  The Cheddar Ale Soup tasted awesome and hit the spot.

We had lots of fun kayaking with Kyrsten and the Bowen Island Sea Kayaking crew.  Next time, you are in Vancouver consider a side trip to Bowen Island.  Not only is there great kayaking but there is also a great network of trails for light hiking on the island.  More on that in another post!