“Do you want to go to San Diego in a few weeks for a 5k?”, my girlfriend asked. At first, I didn’t want to. Here I am, Mr. Half Marathon par excellence, a 5k is the distance I use for my short training runs during the week. But, I swallowed my pride and looked up the event. Turns out there was a 10k distance too. Now we’re talking! (By the way, any distance is fine…what’s important is to be outside and to be physically active).
We headed down Saturday Night, enjoyed some tacos in Old Town San Diego, then retired to a hotel. The next morning we met her sister and ran our races. I had a really good experience and was happy with my time.
After finishing the race we had lunch at a Korean BBQ. Nothing like stuffing your belly with lots of grilled protein to refuel after a run. With lunch out of the way, the girlfriend and I started our journey back to the OC. Along the way, we took our time and visited a few of the State Beaches.
Torrey Pines State Beach was one of our first stops. We also stopped at Solana Beach, Cardiff Beach, and Tamarack State Beach. At each one, we took off our shoes and took a few very cold steps into the Pacific Ocean.
Once we made it to the city of Oceanside, one of my favorite stops, we headed out on the Pier to enjoy the view. Oceanside is one of my favorite places because it is about half way between LA and San Diego. It is a bit of a military town due to the nearby bases.
As we were heading back from our walk we had the pleasure of witnessing a random wedding occur right on the beach. In a world where I feel disgusted by couples that spend thousands of dollars on churches, flowers, and photographers, this was downright refreshing to see. My guess is that this couple didn’t have to spend much at all for their special day. It was just a small gathering of family and friends, lasted only a few minutes, but was probably one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen.
To top it off, about 30 minutes later, we got to enjoy one of the best sunsets I have seen so far this year. Another perfect day in the books!
32.7135399-117.1720982
