marathon training and lifting during SDCC

because no one wrote an article about this. 

A few observations:

• you can do it, but it's probably better to take it as a deload week due to all the walking, standing, and jostling on top of the runs. my calves are so shot that I didn't run at all today. BUT, again, you CAN do it. 
• while there are less crowds running towards the airport from the Star of India, you can only get about 9 miles without running into Liberty Station and having to run through random shopping districts 
• and you can't really run the famous Embarcadero route because it's full of Hall H queuers -- the paths are not all open. you can run one of the parks, but not the one near the con
• If you run towards Seaport from the Star of India you will run out of path, even with taking the peninsulas, after about 2.9 miles. 
• so much looping. so much freaking looping around to hit mileage targets. holy hell. 
• Please note, all of this assumes starting at the Hotel Little Italy / Courtyard Marriott Little Italy, which is about 0.6 miles from the Star of India. 
• it will be hard to make early panels, especially if your roommates don't wake up early and you have to get ready to work out in the dark. 
• meanwhile, my friends would be up and ready in...10 minutes, and still got to the con before me despite sleeping 2.5 hours longer than I did (I slept 7.5; they slept 10) -- that kinda sucked
• the hotel gyms will not be empty -- they are usually pretty busy. 
• backpacks will hurt your shoulders by EOD even if they feel light when you set out. 
• All the concrete along the waterfront really starts to beat you up after day 2 or 3. 
• the hunger is less of a problem than just random episodes of weakness - I would just immediately stop what I was doing and get a high carb + protein source from one of the food stands, plus a Gatorade, and usually chugged the entire thing. Yep, I got food directly within the con. Gaslamp has good food but I didn't want to waste valuable con time going over there until dinner. 
• I ran 10, 10, and 14 miles, then took Sunday off, with a total of 61 miles for the week. I was completely destroyed by the end. 
• it would have been better to do something like 5, 5, and 12. 12 or 13 will still get you the entire waterfront route, and it's a lovely route!
• I was hoping for at least 1-2 Strava kudos. By Saturday, I was not getting any at all, the whole l4 miler with waterfront pics and ...just silence. Lol. 
• calves would get brief, sharp pain -- like a knot in each -- after the first day or so, but then it would go away. 
• had to go light on shoulders due to backpack. 
• the forecast says 80s but it feels significantly hotter, both running and while at the con 
• don't walk to the con if your hotel is not right next to it. take the SDCC official shuttles. SIT. 
• refill water as much as you need, pee as much as you need, etc. 
• if doing an offsite, do not expect finding bathrooms to be easy. I had a stressful 25 minutes trying to find an actual open bathroom by Petco Park and eventually found a coffee shop but had to order a smoothie to use it. I almost lost my spot in line but rejoined my friends just before the point of no return
• but obviously finding bathrooms is super easy within the con itself, thank goodness!
• I did not do any wicked lines like Hall H on a Saturday. The longest I waited was probably from 11:05 AM to 12:30 PM for My Little Pony G6. If I had shown up to the Black Panel at 10 am, I would have also made one of the smaller Marvel gaming panels AND MLP without having to stand for as long -- but again, I had just ran 10 and lifted that morning.