Marina del Rey is 122 miles away from San Diego. I would never drive that far just to run such a small (~250) race. I was looking for races to do before my half marathon in mid August and happened to find this one. My cousin lives just miles away from this race and I had been meaning to visit him in his new place and it was on the weekend I was already planning to visit my parents in LA for my birthday. It was literally the perfect race (with the perfect ending)!

When I told my cousin about this race, he was actually interested in running it too, which threw me off guard. I knew he liked to workout and do outdoorsy stuff, but running never crossed my mind. Then again most people who run now never thought they were runners in the beginning. But I gave him too less time to prepare (2-3 weeks?) If I had known about this race sooner, I definitely would have let him know. Part of me wanted him to run it, so I could not have to worry about the race and just do it with him. There would have been much less pressure and I would have been able to enjoy the sights and push my cousin along, which would have been very rewarding.

But the competitive side of me also hoped that he didn’t run it. The reason why is because I looked at the previous year’s times and knew I could place within the top 10 pretty easily (assuming the runners in 2010 ran about the same as 2009). Even though there were no awards for top finishers, knowing how well you did is well worth it. So when I found out my cousin wasn’t going to race, I was partly disappointed but also eager to find out how I would do.

The course was fairly simple: imagine starting at the midpoint of an oval, run to the southern end, u-turn, pass the start, to the northern end, u-turn, back south, north and finish at the start. Basically, two loops. Not the most complicated or glamorous course, but it was nice to just focus on sections of the course (knowing how much was left for each).

Pacing was the main focus for me, as is with any race I run. I wanted to go for ~6:30 for the first mile, possibly pick it up a little the 2^nd, and whatever I had left the last mile. It worked out pretty well: 6:20, 6:22, 6:12. Because it was a small race, getting to the front was pretty easy, it was funny because the announcer called the fast runners at the front the “thoroughbreds”, never heard that before. I wasn’t at the very front, but once the race started, I sprinted along the side of the course and found the optimal position and settled into my pace. As mile 1 approached, I did a check on my breathing and felt fairly comfortable (for a race). I kept it up the 2^nd mile and although I was pretty tired by the end, I still managed to run the fastest mile. This is opposite of how I ran my PR race (just 18:58): 5:47, 6:13, 6:29 and I felt 10 times better during this race, so this race was definitely better paced than the PR race. Even though there were a number of people ahead of me at the start, I felt confident that I would catch them eventually and I did (and it felt great passing others as they were huffing and puffing).

Some notables from the race: there was a guy in a hoodie that passed me between miles 1-2, must have been a training run for him. There was a kid running in front of me the entire race and I ended up one spot behind him, and he raced barefoot! I hate doing this (before and) during a race, but I actually counted the number of people ahead of me as they completed their u-turns. Having that knowledge with me can be a double-edged sword. It could push me to try harder and pass even more people during the race, or it could just break my heart and give up before the race even finishes. Luckily, this time it worked out for the better.

I was definitely stoked about the outcome of this race and was really happy to be able to give such great news to my cousin, friends and family. This is making me think that I should just stick to 5K’s and abandon all other distances, but of course I won’t. I still have a lot to prove in the half marathon and ever daunting full marathon. But that’s going to be tough because a triathlon is now back in the picture. I didn’t want to ask for any triathlon gear for my birthday because it was either too expensive or I just wasn’t sure if I was going to even do one (in the near future). But I did receive cash for my birthday specifically to help pay for a road bike and although I could just use the money elsewhere or save it, I feel obligated to use it for what it was meant for. And now as I start looking, I can just think to myself, ‘oh it’s x less than that price since I got the cash’ It won’t hurt as much having to pay hundreds of dollars just for a bicycle J

Here are some wonderfully boring race pictures, enjoy!

I must admit, the Scripps Ranch 10K is becoming one of my favorite races, if not, then at least my favorite race distance. There are no finishing medals or cool race schwag, but it’s a great atmosphere and very well organized. The 10K distance requires more endurance than a 5K but isn’t as taxing on your body like a half or full marathon. I don’t need to worry (much) about hydration or nutrition during a 10K, I didn’t even bother getting any water at the two water stations that were available. And as long as I pace myself at the beginning, I’ll have enough to pick up the pace at the end. Race Results: 40:48, 6:34 min/mile, 14/71 AG, 125/1500+ overall. Splits: 7:08, 6:42, 6:30, 6:38, 6:35, 6:07, 1:05(.2 miles). It’s an improvement from last year, but I was hoping for better (I’m never satisfied..) I am happy with the way I paced myself this year compared to last though: 7:04, 6:51, 6:50, 7:04, 7:00, 6:22, 1:18. With this race I think it is imperative to disclose the fact that the last mile+ is all downhill, I usually do not have that much energy at the end to pick it up like that, although I wish I did!

The two things I hate about races (besides the excruciating pain from running) is traffic and parking; it is such a pain to deal with. And the bigger the race, the more of a hassle it is. I hate waking up earlier than I have to, but I need to get it in my mind that I have to leave earlier for races to avoid the possibility of missing my race. But I still got to this race on time, got my race bib and chip and got to the starting line warmup less. Another thing I don’t like about coming late is not getting a good spot at the starting line. I’m no elite, but I hate being blocked in and forced to dodge people for a better position. It’s wasting valuable energy that could be conserved for later.

I ran a pretty fast 6-miler about 2 days before so I felt very confident coming into the race. I wanted to run 7:00-7:15 pace for the first couple of miles and pick it up on the 2^nd half. I’ve done this on more than one training run, so I know it works. But when the race actually comes and I’m looking up at all of the runners ahead of me, the competitive side of me just stops thinking and just tries to go with or pass them. That’s one of the things that make me a dumb/ignorant runner, although I am trying to get better at holding back. Today, I think I did a pretty good job at pacing. After mile one, I didn’t feel very fatigued, if at all. I’m very surprised at the splits for miles 3-5, but shouldn’t be since I held back the first two. I knew that mile 6+ was downhill so as long as I got through mile 5, I knew I was in good shape.

This race was very reminiscent of my half marathon PR race. I felt pretty good throughout this race and was able to hang with others who caught up to me and even surge to pass them and catch others ahead of me. I think that is a key sign of how you are feeling mentally and physically in a race. In almost all of my other races, I am so tired early on in the race, I don’t care who passes me, I barely put up a fight. It’s definitely a sign of giving up, which I hate. But today, I ran very tough and am very proud of that.

The day isn’t even over yet and I’m already looking ahead to the next challenge. It is either going to be a trail race or another local 5K/10K. Looming farther into the future is the AFC Half Marathon, which will complete the half marathon triple crown. That was a goal I set out last August when I ran the AFC 5K while everyone else did the half. Still contemplating about the next full marathon too..

Can’t really say anything special about these pictures. They look exactly the same, but with me at a different position in the picture! I like the starting line photos just to see how far back it went, which is still amazing to me. I really like how the post-race picture turned out. I think I tried to smile when I took it after my last half marathon, but I was drenched in sweat and it just looked weird. I’m very tempted to go out and buy the picture of me and the starting line (and time and race name). Considering it was my first full, I may as well pull the trigger, we’ll see!

I am still working on (literally and metaphorically) my “what’s next” post, which will go into what I plan to do now after completing my first marathon. Obviously, if I knew, I would have said it by now, but I’m still thinking things through..

Race Morning

The day started out waking up well before the sun was out to get ready for the race. I was fortunate enough to go to sleep early enough to be semi-well rested when I got up. The past couple of races I have gone to, I risked missing the start because I wasn’t factoring in traffic. Because this was one of the biggest races I’ve ever ran, I left early enough to avoid any traffic, which was nice. I got to the race where people were sitting, hanging out and having some free bagels and fruit. I knew I was early because there was absolutely no line to the porta-potties! However, when I went for the second time right before the race, it was about a 30-45 minute wait!

The Course

The course went through many of the city’s famous spots including: Balboa Park, the Gaslamp Quarter (Downtown), San Diego Bay & Mission Bay with the finish at Sea World. There were costumed runners including Elvi (more than one Elvis), even a Sponge Bob Squarepants dressed as Elvis. There were also bands scattered throughout the course and lots and lots of excited cheering spectators, which was very encouraging.

Goals

When I was registering for this race, I didn’t know how fast I was planning to run it, but needed to give an expected finish time anyways. Boy was I wrong in saying 3:15! But that got me bumped up all the way to corral 2. As I got toward the end of my training program, I knew 3:15 was not reasonable so I was shooting for 3:30. Right before the race started, I turned back to look at the runners behind me and noticed the 3:30 pacer was in corral 3! I didn’t know if I should try to get in there or wait for the pacer to catch up. I decided to just try and go on my own and work out pacing by myself. I actually did a pretty decent job..at first.

Race Strategizing

The night before the race, I tried to plan out how I was going to pace myself throughout the race. A 3:30 is 8 min/mile, but I didn’t know if I would be able to run at that pace for the entire 26.2 miles. So I decided to run the first half of the marathon at a slower pace and pick it up the second half. So I figured if I could run at 8:14 pace, I could conserve enough energy to run a 7:47 pace for the rest of the way. I went as far as writing down what my 10K, half marathon and 20 mile time should be on my hand. Too bad it washed off once I started sweating and drinking water.

The Start

I think because I was in corral 2, I was surrounded by people running a lot faster than me. I was able to run with one person for a couple of miles at a decent pace, but she started picking it up and I knew it wouldn’t have been a good idea to hang. Out of the first ten miles, only one mile was at the planned 8:14 pace. Everything else was around 8 min/mile or faster. But I felt pretty comfortable for those first 10-15 miles.

Water!

Then it started going downhill from there (figuratively). My body started getting tired and the sun was out and shining. I didn’t need water or anything during the first few stations, but toward the middle/end of the race, I kept wishing there were more! Definitely not a good sign. What was a nice change was during mile ~21, they were handing out frozen Otterpops. It was so refreshing (although not the most nutritious). It was just nice to have something cold, since almost all of the energy drinks and waters that were handed out were lukewarm, bleh. I had 2 energy gels during the race that was offered, but had another on me in case and some PowerBar Energy Gel Blasts, which I only had two pieces of. Like I said earlier, this is very similar to my first half marathon. I started off too fast and ran out of energy toward the end of the race. If only I could have forced myself to run a slower pace at the beginning, how much better could my overall time have been?

Soreness & Pain

So in addition to hydration being an issue, I don’t think I was physically prepared to run 26.2 miles (fast). I had two 20-milers during my training, which turned out very bad and not so bad. But the pace for those runs was not even close to what I wanted to run at the marathon. During both runs, my legs were exhausted and just not used to running such a long distance. And today, it literally felt like my legs got whacked by a baseball bat many times. I always thought you get sore the day after working out, but DURING?! And as I’m sitting here writing this, both of my knees are in pain and need to be iced, not to mention all of the soreness.

My Two Cents

I think that’s enough complaining, it’s still a decent effort for a first marathon. And like I said when I posted my race on DailyMile, I have to say I have an even greater respect for marathoners. There were so many people out there today and so many people who do this every week. It’s just so amazing how they can put their bodies through so much all for what, a medal and t-shirt? No. What I saw out there today were people running..for others. Everyone has their own reason for running; some do it in memory of others. Some do it to help raise money for a cure or charity or something other than themselves. I am truly blessed to be able to ‘be one of them’, that is…a marathoner.

I missed my long run the two weekends before due to a 5K and wedding and since I am in the middle of a marathon training program, I didn’t really taper the week of this half. So this was more or less just another workout, nothing to lose sleep over. But as much as you want to pretend that a race is just another workout, you will still be in that race atmosphere so you’ll always feel at least some pressure. I arrived to the race just before the National Anthem and tried my best to get to the front of the line, but it was too crowded. They also said that iPods were not allowed during the race, but I read that they didn’t really enforce it. I still played it safe and kept my iPod at home; this was the longest distance I’ve ran without music!

It wasn’t too bad passing people in the beginning, but I also wanted to make sure that I didn’t start off too fast so that I still had energy to tackle the hill at mile 6-7. This was my first race with my Garmin and although I did check my pace fairly often, I don’t think I used it to its greatest potential. Before and after the big hill, there was a bunch of rolling hills throughout the course that kept throwing me off my rhythm. I would get comfortable, but then have a hill work through and then have to recover from that hill.

The miles did seem like they were going by pretty quickly, but looking at my pace throughout the race, I knew I was not running as fast as I did during the Carlsbad Half. A couple of miles in, a guy asked me what I was trying to run and I told him ‘..umn somewhere around 1:30’. He was like, ‘woah!’. I didn’t know if he thought I was in the wrong group because: this group was running faster than that, or because I started the race farther back, I was still hanging around with some of the slower runners. At that point, I decided to pick it up a bit, but he actually passed me later on in the race, I can’t remember if I caught back up though.. But by taking it easy, I was able to successfully run up the super tough hill at mile 6. Just before arriving at the foot of the hill, I wanted to yell out, “Is that the hill!?!?”

Because I was iPod-less, there were a lot of other things I heard while running. At the first water station all I heard was the sound of cups falling on the group. It sounded pretty cool, actually. And then before or at each mile marker, I would hear at least one or two watches beep. I’m pretty sure they had it set up to signal each mile, I have yet to set that up on my watch. I also noticed my breathing was not as labored as some of the other runners around me (earlier in the race). Too bad I didn’t capitalize on that. I was definitely unprepared for the hills.

One of the big reasons why people love this course is because it is so scenic; I mean how could it not be when you’re literally running down the coast?! I think the only way I would truly enjoy how scenic a course was is if it was an easy run. But during a race, I really do not care too much for the surroundings (unless it’s a hill that is killing my legs!) Just before the end of the race, we did get to run through the Boardwalk at the beachfront. A good portion of the course was run through neighborhoods too. There were spectators at certain points in the course, but definitely not all. At the points where it was completely quiet was where I missed my iPod most. I’m sure a lot of people who wanted to watch the race just stepped out of their house and hung out at their doorstep, which was pretty convenient.

With the La Jolla Half Marathon over, there should be nothing else going on between now and my first full marathon in June. Like I said earlier, I’ve missed a couple of long runs and even a couple of tempo runs, so I really don’t know how prepared I’ll be for that marathon. I’ll try to make up some miles on my off days and focus on whatever long/tempo runs I still have left and see how I do at the SD Rock N’ Roll!

The Carlsbad 5000, the “World’s Fastest 5K”, celebrated its 25^th anniversary this past weekend. This fast and scenic course was the perfect place to PR for my 5K. And what better place to PR in the 5K than the same city I PR’ed in the half marathon? Official results: 18:58, 6:06 min/mile; 122/1250 overall; 95^th male. As happy as I was to break 19 and PR, I was not too pleased with the way I paced myself for this race: 5:47, 6:13, 6:29, :27. But overall, it was a fun experience. It was a really big turnout and some elite world class athletes running too.

Nervous

It doesn’t matter if it’s the smallest local race down the street or a nationally televised race; I am going to be nervous about it. It’s just the way I am, I don’t think it matters how many more races I run. But we’ll just see if that ever does go away. So the night before, I was actually having nightmares about the race. The good thing is I don’t recall any of it. My race didn’t actually start until 11:30, so I definitely had the opportunity for a good night’s sleep, but that didn’t really happen. As I was brushing my teeth, I began to think to myself, ‘why the heck am I doing this? Why am I voluntarily putting myself through this?!’ However, I got over all the self-doubt, got dressed for my race and headed off.

Logistics & Brooks I.D.

Even though I spent way too much time the night before staring at maps figuring out how to get to the race, avoiding closed roads and finding parking, I still couldn’t find my way around come race morning. I went to the race expo to pick up my race bib but found out I had to get it at the registration table (thought that was just for day-of registrants…). I ran around multiple blocks to finally get my bib only to realize the expo was literally across the street! At least I got my warm-up in for the race. Before the race started, I actually found a couple of Brooks I.D. members (Jamie? and Jeremiah). Jamie had already run in his age group and he actually hung around during my race and cheered me on toward the end, which really helped. Jeremiah had done the All Day 25K, which means running 5-5K races for the day. That’s pretty intense.

Race

It took a while for the race to actually start and as people were heading to the front, I realized how many younger people were running this race. There were markers for each group of runners, 5 min/mile, 6, 7, etc. A lot of those kids were hanging out at the 5 min/mile mark and I was wondering to myself, ‘are they really going to run that fast!?’ And then I realized it wasn’t that out of the ordinary. I mean I ran 5:50/6 min/mile back in high school, and I was one of the slower runners on my team! So even though I knew that these kids were legit, I still didn’t want them beating me. I mean, they were kids!! But I think that mentality really ruined any smart race strategy I could have used during this race.

The gun went off and like I said, I actually tried to hang with these kids. I know the first half mile was way faster than 5:47 pace, but I had already started falling back toward the end of that first mile. The 2^nd and 3^rd mile dragged along a lot slower, definitely not the way I wanted to run it. I mean, I ran positive splits! I’m wondering if tried I tried to run my mile 3 time first, then mile 2 and 1, would my overall time be significantly faster? And if not, hopefully I would not have been in as much pain as I was. The top 250 of each race/sex medaled and looking at last year’s times, I knew I was going to get one. These medals are probably one of the nicest ones I’ve received, even for a 5K. I don’t have any 5Ks planned in the future where I see myself breaking this PR, so it might have to stay at this time for a while. My next race, the La Jolla Half Marathon, is less than 2 weeks away. I’m hoping the pacing for that race goes a lot better than this one and similar to my Carlsbad Half PR.

The Race

I arrived to the race about 15 minutes before the start to find out I wasn’t even in the list of registrants! However, the people working at the race were very nice (and I think it happened to quite a few people) so I was allowed to just sign in real quick and get a race bib. The announcer called everyone to the starting line, which was technically just the finishing shoot. Because it was so cramped at the start, I thought it was going to get very congested but nobody wanted to even get near the front of the line. So I hung around near the front and got a pretty good start, passing people early. But maybe I was wrong in doing so because everybody else knew that it was smarter to take it easy. Within the first 50-100 meters, I was already in the top 15-20, which sort of added to the pressure in my mind: ‘oh it’s possible to place, you better hold on to this pace or else you’ll blow it.’ Thanks, I needed that..

What I noticed about the course was that it was not like any other trail I’ve ran on before. I was used to solid dirt that’s fairly easy to run on. What we raced on however, was built more for hiking because the trail was covered in rocks and it was almost impossible to really get in a comfortable rhythm. We were literally jumping left and right trying to find the best grip, avoiding rocks that might cause use to slip, which happened to this one kid who was in front of or trailing me the entire race. Next to the steep hills, trying to find my footing on the trail was definitely one of the biggest challenges of this race.

Toby Guillette, a local ultra-endurance athlete who ran this race last year and got 6^th, gave me some very helpful information and tips about the course beforehand which definitely gave me an advantage when preparing for this race. His strategy was simply to, ‘run as fast as I possibly could to the top because I knew that on the way down, my momentum would carry me quickly, even if I was tired from the ascent.’ It definitely worked for him, running roughly 18 up, 10 down. I did my best to run the same strategy, but that whole ‘run as fast as you could to the top’ was easier said than done. After the first couple of hills, my legs were on fire! But knowing that Toby took 18 minutes to get to the top, I was hoping I could do around the same and see what I had left on the downhill. It was relatively quiet going up and I was competing against the 12-year-old that I mentioned before, a woman around my age, and one or two other guys. I would get passed by one or two of them on the way up the hills while I passed them back on the downhills. There were few occasions where I felt good enough to pass on the uphills, but that was rare.

Once I got to the peak, I felt a lot better knowing that the rest of the race was mostly downhills. But at that point, I was so worn out already I really didn’t know how much else I had in me. Toby must have been rolling down those hills last year because as fast as I wanted to go down, I couldn’t with all of those rocks in the way. I suppose if you disregard your fear of falling then going down those hills would be a piece of cake. But I didn’t really want to be wheeled down on a stretcher if I wasn’t careful enough. Running uphill uses more of your glutes while running down is more your quads. So on my way down, when I did run into the few uphills, it actually didn’t feel that bad, I suppose because I was mostly using my quads. Too bad I was already out of energy to really attack those hills. But I was able to hang on long enough and it was nice that the finish line was at the end of a downhill, it made it a lot easier!

There was a race photographer a couple of hundred meters away from the finish, hopefully they turned out ok. But there was also a race volunteer with a walkie-talkie and as I approached the finish line, I understood what he was doing. He was calling out bib numbers as they passed him so the announcer would be able to call out each finisher’s name and time as they crossed the line. I know bigger races try to do that as often as possible, but because of the sheer number of runners, it’s almost impossible to get every single one. But the people running this one did their very best to get everyone’s name called out, which I really liked about the race. I also had to leave the race, but I heard someone say something about only 5 runners have finished so I had to wait until they got the results before I could leave. Although I didn’t get in the top 5, top 10 is definitely still good and of course, first in my age group! Even though I left before the actual awards ceremony, the race announcer asked for my name and called it out to the crowd as I left, which was pretty special.

What’s Next

What I’m hoping from this race and any future hill/trail runs is that it helps in all of my upcoming races: the Carlsbad 5000 5K and La Jolla Half Marathon in April as well as my marathon debut, the San Diego Rock N’ Roll Marathon in June. I will most likely begin a 10-week training program for the marathon next week, with the two prior races falling within those 10 weeks which will more or less be training runs for the marathon. And after putting it off many times, I’ve finally taken the first step to doing the 100 pushups program by Steve Speirs. It’s a six-week program that helps you work your way up to doing 100 straight pushups. I’m hoping this strength training will really help with my upcoming races.

The Start – Felt really good, was very comfortable. My breathing felt relaxed and I was just trying to find my ‘comfort zone/pace’ The sun was out, but it wasn’t too hot, especially since it rained the entire week up until that morning (thank you Rain Gods!) I actually made a conscious effort to look at the cameras this time, but still wasn’t up for smiling or anything that would throw off my rhythm (next time, I’ll attempt a thumbs up or some type of gang sign). It always looks like one hand is in a fist and the other is more loose, not sure if that is something that I need to remedy or maybe it doesn’t really mean anything..

The Middle – I’m not too sure where in the course this was taken, but I’m going to assume it’s the middle. Still going strong at this point, although it looks like I’m running alone (I know I was for a while) which kind of sucks during a 13.1 mile race.

The Finish – Yeah, by this time in the race, I didn’t care too much for the cameras. I was having a hard enough time getting enough oxygen to my body. But as you can see, I’m trying to pump my arms and dig as deep as possible to get to that finishing line.

My Running GIF – One of the photographers got trigger happy and actually took 5-6 pictures of mile in a row! So I created this cool animated gif. I’d love to use this avatar for my Twitter/DailyMile..

Training Program..or Lack thereof

In preparation for my first half marathon, I was recommended a great training program, ‘Ryan Hall’s Half-Marathon Training Plan’. I followed the plan very closely including intervals and found myself able to run very fast for about 5-7 miles. However, come race day, I was on pace to break my goal until mile 7 or so, which got me thinking, ‘I need to stop running fast for a short distance, but focus on what I’ve never been good at: distance’. So I opted not to follow any particular training program this time. What also spurred me to do this was that I didn’t think I would have been able to follow every workout. The holidays were coming up, I knew I would be visiting home and running would be even harder then. So what I did during this time was run a little bit less, but I tried my to increase my mileage and build up on the base miles I ran for the past couple of months. And although my times were significantly slower during these runs, I was still able to use the speed I have had for most of my running career.

The Race

The Carlsbad Half Marathon is the first race of the Half Marathon Triple Crown series in San Diego. After running the 5K during the AFC Half Marathon (third race in the series) in 2009, I had decided that I would try and accomplish that for 2010. Goal 1 of 3 accomplished!

From what others have said about the race and reading the race description on the website, the Carlsbad Half is a very scenic, fast and (fairly) flat course with fast times and a perfect place to PR. Although I wanted to improve over the last race, this sounded like a race where I should run really fast, which just added to the pressure. You’re running along the ocean for most of the race and you could literally distract yourself by looking to your left or right. The support is also very good too, live music throughout the course and spectators dispersed, not just at the start/finish. I have to agree, although they were not necessarily cheering for me, individually, hearing others around us was a lot better than trudging along, isolated on an empty road.

The Start

What I’m noticing more often about bigger races: parking is really bad! It was about 30 minutes before the start of the race and I was still in my car, only 1 mile away from the destination, but stuck behind a bunch of other runners trying to get to the parking lot. I finally got into the parking lot with 15 minutes to spare. I used my jog to the starting line as my warm-up, which was good enough for me. I also had a granola bar and banana for breakfast during the drive, hoping that was enough for the race. What was new for me was that the race was going off in waves. I was put in wave 2, but the 1:35 pacer was in wave 1 so I snuck into their group and hung out near him during the start.

The race got under way and as usual, I spent the first couple hundred meters getting myself in position, running around people. But eventually, I got settled and felt pretty comfortable. There were quite a few people running with the pacer, but I was able to run next to his side for a while. One advice I was given about this race (which could be used for any race) was to not get out too fast and you’ll be able to pick up the pace later on in the race, when you still have gas in the tank. I noticed the pacer talking to one runner a couple of times, giving her tips during the hills and declines. For a second, I thought about leaving one earbud off, just to hear what he was saying, but chose not to. We hit a 7:12 first mile, just under pace to hit 1:35.

Hydration

It was a lot hotter during my first half compared to this one. In fact, the weather was probably perfect for running, with the exception to a little bit of wind in the beginning. Because of the heat in the first half, I stopped by each water station to try and stay hydrated. This time, I had a full bottle of water before the race and although I needed to use the restroom before the race, I decided not to stop for anything during the race. I did get some water after mile 10, but didn’t get to swallow much of it. Since heat wasn’t an issue and I had enough water before the race, I saved a lot of time not slowing down at each water station. In fact, I used them to: pass others who did slow down to get water and speed up from the cheering and energy from the volunteers and spectators. They were passing out water, energy drinks, gu, and even oranges at one station.

On My Own..Sort of

I was with the pacer for the first couple of miles when all of a sudden, he stopped on the side of the course! What had happened before was the girl he was ‘coaching’ had fallen back. For a while, I thought to myself, ‘what should I do? Should I slow down so they could catch up, or just go on my own?’ I decided to just keep going and see how I would fare on my own, a very risky move on my part. Another reason why I decided to just keep going was that I still felt really good. Before the race, I was freaking out about trying to run 13.1 miles at 7:15 pace since I hadn’t been able to do that on my runs for quite some time. But everything was working out: weather, breathing, and hydration.

I looked around to find someone else to run with to make sure that I didn’t slow down or fall back too much. But what was happening was the person I was running with kept falling back. I was trying to help out by slowing down slightly to try and get the runner to catch up. What it could have also been was that I may have picked it up just a little bit. So what I did next, (which I still can’t believe), was surge a little bit and run next to the person in front of me. I actually did this for most of the race and it worked out beautifully! I was catching up to people, passing them and just getting faster as the race went on; as opposed to slower like my previous race. All of this wouldn’t have happened if I had started too fast, which I wanted to for a split second. When the race started, I looked up and saw a lot of people in front of me and I thought, ‘can these people really sustain that pace?’ They may have, but I was able to catch up and pass a good number of them along the way

The Finish

At mile 8, I thought, ‘only 5 miles left, this is easy; I’ve been doing 5 mile runs for the past couple of months!’ I had also planned to take a water break at mile 10, so I had something else to look forward to. So once I got to mile 10, even though there was still a whole 5k left, it felt to me like I was coming down the finishing stretch of a race. I felt that I ran such a great race so far, I wouldn’t be too sad if I started to fall back at this point (probably a lie..) Just before mile 13, I had started to feel pretty winded, but not to the point where I had to stop, but the way you feel at the end of a tempo run: fast, but relaxed. I was breathing a lot louder than before though and I did start to slow down until a girl runner had just caught up to me. I didn’t really feel like getting ‘chicked’ , so I started picking up the pace and at this time we turned to the finishing stretch where I started my kick. I passed one or two more runners and then cruised it in. Right before I crossed the line though, I saw the clock just turn 1:29 and I thought, ‘is that right?’ I was so happy with the time, I forgot that it was the gun time rather than the net time: 1:28:53, even better!

Final Thoughts

I would have been happy to hit 1:35, but to run almost 10 minutes faster than my last half never even crossed my mind. I know sub-1:30 is a pretty tough time to hit, no matter how much and how hard you train. When I tried to hit that time in my first half and failed miserably, I didn’t think I would ever get close to that goal time for a while. Now that I’ve broken that time barrier, what do I do? 1:25 or just try to run the same way I did this time and see what happens? Most likely, this was a onetime thing where everything clicked, which means a race like this doesn’t happen all the time. I have a 5K, the Carlsbad 5000 and my next half, the La Jolla Half Marathon both in April. I probably need to find something else to do during that 2 month gap or else I’ll go crazy. I really want to try getting out and running some trails in addition to running longer miles to build up my base.

My take away from this race: don’t dwell on past races, keep training hard and just run smart. That last part is something I haven’t done in a while but will definitely strive to do in the future.