America's Finest City Half Marathon 2010

Pre-race
The alarm went off at 1am. I rolled out of bed about 15 minutes later. I got ready, left the house around 2:45am for the drive down to America's Finest City... San Diego! This year I decided not to follow the directions given to us in the final instructions. I took the 163 and got off at Washington and took University over to Park Blvd. I parked in the small parking lot near the zoo. Ate my Powerbar and took a quick nap before boarding the bus a little after 5am.

Once we got dropped off at Cabrillo, I walked over to the visitor center and sat down against a wall to get out of the wind. Later I got up and walked around so the legs wouldn't get stiff. I ran into my San Diego friends: Charlie, Adam, Louis, and Jackie. I went to make one last visit to the portapotty and made my way to the starting area where some friends of my college friend Joe recognized me from the La Jolla half. Shortly thereafter, the national anthem was sung, we moved up to the starting line, the gun went off, and the race was under way.

Goals for the race:
Goal A: 1:49:59
Goal B: 1:55:00
Goal C: go home

Strategy: Run "hard" for the first 10k, cruise the next 5 miles, and survive the 6th Avenue hill.

First 10k
For the most part, it felt fine. The first 10k is fast, but not easy. There are huge descents but some pretty good size rollers. I was kind of feeling sick in the stomach around mile 5, so I pulled it back. Besides, I knew there was no way I could keep that kind of pace for another 9 miles. I think this was the first time that I've gotten to the 10k mark of any race including a 10k in under 50 minutes. Here was the only time in the race that I felt that I had a shot at goal A. I just needed to cover the next 7 miles in 1 hour.
1: 7:38
2: 7:49
3: 7:31
4: 7:15
5: 8:44
6: 8:26
6.2: 49:01

Mile 7 to the Finish
Then I got to Harbor Island and things just began to fall apart. I took my salt cap and gel between miles 7 and 8. The right foot started to get sore at mile 8. I knew goal A was out the window. I really wanted to walk starting at mile 9. But I just kept slowing down until the foot wasn't hurting as much. Mile 12 was the huge 6th Avenue hill. It's a hard climb, but every year that I've ran it, it has gotten easier. As I crossed the bridge with all of the flags, I finally convinced myself to just take off and finish the race! I must have passed at least 50 people except for 1 shirtless guy with a safari hat who was really hauling butt. After I stopped I really felt the soreness in the right foot.
7: 8:35
8: 9:19
9: 9:06
10: 9:22
11: 9:47
12: 10:38
13.1: 10:07
Finish: 1:54:17
Course PR
Tied my half marathon PR, but I actually ran 13.1 miles faster during SD RnR Marathon in 2010 (1:53:32). I know I can run much faster, but first I need to fix the flat tire. :)

I had to work hard for these 3 items: 1 fugly shirt, 1 big triple crown medal, and 1 finisher's medal

Post-race
This race was a good mental training run. I was successful at resisting the urge to take unscheduled walk breaks. At one point it was interesting where I had an internal debate going on. One voice said to dig deep... no stopping until I cross the finish line. Another voice said the more you dig, you're just digging yourself a deeper grave! I settled the argument by running slower and fooling myself into thinking that I would save the walking for the 6th Ave hill. I ran that entire hill. The foot doesn't hurt as much when I run uphill.

I bumped into my faster friends near the exit after picking up the triple crown medal and my fugly race shirt. We chatted a little about our races, took some pictures, and reconvened later for lunch at Louis and Jackie's house. I couldn't wait that long for food, so I stopped by Santouka to eat some ramen and natto gohan before going over. It was fun hanging out, but man I was a zombie. Definitely not used to staying awake for that long. I was dozing off a little on my drive back home. Once I got home I showered and drove up to Arcadia for Red Lobster with some old church friends. I love seafood!