Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon

Before the Race Stuff
I was kind of under the weather starting Friday. Sucks to be sick on race weekend! Since Obama was in town, I decided to take the Metro to the expo at the LA Convention Center. I tell ya, there were colorful characters on the train. It took forever to get to the Pico Station. There was mechanical issues on the purple/red train at the Union Station.

Very few people on Friday

Unexpectedly Met Deena Kastor!

Chicrunner working the RunRacing Booth

I was fortunate to meet Deena Kastor just as I was considering signing up for the Arizona Marathon. She was really cool. She signed a poster and also my bib.

I've twice run the previous incarnation of this race when it was called the City of Angels half. I knew you had to take some of the free speed from the early downhills and save something for the hills near the end. The course has changed a bit, I think for the better. After looking at the elevation chart, the strategy still remained the same. This is not an easy course. If you're not going down then you're going up... very few flat areas.

Shirt and Bib

Race Day
Race morning, I felt the chills and was feeling very tired. I was hoping that everything will just work itself out once we start running. I drove over to the Sierra Madre Villa station and took the Metro to the shuttle bus pickup spot just outside of LA Live. Once we got dropped off, I headed over to the gear check area and used the portapotties just in front of my UPS truck. I headed over to corral 3 and it was a zoo trying to get there. I even had my bib partially ripped off my shirt. I had to re-pin the bib. Just as I got to the corral, they were taking a maniac photo so I quickly jumped in.

Maniacs!

Goal A: sub 1:50
Goal B: sub 1:55
Goal C: sub 2:00

My 1 salt cap was melting, so I took it right before the start. I started the race with one of my tri-friends. Man, she started fast. I followed her until the first aid station about 2 miles into the race. Mile one I saw Roger Craig. I felt like I was sleep-running this race. Just felt sicky. I was ready for the race to be over by 10k. It was nice to see my WorldVision friends cheering us on from an overhead bridge. My ankle again started to bother me around mile 8 and 9. There were some downhills to the finish, but all I could muster were 9:30ish miles. I knew the sub 1:50 went out the window since I was giving back 1 minute per mile. Then a short steep climb around 10 and 11 really slowed me down. My right Achilles tendon was feeling a little achy so I cruised it in. I gave myself a chance to finish sub 1:50, but the ankle was just too gimpy. They had laid down a red carpet at the finish line. Nice.
1: 7:43
2: 7:49
3: 7:45
4: 8:04
5-6: 16:59 (8:30 avg)
7: 8:37
8: 8:59
9: 9:08
10: 9:33
11: 10:00
12: 9:34
13: 9:33
13.1: 0:51
Finish: 1:54:33

Finisher's Medal

After the Race Stuff
I thought Competitor Group did a great job with this race. They kept much of the same course, but the changes they've made improved the race. I like having the race end at LA Live. Also having the expo at the LA Convention Center was much better. It's no wonder Competitor Group has been taking over so many races.

I met a few of my friends near the UPS trucks. I walked up to the 7th street/Metro Center station to take the red line back to my car. I kind of dozed off on the gold line. I drove over to the nearby Steer n' Ale to eat something. I had my consolation salad and a stockyard steak. The steak tasted beefy like it used to taste. Meat and potatoes are definitely my comfort food.

My consolation salad for whenever I run a less-than-stellar race

Mmmmmm... beefy!