The expo opened at 9am on Saturday. I got to downtown San Diego a little after 9am. The race organizers definitely did their homework. For an inaugural race, you could tell that they've paid attention to every race detail starting with the expo. I picked up my bib, bag, and race shirt. I was already feeling under the weather so I wasn't really in the mood to go through a race expo. But a pair of socks did catch my eye on my way out. I thought about buying it. :)
Expo at the Petco Park
Packet pickup
Nice socks! :)
The Pony Express rides again!
On my way back to my car, I stopped at Ralph's to buy some Odwalla, Coke, and water. I guess loading up on Superfood wouldn't hurt. I headed over to Kearny Mesa for some lunch. I decided to try out a new restaurant, Izakaya Sakura. This place was a bit strange. There was no restaurant sign on the outside. I guess they do well enough through word of mouth that they don't even need a sign. The parking lot for this little plaza loads up really quickly, so you'll have to get here early. I tried to order their chirashi, but their sushi chef doesn't show up until later in the afternoon. They also did not have my second choice, ramen. So I went with my third choice, katsudon. I also got some natto. As I was leaving, I bumped into a college friend that I haven't seen for about 15 years. Wow, how time flies. The food at this place was definitely good. I'll have to come back and try the rest of their menu.
I love Odwalla!
natto
katsudon
After lunch, I stopped at the nearby Mitsuwa to buy some snacks before heading over to the Red Roof Inn at Mission Bay. This hotel was cheap for a reason. It was one of the noisiest place I've stayed at in a while. There was also some high school or college age neighbors carrying in cases of cheap beer. I brought in my 6 pack of premium beer. I guess when you get older, you start drinking better beer.
Red Roof Inn at Mission Bay
Snacks
Carboloading
After taking a break from snacking and watching TV, I went back out to Kearny Mesa for dinner at Yokohama Yakitori Koubou. I've kind of been on a skewer kick lately. Good stuff here. I wanted to try a lot of other stuff on their menu, but had to cut myself off so I can run a half marathon the next day. I got back to my room, polished off the rest of the beers, and laid out my gear before going to sleep.
chicken cartilage, beef tongue, chicken skin, quail eggs
jidori karaage (free range chicken)
more chicken cartilage and chicken with leek
Go Team!
Race day
I checked out of my room and got into Downtown way too early at around 4am to get free street parking. Most people were drunk and climbing into cabs to go home and sleep. I put on the iPod and took a nap in my car. I got out of my car at around 6am and headed over to Petco Park to use the portapotties. I crossed the Hilton Hotel bridge to wash my hands. I bumped into my running friend just shortly after taking a picture of Petco Park. I ended up just hanging out in the hotel lobby to stay out of the cold.
Petco Park at dark o' clock
Starting line
I warmed up a bit by jogging around in the wave 1 corral. I tried to look for my faster friends, but I didn't spot anybody.
The race
The first mile felt ok. I wanted to run a bit harder to see what I had. What I didn't have was my lungs. The cold that I picked up definitely did not help. I started backing off 30 seconds per mile for the next several miles. Funny how you can do that without wearing a watch that gives you your pace. This was again another fartlek run. I just put in short periods of faster running among a bunch of jogging. I'll let you guess which mile had the big long hill. I only ran about 2/3 of that hill. Good thing, we ended with a couple of downhill miles. The finish on the warning track of Petco Park was a very nice touch. It was much more exciting than doing a run through at Angel Stadium during the Disneyland half marathon.
1: 7:58
2: 8:32
3: 9:00
4: 9:29
5: 9:09
6: 9:22
7: 10:06
8: 9:38
9: 10:29
10: 12:53
11: 11:06
12: 10:07
13: 9:11
13.1: 0:48
Finished: 2:07:48
Post race
A good majority of this course was the reverse of the AFC half marathon. I liked this course. But I'm somewhat biased towards anything San Diego. I will definitely try to run this race again every year. I finished with an upset stomach, probably because 6 beers was 6 too many to drink the day before a race. But when I'm sick, I tend to use beer instead of Nyquil to go to sleep.
Finish line on the warning track
Shirt and medal
Medal
It was somewhat very crowded when I tried to leave Petco Park. We finally funneled out at the expo area. My stomach settled down, so I decided to head over to good 'ol Roberto's on Miramar to eat an early lunch. I haven't been here in ages. I ordered the usual, a carne asada burrito and 3 rolled tacos with guacamole. It was as good as I remembered. It was a good nostalgic experience and a nice break from eating another bowl of ramen or a steak. :)
Good 'ol Roberto's
The usual: carne asada burrito and 3 rolled tacos with guacamole
1 comment:
I always love your reviews so much because of the wonderful food you carbo-load with!!
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