America's Finest City Half Marathon 2012

Pre-race
This year's Triple Crown run has been a rough one for me. I had ran the Carlsbad Marathon the day after a half marathon while still returning from an injury. Then I ran the La Jolla half marathon the day after the Leona Divide 50k. Coming into the third race of the Triple Crown, I was hoping I could run a sub 2 at the AFC half marathon. But the weather was hot and I had been taking time off of running to give the legs some rest as I had been having tendinitis in both of my ankles. More importantly, I just plain can't run well in heat!

I drove down Saturday morning to attend the expo, but I forgot to take the 15 freeway instead. The 5 freeway was crowded with the usual weekend traffic. I drove through the Sports Arena area instead of getting off at the airport exit. The expo was again held at the Sheraton Bayside Pavilion. It has always been a pain in the butt to park on their dirt lot, but they always do a really good job in controlling the flow of the cars coming and going. The expo itself was a big disappointment, very lackluster. It was hot inside so they brought out cold water dispensers for the attendees. There was nothing much to see or consider buying once I had picked up my bib, shirt, and bag.

I left and headed over to Izakaya Sakura in Kearny Mesa to eat lunch. I like this place. It is always busy despite not having any restaurant signs on the outside. They were once again sold out of their special bento lunch. So I ordered the seafood fried rice and a side of fried mackerel.

Seafood Fried Rice

Fried Mackerel

I then headed over to the nearby Mitsuwa to pick up some snacks before checking into my hotel. Again this year I stayed at the California Suites Hotel mostly because of the location. This place was still the same. Some very seedy characters stay here and hang out at the back of the parking lot standing next to their nice cars. You just get an uneasy feeling staying here. My room was not ready when I tried to check in, but they were able to give me a different room that was ready. I snacked on the funky monkey roll and roasted green peas while watching the TV. I also went through the goodie bag and race shirt. There was no goodies, just a bunch of cards for other races.

I went out to get my early dinner at a nearby McDonald's. It was just across the freeway. I got a Big Mac and the 20 piece chicken McNuggets. This go-to meal has yet to fail me. I'll keep eating it if it means that I will not have GI distress during the race. I got my race clothes in order right after eating dinner. I thought it would be okay to run in a cotton shirt. Boy was I wrong!

I love McDonald's!

Race morning
I checked out pretty early and headed over to park at the zoo. I have to make a mental note to park on the furthest part of the lot from the main road. It's a few steps further but getting out of the lot after the race would be much easier. While getting in line for bus to the starting area at around 5am, I bumped into a friend from the Runner's World Forums. He is one speedy dude!

It was already pretty warm even before the sun came up. We sat and waited at the Cabrillo National Monument visitor center. We hit the portapotties and he checked his bag. Then we headed to the front to wait at the barricade. I was up there with him since I wanted to start out a little bit faster to check out the legs and everything else.

Uh oh, here comes the heat!

The race
The first few miles allowed you to run pretty fast but was not very easy because it was full of rollers. It felt good to run a bit faster and feel no structural discomfort. But by mile 2, my body was starting to overheat. As I came up to the second mile marker, I had to pull over to the side and take a walk break. I tried to resume on mile 3 at a more comfortable pace. Mile 4 had a huge downhill which was the last of my good miles. I had to switch to a run/walk strategy for the rest of the way to the finish. It was just too hot and I was unable to cool my body down enough. I kept pouring water on myself. I ran through both "car washes" at around mile 8 and at the Star of India turn where they were passing out sliders. I thought about taking one, but thought better since I might throw up. The uphills starting on mile 11 really was tough in the heat. I tried to jog most of that last monster hill. A fellow TNT supporter jogged with me on the final portion of the hill. Then it was a short run across the bridge and down a quick downhill to the finish line.
1: 7:32
2: 8:28
3: 8:31
4: 7:33
5: 10:43
6: 11:04
7: 10:33
8: 10:49
9: 10:27
10: 10:12
11: 10:51
12: 13:45
13.1: 10:55
Finish: 2:11:24

Post-race
I met up with my friends at the finish area. I grabbed some water and a chocolate protein drink. Then I headed over to the Triple Crown tent to pick up my extra medal. They have improved the medal every year that I've gotten it. We waited for our friend who won his age-group to pick up his award. We then headed our separate ways back to our cars.

We met back up at Gordon Biersch. I ate a Seafood Cobb Salad after I was finally able to get out of the parking lot. Just as I had remembered from last year, that salad was huge! It was also very good. The beer wasn't too bad as well. It was nice catching up with my friends in San Diego. I stopped by the nearby BevMo to pick up some beer. As I was leaving for home, I made sure I didn't run any red lights as I do not want to pay for another photo ticket. :)