I left work early on Friday to attend the expo in Pasadena. The expo was at the Pasadena Convention Center again, so I parked across the street at the Paseo Colorado mall. Since the parking validation was only for a couple of hours, I didn't have too much time to waste at the expo. I picked up my race packet and signed up for next year's race for $70, a pretty good bargain. In the bag, I saw a promo card with me and my friends on it. I guess when you run a whole bunch of races, it's bound to happen. :)
Expo
Register for next year
My friends and I on the promo card
I then walked over to the nearby Dog Haus Biergarten to eat a late lunch. My friend had told me about this place having craft beer and good dogs. I thought I'd check it out. I had a Populist IPA, a bratwurst with sauerkraut and sweet peppers, and an order of tater tots. It's hard for me to pass on eating a bratwurst, but next time I would skip on the peppers and just get it with sauerkraut. I love tater tots. They remind me of my childhood.
Populist IPA
Bratwurst topped with sauerkraut and sweet peppers with tater tots
Sunday
I drove out early and parked at the Parsons Federal Credit Union parking lot at around 5am before the parking attendant was ready to collect the $5 parking fee. Again they did not have signs directing people to the entrance on Fairs Oaks Avenue. So again people were trying to enter on Walnut Street. I got my stuff ready and started my hike to the Rose Bowl. It's always about 10 degrees colder at the Rose Bowl, so it was somewhat chilly. Some girls in a car headed to park at the Rose Bowl probably felt bad for me offered me a ride. Although it was a nice gesture, I declined. I wanted to walk to see how my legs and hip were feeling after having to drop out of my last race.
Once I got to the Rose Bowl, I found a nice place to sit down and wait. I bumped into one of my TNT friends while waiting near the UPS gear bag check. Eventually I checked my bag and headed for the starting corrals. The race would start at 7:30pm.
Rose Bowl
Starting line
My goal was to finish around 2 hours. But I also wanted to use the race to incorporate some speed work. I had to be careful since I had just recently hurt my gimpy right hip again. I also wore my cotton McDonald's t-shirt to make sure that I don't take the race too seriously.
If I'm not mistaken, the course was identical to last year's so I was pretty familiar with the hills and turns. The first mile felt ok. I could feel that my lungs were beginning to catch up with my legs, but having them run sub 8's were still asking too much. So I dialed it back on the next couple of miles as there was a couple of nice climbs before the course flatten out a bit. I had planned to run the first 10k at a good effort and then cruise in to the finish. And that's what I did. It was fun seeing all of my friends on the out and back sections. Even though I had slowed down in the last few miles, my right leg was getting pretty sore. Good thing we finished with a loop around the Rose Bowl. I knew exactly how far I needed to cover before reaching the finish line.
1: 7:48
2: 8:17
3: 8:27
4-5: 16:32 (8:16)
6: 8:32
7: 8:28
8: 9:31
9: 9:22
10: 8:34
11: 9:47
12: 10:47
13: 9:55
13.1: 1:00
5k: 25:22
10k: 51:21
10M: 1:25:33
Finish: 1:57:02
Pace: 8:56
I pretty much executed my race the way I wanted. Still making some progress. The volunteers along the course were amused with my McDonald's shirt. One of them even sang the jingle to me as I jogged through their aid station. My time for this race was good enough to beat my time at the LA RnR Half Marathon (2:05:16), so I'm wondering what they'll send me in the mail this time. So far, I've received two nice Brooks items, a cap and a drawstring bag.
Finisher medal
After picking up my finisher medal, I headed over to get my gear bag. I ran into my friend wearing a huge afro. He was pacing his friend. I then headed over to the beer garden to meet up with my friend and drink my free diet beer. We traded race stories. This year they didn't allow you to take your beer to the stage area. But the music was loud enough that you could still enjoy it in the beer drinking section. After I finished my beer, I made the walk back to my car.
Excellent afro pacer!
My friend and I reconvened at the Dog Haus Biergarten for a post-race meal and to drink a real beer. This time I ordered the Grand Slam dog, a slider, and a Rare Vos Amber Ale. The slider was a bit disappointing, but the dog was good! I would order this one again. I need to come back here and try their other sinful menu items. We had to leave shortly after eating our meals since I was parked at the Paseo again and my friend had parked in one of the metered spots. On my way home, I stopped by the supermarket and ran into a bunch of girl scouts selling their precious cookies. How could I say no... I had to buy a box of Tagalongs and Thin Mints.
Rare Vos Amber Ale
Grand Slam dog and slider
Tagalong and Thin Mints
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