I didn't think that I would drive all the way down to San Diego to run a 5k especially having just been down here last weekend for the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon. But I haven't been back to visit my Alma Mater, so I signed up pretty last minute to run this race. I had been running a bunch of marathons lately and I thought it would be nice to see how fast the legs would move in a shorter race.
After making the all too familiar drive down to good ol' La Jolla, I parked my car at the Hopkins parking structure near RIMAC. Everything seemed so familiar yet there were so many new buildings since I was last here. Per the race instructions, I walked over to the P357 parking lot to pick up my race packet. They had signs everywhere pointing to that lot.
After picking up my race packet and using the portapotties, I walked back to my car and took a nap. At about 45 minutes before the start of the race, I started making my way over to the starting area. There was a lady leading some silly warm up exercises while participants after participants were crossing the starting line to get into the corrals. I know it's just a 5k, but they might want to control the flow of traffic next time. I positioned myself in Wave 01 designated for speedsters running under 20 minutes. They even had signs telling you where to line up. I thought today would be as good as any to attempt a sub 20 minute 5k. I don't run enough of them to know how fast I should go out in the opening mile.
King Triton!
The mile markers were pretty much non-existent. There was a girl supposedly positioned at the one mile mark at the back of Galbraith Hall. If that was true, I ran a 6:15ish for the first mile. I knew that I there was no way that I could hold that for another 2 miles, but I kept up the effort. There were short climbs here and there. During the last mile, my legs were spent and I really slowed down. They felt like rubber. I had absolutely no kick during the final stretch on the track.
1: 6:15
2-3.1: 15:57 (7:35)
22:12 (7:09)
After crossing the finish line, I got a bag of water and some Stone IPA. Not bad to have Stone IPA at the end of a 5k. After cooling down with the beer, I went through the rest of the finish line festival to check out the different booths. There was a booth about sharks and one handing out Monster drinks. I picked up a Monster for my friend who drinks them.
Since I have not been on the campus in ages, I basically took a walking tour of the entire campus. I took pretty much the same route as the race. It was also the first time that I got to see the Triton statue just outside of Price Center. I even stopped by the mud huts to visit my old dorm, Beagle Hall. I've been out of college for almost 20 years, but it felt as if it was just yesterday. I bought an alumni polo shirt at the bookstore before leaving. Their selection was quite lacking. All they had were mostly t-shirts. I might have to write a letter to the Alumni Association to have them remedy the lack of alumni wear.
Sun God
They're still painting the anchor
Good ol' Beagle Hall
On my way home, I swung by the Ballast Point Brewery out in the Scripps Ranch area to pick up a six pack of the Habanero Sculpin IPA for my friend. Since I was there, I might as well drink some samplers. It was quite crowded with a tour bus full of people going through, but I found a spot and got samples of Piper Down, Indra Kunindra, and Indra Kunindra Bourbon Barrel Aged. I loved the Piper Down, but it was interesting to taste the curry beers. Never had one before. I prefer the bourbon barrel aged version probably because I like the taste of bourbon.
Beers on tap
Right to left: Piper Down, Indra Kunindra, Indra Kunindra Bourbon Barrel Aged
Habanero Sculpin IPA
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