In the morning I drove down to the expo at the Sheraton at Harbor Island. After picking up my race packet, I drove back up to the Sierra Madre Villa Station in Pasadena. I took the Metro Gold Line to Union Station where I met up with my friend Mitch to take the free shuttle over to Dodger Stadium to catch the game. The Dodgers were playing the Brewers. I had a free reserve ticket for signing up for the inaugural Dodgers 5k to take place on 9/21. The free ticket was only good for certain dates and this was pretty much the only date that I could go. It was a close game, but the Dodgers lost 2-3. I got home pretty late and slept as much as I could.
It was hot, hot, hot!
Sunday 8/17
I drove down pretty early in the morning and headed down the 163 to park at the zoo parking lot. This time I made sure to park on the western part of the parking lot so I don't get stuck in the traffic when I go to leave after the race. I rested a bit in the car before catching the bus at around 5am. After being dropped off at the starting area, I got in line to use the portapotties. I then walked to the Cabrillo National Monument to see if I could find my friends. I was able to find them there and we hung out a bit before they checked their gear bag. Then we headed to the front of the waiting area to wait for the start of the race. After the national anthem, they opened up the barriers and most of the faster runners started bolting for the starting line.
When the race started, I took off at a hard effort as I wanted to see if I can post a sub 1:50 at this race. I might have gone out a tad hard in the first mile, so I pulled back a bit. It was a steady climb for the next two miles, so I knew that I couldn't keep up the "fast" pace. The 4th mile was a long downhill and it was pretty much the last mile that I was actually in race mode. I must have overheated as I was having a headache. I went into survival mode. I slowed the pace way down to try and recover, but I still felt bad. So I decided to pull over and walk a bit. I couldn't sustain any continuous running, so I walked a bit and jogged as much as I could. I dumped water on my head every chance I got. I was glad that I was able to jog up the infamous 6th Ave hill without walking. It was good to see my friend cheering again on this hill.
Running up 6th Ave, picture from Stephanie
1: 7:22
2-3: 15:30 (7:45)
4: 7:16
5: 9:25
6: 10:06
7: 10:00
8: 9:37
9: 10:20
10: 11:03
11: 10:31
12: 11:56
13.1: 11:19
Finish: 2:04:25
This is definitely not a PR course. It is easier if there is a marine layer, but most years it's a clear sunny humid day. It's nice weather for a day in the park, but not for a hilly half marathon! I was hoping at worst to finish just under 2 hrs. I sure didn't expect to finish over 2 hrs.
2013: Did not run
2012: 2:11:24
2011: 1:58:11
2010: 1:54:17
2009: 1:57:25
2008: 1:57:46
2007: 2:13:46
2006: 2:07:33
2005: 2:13:52
After crossing the finish line, I grabbed my medal and a bottle of water and headed over to the finish/expo area to look for my friends. I bumped into them at the usual spot near the gear check area. I grabbed some uber bars and a banana at a couple of the booths.
We shared with each other on how our races went and it seemed that none of us had a good race. We talked about finding another race to run where the weather isn't always so brutal. As it got closer to lunch time, we all went our separate ways to our cars and reconvened at the Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar.
Lazy Dog was located in a popular area in Mission Valley just off of Mission Center Drive and the 8 freeway. Nearby parking can be hard to find, but I think there's free valet parking if you don't want the hassle of hunting down a spot. We sat in the patio section which was a section friendly towards groups that had dogs in their party. Our waitress was really good at checking up on us every now and then to see if we needed anything. She had no problem splitting up our checks as well. I ordered a Lazy Dog Sampler to check out their beers. I also ordered their Baja California Burger. After finishing the sampler, I went with a 22 ouncer of their Lazy Dog Red to help finish off the excellent tasty burger. The burger had just enough of a spicy kick to keep it interesting down to the last bite. This was definitely one of the best burgers that I've eaten in a while!
Lazy Dog Sampler
Baja California Burger
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