Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon 2015

Monday 5/25 Memorial Day
I've mentioned it before and I'll mention it again... I love races that have race day packet pick-up. I arrived and parked at the Laguna Hills Mall at about 5:30 am, the time when registration opens. I walked over to the pre-registration tables and picked up my bib, timing chip, race shirt, and a cap. I used a portapotty before heading back to my car. I bumped into a friend and we chatted for a little bit before we went our separate ways.

I relaxed in my car while listening to songs on my Shuffle. The race started at 7 am. At about 20 minutes before the start, I positioned myself between the 7 min and 8 min/mile pace signs. A few of my friends found me there and hung out with me until it was time to run our race.

Starting line

Even though for this race the weather has always been generally hot, humid, or both, I always liked running this race. This was where I ran my very first half marathon and also where I first broke 2 hrs. Anyways this year, there was overcast for pretty much the entire day. However even though it was gloomy with plenty of cloud cover, it was humid (85% per the weather report). My body doesn't do well in high humidity. The majority of the mile markers were off, so after a few I stopped pressing the lap button on my watch. It was a rolling course and just ran by perceived effort. I used the mile markers as only a general reference as to how far I had left to go. The first 5k went by pretty fast as we had 5k runners among us. It was good to see them peel off as we ran by the Laguna Hills Community Center. The 10k runners turned right at Moulton Parkway as the half marathoners kept heading straight. We turned up Aliso Creek Rd and ran around Wood Canyon Elementary School. We then head down Aliso Canyon Rd. Instead of turning down to the dirt path in the years past, we ran a little further on Aliso Canyon Rd before making a u-turn. It's a nice incline heading the other way before we turn on Awma Rd to get on the Aliso Creek Bike Trail. I started to fade pretty badly right when I saw the mile 10 marker. Both legs were so heavy as if I had lead weights strapped to my ankles. My calves were cramping up on the final push up a short steep incline to the finish line.
Finish: 1:51:57

About to be passed by my friend

I was pretty disappointed with my time. I was shooting to finish the race somewhere between 1:45 and 1:50. Most likely I had been slowly losing my fitness as I have been nursing a couple of sore feet. Later on, I felt better after I realized that I had run a personal best for this race by almost 6 minutes! It helps to have proper perspective. This course wasn't too hard, but it definitely wasn't an easy course. Always look for the silver lining.
2005: 2:20:49 (My very first half marathon!)
2006: 2:27:21
2007: 2:02:57
2008: 1:57:44 (First time breaking 2 hrs)
2010: 1:58:45
2011: 2:12:38

After eating some bananas and hydrating, I made my way over to the different booths at the finish area. I said hi to my friend at the WeRock tent. They were among a lot of people near the final stretch cheering on the runners.

Along the way to the beer garden, I stopped by the Dark Horse Marines tent. I made a donation to them by purchasing a cap and a black t-shirt. It was a good thing that they were able to take credit cards since I only carry $20 cash on me whenever I'm running a race.

Dark Horse Marines tent

Dark Horse Marines

Even though there were signs, it took me a while to find the beer garden. It was not located on the grass field, it was tucked into a little corner right next to the community center. It was $10 for 4 tickets. Each ticket was good for a 3 oz taster. You could pay by credit card. They give you the cup and the tickets. They had several water dispensers in the beer garden for you to rinse out your cup. They had a DJ playing music and there was a giant Jenga game right in the middle. Every time the tower fell, it startled us. Out of the beers that we sampled, my friends and I liked The Tattered Prince Saison by Bottle Logic.

Beer garden

$10 for (4) 3 oz tasters

Craft Beer Tasting!

Einstök

Icelandic Toasted Porter

Bottle Logic

The Tattered Prince Saison

Bootlegger's

Craft beer tasting with friends

Medal and bib

After my friend and I were done with the beer garden, we drove over to the In-n-Out at the Laguna Hills Mall. I got the usual Double Double x2 plus a chocolate shake. The burgers really hit the spot, but it's usually a meal reserved for after completing a full marathon. After we were done eating, my friend drove me across the huge parking lot to my car.

Double Double x2 plus chocolate shake

Tinker Bell Pixie Dust Challenge 2015

Friday 5/8
We had just started our summer work schedule this week which meant that I got off of work at about 11:30 am. So I headed over to Downtown Disney to pick up my race packet. Parking wasn't too bad at this hour. I was able to find a parking space at the Downtown Disney parking lot. Per the usual, you first pick up your bib below the expo floor of the Disneyland Convention Center. They now take a picture of you right after you pick up your bib. It's their way of preventing the transfer of bibs.

Packet pick up

I normally blaze through the expo after picking up my race shirts since the expo is all geared towards women. But this year, I decided to have some fun. I got in line to get a green screen photo where they add a nice background and pixie wings to your back. I met up with a couple of my friends before we split up to go eat at separate places.

Green screen photo

After my friend was on break, we met up at Toro Burger in nearby Santa Ana for lunch. My friend and I have been on a burger tour of Orange County to sample and find the best burger in the county. This was our next stop on our tour. We both ordered their Truffle Cheeseburger. I got mine with Melted Cheese Tots, and a Strawberry Lemonade. The burger as a whole was good and tasty, but I thought that the patty was a bit too lean for my preference. I love any place that serves tater tots! It was really good with cheese and chives. Eating them brought back fond memories of my childhood. The strawberry lemonade was good, not too sweet, just the way I like it. Based on this burger, I will definitely be coming back here to try their other burgers!

Truffle Cheeseburger and Melted Cheese Tots

After lunch, I drove back to Downtown Disney and had a Guinness with my friend at ESPN Zone. It was pretty crowded, but we were able to snag a couple of seats at the bar as some people were ready to leave. Afterwards I went back to the expo to see if I could find anything worth buying. Good thing for my pocketbook, I didn't find anything. So I went home to rest and pick out my outfit for tomorrow's 10k.

10k flat runner

Saturday 5/9
I got to the Mickey and Friends parking garage at about 3:30 am. I haven't figured out why, but I was able to score free parking. Hardly anything is ever free with Disney. I went down the escalator and used the parking garage restroom. There's absolutely no lines in the men's restroom since this is a women's race. On my way back to my car, I bumped into a guy dressed as Aladdin riding on the magic carpet.

Free parking!

Aladdin!

After changing and getting ready, I headed over to the gear bag check at the starting area. For this race, it's located at the Simba parking lot. After dropping off my bag and putting on my pixie wings, I headed over to my starting corral. Just as last year, they put the guys starting from corral B. However my friend and I did noticed that there were guys assigned with corral A. We assumed that they either registered as females or were running with a lady's bib. At 5:30 am they released the first corral.

Rudy sending off the 10k runners

A few later, corral B was released. It was pretty cool to charge ahead in the opening group of men and a few women during the opening mile. I can actually run fast enough now that I could hang with them during the beginning of the opening mile. Once we hit the hills, I had to back off a bit as I didn't want to totally wreck myself. Besides the first mile and a half, the majority of the course was on Disney property. I was hoping to be under 47 minutes, but I faded a little in the second 5k. The mile markers were off, so I stopped pushing the lap button on my watch. The legs were responding pretty well despite the left foot being sore.
5k: 23:15
10k: 23:52
Finish: 47:07

10k finish line

The normal post race snack boxes that I was used to getting was not given out at the finish. But there was water, Powerade, and bananas.

On my way back to my car, I noticed some of the 60th diamond anniversary decorations. Pretty neat. I'll need to visit Disneyland some time this year without there involving a race.

60th diamond anniversary decorations

10k medal

I met up with a couple of my old church buddies to eat lunch at All That Barbecue over in Arcadia. It's located in the Westfield Santa Anita shopping mall on the second floor adjacent to Macy's. This used to be my old stomping grounds. Man, things have changed quite a bit around here! Anyways, most of the Korean barbecue restaurants that I like to go to are ones where you can get your own meat. For this place, we had to place our orders with our waiter. However banchan and rice was self served here. All of their different variations of meat had clever names here, so you don't have to worry about mispronouncing Korean words. I liked their steamed egg (Let Go My Egg Go). Ordering that was a good change of pace for all of the beef, pork, and chicken. One thing I didn't like about this place was that the only beer available for the beer tower was a cheap watered down OB beer. I really didn't want to be stuck drinking a lot of bad beer. It defeated the purpose of getting the tower!

Beef!

Beer tower!

After dinner, I drove over to my friend's house and we hung out for a while. It was pretty nice to catch up with old friends. We've known each other since I was in high school, when we all went to the same church.

Later that night, I met up with my friends at JT Schmid's in Anaheim to load up before tomorrow's race. They wanted me to try a beer with my name on it, Emil's Amber Ale. To go with the beer, I ordered their Cobb Salad. It was a pretty big salad, big enough that it felt like a never-ending salad! The salad was good as was the beer. I think I will have to try a sampler of their beers next time. We pretty much had an empty restaurant to ourselves. The place had just cleared out because there was an Angels game next door that evening. Less people usually means better service! We pretty much had two waitresses checking up on us.

Hey! It's my beer!

Cobb Salad

Before going to sleep, I gathered all of my orange race gear to match the pixie wings. I even had to dig out the orange shoes.

Half marathon flat runner

Sunday 5/10
I arrived at the Mickey and Friends parking structure at the same time as yesterday hoping to score another free parking pass. No dice. Today, it was $17 to park. After taking care of business at the parking structure restroom, I made my way down to the Simba parking lot.

Booooo! No free parking!

After checking out the little stage show, I checked my gear bag and headed to corral B. At 5:30 am, the first corral was released. About 7 minutes later it was corral B's turn. It was pretty cool to see my friend up at the stage sending us off. She was filling in for the regular co-race announcer.

My friends sending off the half marathon runners

The first mile and a half of the course was on the perimeter of Disneyland before we made a right turn into Disney California Adventure. After a couple of miles there, we head up into Disneyland. Now that this race is in May, we get daylight much sooner. It was good to see both parks in daylight during the early miles.

Start of corral B from OC Register

Running with the Red, White, and Blue from Run Disney

As we approached the mile 6 marker, we ran past the Sorcerer's Hat, where the course was lined with women from the Red Hat Society. This has been a great cheer zone each year!

After passing mile 8, we turned left on Harbor where my friend snapped a picture of me and called out my name. I was completely oblivious! At this point, I was already starting to struggle so I was zoned out trying to convince myself to keep on running. I was able to hold it somewhat together for 2 more miles. The next three miles thereafter were a bit of a struggle to the finish line.

Mile 8 from Dana

1: 7:34
2: 7:40
3: 7:49
4: 8:10
5: 8:07
6: 7:53
7: 8:27
8: 8:28
9: 8:22
10: 8:39
11: 9:03
12: 8:58
13: 8:49
13.1: 0:58
Finish: 1:48:59

After I picked up my Tinker Bell half marathon medal, I got in line for the Pixie Dust Challenge medal. They checked my photo to confirm that I was the same person to pick up the bib at the expo before giving me the medal.

I then went through the post race snack line. I'm guessing they're no longer giving out those snack boxes. It was the same items, just not in a box.

Pixie Dust Challenge complete!

Post race snacks

As my friends and I were gathering to take some post race photos, a stranger came up to me and told me that I helped her get to the finish. She was using me as a pacer during the last 3 miles. I told her that I was really struggling at that point and was glad that I was able to help out. Sometimes you never know who is watching you or who you're helping when you're just trying to drag your butt to the finish line of a race.

OC Marathon 2015

Friday 5/1
I went to the expo after work. I parked for free at the TeWinkle Park on Arlington Dr over by the baseball/softball fields and walked over. It's $7 if want to park on the fairgrounds. After picking up my bib and race shirt, I went through the expo. There wasn't much in terms of samples being passed out. However there were deals on race registrations, so I ended up registering for the Surf City Marathon for $99. That's a pretty good deal for that race. They gave me a tote bag, a sticker, a couple of beer koozies, and a surfboard key chain. Those people at the booth have seen me quite often at race expos so they really hooked me up with their giveaways.

Expo haul

Front

Back

Saturday 5/2
I met up with my friend for lunch. First I stopped by work to pick up my bananas that I had forgotten to take home on Friday. My friend wanted me to try out this sub sandwich shop in Costa Mesa called Lil' Pickle. They're supposed to have really good sub sandwiches. I'm not sure what the hype is, but I thought it was just average. I will give it that I would probably come here over going to a Subway or a Quiznos. The ingredients were good, but I really didn't like their bread. Each sandwich came with a pickle. I tried two different sandwiches (Regular No. 8 Big Beefer Roast Beef and Regular No. 7 Famous Sub). They were both decent, but nothing spectacular.

Regular No. 8 Big Beefer Roast Beef

Regular No. 7 Famous Sub

Every now and then, I like to show my support for our veterans during a marathon. So I laid out my running clothes for tomorrow's race. I also remembered that there was a Team RWB aid station last year.

Flat runner

Sunday 5/3
The full marathon started at 5:30 am. So I got to the starting area at Fashion Island pretty early at about 4 something. I parked in the same lot as last year in front of Muldoon's Irish Pub. Per the instructions, I got to the lot by driving up Avocado Ave from PCH then turning into the lot from Civic Center Dr. I then grabbed my stuff and walked over to the Marriott Hotel which was pretty much right next to the starting line. I met up with my friend inside the Hotel. We passed the time by talking a bit about our race plans. We used the restroom before heading out to the starting corral. I bumped into a bunch of my fellow Marathon Maniacs on the way out.

Start corral

I ran the first 10k mostly with the 3:40 pace group. It was pretty cool to start running just as the new day is dawning. The weather was still pretty cool, so it was nice to push the pace a bit. The course had rollers, so I just ran with a perceived even effort. After reaching the mile 7 marker, I slowed down to about a 9 minute per mile pace. I cruised into the halfway point at 1:52:25.
1: 8:17
2: 8:00
3: 8:00
4: 8:24
5: 7:57
6: 8:18
7: 8:02
8: 9:20
9: 8:52
10: 9:13
11-12: 17:57 (8:58)
13: 8:56

From there, I started taking a 1 minute walk break whenever I reached a new mile marker. I started to feel tired while crossing the bridge over Bristol Ave. After leaving South Coast Plaza, I was really fatigued while jogging through Segerstrom High School at mile 18. My legs felt like they were filled with lead and I was starting to deal with good 'ol cramps. I then used the next mile to try and recover. There was a climb up to mile 20 where the Team RWB was manning an aid station. It was pretty cool to see George Washington (I think) on a bike before turning onto the Santa Ana River Trail. The next few miles were somewhat okay, but then it was getting warm and there were some significant inclines as we wound through some residential streets. My coworker passed me as we were running beside the golf course. I tried to keep him in sight but he slowly faded into the horizon. I tried to run most of the final mile, but I also didn't want the legs to lock up. It was cool to run past the music at The Hangar and all of the people there cheering. I didn't get too excited as I knew from last year that it was still about a quarter of a mile to go.

I think it was George Washington crossing the Santa Ana River on a mountain bike :)

14: 10:00
15: 10:32
16: 10:44
17: 11:36
18: 12:29
19: 15:02
20: 11:13
21: 12:17
22: 12:51
23: 13:22
24: 13:41
25: 13:59
26: 11:19
26.2: 1:47
Finish: 4:32:12

My left foot was pretty sore going into this race, but I thought I had a good chance to finish around 4:15 - 4:20. I was right on track until leg cramps hit me at miles 18-19. I recovered but I dealt with some more leg cramps from mile 23 to the finish line. I'm sure the awesome Southern California weather had something to do with the cramps.

My legs were pretty cramped up as soon as I crossed the finish line and stopped. Man, did it get warm out there! I made my way through the finisher chute grabbing some post race snacks and drinks. They gave us a plastic bag to carry the goodies. As I got out of the secured area, I stopped by the Erdinger booth and picked up an alcohol free beer. I was pretty pooped, so I sat down to drink the beer. After I was a bit more recovered, I went to go pick up the Double Dare dog tag and the Beach Cities Challenge clam shell medal. I then made my way over to The Hangar where I had run by earlier. They had a band playing some loud music. I got my free alcoholic beer and joined my friends in cheering on my fellow runners as they neared the finish line.

Medals and stuff

Post race music

I almost forgot to be on the lookout for my friend. Fortunately, I was able to catch a glimpse of him while I was getting another beer. That would not be good to miss him since he is my ride back to my car.

Dan and I at the finish

Before giving me a ride back to my car, my friend and I had our traditional post race lunch at the nearby Habit over on Adams Ave. I got my usual meal, the Double Char with cheese and raw onions. I got the green bean tempura instead of fries this time. For my drink I had the strawberry limeade. Man, this meal really hit the spot after completing a rather grueling marathon!

The Habit!