I arrived at the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center just a little before 11 am. It was the same venue for the race expo as last year. The parking lot was pretty full when I got there. I was fortunate enough to find a spot. At first I wasn't sure if it was a spot as the lines were pretty faded. The expo was identical to last year. It was pretty small with roughly the same amount of vendors. There were signs and volunteers directing you where to go. I headed to the left to pick up my bib. It was arranged by last name. After picking up my bib, I headed to the back to pick up a coin for my finisher medal. This year, I went with the Los Angeles Fire Department. After getting my coin, I picked up my race shirt. I like their race shirts as the design has always been simple and nice. Most importantly they're made out of cotton. I am not a fan of polyester aka tech-shirts. On my way out of the expo, I stopped at the parking table to pick up my pre-paid parking ticket to use tomorrow at The Grove parking structure.
Bib and coin
Race shirt
I hopped in my car and drove down to Disneyland for a half day park session. I've been wanting to log more steps on my FitBit which I had gotten away from for a while. I arrived at the Mickey & Friends parking structure at about a quarter to 12. After parking my car, I walked over to get a quick lunch at Earl of Sandwich. I got the usual strawberry parfait and The Full Montagu sandwich.
The Full Montagu
After finishing lunch, I hopped on the nearby Monorail to enter into Disneyland. The trains have been redecorated on the outside for the upcoming Pixar Fest. I've seen both designs for the two trains, one was with Finding Nemo and the other was The Incredibles. They look so much cooler! During the Monorail ride, I picked the Toy Story Midway Mania ride for my Fast Pass.
After being dropped off at Tomorrowland, I walked over to my favorite ride, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. After I was done, I walked over to ride the Haunted Mansion. I rode the Buzz Lightyear ride one more time before heading over to Disney California Adventure. I had time to pass before my Fast Pass for Toy Story Midway Mania, so I walked around a bit and stumbled upon a line to meet the Black Panther. The kids in the line were so excited when he showed up. The guy was pretty cool, but he was soft spoken. It was difficult to understand him with the mask and the African accent.
Toy Story Midway Mania is starting to become my favorite ride. I'm starting to consistently score enough to be categorized as a reindeer. However I'm still unable to unlock certain high scoring features playing it solo. My arm just gets too tired.
Sunday 4/8
Even though I had picked up my race packet yesterday, I still made sure to show up early to avoid the congestion getting into the parking structure. I was parked about a quarter to 6 am. The race was scheduled to start at 7 am, so I was able to relax a bit in my car before heading down to the starting area.
When it came time. I made a quick stop by the parking structure restroom. The line was super long to use the toilets, but there was no line for the urinals. After I was done emptying the bladder, I made my way over to the start. I almost immediately bumped into somebody I knew. We caught up a bit before I headed off into the corrals while she waited for her friend who was stuck in traffic trying to getting into the parking garage.
Start corral
After the national anthem and all of the different first responder groups started their march, it was time for us to run our race.
Even though I felt soreness in my left glute, I was able to move fairly okay during the first mile. The course changed a little bit from years prior, but the elevation profile remained relatively the same. The first half was mostly uphill followed by the second half being mostly downhill. The course first took us up to Beverly Blvd where we ran up to La Brea Ave. From there we headed north up to Melrose Ave. We headed east on Melrose Ave turning into the Paramount Pictures Studio lot as we approached mile 3. After exiting the movie lot, the 10k runners split off heading west towards the finish line back at The Grove while the half marathon runners continued east towards Western Ave. We headed north up Western Ave. Just as I was coming up to the left turn onto Hollywood Blvd at about mile 5, I saw one of my friends cheering along the side of the course. It's always great to see a familiar face out on the course! It was a short out and back to Bronson Ave. That was followed by another out and back in the other direction turning back at Edgemont St. My left foot and ankle really bothered me by about the 10k mark, so my pace really slowed down. I saw my friend again at about mile 7.5, but I had nothing left to give. The downhill sections actually started causing more discomfort. So instead of running faster, I was slowing down which was quite demoralizing. I was hoping to sneak in just under 2 hrs, but my pace just kept slowing with each mile. However it was nice to hear a couple of my friends cheering for me during that final turn to the finish line.
Finish: 2:00:22
Click here for my Garmin data.
Finish line
I was somewhat disappointed with my finishing time, but it was right where I expected to be with the glute or groin strain from my last race. These days I'm just not particularly happy if I finish over 2 hrs in the half marathon. In fact, if possible I would like to be able to run them in under 1:50.
As I crossed the finish line and received my medal, I came across an ABC7 news reporter. I was pretty spent mentally, so it took me a second to recall her name. I called out her name to say hi. She quickly acknowledged me, but had to get ready for her news piece. It's always nice to see them in person. I have found them all to be very friendly people.
Chelsea Edwards from ABC7
I continued down the finisher chute picking up various snacks and drinks. The finisher chute was quite congested with lots of what appeared to be cadets marching around. I took my post race food and went back up to my car. Originally I was thinking about leaving right away, but I saw that the traffic inside the parking garage was horribly backed up. So I dropped off my stuff and went back down to use the restroom and to walk around The Grove a little bit. I took a photo of my finisher medal in front of the fountain which I thought turned out pretty nice. By the time I got back to my car again, the traffic had cleared up for the most part.
Post race drinks and snacks
The Grove
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