I arrived at the Sun Runner dirt parking lot at a little before 5:30 am. It was almost pitch black and it was hard to see the people that were there to direct parking. If I hadn't run this race last year, I would've been lost and clueless as to where to park.
This was my second time running this 3 year old race. I missed the inaugural race back in 2017. While the course wasn't one of my favorites, I do love that it's a well thought out and well organized race. The organizers really do have the runner's interest in mind. One of those things was that they have race day packet pick-up without having to pay an extra fee. They were also one of the races that assigned you a bib number during pick-up rather than pre-assigned you a number. After getting my bib, the race shirt, and a goodie bag, I went back to my car to relax a bit before returning to the starting area.
Race day packet pick-up
Race shirt
Goodies in race packet
While waiting in the starting area, I noticed that instead of wave 1, 2, 3, etc, they went with descriptive words and pace ranges. Since it was a relatively small field, I only saw 2 signs, joggers and sprinters. I know that there are those that are offended by the word, joggers. I'm not one of them. I definitely know when I'm jogging. :) I was planning to start at a 8 min per mile pace, so I positioned myself in between the 2 signs. My good friends from San Diego came out to spectate as they had friends and family running in the race. They had trouble finding parking, but they were able to get to the starting area in time to take a picture of me right before the start of the race.
Joggers!
Sprinters?
Waiting in the corral
The course was pretty much unchanged from last year. The only thing that I noticed that was different was that the starting line was moved back a bit so that it was visible from the packet pick-up grassy area.
Course map
Other than the slightly faster first mile, I kept the effort pretty even. Everything was going okay until about mile 8 when my pace started dropping. I was having issues with cramping in the right foot. I was forced to alter my stride a bit, but thankfully the walk breaks that I took helped alleviate the foot cramps.
Slow-mo final stretch to the finish line
Finish line
Finish: 1:55:31
Click here for my Garmin data.
My only goal for this race was to finish faster than last year's time (1:59:17), so I was pretty pleased with my finishing time even though the second half of the race got a little bit rough. I ended posting a time identical to what I had posted at the Encinitas Half Marathon a couple weekends ago. I guess I'm pretty consistent. :)Relive 'San Diego Beach & Bay Half Marathon'
Finisher medal
After getting my finisher medal, I was given a paper bag full of snacks and a bottle of water. I met up with my friends for a little bit before heading out.
Finisher medal and post race goodies
It took a while to get out of the dirt parking lot. Once I got out, it was a pretty open drive onto the 5 freeway. I thought it was going to be an uneventful drive home. However I had a little bit of car trouble.
Several weeks ago, my coworker and I had noticed that the sidewall of the right front tire didn't look to be in very good shape. I checked the tire sensors and it showed the tire had less air than the other 3 tires, but it was maintaining tire pressure. Since it wasn't losing air, I kind of shrugged it off and kept driving on it to my races and for my daily work commute.
Unfortunately when I was driving through the Camp Pendleton area approaching San Onofre, my car notified me that the air in the right front tire was getting low. Instead of maintaining the air pressure as it normally does, it was actually getting lower. I didn't think too much about it since they were run-flat tires. However when I was rolling through Mission Viejo, the tire went completely flat and became undriveable. The tire definitely did not keep its shape, so I had to pull off of the freeway at Oso Parkway. At this point it was easier to make a right turn, so I headed in that direction and eventually pulled into the Sunrise Senior Living parking lot. The tire was completely trashed.
Since I don't have a spare tire, I used the Mini Roadside Assistance app to summon a tow. The app works but continues to be horrible in providing an ETA. It originally said that it would take about 2 hrs, but in reality it only took about 15 - 20 mins for the guy to reach me. Also apparently I'm only allowed to have my car towed to a Mini dealership. The closest was the nearby Irvine dealership. It happened to be where I bought the car. However their service center was not open on weekends. Fortunately there was an employee there that helped me out and was able to get my car checked in and give me a loaner car. I don't think he was actually working, but was there just to watch the Manchester United vs West Ham match. He had the game on the big TV screen.
Tire blew out
Early preview?
Getting a tow
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