Originally, I was going to run the SD Half Marathon and continue my legacy status with that race. It's one of my favorite half marathons. However, I opted for this race since it was closer to home which meant I didn't have to get a hotel for a one nighter.
I left the house at about 5:15 am. It felt as if I was driving into work. I arrived at the IVC parking lot at about 5:45 am. It would be nice if the traffic was always this light for my daily commute. After entering off of Irvine Center Dr, I drove down to lot 5. There were volunteers in the parking lot, but they weren't very good at directing people with their marshalling signals. Since according to the instructions, packet pick up wasn't until 6 am, I sat in my car and ate my protein bar. Once I was done, I got out and walked over to the packet pick up tent which was next to the start line. It would turn out that they didn't want our registration QR codes. They only wanted to see our IDs.
Parking map
Volunteers
Packet pick up
After getting my bib, I picked up my long sleeve race shirt as well as a drawstring bag and a sling bag. Inside the drawstring bag, there were several coupons for BJ's, a couple sample packs of protein powder, a yoga coupon, and a couple of temporary tattoos.
Long sleeve race shirt
Back of race shirt
Drawstring bag
Goodie bag contents
Sling bag
Race announcers
Start line
Friends at the start
I started the race with the 2 hour pace group. There were 3 pacers for the group and it appeared that all of them were not on the same page. I decided to just run around a 9 min per mile pace. After a lousy race last weekend, it was nice to be able to maintain a manageable pace. However, after covering about 10k, I started to struggle. I tried to hold on, but I had to finally start taking walk breaks once I reached mile 8 to let the heart rate calm down a bit.
Course map
Early in the race
At final turn
Crossed the finish line
Finish: 2:05:22
Click here for my Garmin data.
I'm still unable to get my time below 2 hours for the half marathon. I'm getting older and recovering from marathons is taking a lot longer than when I was younger. The effort was there today, but I only had enough to cover 8 miles before I was running on fumes.
Finish line
After receiving my finisher medal, I picked up a couple of post race drinks and snacks. I must say for a smaller event, they give out very nice medals! Also, they have free race photos! I went back to my car to drop off my stuff and to put on my jacket before returning to check out the post race expo area. It was nice to receive free samples of tamales, clean protein drink, and a bag of popcorn from the vendor booths. I swung by the announcer table to say bye to my friend before heading out.
Finisher medal
2nd side of finisher medal
Post race drinks and snacks
Hispanic flavors
Sample of their tamales with salsa verde
Popcorn and protein drink
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