Well, I woke up today feeling under the weather. My body was already starting to produce extra phlegm. For the most part, I just felt lethargic. I was pretty certain that I had caught this last weekend at the Ventura Marathon. A fellow runner that was around me had a pretty nasty cough. I'm sure I inhaled whatever he had. Since I felt good enough, I decided to go ahead with the race. I got ready and left the house at a little before 5 am. I arrived in Redlands at about 5:45 am. I parked at the usual parking lot at the corner of Citrus Ave and 4th St. I walked over to the AK Smiley Public Library to pick up my race packet. They were still setting up as packet pick-up wasn't scheduled to open until 6 am.
Race packet pick-up
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Once I got my race bib and shirt, I started walking over to the Starbucks by the Redlands Downtown Metrolink Station. Per the usual, I ordered my grande blonde vanilla latte on the mobile app. I stuck to my normal pre-race routine and had my CLIF bar to go with my coffee. After using the restroom, I went back to the corner of Eureka St and Citrus Ave to catch the start of the 10k.
Starbucks
I had enough time to swing by the car to grab my stuff and handheld bottle. I was able to spot my friend, Dexter, running in the 10k race which started at 7 am. After they all ran through, I headed over to the start line to get ready for the start of the half marathon. Our start time was at 7:20 am.
10k start
Dexter
Half marathon start
From the very first mile, I knew that I would not be very spry today. The pace that I was running felt way harder than it should have. I tried to just maintain as I knew that the bulk of the climbing would be in the first 7 miles. Once we had gotten onto Fern Ave, it was a nice flat run out to Lakeside Ave where we made a left turn to start the first of many climbs. We would make our way up to Highland Ave. Thankfully, there was a fellow runner around me that was playing some music during this stretch. The beat for Usher's Yeah was perfect for this climb. Shortly after reaching mile 4, we made a right turn onto Cajon St. From there we ran up to Arroyo Rd where we made a right turn. That led us up to Prospect Dr. A couple of turns took us onto Hilton Ave. We would run up that until a right turn onto Ford St. Shortly after reaching mile 6, we made a left turn onto Eucalyptus Dr. A right at Arbor Dr and Westwood Ln takes us onto Mariposa Dr for a little bit of downhill. There were still some rollers leading up to Sunset Dr. Finally, the majority of the climbing was over and we got a nice long stretch of downhill. There were still some rollers here and there as the road turned into Serpentine Dr. As we neared mile 10, we made a left onto Smiley Heights Dr. We continued to run down this road until reaching Terracina Blvd. Nearing mile 11, we made a right turn onto Olive Ave. That was followed by a left turn onto Chisholm Trail and a right turn onto Channing St. I backed off on the pace a bit as I knew that there would be one final steep climb on Bellevue Ave up to Olive Ave. Once I made the left turn, I knew that I had about 1 mile to go. I would try to empty the tank, but I felt gassed. The left foot had been on the verge of cramping up, so I was trying to take deeper breaths while jogging it to the finish line. That final left turn onto Eureka St for the finish line seemed to take forever to reach!
Finish: 2:02:16
Click here for my Garmin data.
Well, one positive takeaway for this race was that I didn't take any walk breaks. However, I was disappointed that I was over 6 minutes slower compared to last year. All in all, I was still content with my effort because it was the best that I could muster with my body having to deal with the onset of the flu.
After receiving my finisher medal and a separate 13.1 pin, I stopped at the table to get some orange juice. Their orange juice is always very good and one of the things that I look forward to after finishing this tough race. While drinking my juice, I bumped into my friend, Sherry. She didn't finish too far behind me. On the way out, I got a free sample can of Fire Gin ginseng energy drink.
Finisher medal
Post race OJ
Sherry
Fire Gin ginseng energy drink
Along the way, I stopped to take a picture of the cannon just outside of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine. I normally do so because it reminded me of my football team's biggest rival, Arsenal. However, one of these days, I want to return and check out this memorial when it is actually open. Originally, I had planned to eat breakfast at a location restaurant. However, I was feeling pretty exhausted and just wanted to get home ASAP.
Outside of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine
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