Hollywood and Rock n Roll San Francisco Half Marathon Double 2013

Friday
I left work early to drive up to the Hilton in Universal City to pick up my race packet. I tried to park at the Metro station but there wasn't a single space open. So I drove to the other side of the freeway to park at the Park & Ride lot on Ventura Blvd. It was a bit of a walk with a pretty steep uphill to the hotel, but it's always good to save a few bucks with free parking. I'm not a big fan of this location for the expo, but it is what it is for the second year in a row. The flow of the packet pickup process and the expo was improved this year. Just like last year, you go to the back of the expo hall to pick up your bib. However this time you go outside of the hall and around the corner to pick up your race shirt. This definitely helped with the congestion inside the expo hall.

Powered by McDonald's

Race shirt

After picking up my stuff and saying hi and goodbye to some of my friends at the expo, I made the trek back to my car. I drove over to the nearby Jinya to eat a late lunch. The last time I ate here was last year also when I was here for the expo. Their ramen isn't bad, but it's not my favorite. The one item that I liked was their shrimp gyozas but they no longer have them on their menu.

Salad

Tonkotsu original add egg and gyoza set

Saturday
The race started at 6am, so I had to get there pretty early to park near the finish. I parked at a parking structure for $10 at the corner of Ivar Ave and Sunset Blvd. I picked it because it looked like the easiest location to leave for the freeway after the race. As the start of the race got closer, I got my stuff ready and made the walk over to the starting area. I snapped a few photos when I got there. The last time I was here when Hollywood Blvd was shutdown like this was for the Oscars. I bumped into my friend while looking for a restroom inside the Hollywood & Highland Center. After locating the restroom, we made it in time for the pre-race photo for the legacy runners before heading over to our corral.

Starting line

El Capitan

Hollywood & Highland Center

Legacy Runners

My race was to include some speedwork and finish somewhere around 2hrs. I wanted to run the first 10k relatively hard while still taking my 1 min walk breaks every 30 minutes. The course was changed a bit from last year to remove the big hill and was advertised as a fast and mostly flat course. Nothing could be further from the truth. The race started relatively flat but with gradual climbs. This was fine, but then the hills came. They were short in distance, but steep especially the one at Silver Lake. For the first 10k, I was ahead or around the 1:40 pace group. I started shutting things down shortly after reaching my second walk break. After the last out and back up and down a hill, I was just jogging it in. It was fun running the race in my Superman outfit to help make the race less serious. It's always important to have fun especially when it's not a goal race.

Finish line

1-2: 15:18 (7:39)
3: 8:11
4: 8:28
5: 8:05
6-7: 18:44 (9:22)
8: 9:09
9: 9:37
10: 10:32
11: 10:39
12: 10:18
13: 10:03
13.1: 0:46
Finish: 1:59:50

After crossing the finish line, I walked straight to my car. I changed out of my wet clothes and tried to put on the compression socks. But my feet and calves were both cramping so I put on regular socks. The drive over to LAX to catch my flight to SFO was a very comfortable one. The legs were not happy at all. All that hurrying to the airport turned out to be unnecessary as the flight was delay an hour, then an hour and a half, then two hours. It was delayed once again due to the heavy marine layer reducing visibility at the SFO airport. During all of the waiting, I ate lunch at the Burger King. I love a Whopper, but it's still not a Big Mac and McNuggets.

Flight delayed

BK substitute

The expo closed at 5pm and with the flight delay, I had to go straight to the expo at the Moscone Center via the BART as soon as I landed at SFO. I originally had planned to get there early enough to check into the hotel first. I got off at the Powell St station and walked over in time to make the packet pickup. It was a lot closer than I would have liked and it was a pain in the butt hauling my bag with me all over the place. They were offering an expo special on registration for next year's race at $65. A good price, but I had to pass on it.

Expo

Expo Special

After leaving the expo, I walked over to my hotel located near the Union Square Park. I stayed at the Union Square Plaza Hotel, which was the cheapest place I could find for that weekend. It was a very old hotel with one of the slowest elevators that I had ever ridden. Upon checking in, I was given an old-school key for the room. I hardly ever see those keys for hotels anymore. My room was relatively clean except the maid forgot to the empty the trash and the sheets had some mystery stains. The bathroom was so cramped that the sink was in the room and you have to back yourself onto the toilet. Also the shower was tiny even for a thin guy like me.

Union Square Plaza Hotel

Cramped bathroom

Tiny shower

After throwing down my stuff and taking a shower, I went to the restaurant next door, Katanaya, to eat some ramen. The food here was decent and man it couldn't be any more convenient than being next door to my hotel. The restaurant was pretty small, so it was much easier to dine solo and sit at the bar.

Fried octopus

Katanaya shio ramen

Sunday
The race started at 7am at the Aquatic Park near Van Ness, so I had to get up pretty early for my hike. It seemed like I was the only idiot that decided it was a good idea to walk to the start. At first I was a bit nervous since there were only weird characters out and about. But soon there was no one around and all I could hear was the humming sound from the rails. The hike was pretty steep going up Hyde St. I was pretty tired by the time I got to the gear check area. I walked over to the starting area to get a banana since I didn't eat anything besides one Clif Bar. I bumped into a few of my friends, but eventually I checked my bag, hit the portapotties one last time, and hung out in the starting corral.

Near the finish line

Starting corral

The first mile felt ok. But I decided to slow down a bit in the second mile as the course widened a bit. Then on the first climb, my right hip wanted nothing to do with it. It was incredibly sore and I could not run at all without significant pain. The most I could muster was a jog. Going over the Golden Gate Bridge proved to be a very uncomfortable chore. Unlike the San Francisco Marathon, we ran on the sidewalk instead of the road. I stuck to the side to let everybody pass through. I had to take many walk breaks to help alleviate the soreness. When we reached the northern end of the bridge, it was a welcomed change to run on the trails. But it was only for a short section and we were soon back on the sidewalk. After getting on the San Francisco Bay Trail, I was so ready for the race to be over. I heard a familiar voice while running on Marina Blvd with less than 2 miles to go. It was good to bump into a fellow Maniac who was pacing a friend. They told me that they even came across a registered runner that was trying to jump off of the GG Bridge. I thought they were joking at first. I ran with them briefly but eventually I just couldn't keep up. It was good to spot some of my friends in the water during the final .1 to the finish line.

Heading to the finish

1: 8:14
2: 8:30
3: 8:55
4: 11:01
5: 10:15
6: 9:43
7: 11:10
8: 11:28
9: 9:33
10: 9:40
11: 11:37
12: 11:20
13: 11:22
13.1: 0:50
Finish: 2:13:37

Right after crossing the finish line, I took a picture with my friend and his friends. I would lose them after I went to get my gear bag. I parked it on a bench for a while before making my long hike back to my hotel. Fortunately for me, the hip didn't bother me at all when I walked only when I try to run up hills. I had to take a brief break going up to the infamous Lombard St. I thought it was a funny sight to see a bunch of tourists standing in the middle of the street taking pictures while other tourists in cars are honking at them to get out of the way so they can drive down the super winding Lombard Street.

Friends at the finish line

Bench

Steep ass hill going up Hyde Street

The infamous Lombard Street

Running a half marathon double was much easier to do logistically than a marathon double, but this too I would not want to repeat in the near future. It was fun to challenge the old rickety body, but having no rest in between races and having to sit on the plane takes a lot of the fun out of racing. It was also pretty stupid to do this only after 3 weeks after the marathon double. This year really is all about just surviving the schedule. The niggles, aches, and pains will have to wait until next year to heal up.

Double half marathon

After I finally got back to my room, I took a shower and vegged out for a couple of hours before going next door to eat lunch. I'll say it again, it could not have been any more convenient to have a ramen shop right next door to my hotel. After lunch I stayed in my room and watched TV until it was time for dinner. I walked over to the Super Duper to pick up a Super Burger. No matter how hard I try my name is always messed up when it's time to pick up my order and wouldn't you know they called out Emily and some girl went up to get the order except she ordered way more than I did. So I had to tell them that it was probably my order. Anyways I inhaled that awesome burger as soon as I got back to my room.

Uni ikura don

Shoyu regular ramen with egg

Super Burger

Monday
After I checked out of my room, I took a scenic stroll before meeting up with my friend for lunch. I stopped by the Rincon Park before heading over to the 21st Amendment Brewery. I had a Brew Free or Die IPA while I waited for my friend to take her lunch break from work. I got the Classic Burger and added some smoked bacon. It got a nice house salad to go with the burger. It was good catching up with my friend. I thought it was funny that we're both Dodger fans sitting in a Giants pub.

Rincon Park

Brew Free or Die IPA

Classic Burger add smoked bacon with house salad

After walking with my friend back to her work, I headed over to the AMC Metreon to catch a movie before heading to the airport to catch my flight home. I decided to watch The Croods. I bought my ticket from a self service machine and was ready to go inside, but they said that I couldn't since the movie theater wasn't ready. So I waited outside while charging my phone. The movie was entertaining and pretty darn funny. Always good to have a good laugh.

As soon as I landed at LAX and got back to my car, I made my way straight to my favorite local ramen shop, What's Up Men, to eat a late dinner. You know you come here quite often when the ramen cooks recognize you as soon as you enter the restaurant. It's almost like Norm walking into Cheers. :)

Kurobuta sausages

Cha miso ramen

Rock n Roll USA and LA Marathon Double 2013

Friday
I took an early direct flight out of LAX to Reagan National Airport. My row lucked out as there was no one in the center seat. I tried to get some sleep, but the seat was just too uncomfortable. So I ended up playing a bunch of solitaire on my Kindle. DCA is one of my favorite airports. It is directly connected to the Metro rail, so it's very convenient. Once I landed, I made a beeline to the Metro station to catch a train to the DC Armory.

In hindsight I had enough time and should've stopped by my hotel to drop my stuff off in my room. Instead I went straight to the expo and totally forgot about going through security check before entering the Armory. Yes, I was that idiot that dragged his bags through security. Oh well, it was a pain in the ass, but I got through it. I picked up my race packet and also for my friend. I then bought a luggage tag for my friend who helped me out by picking up my stuff for the LA Marathon. Before leaving the expo, I remembered to buy a pair of CEP compression socks for my plane ride home. I've heard nothing but good things about these socks for recovery.

American Airlines

Armory

Back of shirt

Luggage tag

I then rode the train to Chinatown to eat my pre-race bowl of ramen at Daikaya. Along the way from the station to the restaurant, I bumped into a bunch of my Marathon Maniac friends. What a coincidence! Once at the restaurant, I was able to grab a seat at the bar and got to see them prepare each bowl of ramen for all of the patrons. This restaurant had a hipster feel to it and most of the employees there were not Japanese. I ordered the Mugi miso ramen and added nitamago. The ramen was good with perfect noodles and flavorful broth, but it was expensive. They have an a la carte menu, so your bowl can get pretty expensive really quick.

Chinatown

Mugi miso ramen

After getting my ramen fix, I hopped back on the Metro to get to my hotel the Club Quarters just Northwest of the White House at the Farragut Square. I'm a fan of staying at a Club Quarters. They're always nice and clean with very easy to use self check-in/check-out machines. They also give out free bottled water. It's those little things that makes a hotel stay that much better.

Nice bed

TV

Decent shower

Bathroom

Before turning in for the night, I went back out to get my usual meal from a nearby McDonald's. I found one about a block away. After eating my Big Mac and McNuggets in my room, I got my gear ready while watching some TV. I had to prepare for rainy weather as they were forecasting a 70% chance of rain.

Big Mac and Chicken McNuggets

Race gear

Saturday
The race started at 7:30am at the corner of Constitution Ave NW and 14th Street NW. So around 5:30am I started my walk to the starting area. I saw no one along the way. I guess everyone either got someone to drop them off or took the Metro. I got there early enough that I had a pick of which portapotty to use in the corral area. I found it quite funny that out of the hundreds of portapotties out there, there was two old guys hanging just outside of my portapotty talking about their prostate.

Starting line

After taking care of business, I hung out near the gear check area to wait for my friend. I noticed for the first time at a Rock n' Roll race that they were using those yellow school buses instead of UPS trucks. I think this presented a problem because there were huge lines for every gear check bus. The doors were not big enough openings compared to UPS trucks. Clearly this was not a well thought out idea.

Dr Spandex!

Goal was to finish under 5 hours.

I started with my friend in corral 7. But the pace was a bit quick for me after a couple of miles. I had to save something for the LA Marathon. For most of the race starting from about 1 hour into the race, I was fighting the urge to go number 2 or 1.5... my sphincter muscle got quite the workout. I liked the course but it was deceptively challenging. It was as if there was a small hill or climb around every turn. We ran with the half marathoners for just a little over 12 miles. As they were making their final push for the finish line at the RFK Stadium, we turned the other way to run about 14 more miles. It was good to see some of my fellow Maniac friends on the out-and-back sections. I kept the effort pretty even, but it actually got a little warm near the end and I started to deal with leg cramps. I love the course for the Marine Corps Marathon, but this one wasn't too bad.

Early in the race from Michael Hoyt

1: 8:44
2: 8:16
3: 8:39
4: 9:24
5: 9:16
6: 9:24
7: 10:40
8: 9:36
9: 9:45
10:10:01
11: 9:52
12: 10:07
13: 10:55
14: 10:18
15: 11:23
16: 11:32
17: 11:19
18: 11:56
19: 11:48
20: 11:32
21: 12:19
22: 12:29
23: 13:23
24: 12:30
25: 12:10
26: 12:48
26.2: 1:59
Finish: 4:42:09

Finish area

After the race, I had to get back to my hotel as quickly as possible so I can shower before my flight back to LA. So after getting my gear bag, I headed for the Metro station to catch a ride back to the hotel. I opted for a late checkout for $35. With room tax that came out to about $40. I'm sure my fellow passengers were grateful that I did that before getting on my flight. I wore the CEP compression socks for my flight home.

The first leg was on a small regional jet to Nashville, TN. I love these flights because people cannot bring on those humongous "carry-on" bags. Also on my side of the plane, it was just one seat. During my layover in Nashville, I ate at a Burger King because I could not find a McDonald's. Whoppers are good, but I still prefer Big Macs. :)

After getting on the second leg back to LAX, I had to rush to get down to Costa Mesa to meet up with my friend that helped me out with picking up my race packet. I met up with him at Ramen Yamadaya to eat a late dinner.

BK Whopper and chicken nuggets

Sunday
I barely woke up after my final alarm went off. I seriously considered bagging the race and going back to sleep. Instead I got ready and started heading for Santa Monica. The 60 freeway was closed down near the 605. I had to get off of the freeway and head over to the 10 freeway. I really hate the 60 freeway. It is the crappiest freeway at all hours of the day. Eventually I made it and parked in the big parking lot just South of the Crescent Bay Park on Ocean Ave. I gathered my stuff and made the trek over to the bus shuttle stop by the Civic Center on Main St.

I bumped into a few of my friends while boarding the bus. After being dropped off at Dodgers Stadium, I made my way to the luxury suites that were opened for charity runners. It's always good to use real flushing restrooms instead of portapotties.

Luxury suite for charities

View from the suite

I tried to meet up with a few of my friends to run together, but that didn't work out. Good thing because I would have totally slowed them down a lot. After bumping into a few of my friends at the gear check, I put on my cape and headed for Corral C. I hung out with some fellow Marathon Maniacs and chatted with one of the pacers. Some of the runners found it funny to see that my bib said Clark Kent as I was dressed as Superman.

I didn't noticed this at first when I took the picture, but the guy wearing the shirt with "To God be the glory" on the back of his shirt was a Legacy Runner that I had spoken with several years ago because we went to the same barber. He starting talking to me when he saw that I was waiting to get a haircut wearing my 20th anniversary LA Marathon t-shirt. Great to see that he is still running!

Corral C

Super friends!

Goal was to just finish.

I was super tired, but it was great to start the LA Marathon once again with Randy Newman's "I Love LA!" blaring through the speakers. It was my 9th LA Marathon. It would've been my 10th in a row, but I skipped the one in 2011 with the torrential downpour to run the NYC Half Marathon. As usual the first mile around Dodger Stadium was super slow. It's mostly uphill and just a big clustersmurf! The legs were tired and sore, but good enough. My plan was to just run the first 10k and re-evaluate from there. That would get me through the steep hill with the taiko drums. Along the way I bumped into Supergirl with a nice big flowing pink cape. I kept an eye out for Cousin Sal on Hollywood Blvd, but didn't find him.

There goes Supergirl!

Running down Hollywood Blvd

After reaching the halfway point, I stopped in at the Saddle Ranch Chop House in West Hollywood to get my first beer for the race. I chugged a Guinness and headed back out for some more running. Kind of missed running with Wonder Woman this year. I might need to find a new pub crawl partner. I went searching for a store selling beer during mile 20. It proved to be a difficult task. Most of the liquor stores shut down knowing that the LA Marathon was going to prevent their customers from reaching their stores for a good part of the morning. I finally found one and bought a tallboy for my trek through the dreaded VA section. I had to walk quite a bit going down San Vicente Blvd. Once I finally made the turn onto Ocean Ave, I tried to run as much as I could but I was just feeling very tired.

Time for a Guinness!

Time for a tall boy

1: 9:47
2: 8:35
3: 8:52
4: 9:36
5: 10:05
6: 9:50
7: 10:22
8: 10:24
9: 10:30
10:11:12
11: 12:00
12: 11:38
13: 13:00
14: 16:49
15: 11:17
16: 12:58
17: 13:56
18: 13:32
19: 12:31
20: 20:53
21: 15:48
22: 13:01
23: 13:31
24: 14:13
25: 12:50
26: 13:37
26.2: 1:48
Finish: 5:22:35

Well, I survived my first marathon double. I kind of wish I hadn't made my first a coast to coast double. I was pretty much a jogging/walking zombie during the second marathon. I'm sure my experience would be similar to running a 100 miler due to the sleep deprivation. The plane ride in between races was the hardest part of the weekend. It was also the most stressful part because my return flight had a connection. Would I do it again? Probably not. Would I recommend it? No, I would not. It really took the enjoyment out of the two marathons. But now I can say that I did it.

Coast to Coast marathon double

San Diego Half Marathon 2013

Saturday
I drove down in the morning via the 5 freeway and parked at Horton Plaza. I then walked over to the expo at the Broadway Pier. Just like last year, the organization was top notch. The flow of traffic was well thought out and controlled. I went right through the exhibitors and headed to the tent in the back to pick up my race packet and race shirt. The view from the end of the pier was pretty nice. I got a nice picture of the USS Midway. I stopped by the Injinji booth to check out the new not-yet-released trail midweight toe socks. I think I've bought too many pairs since one of the reps remembered me. :)

Expo banner

Expo at the Broadway Pier

Exhibitors

Race packet and shirt pickup

USS Midway

I walked back to my car and went to go validate my parking ticket only to realize that they've changed the system. They removed all self-validating machines. Apparently they've caught on that people have been parking here for free and haven't necessarily shopped at the Horton Plaza. They had two attendants on different floors validating your ticket only if you've made a purchase of at least $10 in one of the stores. I ended up buying a pair of boxers at GAP to get my "free" parking.

I then drove over to the old Sports Arena to eat lunch at Phil's BBQ. Parking here is always a pain in the ass, but I found a spot. I could've skipped the long line and eat in the bar, but I've made a decision to stop drinking beer so I didn't want to tempt myself. The wait for general dining was about 30 minutes. Once I got to the counter, I ordered a full slab of baby back ribs and corn on the cob. The cashier liked my Marine Corps Marathon jacket. I think he was a former Marine that had run in that marathon with his friends. After I got my food, I almost choked on my first rib. I couldn't swallow something that felt a bit hard. At first I thought it was just a piece of hard charred meat. I finally coughed hard into my napkin and out comes a small piece of broken rib bone. Good thing no Heimlich maneuver was required. Next time I'll have to be careful and slow down. But man, they have some good ribs. :)

Phil's BBQ

Baby back ribs and corn on the cob

I then checked into the Good Nite hotel near Seaworld. It was kind of hard to get to because it was surrounded by a bunch of one way streets. I believe they were in the process of remodeling the place. But the room had a decent bed, so it was good enough for an over night stay which saved me a very early drive the next day.

Decent bed

Old TV

I went out to eat an early dinner at Tajima. I ordered some geso (calamari) and a bowl of regular tonkotsu ramen. Before heading back to my hotel room, I stopped by a nearby McDonald's to pick up some late night snacks, a Filet o' Fish and a Big Mac. Before eating my food and going to sleep, I went through the expo haul and got my race gear ready. More and more races are giving out less goodies in the their goody bag. It was nice to find a Clif Bar, Shot Bloks, and some Zico drinks in the bag. They gave those that ran the race last year a different legacy shirt.

Geso

Regular tonkotsu ramen

Filet o' Fish and Big Mac

Expo haul

Race gear

Sunday
I checked out of my hotel, drove into downtown and parked on 8th Avenue just south of Market. When I got my stuff ready and was ready to head over to the starting area, I was spotted by my friend who happened to park across the street from me. I guess we both had the same idea on where was the best place to park. We walked over to the Hilton and hung out inside to stay out of the chilly weather. We bumped into some of my running friends on the way out to the starting corrals.

Hilton bridge

Petco Park

Starting line

My goal for this race was to just finish under 2 hours. But I wanted to incorporate some "speed work" for at least the first 10k. I wanted to test how my legs would respond to some speed. Also I needed to bank some time early for the big climbs late in the race.

It was pretty congested starting out of corral 1. I ran the first 2 miles or so with the 1:40 pace group. It actually felt good to move a little bit faster. But I was starting to labor a bit with the breathing so I pulled back a bit. I tried to keep the miles around 8:30. Once I got through the first 10k, my legs felt heavy. But I knew that I pretty much had a guaranteed sub 2 unless I completely give up and walk too much. The climbs were as brutal as I had remembered from last year. People forget about the small steep hills leading up to the monster hill on Washington Street. But man, they almost guarantee that you'll want to walk on the final huge hill. I walked a good portion of it and thought it would be a great time to eat my GU. While strolling along, I saw my friend pass me hammering up the hill. So I ran up to catch up to her. I ran a little bit with her before slowing back down. On the big downhill during the last two miles, I could only coast. There was no zip at all left in the legs. The final stretch to the finish line was pretty nice. I would even go as much to say that it was a better finishing chute finishing in the Gas Lamp Quarter than having it on the warning track inside Petco Park.
1: 7:40
2: 7:50
3: 8:07
4: 8:40
5: 8:21
6: 8:26
7: 8:41
8: 9:23
9: 9:59
10: 11:34
11: 10:33
12: 9:07
13: 8:47
13.1: 0:53
Finish: 1:58:02

After crossing the finish line, I got my nice looking medal and a Zico drink. I then made my way back to my car and was cramping up along the way. The drank the Zico and waited a bit in my car for the cramps to subside before driving home.

From the expo to the finish line, this race was pretty much perfect. The level of organization was unrivaled by very few races. They sure kept up the quality of the race from last year's inaugural race. I've run many races and this race is definitely on my list of top 3 favorite half marathons. My other favorite half marathons are the Grete's Great Gallop and the Disneyland half marathon. I will definitely be running this race again next year!

Medal

On my way home, I took the 15 freeway. I've been using this freeway more often to avoid the weekend traffic on the 5. I stopped by my favorite local ramen shop, What's Up Men, to eat a big lunch.

Kuro shoyu ramen add egg with fried rice