Craft Classic Half Marathon 2016

Saturday 7/16
On my way down to San Diego to pick up my race packet, I stopped by the gas station to fill up the gas tank and to possibly buy some more fish for the aquarium at work. The pet store didn't open until 10 am, so that was about when I showed up. They didn't have what I was looking for, but they do have some nice young green terrors! Those are one of my favorite freshwater fish, very mean suckers! So I hopped back on the freeway where Waze had me headed for the 15 freeway which was understandable since the 5 freeway going south is almost always crowded on the weekends. It wasn't all that better on the 15. There was a lot of road construction and congestion. It took me over 2 hours to get down there. The first thing I did when I arrived at the Road Runner Sports in San Diego and parked was to locate the restroom.

Parking was a bit hairy with people coming and going, but there was ample parking spaces. I'm not sure if it was wise for them to take up part of the parking lot for the bib pickup. It was just an awkward venue for an expo. After picking up the bib and race shirt, we were given a pint glass and a pair of sunglasses. It was nice to actually get some decent swag at a race. We were also given a discount coupon for merchandise inside the store. The store was busy, so they definitely got some boosted traffic and sales.

For lunch I wanted to try something new instead of the old usual places, so I made my way over to the Iron Pig Alehouse in Pacific Beach. I haven't been to that area in ages, the last time was possibly back when I was still going to UC San Diego. There was a huge line of cars queued up to exit the freeway at the Balboa Garnet Ave exit. I don't think I've ever seen it this bad before. I supposed the weather was nice and everybody was headed to the beach. Street parking was a bit hard to come by, but eventually I found one that wasn't too tight even for a Mini Cooper. Once inside, I found a seat at the bar. I started things off with an Espresso Yeti. I then ordered the brisket with collard greens and potato salad for my meal. My goodness, that was some good brisket! I finished off the meal with a Big Backbones IPA.

Beers on tap

Great Divide Espresso Yeti

Brisket

Noble Ale Works Big Backbones IPA

I then drove up to the Quality Inn in Miramar to check into my hotel. I saw it from Kearny Villa Rd, but missed it when I came around on Kearny Mesa Rd. So I ended up circling again. It was sort of hidden by the Carl's Jr next door. I got a room on the second floor. I went through my expo haul and laid out my flat runner. I rested a bit before rolling out of bed to go check out some new breweries and to get an early dinner.

Quality Inn

Swag

Back of shirt

Flat runner

Drink all the beers! I'm always up for checking out new breweries. I've never heard of Duck Foot Brewing and it turns out that they were just established in 2015, so they're still very new to the heavily saturated craft beer scene in San Diego.

I drove on over and pulled up to the bar and ordered a flight of beers, each were 4 oz tasters. Here's what I ordered: Choco-nut Lust Porter, Irish Stout, Honey Ale, The Contender IPA, Double White IPA. The honey ale was not bad. While I dislike those in-your-face-super-bitter IPA's, both IPA's that I tried were virtually tasteless bland beers where I couldn't taste any hops. It was the same with the porter and stout. The tastes were extremely subtle... too subtle for my taste.

I read on their website that they aren't trying to brew the same type of popular beers as the top breweries in the San Diego area. That's a great approach to try to be different, but based on the tasters that I had, I thought they were very underwhelming beers. They need to step up their game especially with all of the great beer available in the San Diego area.

One thing that does stand out for them is that their beer does count as gluten free as they use an enzyme to remove the gluten protein. They claim that the enzyme is flavorless and odorless... probably as true as vodka is tasteless. I'm wondering if that had made the beers taste odd to me. Since I don't have gluten intolerance or Celiac disease, this place was just not for me.

Duck Foot Brewery

Flight of tasters

My next stop was at Reckless Brewery which was just down the road. It was a very small, informal, and somewhat unprofessional operation especially when compared to the big bad Ballast Point across the street. There were office chairs strewn all over the place. It was empty except for one bartender when I got there. I ordered a flight of 4 tasters: Beowulf's Mead, Sultry Black, Down and Out Black, Dude Abides Rye. Now these were much better beers. I especially liked their Beowulf's Mead.

Reckless Brewery

Tasters

I then walked across the street to eat dinner at Ballast Point. It was super busy, but I was able to find a seat at the bar. I ordered a Blunder IPA and their Surf n' Turf burger for my meal. I finished the burger and beer, but I couldn't finish the fries. The burger was nice and delicious because it included shrimp, my favorite combination for a surf n' turf. However the fries weren't very good. They tasted stale and just plain gross. The Blunder IPA made me wonder why I even bothered with beers from other breweries.

Surf n' Turf

Sunday 7/17
I woke up feeling a bit queasy, but I felt better once I took a shower and got ready to head to the race. Parking was at Green Flash Brewery. There was a huge parking lot just north of Green Flash and it was really convenient. From there, we headed east on Top Gun St to catch one of the nice luxury shuttles to the start line. It's always nice to ride in those instead of the school buses designed for elementary school kids. The shuttle dropped us off at Camino del Sur, just south of the 56 freeway. Just around the corner and up the Torrey Santa Fe Rd were a small table for gear check, more tables for water, and a bunch of portapotties. As to be expected for an inaugural race, there was almost a 10 minute delay before the start of the race. It was pretty much a no frills start. There was no singing of the national anthem. There wasn't even a starting gun, horn, or anything.

Start line

It was a decent and challenging course. The first half of the course was pretty nice and easy, just running on the 56 bike trail until we reached the 5 freeway. We then head down El Camino Real and Vista Sorrento Parkway before turning east on Sorrento Valley Blvd which would soon turn into about a one mile steady climb up. We finally got a longer stretch of downhill as we turned onto Camino Santa Fe. However there was another half mile or so climb up to Top Gun St for the final stretch to the finish line. Make sure you do your hill training to be ready for this course! My legs were pretty trashed by mile 6 or 7 as I'm still dealing with a couple of nagging injuries.

Mile 3 from Stephanie B.

Free race photos

Finish line

Click here for my Garmin data.

After taking my sweet ass time and finally crossing the finish line, I made my way down the finisher chute. They had small cups out for water and Nuun water. They also had Larabars, bananas, and other snacks. The finisher chute was a bit chaotic. The volunteers were having a hard time keeping up with the distribution of the finisher medals. The medals were individually bagged and they were spending a lot of time getting them out. There was so much traffic as people were all getting in line to trade in their drink vouchers for tickets. That really made no sense to me, as they weren't using that process to control the flow of people. There were 4 tents dispensing beers among other vendor booths, but the lines were all very long. They should have designated a centralized spot for the beer garden. Instead it was just a bunch of long lines almost crisscrossing each other. I got in the shortest beer line and got the Cosmic Ristretto Baltic Porter with espresso. I took a few sips and tossed it. My stomach just wasn't ready for any beer so soon after finishing a race. Since my calves were cramping up a bit, I found a vacant fold-up chair and sat down to eat a banana before heading home. I don't think it's very safe to drive long distances with calf cramps! :)

Medal

Complimentary beer

Cosmic Ristretto Baltic Porter with espresso

Overall, it was a pretty well organized race for its first year with a few minor hiccups here and there. I'm pretty certain that they will improve the race if they continue to hold the event every year. Will I be back? Only time will tell.

Bay of Fundy Marathon 2016

Friday 6/24
This trip was full of difficulties. I had an evening red eye flight with American Airlines out of LAX to Bangor (BGR) with a short layover in Philly (PHL). After eating dinner, I headed to the airport and once again there was a lot of traffic at the Sepulveda exit off of the 105. Once I got through it, I made my way to parking lot C. However I couldn't enter the parking lot. There was a sign that said it was full. In all of the many flights that I've taken out of LAX, I have never been denied entry. I thought that there was a secondary entrance on Jenny Ave, but it was actually on Westchester Parkway. Instead, I mistakenly made the turn in to the parking lot for buses and limos. After I found my way out of that parking lot, I drove over to the parking lot on 98th St and Vicksburg Ave, but even that lot was full! So I drove over to The Parking Spot - Sepulveda that's right next to In-n-Out. Thank goodness they had spaces. I drove to the roof as it was $4 per day cheaper than a covered spot, $17.95 vs. $21.95.

The Parking Spot

I took the stairs down to the ground floor and caught the shuttle to terminal 6. Getting through TSA wasn't too bad. At first my flight seemed to be on time. Their PA system wasn't loud enough so none of us really knew what was going on. However those that were close enough to hear the gate announcements told us that for some reason the wrong plane pulled up to the gate. They had to back that plane out and bring in the right plane which seemed to take forever. There was another flight going out to Toronto at about the same time through the same gate. The goof up caused about an hour delay. Once we were all boarded on our plane, the pilot said that he would try to make up the time, but still my chances of making my connecting flight was pretty slim. It was out of my control, so I got out my neck pillow and went to sleep.

LAX > PHL

Saturday 6/25
As soon as we landed, I had to hurry with my gimpy legs to try and catch my plane in terminal F. I saw on the AA app that they had already put me on the standby list for the next flight. I still had to try. I took the shuttle from terminal C to F. Man, my calves were burning just from power-walking through the airport! As I was approaching my gate, they were making the final call announcement for my flight. I had to break into a jog while carrying my bags. As soon as they scanned my boarding pass, they closed the door right behind me. I hate flights with short layovers especially when coupled with a delayed first leg! But hey, I made it!

PHL > BGR

We landed shortly after 9 am. When I went to the rental car counter to pick up my car, I was informed that I had reserved my car for 10 am, so I found a spot in the airport to pass some time while charging my phone. I went back to the counter at 10 am to pick up my car. They gave me a red Toyota Corolla. Once I found the car in the parking lot, I started my drive up to Lubec which would take about 2.5 hrs. I made a quick stop at a Rite Aid to buy water and Powerade.

Rental car

After a long relaxing drive, I arrived in Lubec and drove over the FDR Memorial Bridge to cross into Canada. The bib pickup was at the Campobello Island Tourist Center. While crossing the border, I had to tell the Canadian border guards that I was running in the marathon tomorrow so they can check me off of the list of participants. That way I wouldn't be required to show them my passport during the race. My bib would allow me to cross unimpeded.

Campobello

After picking up my bib, I crossed back to the US and showed the US border guard my passport as well as my bib. He asked a few questions, scanned the timing chip and checked my trunk. After I was cleared to pass, I drove to Lubec school to pick up my race shirt. After getting my shirt, I drove down the street to check out the place where I'll be staying for the weekend, the Peacock House Bed & Breakfast. I met the innkeeper, Mary Beth, and my room wasn't ready yet, so I asked her for some recommendations for lunch. I walked down to to Water St to check out my food options. They already had the finish line banner up.

Finish line

Based on her recommendations, I checked out Frank's Dockside Restaurant for lunch. I started things out with a Shipyard export ale. It was a pretty decent beer. Then for my meal, I went with the shrimp & clams basket which came with fries and coleslaw. It wasn't anything spectacular, just deep fried breaded seafood, good enough to tide me over to my next meal.

Shipyard Export

Shrimp & clams basket

After I was done with lunch, I took the long way back to the Peacock House walking up Water St and Commercial St. It was pretty cool to see some of the landmarks in the little quiet quaint town of Lubec. Back at the house, the innkeeper showed me to my room. It was the Peacock Suite. It was way too much room for just me! However that was pretty much the only available room in all of Lubec when I went to book my travels.

Peacock House Bed & Breakfast

Peacock Suite

After getting settled in, I went through my expo haul. They gave us what looked to be a clam bag to use as a gear bag. They also gave us some flower seeds. What an interesting item to give to runners! I wasn't too fond of the color of our long sleeve race shirt. It reminded me of split pea soup. I also laid out the flat runner to make sure that I had remembered to pack everything for the race. Then I watched some TV and took a nap.

Expo haul

Back of shirt

Flat runner

Drinks

I rolled out of bed and walked over to the Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant to eat dinner. I saw the restaurant on the walk back to the house earlier in the day. I started with a Sebago Runabout red ale. I then ordered their lobster dinner. It was a 1 pound lobster that came with a dinner roll, fries, corn on the cob, and coleslaw. If you're really hungry, you can pay $4 per additional 1/4 pound. That was some delicious lobster! I found that 1 pound was enough. I don't think that it was an ideal carbo-load meal before a marathon. However I wanted to enjoy some Maine lobster because I never know how I'll feel after running a marathon.

Lobster dinner

Sunday 6/26
T-Mobile was pretty useless once I was outside of Bangor. I had to go into Canada for data service, so I mostly relied on the WiFi at the Peacock House. However my phone for most of my stay remained on Atlantic time which was 1 hour ahead of Eastern time. With that said, I woke up an hour earlier than I needed to when I got up to get ready for the race. Well, better to be an hour early than an hour late.

At about 5 am, I walked over to Lubec Consolidated School for the bus ride to the starting area. The first bus for the marathon didn't leave until 5:30, so I went inside the school to use the restroom and found a place to sit and wait. There I met Bob from Exeter, NH. He was running his very first marathon. I also talked to Steven from Topeka, KS. It was also his goal to finish a marathon in every state. He was wearing a shirt with signatures from people that have dealt with cancer. I noticed that he was wearing the same pair of pink Asics breast cancer awareness shoes that I had worn for about a year for my marathons when one of my good friends was fighting breast cancer.

Lubec Consolidated School

We took an uncomfortable ride on the school bus over to the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse at Quoddy Head State Park. Those seats were definitely not designed for adults! On the way there we saw the walkers that had taken the early start. I noticed that the course was full of rollers. They dropped us off just a few hundred feet from the lighthouse. They had water, a few picnic tables, and a bunch of portapotties for us to use. It was pretty cool to see the Atlantic Ocean from the Easternmost point of the United States.

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse

At about 7 am, they asked us to gather at the starting line. It wasn't a big field for the marathon. Minus the early walkers, there wasn't even 200 people at the start. Not a whole lot of people wanted to line up in the front. After the singing of the US national anthem, they asked if anybody wanted to sing the Canadian national anthem. I think it was one of the volunteers that stepped forward. She asked for help, but she didn't need it, she did a great job!

At about 7:10 am, they shot a loud cannon and we were off. The first mile felt went ok, but my right leg felt sluggish. The right IT band had been giving me trouble and with this weekend being the fourth consecutive weekend while running a marathon, I wasn't expecting it to feel any better. Temperature wise it wasn't too hot, but the humidity was pretty high. By the second mile, I was already starting to struggle. The course was undulating for the next few miles. I crossed the FDR Memorial Bridge into Canada as I approached mile 6. I saw a pretty funny sign as I arrived at an aid station at about mile 8. It read, "caution: athletes in pain." Yeah, that would be me. What was a bit frustrating was that I was running the downhills as slow as I was running the uphills. The downhills were causing pain in the left foot and the right IT band. I went through the halfway point at about 2:20.

Start line

Aid station at around mile 8

There was a little bit of welcomed cool breeze as I ran up Lighthouse Rd. The turnaround point was at about mile 16 near the Head Harbour Lightstation. There were tables with GUs. From there I backtracked back to Lubec. It was pretty sunny without much shade, so I was feeling a bit warm near the end of the race. My legs were beginning to cramp up, so I had to take extended walk breaks at mile 22. There was a long gradual climb up to the Campobello Island Tourist Center. Once there I could see the finish line. It was such a relief to know that the suffering was almost over that I almost shed a tear. I just had to run down to and cross the FDR Memorial Bridge. It was pretty cool that the border guards were cheering us on for that final stretch.

Almost to the turnaround

Click here for my Garmin data.

After getting my cool finisher medal, a girl walked me over to the post race food tent. She made sure that I didn't fall down or anything. That was a cool touch. I grabbed some bananas and a Gatorade. I found Bob and his wife at one of the picnic tables, so I went over to sit with them and congratulate him. He finished about 5 minutes ahead of me. Not too shabby for his very first marathon!

Medal

Back of medal

After I felt a bit more recovered, I made my way over to the Lubec Brewing Co. They had benches outside, but I went inside and found a seat at the bar. There I met Bryce from Houston, TX. He ran a much better race than I did. I also met Roger, a local born and raised in Lubec. It was pretty cool talking to the two of them over a Quoddy Head red ale, that was the only beer they had available.

Lubec Brewing Co

Quoddy Head Red

After I was done with my beer, I headed slowly back to my room. I walked up Main St and came across the Soldiers' Monument and the Lubec Veteran Honor Roll Memorial. It was pretty cool to see a little bit of history that I knew nothing about. Once I got back to my room, I took a nice nap after getting cleaned up.

Soldiers' Monument

Lubec Veteran Honor Roll Memorial

For dinner, I walked down to Water St to eat dinner at Cohill's Irish Pub. I went to grab a seat at the bar and I saw Roger, whom I had just met earlier in the day. So I joined him. Since it was an Irish pub, I started things off with a Guinness. My new local friend suggested the lamb burger or the shepherd's pie. I always trust a local, so I went with the lamb burger. It was a good suggestion! It definitely tasted better than it looked. If you like lamb meat and goat cheese, then you should order this burger. It had a good flavor and was a good change from the usual beef patty. The buns that they used were probably my least favorite part of the meal. It was a bit too soft for my taste. I finished things off with a Baxter Stowaway IPA. The tab handle had the Jolly Roger symbol on it. I guess that was good enough for me to get the beer! Roger and I talked quite a bit about traveling and a little bit of politics. We exchanged cards since I'll need to pick his brain once I start traveling to more international marathons. I saw the couple from Bronx, NY that I was talking to before the race sitting at a nearby table. I went over to say hi. As I was finishing up my meal, a bunch of runners and their friends came in including Lois from North Conway, NH. She's 81 year young and had also finished the marathon! I wonder if I'll even make it to 80, let alone run a marathon!

Guinness

Lamb burger

Baxter Stowaway IPA

Monday 6/27
I slept in. I could smell that breakfast was ready. When I finally rolled down to the dining room, everybody was already there and most have already finished their breakfast. They had brought out fruit, juice, muffin, and prepared an egg dish. It was pretty good to meet a diverse group of people from all walks of life. They were asking me a bunch of questions once they found out that the Bay of Fundy Marathon was my 174th marathon and Maine was the 46th state in which I've completed a marathon.

I left at around 10 am as I wanted to time it so that I could have lunch somewhere near the airport. Before heading out on the road, I did a little research on Yelp and decided on eating at the Eagle's Nest in Brewer. Parking was limited, but fortunately I was able to get a spot just as someone was pulling out. It was a small little operation inside with most of the tables occupied. Since I was dining solo, I just found a seat at the bar where I got a clear view of the action in the kitchen. Their menu stated that they have the biggest and best lobster roll around. So of course that's what I ordered. It didn't take that long for it to come out. There was way more chunks of delicious lobster meat than the roll could hold! They mixed the lobster with light mayo so what you're tasting is the lobster meat. It came with fries, coleslaw, and a pickle. The fries had a hint of seafood to it, so I'm guessing that they used the same oil that they used to fry up their seafood. I like it. It was quite affordable especially for the amount of lobster meat that they used for the roll. It was definitely the biggest that I've eaten.

Lobster roll

After lunch, I stopped at the first gas station and filled up the gas tank before driving up to the airport. I parked the car in the rental lot and returned the keys to the counter. Then I found a nice seat to relax in and to charge my devices. While waiting I again bumped into the couple from the Bronx. It turned out that they were on the same flight to Philly. Once we got to Philly, we all had short connecting flights, so it was a mad scramble to get off of the plane. I made it to my gate just as they were getting ready to board.

PHL > LAX

Once in LAX and we had deplaned, I headed for the median that was under the red sign to catch The Parking Spot shuttle back to the garage. It was a very full shuttle. Once off of the shuttle, I grabbed a bottle of water and headed for the elevators. The elevators didn't go up to the roof. I had to use one of the stairwells. It might have been easier to catch their shuttle than with parking lot C, but it was a lot more expensive to park here.