Operation Jack Half Marathon 2017

Tuesday 12/26
This was the 8th annual Operation Jack race. Every year, I have registered for the marathon. However this year, I finally wised up and registered for the half marathon. 99% of the course is on concrete, so it just beats the crap out of my body every year! Just like last year, I thought this would be a great opportunity to break out a new pair of shoes. So I took out my pair of Brooks Ghost 9 for this race.

After I got ready, I grabbed my stuff and gassed up the car for the drive out to Dockweiler State Beach. I arrived at the parking lot at about 6:30 am. To my surprise, it was only $3 to park. I got parked near my usual spot in the parking lot. They weren't quite ready to bib and t-shirt pick-up, but once I got my stuff, I quickly went back to my car to get out of the chilly wind.

Race shirt

Bib

$3 All Day Parking

I went back out to use the portapotties. Before going back to the comfort of my warm car, I went over to see the early starters for the marathon begin their race. It looked like the usual suspects were there!

Early starters

When the start of the race grew closer, I got my stuff ready and waited at the starting area with some of my friends and the other participants. Since this might be the last year of this event, Sam and his family gathered at the starting line to say a few words. Then the race director had some last minute instructions before we were released a few minutes after 7:30 am.

My friends

The Felsenfelds

From the get go, I kept it at about an even 8 min/mile pace. That pace felt comfortable for the most part until about 10k into the race. Since I had the Dopey Challenge coming up, I pretty much shut down the race and just jogged it in. The same issue with my left ankle was causing the discomfort. It was uncomfortable even switching over to a jog. Thankfully I had enough to get in just under 2 hrs for my final half marathon of the year.

Finish: 1:59:10
Click here for my Garmin data.

I was very glad to finally reach the finish line and collect my finisher medal. It was another year of pounding the concrete for a good charitable cause. This year, the medal had a nice Bible verse on it.

"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." - 1 Peter 4:10

I stuck around to wait for some of my friends to finish. We chatted a bit about our race experiences. As we were about to leave, my friend stopped at the California Half & Full Marathon Series table to pick up her challenge medal. Apparently I had run enough races to qualify for the 4 race challenge medal. I qualified by running Run to Remember LA, Los Angeles Marathon, and Operation Jack. The guy handing out the medals told me that the Los Angeles Marathon counted for 2 points while the half marathons counted for 1 point a piece.

Medals

Medal side 1

Medal side 2

4 Race Challenge medal

Well, as I have mentioned earlier, this might be the final year of this event. While I don't particularly enjoy the unforgiving concrete surface or running over the occasional sand drift on the race course, I do like supporting this worthy cause to raise money for Autism research. I hope that Sam will be able to hand off the race to someone else so that Jack's legacy could continue. I think it might be easier if the race date was changed as 12/26 doesn't always work well for everyone.

San Diego Holiday Half Marathon 2017

Friday 12/15
After I was done with work, I left the office and headed straight for the expo at the Road Runner Sports near the 52 freeway at Convoy St just east of the 805. I've been here before for the Craft Classic Half Marathon in July, so I knew where to go. After parking the car, I went to one of the tables to be assigned a bib. I see that more and more races are doing this now, so no bibs are wasted on no-shows. After getting my bib, I was given a choice of a pair from a pile of throwaway gloves. Then I was directed into the building where I picked up my race long sleeved hoodie and a drawstring goodie bag. There wasn't much goodie, but the bag was pretty nice. The long sleeved hoodie was pretty nice. It came with thumb holes so the sleeves would stay down and cover part of the hand.

Packet pick-up

Race long sleeved hoodie

With thumb hole

After I was done with the expo, I drove down to the nearby Mitsuwa Marketplace to pick up a quick dinner. I decided to get a bento box instead of eating from one of the stands in the food court. They have a microwave oven available for you to heat up your food. However I was fine with eating it cold. Just to make sure I had enough, I also got one of their soured plum rice balls.

Bento dinner

After I was done with my dinner, I drove over to the WorldMark San Diego - Mission Valley. The roads here were still ever so confusing in this area. It's a good thing that I've been here before back in my college days. Even as a WorldMark owner, the check-in process was long, but friendly. I enjoyed the other properties that I've stayed at so far, but I'm started to feel that their friendliness is just to butter me up for yet another "no pressure" sales pitch. They signed me up for a morning presentation on Sunday before I checked out.

Finally when I was able to go to my room, I first parked the car in the underground parking. They gave me a parking card to display in my car and I used the room key to open the gate. The parking area and spaces were very tight even for my Mini Cooper. There were some wider spaces, but those were very limited and I would feel bad parking in one with a Mini Cooper.

I've only stayed at two WorldMark properties so far, WorldMark San Diego - Balboa Park and WorldMark Seattle - The Camlin. My room at both properties were good, but this one was much better. There was an actual bedroom and a door. There was also a separate TV inside the bedroom. This particular feature of privacy for the sleeper was one of their main selling points when I had attended my first sales pitch.

WorldMark San Diego - Mission Valley

The Star Wars Movie Marathon was still going on, so I watched some of my favorite parts of Episode 1 before turning in for the evening. It's such a shame that George Lucas had created two great characters in Episode 1, but killed them both off before the end of that same episode. While watching the movie, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race.

Darth Maul, my favorite Sith Lord

Flat runner

Saturday 12/16
I got ready and drove out to the starting area near the Carmel Mountain Rd exit just off of the 15 freeway. We were directed to park in the parking lot at the corner of Carmel Mountain Rd and Penasquitos Dr. I was there at about 6:15 am and the parking lot was already pretty full. The race started at 7:30 am, so at about 7 am I walked over to the nearby Jack in the Box to used their facilities. There was a long line even for the men's restroom. Fortunately I only needed to use the urinal. I bumped into a few of my San Diego friends there that I haven't seen in a while.

Start line

Charlie!

Even though the course was a net downhill course, there were some significant rollers especially during the first couple of miles while heading west on Carmel Mountain Rd. Then the course pretty much followed the 56 freeway all the way over to the Torrey Pines north beach lot at the end of McGonigle Rd. For the most part, my left ankle held up until about mile 8. Everything slowly came apart in the next couple of miles. I tried my best to keep it together, but eventually I had to take walk breaks. The little out-and-back on Sorrento Valley Rd between miles 11 and 12 was apparently short since the gate was closed. I was definitely surprised when I came up to the mile 13 marker. From talking to my friends after the race, the course was about a quarter of a mile short.

The gate at Sorrento Valley Rd was closed

Finish line

Finish: 1:50:43
Click here for my Garmin data.

While I was pleased that my left ankle was doing much better even during the downhill sections, I wasn't too happy that the course came up short. There was no way I should be so close to running a sub 1:50 for a half marathon even if it was a net downhill course.

After getting my finisher medal, I walked along the finisher chute and got in the line for the post race snacks and water bottle. I saw a few familiar faces that had finished ahead of me. It was cool to catch up with them. I then made my way over to catch one of the buses back to my car.

Medal

Post race snacks

Once I got back to my car, I drove back to my hotel. After getting cleaned up and relaxing a bit in my room, I eventually rolled out of my room and drove out to Kearny Mesa to pick up something to eat for a late lunch. I stopped at a Chevron along the way to gas up the car. For food, I decided to go to the Mitsuwa Marketplace again where I bought another bento box.

Broiled salmon with spicy miso bento

After finishing my lunch, I drove over to the AMC Mission Valley 20 to re-watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The 3:30 pm time slot worked the best and it was in 3D. Since I had watched it in 2D at a fan event the day before the actual opening day, I thought that this would indeed be me giving the movie a fair shake. Unfortunately, the deep flaws in this movie proved to be too deep to be excused. Although it was a much better viewing experience with the movie theater practically empty, the movie was still a big disappointment for me. With the 2nd viewing, I revised my initial rating of a D to a C+. The hate was definitely flowing through me during the initial viewing in a crowded theater as I sat there wondering how others could be enjoying that sloppy piece of work up on the screen?! If it hadn't carry the Star Wars name in its title, it wouldn't be worth a 2nd viewing.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi 3D

After the movie, I drove over to the nearby Chipotle to pick up dinner. I got my usual chicken salad with white rice, pinto beans, mild tomato salsa, and chile corn. I took it back to the hotel to enjoy while watching some TV.

Chicken salad

Sunday 12/17
In the morning, I got ready and packed up my stuff before going down to the lobby to attend my scheduled WorldMark presentation. I first stopped by my car to drop off my bags. Along the way to the presentation, I noticed in the parking garage that there was a pile of old mattresses and boxes. I guess they're in the middle of refreshing the place. That makes perfect sense since the bed in my room did feel really nice and new.

Old mattresses and boxes

Before the presentation they gave out some complimentary breakfast. They always try to hook people into attending the presentation with this breakfast, but it's actually not that good. After sitting through the presentation, they tried to sell me more credits again. They claim that it's a no pressure offer, but the guy assigned to me kept telling me that I need to buy more credits because they're changing the level requirements at the new year. This was after I had already told him that I was already aware of that fact. No means no, bro.

Honolulu Marathon 2017

Thursday 12/7
My Hawaiian Airlines flight was a morning flight out of San Diego International Airport. Although it wasn't an early flight, I had to leave my house early enough to avoid being caught in any morning rush hour traffic. I rolled into the economy parking lot on Pacific Hwy at about 6 am. There was actually a chill in the air as I was waiting for the shuttle over to the terminal. I had almost 3 hrs to pass, so after going through the TSA checkpoint, I walked around terminal 2 to check out some of the changes. It looked like they were in the process of remodeling the terminal. I saw that Phil's BBQ was serving breakfast. If it were lunchtime, I would most likely had gotten some ribs.

Flying out of SAN instead of LAX involved much less stress. I boarded the plane with group 4 and got into my middle row aisle seat. Normally I like the window seat, but since the flight was going to be 6+ hrs, I picked an aisle seat.

During the flight I watched some of the following Hawaiian Skies features. Although they provided meal service for their flights, TV and movies were not free.
Hokule'a
Legacy Trees, plant your own koa tree.
Andrea Moller
Robots: The Soul of the Machines
Cooking Hawaiian Style with Tia Carrere

Turkey pastrami & Swiss sandwich

Pineapple cookie

Guava juice

After landing at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) at about 2:30 pm, I headed straight for The Bus stop. It was almost perfect timing as I didn't have to wait long before the number 19 bus showed up. The one way ride into Waikiki only cost $2.50 for now. The fare was set to increase in the new year. I was able to get a seat, but it was a pretty crowded bus until most of the passengers got off at Chinatown and Waikiki. I got off near the corner of Seaside Ave and Kuhio Ave. The usual place, Kuhio Banyan Club, where I stayed at was just across the street. Since it was after 4 pm, I was able to check into my room. I gave my credit card for a deposit and filled out some paperwork before I was given the key for the building door, the key for my room, and the TV remote.

Taking The Bus for $2.50

Kuhio Banyan Club

After dropping off my bags and using the restroom, I started heading over to the Hawaii Convention Center for the expo since it was open until 6 pm. Right before entering the bib pick-up area, the Zippy's booth was just off to the side. They were giving out free samples of their chili and spaghetti. We had to eat it before we were allowed to go into the bib pick-up area.

Free sample from Zippy's!

After picking up my bibs for both races and the race shirt for the Kalakaua Merrie Mile, I started going through the expo starting with the official merchandise. This year, the official apparel sponsor was Descente. I've never heard of them, but after looking them up, I found out that they're a Japanese sports brand. I saw a few items that looked pretty decent like their baseball cap, but ended up not buying anything because most of their products had too much unnecessary words printed on it.

Kalakaua Merrie Mile shirt, front

Kalakaua Merrie Mile shirt, back

I then checked out the rest of the vendor booths where I sampled and bought some drinks made from coffee leaves. I also got my picture taken in front of a backdrop and signed the graffiti wall. Before leaving the convention center, I took a picture of the Christmas tree in the lobby as it has always been one of the best decorated trees that I've seen.

Mele Kalikimaka!

From there, I walked over to the nearby Walmart to pick up some drinks for the weekend as well as a bag of 100% Kona coffee beans to take back home to my coworkers. After paying for my stuff at a self checkout register, I made my way over to the Shirokiya Japan Village Walk to get some dinner. I ended up eating the mazesoba at Ramen Onoya.

Drinks from Walmart

Onoya Mazesoba

I went through the expo haul once I got back to my room. There wasn't much in the way of samples except for the Run Gum and some coupons.

Expo haul

Friday 12/8
I didn't have much planned for today except for to watch the new Disney Pixar movie, Coco. I woke up early enough that I walked over to the Hawaii Convention Center just as the expo was opening. I went back in to check it out since I was a bit rushed yesterday as I had shown up about an hour before it closed. I was tempted to buy the arm sleeves or the baseball cap from the official merchandise area, but ultimately decided that they were too expensive and that I already had too much clutter at home.

Since I still had some time to pass before the first matinee showing of Coco, I stopped by the McDonald's at Ala Moana Center to eat some breakfast. I normally skip breakfast everyday, but race weekends are one of my exceptions. I do love breakfast foods, especially when I get to eat their Local Deluxe breakfast platter. It came with rice, scrambled eggs, spam, and Portuguese sausage.

Local Deluxe breakfast platter

After finishing breakfast, I walked over to the Consolidated Theatres over at the Ward Entertainment Center. I used one of the kiosks to purchase my movie ticket. I think I might have bought the wrong ticket as I had to wait a while before my showing. While waiting inside, I noticed that there was an earlier showing that I could have seen instead. The movie itself was pure Disney Pixar magic. I came into the movie not expecting much, but I was very impressed with the visuals and more importantly the story. It even got me a bit misty eyed.

Coco

By the time I walked back to my timeshare rental, I was pretty hungry even though it was way past my normal lunch time. I thought about buying a bento at the Mitsuwa Marketplace across from where I was staying on the second floor of the International Marketplace, but nothing looked really appealing. I ended up eating at The Ramen Bar located inside The Street food court. It was on the ground floor and it was during happy hour so everything was 25% off. I ordered their hiyashi chuka ramen. Sometimes it's good to eat some cold noodles especially when it's hot outside.

Hiyashi chuka ramen

Back at my room, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race and plopped myself down on the sofa to watch a bunch of TV. It looked like they were having a Star Wars marathon again just in time for the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi movie.

Kalakaua Merrie Mile flat runner

For dinner, I went downstairs and got into the long line at Marukame Udon. When it came my turn, I ordered the regular sized nikutama udon. I added a couple of shrimp tempura and an ume shiso onigiri. This was one of my favorite versions of the onigiri.

Nikutama udon with shrimp tempura and ume shiso onigiri

Saturday 12/9
It didn't feel as warm this year as it did last year at the start. Since my bib was a green colored bib, my wave started at 7 am. Thank goodness they didn't do any group warm-up activities like they did last year. I positioned myself somewhere near the front, however there were still people that obviously did not belong up in the front. Several times they were warned over the PA system in both English and Japanese of the danger of being trampled over by faster runners and advised everyone to start in the correct wave.

Kalakaua Merrie Mile start

The same ankle/foot had been bothering me this year as it had last year. However this year, I made sure not to shoot out too fast and to just run by feel. Once again I was stuck behind a girl that looked to be fast, but was fidgeting around with her cellphone in her hand. Once I got around her, I settled into a good quick pace. I made sure not to red-line it at least until I had gotten to the halfway u-turn. The person in front of me slowed way down on the u-turn so I lost most of my momentum. My legs felt heavy, so I let my foot off of the gas to recover a bit. Then I pushed it to the finish line.

Kalakaua Merrie Mile finish

1 mile finish: 6:38
Click here for my Garmin data.

After getting my medal, I got a bottle of cold pressed juice and a chocolate Moon Pie. I skipped the finish area celebration to wait at the u-turn for the professional race at 7:30 am. Man, that first female runner was flying! The females were given about a 30 second head start. I didn't think that the men had a chance to catch her. I would later find out that she was caught right at the finish line.

Finisher medal, drink, and Moon Pie

First female

First male

After that I walked back to my room to take a shower and then head over to the KCC Farmers' Market located pretty close to Diamond Head. Along the way, I stopped inside an ABC Stores to pick up some drinks. I bought a large bottle of water and 4 cans of Island root beer for $7.99. I popped open one of the root beers to drink as I started my walk up towards Monsarrat Ave. It was an uphill hike, but it wasn't too steep. The road eventually turned into Diamond Head Rd.

Drinks from ABC Store

The farmers' market was located in parking lot C of Kapi'olani Community College. It was super crowded full of mostly Japanese tourists. What I saw was mostly local food cooked on site as well as snacks. What caught my eye right away was the stand that was selling Hawaiian wild caught amaebi. I put in my order for their garlic plate for $14. While waiting for my food, I bought a large sweet corn on the cob from a nearby stand. Based on their recommendation, I got a large Snow White Parmesan Reggiano cheese on mayo corn on the cob for $5. The guy told me that their larger corn was sweeter. After getting my food, I found a spot to sit down to eat my food.

KCC Farmers' Market

Ama Ebi Hawaiian Wild Caught Shrimp

Amaebi garlic plate

Large Snow White Parmesan Reggiano cheese over mayo 

After finishing my food, I went through the rest of the market to check everything out. There was definitely a lot more food options out there! Since it was a typical warm Hawaiian day, I decided to get a macadamia nuts soft serve. With added sprinkles it came out to $6.

Macadamia nuts soft serve with sprinkles

After enjoying the soft serve, it was time to walk back down the hill to Waikiki. Along the way, I saw some wild hen roaming about with their chicks.

Wild chicken

Back at my room, I relaxed and watched a bunch of TV as I tried to stay off of my feet. Once it was time to get an early dinner. I decided to place my order on the McDonald's app to get my traditional pre-marathon meal. I was able to order a Double Filet o' Fish sandwich, Quarter Pounder Deluxe, and 20 pcs Chicken McNuggets, all for under $11! Once I arrived at the McDonald's, I checked in on my app and showed them my confirmation number. The cashier didn't know what to do, so she got her manager who eventually was able to get everything straightened out. While waiting for my food, I noticed that they had installed new self ordering kiosks however one was out of commission and had the blue screen.

Oh no! Blue screen!

Double Filet o' Fish sandwich, Quarter Pounder Deluxe, and 20 pcs Chicken McNuggets

Man that was a lot of food. That was the first time that I've had a Double Filet o' Fish sandwich. After putting away all of that food, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's marathon and lounged around until it was sleepy time.

Marathon flat runner

Sunday 12/10
I got ready pretty early and made the walk over to the Zoo to catch one of the buses to the starting area. I had arrived a lot earlier than most years as I was only the second person to show up at the beach restrooms near the tennis courts.

Runner's HI

As 4:30 am approached, I made my way over to the tennis courts to take a pre-race photo with my fellow Marathon Maniacs and 50 States Marathon Club members. A few of them were finishing their 50th State!

Marathon Maniacs/50 States Marathon Club

After taking the photo, it was time to get positioned inside the corrals before the start of the race. They tried something new this year. They tried to implement different wave colored corrals based on your predicted finish time. I was assigned the blue wave, but it was way too crowded to make my way back there, so I ended up just starting in the green wave. While waiting, I noticed that practically everyone was not following the wave colors.

Marathon start line

The weather was pretty ideal this year. It wasn't quite as warm and humid. I was running pretty well through the first 10k, but then like clockwork, the tendinitis flared up in my left ankle. Due to the discomfort, I had to back off on the pace which was inevitable as I headed up Diamond Head. I just focused on running at a relatively comfortable pace. The two big downhills were quite uncomfortable. It even started drizzling as I turned onto the Kalanianaole Hwy. I got through the halfway point in 2 hrs and a few minutes.

Everything was going okay until mile 14. I had been running mostly on the left hand side of the road the entire time. All of a sudden, I started to develop a sharper type of pain on the outside of the left ankle. This hasn't happened before and was an out of the norm discomfort during my marathons. It felt bad enough that I couldn't keep running. I jogged and walked the next mile hoping that the pain would subside. Thank goodness that new pain started going away during the 2 mile loop around Hawaii Kai. Then it would be the grinding 4.5 miles back the other way on the Kalanianaole Hwy. I ran a little bit with John from Portland, Oregon MM#13958 during this stretch. It was good to see some of my friends on the other side of the highway.

Mike finishing his 50th State with a band!

Everything was going relatively well until about the last mile. Having gone up the other side of Diamond Head, the leg cramps really set in. I tried to run the remainder of the course, but the cramps put an end to that really quickly. It was bad enough that I had to walk across the finish line.

Finish line

Marathon finish: 4:52:23
Click here for my Garmin data.

Even though I had to walk across the finish line, I was glad that I was able to still finish under 5 hrs which was my goal for the race. After picking up my shell necklace and a finisher medal, I slowly made my way through the finisher chute.

Finisher medal and shell necklace

I then made my way over to the tables where they were handing out the coveted finisher t-shirts. I liked the material and overall design of this year's shirt except for the word, finisher, being hyphenated. That was a head-scratcher for me. Before heading back to my room, I stopped by the post race food area to pick up a banana and to eat a malasada.

Why is finisher hyphenated???

Finisher shirt, back

Malasada

After getting cleaned up and relaxing a little, I went back out to eat lunch. I decided to check out the nearby Waikiki Yokocho Gourmet Alley. After taking a lap around the place to check out my available choices, I decided to eat some Japanese style curry at Nin Nin. I sat at their bar section and ordered their kunoichi curry with rice. While it didn't look as nice as the menu photo, it was a very delicious soup curry. The portion wasn't that filling, but it was just the perfect amount since I usually can't eat a whole lot shortly after running a marathon.

Kunoichi curry

Then I went back to my room to veg out. I might have dozed off a few times while watching the TV. As it got closer to 5:30 pm, I made my way over to D.K. Steak House. It was located on the top floor of the Shops at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa. Even though the restaurant had just opened, every seat at the bar section was already taken. Their dining area was all reserved. I found out that the reason for so many people eating early is that they shared the kitchen with Sansei. They had a 50% off early dinner discount. I waited about 45 minutes before someone finally settled their tab and left. Thank goodness the food was worth it. I started things off with their house salad and ordered their 30 day dry aged bone-in rib eye cooked paniolo style. That was one of the better tasting steaks that I've ever eaten. I do appreciate a good dry rub.

House salad

30 day dry aged bone-in rib eye paniolo style

Medium rare

Monday 12/11
Time to go home. I got up, got ready, and packed everything up for the trip home. First I needed to stop by the Hawaii Convention Center to pick up my finisher certificate and the paper with the list of finishers. The male and female winners were there for photos and autographs, but I didn't stick around for that line.

Finisher certificate pick-up

Finisher certificate

The winners and some random dude

I had a little bit of time before I needed to get to the airport to catch my flight home, so I swung by the Shirokiya Japan Village Walk at Ala Moana Center to pick up something quick to eat. I ended up buying some snacks at Musubi Cafe Iyasume. After eating my final musubis, I walked over to the Bus stop to catch the bus over to the airport.

A few eats before heading to the airport

Flying home

I was prepared to nap my way home during the return flight, but I never really felt tired. I ended up watching the following:
Couple of Pixar shorts: Lava and Night & Day.
Pailolo Challenge
Sydney Harbour Challenge
Lilo & Stitch

During the flight home, they served us food and snacks. Even though I love the Hawaiian Airlines service overall, I felt that the quality of the food has gone way down since I first started running the Honolulu Marathon. I think after I use up my free flight with them for 2018, I'll go back to flying with the cheapest airline if I decide to return to Honolulu for the marathon.

Teriyaki chicken sandwich

Tea

Guava juice

My flight home wasn't exactly a nice flight. Once again I sat in one of the aisle seats in the middle row of 4 seats. The two ladies in the middle must have had very small bladders. They weren't even drinking alcohol, but they kept going to the the lavatory and each time they would go through my side instead of the other end of the row. They were quite annoying after a while.

I landed in San Diego late in the evening and had to drive home after taking the shuttle back to my car. The drive felt very long. I think it was a much smarter idea last year to just get a hotel down in San Diego and drive into work the next day.

Anyways that's a wrap! See you next year for my 10th year of the Honolulu Marathon! Aloha!