San Diego is dubbed the 'Finest City in America'. It is my favorite city to run a race. The San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon also happens to be my favorite marathon, one which I plan to run every year. My first marathon was this race back in 2003. This year was my 9th straight year running this race. This race has evolved quite a bit. It went from a marathon only event to having their focus switched to the half marathon last year.
I drove down early Saturday morning to attend the race expo. I parked at my usual spot and walked to the San Diego Convention Center. I finally remembered to bring my Injinji compression socks that I bought last year. They did not fit correctly, offering no compression for my chicken legs. They allowed me to exchange it for 3 pairs of toe socks.
Health & Fitness Expo @ San Diego Convention Center
I was talking to the Disney rep about the cost for Goofy's Challenge when I heard a familiar voice from behind me. It was my friend Danica at the RunRacing booth! I swear, one day I will run Long Beach again. Last year I ran Chicago instead of LB. This year I'll be running Portland.
Chicrunner working at the expo
I left the expo to go eat lunch and perhaps check into my hotel. First I stopped by Ralph's to buy some drinks and snacks. They didn't have my regular OJ, so I tried an Odwalla Strawberry C. For lunch, I tried out one of the Tajima restaurants in Kearny Mesa. There's two of them. I tried out their newer one. I ordered their spicy tonkotsu ramen with thin noodles and live sweet shrimp. The ramen was pretty good, really flavorful. The shrimp was good as well. I ate the head fried.
Odwalla Strawberry C - much better than regular OJ
I then headed over to my hotel, the Ramada. Apparently they were having electrical issues. But they just told me to come back at 3pm if I wanted to check in. That was fine. I wasn't really in a hurry. I hung out in the lobby checking my email, facebook, and twitter. I found out the Desiree Davila was going to be at the expo. She came really close to winning Boston this year. So I headed back to the expo to go meet her.
Spicy thin noodle tonokotsu ramen at Tajima restaurant #2
Amaebi (sweet shrimp)
Fried head
Since I've already been through the expo, I just sat down at the Dodge booth. A legacy runner, Maniac Deo spotted me. He hurt his ankle but was walking the race to maintain his legacy status. Desiree was very cool to meet in person. Very down to Earth. She signed my bib and a poster. I also took a picture with her. I wished her well and hope that she wins next year's Boston.
Desiree Davila (2nd at Boston 2011)
Autographed poster from Desiree Davila
I drove back to the Ramada and was able to check in. They upgraded me to a suite which came with 2 fridges. One underneath the TV and one behind the wet bar.
Suite at the Ramada
TV, fridge, and microwave oven
After watching a little TV, I went back out to eat dinner. I ate at the other original Tajima. The parking for this place was very limited just as it had been when I was going to school. I wish that there were these ramen shops back then. I had the thin noodle tonkotsu ramen with kakuni and geso karaage. The pork was pretty darn good.
Thin noode tonkotsu ramen with kakuni and geso karaage (squid tentacles) @ Tajima restaurant #1
Participant shirt and bib
Race Day
I drove over to Old Town to pick up my friend Maniac James. We drove over to the airport parking lot and took the shuttle to the start. We hung out in front of the UPS trucks before I checked my gear bag and went over to the nearby church to take the Marathon Maniac pre-race photo. After taking the picture, I headed over to my corral. While jogging there, the left injured leg felt uncomfortable.
Race plan
Get to half at about 2:10
Finish second half in 3:00
1st Half
In order to force myself to start slower, I started at the end of my corral. I didn't care what pace I ran, I just wanted to keep it at a comfortable stride. I took a gel at 30 minutes into the race. When I took my walk break at about 1 hour into the race, my legs just didn't want to go any more. I took a S-cap and went into jogging mode. They really addressed one of the biggest issue with last year's race and that was the section on the 163. This year they closed down both sides of the freeway. The northbound was for the full marathoners and the southbound was for the half marathoners. Problem solved. The camber still sucked, but at least the congestion was gone. They also closed down both sides of Friars Rd. starting at Fashion Valley Mall. I got to the halfway point at 2:09:xx.
1: 8:54
2: 8:36
3: 8:47
4: 8:27
5: 8:26
6: 8:41
7: 10:19
8: 10:03
9: 10:11
10: 12:07
11: 10:32
12: 11:32
13: 12:01
Mile 13: 2:08:36
2nd Half
Even though I was taking it easy, I bonked pretty hard on a nice downhill to mile 18. I sat down as even walking was getting hard. I got up, turned the corner and headed straight for a bus bench. I sat down and tried to collect myself. I got out my Nutrilite chews and started eating them. After a few minutes, I got up and started walking. My least favorite part of the course again this year was the 3 mile bike path at Mission Bay. It's just too narrow. The jog around Fiesta Island was only about 2.5 miles this year. I actually don't mind this section, but we were really exposed to the sun, which was out in full force by now.
14: 11:54
15: 13:54
16: 13:47
17: 14:24
18: 17:15
19: 19:48
20: 14:11
21: 15:25
22: 14:42
23: 14:36
24: 15:16
25: 15:42
26: 13:49
26.2: 1:59
Finish: 5:25:17
Post-race
After crossing the finish line and getting my medal, I walked over to the UPS trucks and picked up my gear bag. On my way over to the shuttle line, I bumped into my friend that is in charge of the San Diego RnR race. I thanked her for fixed the major course issues from last year. The shuttle line was really short this year. However, there is a lot of congestion coming and leaving the Sea World area. The short ride took what seemed forever. The first stop was the Old Town Trolley station. Then it took the rest of the riders to the Airport Parking lot. Post race logistics also fixed.
After finding my car, I drove over to Tajima restaurant #2 to eat my post-race meal. I ordered the beef tataki and the chirashi bowl. I love surf and turf after a marathon. This weekend was great. I ran my favorite marathon and found a new restaurant that I liked. There was more items on the menu that I wanted to try.
Beef tataki
Chirashi bowl
Looks like my current endurance is only good for about a 10k. My next race is the Seattle RnR Marathon. After that most likely I'll be taking 3 months off from marathons.
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