America's Finest City Half Marathon 2011

Pre-Race

Early Saturday morning, I headed down to Irvine to run with the newly formed Train4Autism OC Chapter. I planned on running an easy 30 minutes. I ended up running a little over 5 miles in about 49 minutes. I threw in some surges to see if my legs could handle some speed. The legs reacted pretty well. The others in the group were running 6 and 10.5 miles. After I finished my run, I jogged back out to try and get some pictures. A bunch of us then went to eat at IHOP afterwards. I'm pretty sure I didn't run enough miles to be eating that much food! :)

Train4Autism - OC Chapter

IHOP - Strawberry & Banana Waffle and Ultimate Plate

I hopped on the freeway and headed down south to San Diego, my most favorite city in California, for the packet pickup at the Sheraton Hotel. The traffic was pretty heavy. I really really really hate traffic especially on weekends. I usually get off at Sassafras St and turn on Laurel St to get the expo. But I tried going the other way around by getting off at Rosecrans St. The traffic was heavy and it seemed like a bad idea until I got past the Sports Arena area. I parked in the usual dirt parking lot and picked up my packet. The expo has gotten bigger in the last couple of years but it's still fairly small. I stopped by the Rock n' Roll booth and found out that the registration for the SD RnR Marathon will open on 9/1.

San Diego RnR Marathon 2012

One Bad Mother Runner!

I left the expo and stopped by Mitsuwa to pick up some snacks for a late lunch. I then checked into my hotel in Kearny Mesa. There was some sketchy characters in the parking lot as I parked my car. This hotel was pretty old. They still gave out regular keys. It seemed like most of the people there were staying long term.

California Suites

Snacks from Mitsuwa

The bed was very old and lumpy, but I zonked out watching the TV. I got up and drove out to Tajima for some ramen. I think next time I'm down in SD, I will go visit the Dumpling Inn to change things up. After eating, I returned to my room. I had to run the air conditioner a little bit since it was a bit warm. I got my race drink and gear ready before calling it a night.

Tajima #1 - tonkotsu ramen with kakuni

Race Day

The 163 was shutdown for some pipework on race day, so I took the 805 down to the zoo. I got there around 4:30am, parked the car, and took a short nap in my car. I boarded the bus around 5am and got to the starting area at 5:30am. I found a spot to sit down. At around 6:30 I got up and walked to the front of the starting area to see if I can find some familiar faces. Well, as I was about to head for the portapotties, I was recognized by a Runner's World forumite. We shot the breeze for a little bit, wished each other a great race, and I headed for the potties. The lines were pretty crazy this year as they all crisscrossed. When I was done, I headed back to the starting area. It was super crowded.

Goal 1: finish first 10k in sub 50
Goal 2: finish in sub 2 hrs

The first mile felt good and relaxed. On the 2nd mile, Hikergirl catches me... which happens every year at almost the same exact spot. On the 2nd hill, I could not keep up with her and her friend. By mile 4, most of the downhills were over and my legs were done. I tried to hang on, but it didn't get any better. I got to the 10k mark at 49:44. I started feeling pretty horrible at mile 7. I took a walk break every 3 miles. Took gels at mile 6 and 9. I took a 1 minute walk break at miles 10, 11, and 12. I was so glad when I finished the final 2 mile hike uphill. The best part of this race is the downhill final stretch just shortly after crossing the bridge.
1: 7:34
2: 7:52
3: 7:39
4: 7:45
5: 8:35
6: 8:37
7-8: 18:41 (9:21)
9: 9:36
10: 9:55
11: 10:04
12: 10:59
13.1: 10:53
Finish: 1:58:11

Post-Race

I finished 10 minutes faster than last weekend's half marathon in Chicago. I guess you can make a case that I was sandbagging it in Chicago. That or my not-so-carbo-loading meals were not conducive to faster running in Chicago.

After getting my medal, I walked over to the finisher area and picked up my Triple Crown medal. I took a picture with my medals and went to grab some drinks. Then I managed to find my San Diego friends. After sharing our race stories, I walked with a few of them to the car.

Shirt and medals

The post-race meetup was at Gordon Biersch. Since I had nowhere to go to clean up, I drove over to the restaurant. I had about an hour to kill. So I ended up buying some clothes at the Old Navy and went beer shopping in BevMo. I bought some Oaked Arrogant Bastard because I heard good things about this beer.

Oaked Arrogant Bastard

I loaded the beer into the car and walked over to Gordon Biersch. People started arriving for the post-race gathering. The early birds started with some drinks. I had the Märzen as my first. It was pretty tasty. The next one I had was the Blonde Bock. It was surprisingly good! Once everyone arrived, we started putting in our orders. I got the Seafood Cobb Salad. It was a pretty big bowl of salad. Very filling for a salad. I got a Hefeweizen to round out the meal.

Gordon Biersch Märzen

Gordon Biersch Blonde Bock

Gordon Biersch Hefeweizen

Gordon Biersch Seafood Cobb Salad

It was nice to meet up with runners, people that share a common interest and don't look at you as nuts for running. I got to catch up with a few San Diego friends that I only get to see about twice a year. I also got to meet new people. I guess I'll have to come back again next year even though this course always kicks my butt every year!

Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon 2011

Pre-Race
I took an early flight out of LAX to ORD on Saturday morning. After landing in ORD, I hopped on the train and headed for the expo at the McCormick Convention Center. Before I entered the expo, I bumped into a couple of Marathon Maniacs. I didn't buy anything, but I did register for the New Year's Eve half marathon and the Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge.

Race shirt

As I was ready for the hike back to the train station, it was pouring rain. But I had my little umbrella so it wasn't a big deal. I got to my hotel, The Travelodge, in the Loop. I checked in and dropped off my stuff before heading back out for food. There was a funky smell in my room, but it was tolerable. The room was also very old. The trains were very close by, so you hear it about every 5-10 minutes. This is not a place for light-sleepers.

View from the hotel room

I stopped by Al's Beef to pick up an Italian beef sandwich. I took it back to my room to eat it while watching TV. It was pretty good without additional toppings, but next time I will have to add the works. I didn't want to mess with peppers the day before a race.

Al's Beef

For dinner, I went out to eat a "cheezborger" at the Billy Goat Tavern. People rave about In-N-Out and other burger places, but I still prefer the simple burger that Billy Goat serves.

Billy Goat Tavern - double cheezborger

On my way back to my room, I stopped by the Millennium Park. Looks like they have free concerts in the park. There was a lot of people sitting on the grass with their picnic baskets. I would have stayed if I didn't a race the next day. I took an obligatory picture of the bean before heading back. I went to sleep after watching a little TV.

Millennium Park Concert

Millennium Park - Cloud Gate

Race Day
I got ready and it was only a short walk over to the starting village. I walked over to the Gear Check area next to the Buckingham Fountain. They were still setting up so I waited a while before dropping off my gear bag. I then jogged over to the portapotties to take care of business before heading over to the Cloud Gate to take the Fanatics/Maniacs pre-race photo. After we were done, I jogged over to my corral. I lined up at the back, but it didn't matter. Seems like there was miscommunication between the corral leaders. They ended up releasing 2 corrals at the time, so the corral behind me was released as well.

Pre-race Maniacs/Fanatics photo

The first mile felt good. I haven't felt this good in a long time. I took it a tad too fast as I ended up running in front of the 1:45 pace group. They didn't pass me until mile 3 when I finally slowed down. Most of the race I felt like I was overheating. The weather wasn't too warm, but I could feel the humidity. In the later miles, it started to rain a little so it cooled me down a bit. But my legs were tired and just didn't want to move. It was as if my shoes were filled with lead. I took a lot of walking breaks. My arms were also cramping up on the final stretch.
1-2: 16:28 (8:14 pace)
3: 8:58
4: 9:37
5: 8:49
6: 9:31
7: 10:17
8: 9:59
9: 10:16
10: 10:55
11: 10:49
12: 11:34
13: 10:44
13.1: 0:59
Finish: 2:08:57

Race jersey and medal

Post-Race
I really liked this course. It showcased a lot of the good parts of the Loop. I took it pretty easy in this race. The tendinitis is still acting up every now and then so I didn't want to push my luck. I also ran this race to qualify for the Rock Idol medal. This is seriously my last year with the maniacal racing schedule. :)

I picked up my gear bag and the rain started coming down pretty good. So I walked back to my hotel and got cleaned up. Then I went back out to pick up some food at Luke's. Much to the disbelief of the guy taking my order, I got two sandwiches. I got an Italian beef and an Italian sausage. I took them back to my room and inhaled both of them. :)

Luke's Italian Beef

Luke's Italian Sausage

Now for the bad part of my trip. The people staying next door started having a very loud argument in the evening which lasted a few hours. I didn't report them or anything as they sounded very uncouth. It gets worse the next few days.

Anyways, now for the best part of the trip... the next day I went for a good steak at Chicago Cut Steakhouse. I wore a nice polo shirt, but I felt kind of bad wearing my cargo shorts with my running shoes. I felt like I was Charlie Harper. :) At least it was only for lunch. I ordered a salad, 2 beers, and a nice bone-in ribeye steak. The salad didn't look too fresh, but was okay. The Harpoon IPAs were pretty nice, refreshing, and hit the spot. The waiter was suggesting a red wine, but I stuck with the beer. I've had a lot of steaks in my day and this was one of the better steaks that I've eaten in a long time.

Harpoon IPA

Mixed Field Greens Salad

Chicago Cut Steakhouse - bone-in ribeye

Marina City Towers

Chicago Theater

On my way back to my room, I took a few pictures... The Marina City Towers, the Chicago Theater. Back in my room, I watched Ghost of Girlfriends Past. It had bad reviews, but I thought it was an okay movie. I then went out for a little walk to the Buckingham Fountain to loosen up the legs. I guess I was out a little late as I was harassed a little by some ignorant people making racist Asian sounds. oh... if they only knew just how "white" I am. :) Usually I just pretend that I'm deaf and just mind my own business. I took a picture of the fountain and went back to my room to call it a night.

Buckingham Fountain

And the neighbors got worse. Without going into too much detail... they made up at 3:40am. They were very loud. I had two pillows to cover each ear, but it didn't help. Eventually it was over. Next thing to buy... earplugs. :)

Checkout time was 11am. I was planning to stay until then. But the neighbors were getting it on again around 10am, so I packed it up and checked out. I swear they were shooting a porn film in there. I headed out to the Navy Pier. Along the way I took a picture of the Marilyn Monroe statue just outside the Chicago Tribune building.

Marilyn Monroe in front of the Chicago Tribune

When I reached the pier, I walked all the way to the end and around the other side. I was able to take some cool photos. I checked out the restaurants at the pier and eventually I decided on eating at Bubba Gump. They have vastly improved their menu since the last time that I've eaten here. I guess the company that acquired the restaurant when they went into bankruptcy have been making improvements. The Mama's Homestyle Tilapia was pretty dang good!

Navy Pier - the view south

Ferris Wheel

Navy Pier

Navy Pier - the view north

Bubba Gump - secret mango sparkler

Bubba Gump - Mama's Homestyle Tilapia

After lunch, I went to the AMC River East 21 to watch a movie since my flight back home was a night flight. I finally watched the last Harry Potter movie in 3D. It was my favorite out of all of them. Even so, the books are still better. Nothing beats good 'ol imagination.

I hopped on the train and headed towards ORD. As I was waiting for my flight, I got a Chicago style hot dog with fries from O'Brien's. Pretty good stuff. I could've eaten at least 3 more of those dogs. And thus ends my food trip to Chicago!

O'Brien's - Chicago style hot dog