After work, I drove down to the San Diego Concourse to pick up my bib and jacket for me and my friend. The traffic was a pain in the butt when I got closer to San Diego. I exited off of Front St and stayed on the left lane to head towards 2nd Ave. From there I drove straight up the ramp into the parking structure. Parking was $2 per 20 minutes. I thought I took less than 20 minutes, but was over by a little so I ended up paying $4. The expo itself was very tiny. After picking up the bibs, I picked up the jackets. There was only a handful of booths there.
I then hopped into my car and drove up to Kearny Mesa to get some food before checking into my hotel. Before getting food, I checked out Societe Brewing Company based on my friend's recommendation. I tried 3 of their beers, the Bellowsman smoked stout, The Debutante Belgian amber, and Pupil IPA. These beers were more my taste. I also discovered that I prefer Nelson hops.
I then headed South a few blocks to eat dinner at Santouka. I ordered the chibi shio ramen combo with natto gohan. After finishing my meal, I went inside the Mitsuwa market to buy some snacks and drinks. I ended up buying a katsudon, but I guess I was in a hurry to get to my hotel that I forgot to buy a drink.
After checking into the hotel, I went through the expo haul and laid out my running clothes. For such a small expo, I was able to get some pretty useful samples. I love Larabars! I started watching some TV.
Tiny sign outside the SD Concourse
Tiny expo
I then hopped into my car and drove up to Kearny Mesa to get some food before checking into my hotel. Before getting food, I checked out Societe Brewing Company based on my friend's recommendation. I tried 3 of their beers, the Bellowsman smoked stout, The Debutante Belgian amber, and Pupil IPA. These beers were more my taste. I also discovered that I prefer Nelson hops.
Bellowsman smoked stout
The Debutante Belgian amber
Pupil IPA
I then headed South a few blocks to eat dinner at Santouka. I ordered the chibi shio ramen combo with natto gohan. After finishing my meal, I went inside the Mitsuwa market to buy some snacks and drinks. I ended up buying a katsudon, but I guess I was in a hurry to get to my hotel that I forgot to buy a drink.
Chibi shio ramen combo with natto gohan
After checking into the hotel, I went through the expo haul and laid out my running clothes. For such a small expo, I was able to get some pretty useful samples. I love Larabars! I started watching some TV.
Four Points by Sheraton San Diego
Jacket and bib
Samples
Flat runner
Apparently I was pretty tired, so I had fallen asleep with everything on including all of the lights. I woke up at around midnight. I ate the katsudon as a midnight snack before going back to sleep again. Thank goodness they had left a complimentary bottle of water in the room as I was super thirsty.
Katsudon
Saturday 11/21
I woke up early, got ready, checked-out of the room, and headed to the starting area. At first I parked at the open lot at 3rd Ave and Ash St. It was $15 to park, so I decided to park in the same parking structure at the San Diego Concourse since the website said that it would be $10 cash to park. Indeed it was. Always good to save a few bucks. I met up with my friend to give him his race packet and jacket. We then headed over to the starting area. We hit the portapotties before finding a spot to sit down and wait for the start.
Start line
Ready to run!
I ended up starting the race in between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups. I quickly fell behind the 1:45 pace group during the huge climb up Pershing Dr. I felt ok, but I wasn't about to blow the legs pushing too hard up the hill. The course finally levels out as we headed towards Hillcrest. Then we got some downhills where I wasn't able to speed up much. My legs were just too sore to handle the pounding. It was pretty cool to see Meb Keflezighi near mile 6 giving out high fives. As we crossed over the 5 freeway, I was caught by my friend and the 1:50 pace group was right behind him. I tried to stick with that pace group as we ran down Barnett Ave next to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. That gave me fond memories of the old course for the Rock n' Roll San Diego Marathon. By the end of Barnett Ave, I could no longer keep up with that pace group. I tried my best to keep things together as I made my way down to Harbor Dr. There was a little short out and back towards Harbor Island before we turned right at the Rent A Car Access road. After we returned to Harbor Dr, it was a pretty straight shot to the finish line at the Waterfront Park.
Finish line
Click here for my Garmin data.
I ran a pretty smart race and was able to finish under 1:55 after struggling in the last 5 half marathons. I also got to see a lot of friends, some I have not seen in a while.
11/21/15 - 1:54:22 USA Half Marathon Invitational
11/15/15 - 3:08:42 Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon
11/15/15 - 2:04:21 Avengers Half Marathon
10/25/15 - 2:07:40 Rock n' Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon
09/27/15 - 2:00:19 Rock n' Roll San Jose Half Marathon
The majority of the course for this half marathon was identical to the course for the SD Half Marathon that takes place in March, but ran in reverse. No wonder the folks that organize the SD Half Marathon was upset when this race published their course.
Pic from Sef
Pic from Lorina
Post race snacks
On my way home, I drove up the 5 freeway because I wanted to stop by work and feed the fish. It further validated why I almost always take the 15 now when I travel to and from San Diego. There was a huge pileup just North of the San Onfre Nuclear Station which created a nice backup all the way down to the border patrol vehicle inspection check point. It was a complete standstill for a while. By the time I got into work, my right hip was hurting a lot when I got out of the car. The right leg almost could not support the weight. It felt better once I start walking, but man there's definitely something wrong with my right hip. I haven't had this issue for a while.
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