Palm Desert Half Marathon 2019

Saturday 2/9
The drive was much better heading down the 15 freeway from Vegas to Palm Desert for half marathon number 2. The drive took about 4.5 hrs nonstop. I rolled into Cathedral City at a little before 5 pm. It wasn't until I was almost at my destination that I finally realized that I had left my running shorts hanging behind the bathroom door back at the hotel in Las Vegas! That was a bit of a bummer as it was one of my favorite pairs. Oh well, I guess you always lose something whenever you go to Vegas! :)

I was staying at the Travelodge on E Palm Canyon Dr in Cathedral City. It actually looked a bit like a creepy motel in your typical horror movie. I was tired and it was only for one night, so I shrugged it off. After checking in and picking up my keys from the front desk, I hauled my stuff from the car up to my room on the second floor. Everything looked okay, but pretty much everything in the room was starting to show its age. One of the tiles near the bathroom was loose.

I then walked over to the nearby McDonald's to pick up a quick dinner. Once again I used the mobile app to order two Quarter Pounders with cheese with the 'buy 1 at regular price and get a second one at 25 cents' deal. I took them back to my room to eat.

McDonald's

Quarter Pounder with cheese x2

After I finished my burgers, I laid out my flat runner while watching some TV before going to sleep. While I was trying to sleep, I could smell marijuana. None of the windows were open, so it must have been coming through the air conditioning wall unit. It looked like the folks downstairs were listening to some music while getting baked. Thankfully they weren't out there smoking too long.

Flat runner

Sunday 2/10
It was still pretty dark when I rolled into the Palm Desert Civic Center Park a few minutes before 6 am. Per the instructions, I entered from Fred Waring Dr, turning left on the 1st street after San Pablo Ave. I found a parking spot near the start line and was looking for the race packet pick-up location. A couple of us had to ask the guys setting up the start line for the location. It was in the gazebo just past the lake. After picking up my bib and long sleeve race shirt, I went back to my car to stay out of the chilly morning air.

Race shirt

While waiting in my car, I noticed that there was a lack of parking directions. A lot of the drivers were frustrated and some were panicking, not knowing where to go. Eventually they did station someone near the entrance to help direct the drivers.

As the start of the race approached, I got my stuff ready and headed back to the gazebo area to use the restrooms. The park restrooms weren't opened yet, but they had set up a small row of portapotties. Thankfully I was there early enough as the line grew very quickly! I bumped into a bunch of familiar faces as I headed back to the start line.

Start line

My friends Dan and Karen

Latino Heat and Scott

I started the race at a much better pace that I had anticipated. I felt very in control through the first 8 miles. However this race did not end very well. I started laboring during mile 9 and it just got progressively worse. After getting to mile 11, I had trouble running in a straight line. I was getting dizzy every time I tried to run. I could tell that I was having electrolyte issues, but my handheld bottle was empty and I didn't bring any salt tabs. I had to keep alternating between walking and jogging in those last 2 miles to avoid passing out and falling over. Thankfully I was still able to finish in under 2 hrs despite one epic bonk!

Almost at finish line. Photo from Latino Heat

Finish line

Finish: 1:58:40
Click here for my Garmin data.

Relive 'Palm Desert Half Marathon'

I don't run too many half marathons back to back, but it was good to know that I could still put out a good effort in the second half marathon. However if I choose to do another double, I'll remember to bring a salt tab or gel of some sort to prevent another epic bonk.

I hung out with a couple of my friends while eating some orange slices and a banana. I wanted to make sure I was okay before I started heading home. Before heading out, I gave away my free beer ticket to random race participant.

Medal and post race snacks

Before hopping on the freeway, I stopped by a Chevron gas station on Bob Hope Dr to fill up the gas tank. During the drive home, I actually drove through a little bit of a rainstorm near the Riverside area.

Fill 'er up!

Inaugural Vegas Golden Night Morning Half Marathon 2019

Friday 2/8
As soon as I got off of work, I made the drive up to Las Vegas. There was a ton of traffic especially on the 91 getting over to the 15 freeway. I didn't roll into Las Vegas until about 8:30 pm. Before heading to the hotel, I stopped at a nearby Chevron to fill up the gas tank. There was a McDonald's conveniently located right next to it. I was able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

This fancy McDonald's even had chandeliers! I used the mobile app for a deal to get 1 Quarter Pounder with cheese at regular price and a second one for 25 cents. It was essentially the same as their $5 mix and match deal. I noticed that they had updated their app. You now can only use 1 deal per hour. :(

Chandeliers!

For this one-nighter, I stayed at the Baymont by Wyndham Hotel just South of the Strip. While checking in at the front desk, the employee gave me a welcome bag which had a couple of tea bags and 2 water bottles. I'm a platinum Wyndham Rewards member and I thought only diamond members received a welcome amenity. I was carrying so much stuff that I had forgotten my food at the counter. I didn't realize that I had forgotten my food until I was on the elevator up to my floor. I rode it right back down to go get my food. The person that checked me in was already arranging to have someone deliver the food up to my room.

Welcome amenity

Goldfish in the AC unit!

After I got settled in, I ate my two burgers and was ready to hit the hay. Before doing so, I laid out my flat runner to make sure I had what I needed for tomorrow's race. I brought along the rest of my Tailwind powder to finish off.

Quarter Pounder with cheese x2

Flat runner

Saturday 2/9
I woke up and started getting ready to head over to Sunset Park for the race. While getting ready, I caught parts of the Fulham vs. Manchester United match.

Fulham vs Man United

Once I pulled into the parking lot, I was a bit surprised to see that the lot was already full of cars with people milling about near the starting area. After parking the car, I went over to pick up my bib and race shirt. Since it was a pretty chilly morning, I hurried back to my car.

Race shirt

As the start of the race approached, I finally got my stuff in order and got out of the car to use one of the portapotties before heading over to the start. It was no time before I bumped into a bunch of familiar faces... the usual suspects.

Start line

Miss Nevada

The race started at 7:30 am. It was cold enough that I started the race wearing my gloves. I started off running okay, but I started having breathing issues during the 3rd mile. I decided to pull over and walk. After taking 2 walk breaks, I was able to get going again and was able to run pretty well the rest of the way. I actually ran well enough that I almost finished sub 1:50.

Finish line

Finish: 1:50:12
Click here for my Garmin data.

Relive 'Las Vegas Golden Night Morning Half Marathon'

I don't usually like to run loop courses, but it was nice to see familiar faces throughout the race. After getting my finisher medal but before going up the ramp to the snack table, I first went to my car to get my jacket and to put on my cargo shorts. I waited around to see a couple of my friends cross the finish line before leaving so I could take a shower and check out of the hotel.

Medal and post race food

Post race friends

After a quick shower, I packed up my stuff and checked out. I wanted to start my trip out to Palm Desert as soon as possible, but first I had to eat lunch at the nearby Cracker Barrel. This location is perpetually busy. It was about a 30 minute wait for a table. As with everyone else, I perused their eclectic merchandise while waiting for my name to be called.

Golden Knights merchandise

Once I was seated, I ordered their Country Boy Breakfast with the sirloin steak and some coffee. Man, that was a lot of food! After I ate everything and paid my bill, I started the drive down to Palm Desert for another half marathon tomorrow.

Country Boy Breakfast

Surf City Half Marathon 2019

Friday 2/1
After work, I drove out to Huntington Beach for the race packet pick-up. The process was pretty much the same as years prior. The expo information on the website stated that parking in the beach lot would be $15 on all days including Friday and Saturday. I messaged their Facebook account to confirm, so I know to bring cash or look to park elsewhere. Thankfully their response was that parking for the expo would be free.

In the weeks leading up to the race, I checked on the website to confirm my legacy status and qualifications for bonus medals. It would turn out that once again, they were not showing my 2017 results. After I emailed them, they manually added me to the legacy list. I've been returning to this event for over a decade. I first ran the half marathon in 2007 - 2008 and then the full marathon from 2009 - 2018. This year I switched back over to the half marathon.

Once I arrived, I picked up my bib at one of the Beach Cities Challenge & Longboard Legacy tables. Instead of a pre-assigned bib number, they assigned me a bib number at the expo. Once again, I like this current trend. It definitely helps with the wasted bibs due to no-shows. That was followed by picking up the long sleeve race shirt and a sturdy reusable tote bag.

Bib pick-up

After getting the race shirt, I started heading through the expo. Eventually I got to the Longboard Legacy Club area located at the back of the expo tent to pick up my legacy shirt.

Expo

Legacy area

Legacy table

After getting my long sleeve legacy shirt, I started going through the rest of the expo. I'm starting to notice that more vendors are giving out samples of their products at expos. There used to be a time when we would get absolutely nothing. I stopped at the Running Universal booth to check out the medal for the new upcoming Minions 5k. I kind of wished that I was running it, but it fell on the same day as the Santa Barbara Wine Country half marathon. I asked the reps there if they were planning to have races longer than a 5k. Their response was that it was definitely being looked into and considered. That's a good sign. Hopefully they'll put on a half marathon.

Expo haul

Running Universal Inaugural 5K Featuring Illumination's Minions

Before leaving the expo, I ended up signing up for next year's race. Once again I elected for the half marathon. The early pricing was $75, but with my legacy status, they knocked off another $5. With the extra registration fees it came out to $77.03 which was still a great price for a half marathon.

Sign up for next year

Saturday 2/2
It was rainy day, but I took advantage of the day off and stopped by Reef Tropical Fish to buy some new fish for my tank at work. Originally I was going to buy a Buttikoferi, but they were already sold out since my last visit. As my back-up, I was going to buy a couple of Frontosa Cichlids, but then I noticed that they had Duboisi Cichlids in the same tank. All I remember of them from back in the day was that they were pretty rare. I ended up getting one of each.

Duboisi Cichlid

Frontosa Cichlid

After dropping them off in the tank at work, I then headed over to the AMC movie theater at The District to catch an afternoon showing of They Shall Not Grow Old. Since I didn't have lunch yet, I used my AMC rewards for a large bucket of popcorn. Just let me tell you that this wasn't a popcorn type of movie. Some scenes will make most people lose their appetite. They did an awesome job restoring old footage of World War I. I would recommend this movie to any history buff.

Here was my flat runner for tomorrow's race. I also planned to wear my arm warmers as the weather forecast said that it was going to be a chilly day.

Flat runner

Sunday 2/3
I got ready, filled up the gas tank, and started my drive out to Huntington Beach at about a quarter to 6. It felt a little weird to be heading out a couple of hours later than I normally would if I were running the full marathon. There was so much traffic on Beach Blvd for free beach parking. I drove all the way down to about Newland St before there were empty spots. Thankfully there were volunteers directing traffic so the process was slow, but done in an organized fashion.

Shortly after getting parked, I got my stuff in order and started jogging to the starting area. I didn't realize that I had forgotten my mylar blanket until I was almost there. To get out of the chill, I ducked into the Hyatt Regency hotel. I waited in the lobby until it got closer to the start of the race.

Half marathon corral

It didn't take me long to find a familiar face in the starting corral. I even bumped into an old friend who happened to be a co-pacer for the 1:50 pace group.

CharliePro pacing 1:50

The race started at 7:45 am. I wanted to give myself a chance at running a sub 1:50, so I stayed ahead of the 1:50 pace group. Unfortunately my pace dropped off after mile 7. They caught and overtook me at about mile 8, right before the u-turn on PCH. Once again I was having issues with the shoes. The upper part of the left shoe was just digging into my ankle. I keep trying to squeeze more miles out of these pairs, but I should really retire them or just use them for short mileage training runs.

Finish line

Finish: 1:56:21
Click here for my Garmin data.

Relive 'Surf City Half Marathon'

After crossing the finish line, I got my medal and hung out with my friend for a bit. Eventually we moved along in the finisher chute where we picked up some drinks and a bag of post race snacks.

Medal and post-race food

Karen

I waited for my friend just after the finisher photos area. I knew he wasn't too far behind. We just had to get a pic together since we were wearing the same INKnBURN shirt.

Latino Heat

While I had a huge fade in about the last 4 miles, I still ran better than the 2 previous times that I've run the half marathon here. I'm thinking that for the foreseeable future, I'll just stick to running the half marathon.
2019: 1:56:21
2008: 2:17:30
2007: 2:05:54

I didn't have any bonus medals to pick up, so I headed back to my car for the drive home.

Later that evening, I watched the first half of the Super Bowl. The game was predicted to be a very high scoring game, but it turned out being a big defensive struggle. To top it off, the commercials were all pretty mediocre. We went out for dinner and caught most of the second half at Ninja Sushi. There was a big group of what appeared to be friends of the restaurant owner having their own Superbowl party. There was one loud guy cheering for the Patriots. He appeared to be drunk as there wasn't really anything worth cheering. :)

Dinner special at Ninja Sushi