After working a half day and eating lunch, it was time for me to hit the road for San Diego. I first made a stop in at the office to drop off the Disney merchandise that I had purchased for my friend during my last Walt Disney World trip earlier this month. As I was almost to the office and stopped at an intersection, I noticed a Pony Pilot car in the next lane. I think it's always cool to see self-driving vehicles out on the road.
Pony Pilot
I didn't get to Road Runner Sports for the packet pick-up until about 3 pm. After being assigned a bib number, I got my race shirt which was a cotton t-shirt. I always prefer a cotton shirt over a polyester "tech" shirt. I used their restroom before heading back to my car.
Race shirt
Roadrunner Sports perks
Since I was staying in Encinitas for the night, I needed to make sure that the car had enough charge to make it down to the race and back to another charging station for the drive home. I drove up to the Tesla Supercharger station located at the Qualcomm parking lot which was near the Mira Mesa Blvd exit off of the 5 freeway.
Tesla Supercharger Qualcomm
After about 30 minutes of charging, I unplugged the car and headed over to the Del Mar Highlands Town Center. Originally, I was just going to pick up dinner at that fancy McDonald's. However, I noticed that there was a Handel's Homemade Ice Cream shop there. I stopped there first to get a single scoop of Monkey Business ice cream on a regular waffle cone. Their single scoop was big, so I needed plenty of napkins.
Single scoop of Monkey Business
Need lots of napkins
After I was done with the ice cream, I hopped in the car and drove to the other side of the town center to pick up dinner at McDonald's. I've been wanting to check this place out for quite some time. The interior was indeed fancier than your usual McDonald's. However, it was an early evening on a Friday and the place was packed with what appeared to be either grade school or high school kids. I guess it's a good place to hang out after school. Nearby was Torrey Pines High School and Carmel Creek Elementary School. I placed my order on the mobile app using the usual deal where I purchased 1 quarter pounder with cheese at regular price and got a second one for 29 cents.
Fancy McDonald's in Del Mar
After I got my food, I hopped back in the car and drove up to the Days Inn Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. The hotel lobby wasn't open yet due to COVID safety protocols, so the check-in procedure was done through the after-hours window. After the paperwork was done and I was checked-in, I was assigned room #312.
After I finished off my two burgers, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's half marathon. Sometimes when I can't decide what to wear, I would just wear the race shirt from my last race. Even though you really don't need long sleeves in southern California year round, the weather forecast showed that tomorrow morning was going to be a bit chilly. In addition, I even brought my throwaway gloves to stay warm during the wait before the start of the race.
Quarter Pounder with cheese x2
Flat runner
Before calling it a night, I took a shower. The water pressure was pretty low. Also I wasn't able to shut off the water all the way. It was definitely more just a little drip. I then watched the rest of WWE Friday Night SmackDown!
Roman Reigns
Saturday 1/22
I watched the Everton v. Aston Villa match that started at 4:30 am while getting ready to head over to the race down in Mission Bay. I checked out at about 5:30 am. The drive down took about 20 minutes. Per the race instructions, I parked at the parking lot just north of the San Diego Mission Bay Resort. While waiting in the car, I eventually saw people show up to set up a table and drinks for the aid station. In hindsight, for someone that shows up so early, I should've parked in one of the spots along E Mission Bay Dr. It would've cut down on the walk to the starting area.
Everton v. Aston Villa
Start line
Waiting for start
Start line
The race started at 7:15 am. After starting with 2 quick miles, I settled into an 8 minute per mile pace. The loop around Fiesta Island took us through about 4.67 miles. As the race went on, the tightness in my left calf was more noticeable, but breathing-wise I was able to maintain the pace with relative ease. I pressed on. I pressed my luck and ultimately, hit a Whammy at about mile 8. I knew that I had strained my left calf. I slowed the pace down to about 9 minutes per mile. I was passed by a guy dressed in gray (bib #1286). However, he never put any distance between us. By mile 12, I couldn't even keep that 9 minute pace. I tried my best to hang on to that guy who seemed to be struggling as well. Struggling or not, he pretty much dragged me to that finish line!
And we're off!
Getting off Fiesta Island
Heading over to SeaWorld
Followed bib #1286 since about mile 8
Finish line
Finish: 1:50:13
Click here for my Garmin data.
I had mixed feelings about my race after crossing the finish line. Cardiovascular-wise, I should've been well under 1:50 today. Still, whenever I run close to breaking a 1:50, it's normally a good day for me. I'm just hoping that I didn't do too much damage to the left calf.
After I got my finisher medal and a bottle of water, I headed over to use one of the portapotties before heading back to my car. Thankfully, the calf felt okay during the walk back to my car. However, I'm pretty sure my next few races will not be as fast.
Finisher medal
Post race water bottle
Post race area
After getting back to my car, I started my drive home. Per the usual, I got off the 5 freeway in San Clemente to charge the car at the Tesla Supercharger station. It was charging at a rate of 149 kW. Not bad. This charging station has quickly become one of my regular stops. While I waited for the car to finish charging, I went inside Target to buy some snacks. I ended up buying 2 bags of Pop Corners for $7 and a 23 oz container of pistachios for $9.99. Those are 2 of my favorite snacks. I pretty much went through an entire bag of Pop Corners for the remainder of the drive home.
Tesla Supercharger San Clemente
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