Well, prior to my annual trip down to San Diego, I had been monitoring the status of the tracks at San Clemente. It had been shut down back on 4/27 due to landslide of the slope behind the Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens. An update on 5/26 on the OCTA website stated that the hillside had been stabilized and deemed safe for passenger service to resume starting on Saturday 5/27. Ok, so we're good to go!
I got ready and hit the road for my drive down to the Irvine Transportation Center to catch the Amtrak train that was scheduled to depart at 7:12 am. I arrived a few minutes before 7 am. After parking the car and using the restroom, I went out to the platform to wait for the train. It was late about 5 minutes which was pretty standard. It was a pretty empty train. The train pulled into Santa Fe Depot at about 9:15 am which was about 10 minutes late.
Irvine Station
Slowly fading away
Pretty empty Amtrak train
After exiting the train, I started heading over to the San Diego Convention Center on foot. I thought about taking the trolley, but I suppose it's always better to get in my steps wherever and whenever I can. The hall used for the expo was pretty much at the most southeastern end of the convention center. In addition to picking my own race bib, I also picked up my friend's. There wasn't a line to pick up my race shirt for the marathon, but there was a pretty long line to pick up a unisex race shirt for the half marathon. Per the usual, along with the shirt, we were given a drawstring gear bag with some flyers.
Race shirt
Goodie bag and expo hand outs
I then went through the official merchandise section. I noticed that the quality of some of the products such as their shorts were of better quality than prior years. I saw that the brand was Lululemon. I always thought Rock n Roll races were primarily Brooks products. Not sure when that switch was made, but this was my first time noticing. I was tempted to buy a pair of shorts, but I was quickly reminded of the price tag for Lululemon products. They were definitely not cheap. I found my name on the marathon participants' name shirt for males before moving onto the rest of the expo.
Marathon male name shirt
Back of marathon male name shirt
Found my name
While going through the vendor booths, I picked up a Chargel sample. There weren't too many samples being handed out, but I did get Honey Stinger Waffle from the booth advocating for kidney donation. They gave out a flyer about the 1K12M (One Kidney, 12 Marathons) challenge. Next, I stopped at the Rock n Roll booth to sign up for next year's race. Per the usual, I was given a free cotton t-shirt for registering.
2024 presale cost:
Marathon: $85
Processing fees for race: $16.99
Race photos: $29.99
Processing fee for photos: $2.40
Grand total: $134.38
Free shirt for early registration for next year's race
After exiting the convention center, I made my way across the street to the Gaslamp Quarter Trolley Station. I loaded $5 on the Pronto app as the fare was $2.50 each way. Honestly, I might have been the only passenger that paid the fare. I took a green line trolley over to Santa Fe Depot where I hopped off to wait for a blue line trolley.
Santa Fe Depot
Per the usual since the blue line heading north was completed, I took it up to La Jolla to eat lunch and then to catch a movie. I got off at the Nobel Drive Trolley Station. For this trip, I decided to check out Urban Plates. I believe prior to this visit, I've only ever sampled their food during one of those Yelp Elite Events. I had looked over the menu ahead of time so I already knew what I wanted to order. I got a plate of grilled beef with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. After placing my order at the counter, I was given a number to place at my table. I found a table outside in the patio area. It was a drizzly morning, but they had the heaters going so it was actually quite warm. After a short wait, an employee brought out my food. He noticed that I didn't have any utensils so he went and got them for me without me asking. Thank you kind sir. The food was pretty good. I will have to return to try other items on the menu.
Plate of grilled beef with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts
Before heading over to the AMC La Jolla 12 movie theater to catch a matinee showing of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, I stopped at the Starbucks for a quick pick-me-up. On the mobile app, I placed an order for a vanilla cream cold brew. I found a bench to enjoy my drink before I went inside the movie theater.
Vanilla cream cold brew
In case you haven't seen it yet, you should! I'm really enjoying Miles Morales' version of Spider-Man. This was a great continuation of the first movie. It was a bit of a sensory overload with the visuals, but the storytelling was fantastic, much better than any of the recent movies with Tom Holland as Spider-Man. Yes, I still have a problem with Tony Stark having too much influence over Spider-Man's early development. Also the worst part of those movies was the cringeworthy dialogue and plain lazy story writing. I seriously don't understand why those movies scored so high on Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe all people care about these days are action scenes. This Screen Rant article pretty much sums up how I feel.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
After the credits were over, I used the restroom before heading over to the trolley station to catch a ride back into Downtown San Diego. I got off at the City College Trolley Station. Then after a short walk while dodging the unhoused, I arrived at my timeshare rental property, WorldMark San Diego Balboa Park. Per the usual after checking in and getting my room keys (#517), I stopped by the concierge desk to get a care package plus an obligatory invite to yet another owner update. After politely refusing and a quick chat about nearby restaurants and such, I was allowed to go up to my room. Even though I was on the 5th floor, I took the stairs.
Check-in care package
The view from my room
After getting settled into my room, I turned on the TV to watch the Dodgers vs. Yankees game. First pitch was at 4:18 pm and thanks to the game being broadcasted on Fox, it was one of the few times that I got to actually watch a Dodgers game on TV since dropping Spectrum TV service. Unfortunately, the Dodgers would go on to lose to the Yankees with a score of 6-3. Aaron Judge was a beast even when playing defense. He crashed through the fence in right field and still managed to make the catch for the out.
Yankees vs. Dodgers
About halfway through the game, I placed my order on the McDonald's app. Those great deals for BOGO Quarter Pounders with cheese were now a thing of the past. I resorted to ordering 2 McDoubles as they were having a local buy 2 for $3.99 deal. I also added a hamburger Happy Meal since I'll be running a marathon tomorrow. It would turn out that they had made some changes to the app, but it still operated like crap. For some reason it defaulted to having my order designated for pick-up via drive-thru. The app gave me a link to click with the option to change the delivery method, but it crapped out after 2 failed attempts. Then my order was no longer visible on their ordering system. I showed them the confirmation email which showed that my credit card had been charged. Eventually, the manager had to reenter my order as a free order so that my order gets back on their system. You would think that a company as big as McDonald's would go with a better mobile app developer. Among the many food apps on my phone, the McDonald's app is hands down the worst!
McDouble x2, hamburger Happy Meal
After finishing my dinner, I laid out my flat runner and took a shower before I started to wind down for the evening. I ended up catching a showing of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on TV. Before going to sleep I heard fireworks going off outside. It looked like the Padres somehow managed a win over the Cubs. I guess if you're a team that's not used to winning, you would want to celebrate each one as if it was a big deal.
Flat runner
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Sunday 6/4
I wasn't exactly feeling very motivated to run a marathon this morning. However, I rolled out of bed when my alarm went off and got ready. At about 4:30 am, I received a text from my friend, Mitch, that he was in the lobby. I got my stuff ready and went downstairs to give him his race packet. If I didn't have his bib, I just might have been tempted to blow off the race! At about 4:50, we started our walk up to the starting line area. It was about a 2 mile uphill hike. I took my friend over to the other WorldMark property, Inn at the Park, which was only about a block north of the start line to meet up with one of our mutual friends. We hung out in the lobby and used the restrooms downstairs before heading over to the race. It sure beats having to use a portapotty.
Inn at the Park
We took a pre-race selfie before getting into the starting corral. We headed into our assigned corral 3. I believe Mitch went into corral 1 as there wasn't anyone checking bibs at the corral entrances. During the wait, we bumped into the usual suspects such as Robert and pacer extraordinaire, Eddie. The scheduled start of the race was for 6:15 am.
Pre-race selfie
Corral 3
Pic from Robert
Wave 3 was released at about 6:19 am. Per the usual, I didn't want to hinder the runners behind me, so I followed the girl that was ahead of me. Too bad she was running at about a 7:30 min mile. I'm currently in no shape to be running that fast for even 1 mile! Fortunately, I spotted my friend and his dad on the right side of the course which allowed me to slow down a bit so we can grab a quick selfie.
Pic from Scott
Around the 5k mark, I ran a little bit with a guy who was from Taiwan. I started talking to him because I saw that he was wearing a shirt that said Taiwan on the back. He was from southern Taiwan and we were able to communicate with each other in Taiwanese. He came to the States when he was 1 year old, so his English was fantastic as well. Eventually, he ran ahead as I needed to take another walk break.
Approaching mile 6, I ran a little bit with the 4:10 pace group, but even that pace was a bit too fast for me to maintain for another 20 miles. I noticed that Grant was pacing in Daisy Dukes. I supposed he needed to dress a bit more modest while performing his pacing duty. I believe when he is actually racing, he still races in Speedos.
Approaching mile 6
Daisy Dukes
I leapfrogged a bit with my friend, Marcia. Even with her ongoing leg issues, her walking pace was much faster than mine. I had to jog to keep up with her. However, when I started running, I would pass her. I lost her shortly after we stopped to get a selfie with Ron Burgundy. Stay classy, San Diego!
Marcia
About 10k: Stay classy, San Diego!
Nearing mile 8: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants!
About mile 8.5: Tom Cruise/Pete Mitchell "Maverick" look alike
At about mile 11 on University Ave, I stopped briefly at a medical tent to get some Vaseline as my left thigh was starting to chafe. I had to reapply when I reached the medical tent near mile 13.6 as we turned right onto Morena Blvd. As I was about to hop onto the San Diego River Bikeway, I almost witnessed 2 idiot youngsters get run over by cars. Uh, the other side of the road was still open to traffic! Stupid is as stupid does.
Near mile 16.2: Sea World Dr
I bumped into my friend, Michael, at about mile 18 just as Sea World Dr was turning into Tecolote Rd. I hung with him for about a mile as we made the right turn onto Morena Blvd. He's a much stronger runner than I am, so that mile was about a minute faster than my recent miles. Eventually, I had to let him go as I would have undoubtedly crashed and burned if I continued to run at his pace.
Near mile 21.2: Want me to call you an Uber?
At about mile 22, I crossed paths with a guy named Stephen just as we were starting that dreaded section on the 163 freeway. We had been running near each other for the past 20 miles or so. We chatted a little bit. I warned him that the hardest section of the course was coming up. Once we get over that long climb, the rest to the finish line would be pretty easy. Even though I had reached the finish line about 4 minutes ahead of him, he had beaten me by 28 seconds per chip timing.
During that last mile, I chatted with a guy that had run the SD100 miler. I mentioned that I only followed my friends up to the 50k distance, but never ventured beyond that in the ultra-world. He told me that I was smart as the distance just keeps getting longer and longer with no end in sight!
For that final stretch, I tried to pass the girl (Little Bird) in the pink shirt, but she had enough to hold me off. She had a nice big lead on me as she jogged up that entire section up the 163 freeway while I opted to hike it. While I did catch up to her at the finish line, she had easily beaten me by over 23 minutes per chip timing.
Little bird and Pony
Approaching the finish line
Crossing the finish line
Finish: 5:18:07
Click here for my Garmin data.
While my running might be pretty mediocre right now, but boy am I consistent! I finished 3 seconds faster than my time from last year! So it would seem that I had made very little or no progress in the past year since returning from a bout of Achilles tendinitis. Well, at least it doesn't burn like a mofo anymore!
Finish line
After crossing the finish line, I received my finisher medal and continued down the finisher chute. Since I had prepaid for race photos, I made sure to stop for those post race photos with the backdrops which I normally skip so that I can get back to my room ASAP! After taking those photos, I grabbed some snacks. All of the bananas were spotted, so I did not take one. As soon as I came to the end of the chute, I made a left turn and started heading back to my room.
Finisher medal
Post race drinks and snacks
After walking a few blocks, I received a text from my friend who had finished long before I did. Him and some of our faster friends were all waiting at the post race area at the Waterfront Park. He saw that I had finished on the app and thought that I would be headed there. Since he was taking off, I doubled-back a bit to meet up with him for a quick hi and goodbye. He had to get back to his hotel on Front St, so I met him at that intersection near the finish line.
Caps Pizza & Bar: Pledge of allegiance
Latino Heat
After a quick selfie, I continued on with my walk back to my room. Per the usual, I retraced the course to see if I could spot some of my friends. Once I got back to my timeshare property, I waited at that corner for a couple of my friends to come through. As soon as I saw the Eviltwin come through, I headed back up to my room.
Found Scott and Chris on B St.
Maricris
Old Glory
Eviltwin
Back in my room, I ate my snacks and lounged around while watching a bunch of episodes of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Eventually, I dragged myself into the shower to get cleaned up. While I'm well aware that I was nowhere near optimal shape, that marathon really wiped me out! I was pooped!
Mister Bug and Lady Noir
Just ahead of the Dodgers vs. Yankees game, I went across the street to get an early dinner. This time while ordering on the app, I noticed where I goofed last time. I made sure to select the correct method of delivery this time. My order was for 2 McDoubles for $3.99, 2 McChickens for $3.99, and a free order of medium fries from the Padres' win yesterday. Today's game was broadcasted on ESPN. Unfortunately, the Yankees would win again with a score of 4-1. Maybe I should stick to just listening to them on AM570.
McDouble x2, McChicken x2, free medium fries
Monday 6/5
Even though my Amtrak train home was scheduled for departure at about 10 am, I still got up at my usual time around 5 am. I ate the Kirkland granola bar and drank the Gatorade for breakfast. I caught the morning news where they reported a huge box office success for the Spider-Man movie. Unfortunately, they also reported that there was a police shooting down at the San Ysidro Station.
Huge box office success
San Ysidro Station shooting
I packed everything, took a shower, and checked out of my unit at just a little after 9 am. Per the usual, the girl at the counter was going to give me a care package. Since it was the usual bag of junk food, I declined and just asked for a bottle of water which she happily obliged.
I was looking forward to a nice quiet uneventful ride on the Amtrak back up to Irvine. However, there was another landslide at San Clemente, so Amtrak trains were not running. They weren't very good at making an announcement. In fact, it was only one female station security guard that was yelling at everyone waiting inside the station that the train wasn't running and that we need to figure out another way to get to our destinations. The Amtrak employee that I spoke to, gave me a refund for my ticket and told me to get up to Old Town San Diego. Then take the Coaster up to Oceanside or book a ride on a Greyhound bus. I hopped on the blue line trolley which took me up to Old Town. The board there said that Coaster trains heading northbound were canceled, so I got on the Greyhound website to book a seat on a bus. Thankfully, it would only be a short wait for the next bus. However, it would take me out to Crawford Hall at UCI. I was going to take an Uber or Lyft back to my car at the Irvine Station, however my friends/coworkers were able to swing by after lunch and give me a ride over to my car. While waiting for the bus, I ended up chatting with a guy named Daniel. He was a medical intern from Penn State in town to visit his brother. We were both on the same Greyhound bus operated by FlixBus, but his destination was UCLA. We were just 2 people among quite a few people that were stranded due to the track closure, so our bus was pretty full.
Cancellations
Amtrak train canceled due to another landslide at San Clemente
Old Town San Diego
After getting dropped off at my car, I was finally able to head home and complete the last leg of my trip. Man, if you travel enough, you're bound to run into issues regardless of the mode of transportation. It's best to think of contingency plans ahead of time because you may need them. Along the way home, I picked up lunch at the Chick-fil-A in Brea. Unfortunately, the male employee at the drive thru window was more interested in chatting with his pretty coworker than focusing on his task at hand. He gave me a straw instead of crackers for my chicken noodle soup. Of course, I didn't notice until I got home.
Cobb salad with grilled nuggets, bowl of chicken noodle soup
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