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

Carlsbad Half Marathon 2019

Friday 1/18
As soon as I got off of work, I drove up to INKnBURN in Santa Ana to pick up the wasabi shirt that I had ordered before making the drive down to Oceanside.

For this short trip, I stayed at the WorldMark Oceanside. There was a bit of traffic along the way. I didn't arrive until at about 5:30 pm. I checked-in before driving back out for dinner. The lady at the front desk was nice and friendly. After getting my room key, I was directed to the concierge table by the recreation room where I picked up my parking pass and a bunch of information about local markets, restaurants, and popular tourist attractions. Per the usual, I was also offered Wyndham Rewards Points if I commit to attending an owner presentation which included a complimentary breakfast. Since I wasn't planning on doing anything except attending the race expo, I agreed to attend. It required the usual $20 deposit which would be refunded when I show up for the presentation.

After I was done with that, I got in my car and drove to the nearby In-n-Out for dinner. I ordered 2 Double Doubles. The more I eat these burgers, the more I don't think that they're the best. I would much rather eat a Double Charburger from The Habit or even a Quarter Pounder with cheese from McDonald's! I think In-n-Out's burgers are way too heavily salted. As for their french fries, they are really gross compared to McDonald's fries. According to an article in the LA Times, those two restaurants are on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to taste and texture. To each their own! End of the day, you just got to eat what you like.

Double Double x2

After I was done with my burgers, I went back to the hotel. I tried to park in the first gated parking structure, but it was very tiny with very few parking spots which were at capacity. I exited and drove up to the next one which had plenty of spots. I found a spot near the elevator which turned out to be very inconvenient since my room was clear on the other end of the property. It was much easier for me to park near the lobby and just take the 3 flights of stairs.

Once I got to my room, I noticed that this was by far the worst WorldMark property that I've stayed at since becoming an owner in 2016. Many of the power outlets had the face plate turned perpendicular to block the outlet. I'm guessing that this was to discourage people from using them. I just used the ones that weren't covered. Everything about this property felt cheap except for the kitchen. It felt like a slightly remodeled Super 8 or Days Inn. Coincidentally both are hotel chains managed by Wyndham.

I guess this means, do not use

Murphy bed behind the doors

After I got settled in, I went back down to the lobby to check out a movie. I wanted to see Glass in the movie theater, but I've only seen Unbreakable. Fortunately for me, they had a copy of Split. I thought it was a much better movie than Unbreakable. That James McAvoy is a really good actor. The only other movies that I've seen him in are the X-Men movies where he played a younger Charles Xavier.

Saturday 1/19
With daylight, I checked out the balcony which included a BBQ grill, a small table, and two chairs. The view wasn't too bad from the balcony even though there's a parking lot between you and the ocean. I went back inside to watch the Manchester United v. Brighton match before I had to go downstairs to attend an update presentation for WorldMark owners.

View from the balcony

Man United v. Brighton

Pogba taking a PK

Per the usual, the owner update included an okay, but not impressive "free" breakfast. They'll keep you there for at least an hour. Time is money. At least they always give you an incentive for your attendance. I received 15,000 Wyndham Rewards Points which I normally use for 1 night free stay.

"Free" breakfast

After I was done, I hopped in the car and drove over to The Shoppes at Carlsbad to pick up my race packet. The race expo setup was the same as it always has been in years past. I wasn't there long. After picking up my bib, I headed over to the other side of the tent to pick up my drawstring bag and 2 long sleeve finisher shirts. I bumped into my friend, Dexter, who was volunteering. That guy is always giving back to the running community!

Dexter

Long sleeve finisher shirt

3/4 zip long sleeve finisher shirt

On the way back to my hotel, I stopped in at the Walmart Neigborhood Market to pick up some drinks and snacks. Since I was feeling a bit under the weather, I also picked up a can of soup. I ate the Pop Chips and drank the clam chowder for lunch.

Drinks and snacks

For dinner, I drove out to a nearby McDonald's to pick up 2 Quarter Pounders with cheese with their mix and match $5 deal. I took them back to my room to enjoy. I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race before going to sleep.

Quarter Pounder with cheese x2

Flat runner

Sunday 1/20
I got ready, packed up my stuff, dropped off the keys at the front desk, and drove out to the race. The start of the half marathon was at 7:45 am. I got there and parked early enough to catch the start of the full marathon at 6:15 am.

Marathon start

I had over an hour to pass before my race, so I returned back to my car after using one of the many portapotties. I love that this race has plenty of them, so there's hardly ever a wait to use one.

Once the start of the race approached, I headed out to the start line. I said hi to my friend, Rudy, the race announcer. It's always good to see him at the races. Unfortunately they were having audio problems, so he had to shout at the top of his lungs to send us off. I started out of wave 2.

Half marathon start

I was running well through about mile 8, then it started to deteriorate quickly in the next few miles. The last three miles were quite the struggle as the legs were getting very heavy and were beginning to cramp up.

Finish line

Finish: 1:53:16
Click here for my Garmin data.

Relive 'Carlsbad Half Marathon'

Even though I was having cramping issues during the last few miles, I was quite satisfied with how my legs have been feeling for the most part. Everything should sort itself out once I start putting in more training miles throughout the week.

I picked up my finisher medal and kept walking down the finisher chute where they were handing out bottles of water, chocolate milk, and a brown bag of healthy post-race goodies. The exact contents of the bag were 2 Zone perfect nutrition bars, 1 small Power crunch bar, 1 Kashi chocolate almond sea salt bar, 2 small bags of Good Grains, and a banana. Drinking the chocolate milk took care of the leg cramps. I saved the rest to eat at work the next day.

Finisher medal

Post race snack bag and drinks

Snack bag contents

I ran the full marathon from 2009 - 2013, and returned in 2018 after a 4 year gap. I skipped the race those 4 years because it fell on the same date as the Tinker Bell or Star Wars race over at Disneyland. Now that the West Coast runDisney races are on hiatus, it's back to Carlsbad I go. This time I'll stick to just the half marathon. I started off running the half marathon back in 2007 and 2008... back when I found it next to impossible for me to finish the half in under 2 hrs.
2008: 2:06:40
2007: 2:07:44

On the way home, I stopped by the McDonald's to pick up lunch. I got a Quarter Pounder with cheese and a Filet o' Fish sandwich with their $5 mix and match deal.