ET Full Moon Midnight Marathon

People do stupid things in Vegas. Here's an account of the stupid things I've done this past weekend.

Pre-race
I drove up Saturday morning. Took my usual pit-stop in Primm. I stopped by the Rei in Henderson to buy some reflective gear and just to waste time before the restaurant opened for lunch. I ended up buying a Sprigs wrist wallet as well. I didn't wear it for the race because I brought my shorts that had a pocket. I then headed over to eat all-you-can-eat sushi at Sushi Mon. Their sushi was pretty good for a buffet. I ate maguro, hamachi, amaebi, uni, tako, ikura, salmon, albacore, tiger roll, spider roll, hamachi kama, edamame, shrimp tempura, misoshiru, and strawberry mochi ice cream. I stopped myself pretty early, but still I ate too much. My stomach was just not used to it anymore. I vowed never to eat at a buffet ever again.

I checked into my hotel, the Doubletree by the airport. I didn't know that they give you cookies when you check in. I relaxed while watching The Dark Knight. The more and more I watch this movie, the more I think the movie sucked! The only thing good about it was Heath Ledger's acting. At about 4pm, I drove over to the Hard Rock hotel to pick up my race packet. It was my first time driving through the airport tunnel. I try very hard to stay away from the Strip when I'm in Vegas. I saw a few of my maniac friends: Marcia, Mitch, and Don. I drove back to my hotel to relax. Didn't even bother with dinner.

When it got close to 8pm I got ready and headed back over to the Hard Rock to catch the shuttle to the starting line which was about 2 hours away. Casey spotted me in the parking structure. Looked like we had the same idea and drove to the top of the parking structure instead of trying to find a spot in one of the lower floors.

It was pretty crowded inside the hotel. It was full of people running one of the ET races. You could tell that the regular patrons were somewhat annoyed by the runners crowding the corridors. I rode one of the quiet buses with some maniacs: James, Don, Marcia, and Casey. Once we got there, we all kind of split up.

I sure could've used an ET powered flying bike this past weekend!

Goals:
A: 4:30
B: under 5
C: beat last year's time 5:26:33

The Race
It felt warmer than last year. No headwind this year at the start. I heard a bunch of mooing cows this time. I slowed down gradually from about the 5k mark because I kept feeling like I was overheating. The right ankle started to bother me at mile 8. The first half was one big steady climb. I got there in about 2:20. Hip discomfort started at around mile 14 during the downhill section to A'le'inn. It was mostly a brisk walk coupled with some jogging to the finish. You can see the A'le'inn from far away, but it was tough since it seems like I wasn't getting any closer. Having ran it last year, I knew the inn was at mile 20. It was windy during the last 10k. Again this section was hard mentally since it's an uphill 5k climb to the tiki torches where we turn around. James caught me near mile 21. Once I reached the turn around, it was a downhill 5k to the finish line. The hip did not like the downhill. It was good to see some of my friends on the out and back. Most of them were doing the 51k. Near the finish line as I passed a guy finishing the ultra, he was confused as he couldn't see the finish line. So I told him to follow me and make a right turn up ahead. The finish line was improved from last year. The sign was a nice touch, but it was blocked from view by one of the buses. They should probably move that bus next year so people can see the finish line from the road.

Splits:
1: 7:21*
2: 10:25*
3: 7:28*
4: 9:32
5: 9:53
6: 10:41
7: 12:07
8: 10:01
9: 11:02
10: 12:17
11: 12:24
12: 13:22
13: 12:47
14: 14:13
15: 13:12
16: 13:28
17: 13:59
18: 14:33
19: 15:24
20: 14:21
21: 16:24
22: 16:04
23: 16:47
24: 17:11
25: 14:09
26: 13:36
26.2: 2:01
Finish: 5:34:44
*The first couple of mile markers were most likely off because I ran at an even effort for the first 3 miles which was about an 8:20 per mile pace.

Post-race thoughts and stuff
I took my first salt tab 1 hour into the race and 1 every half hour. I took a gel every 30 minutes to an hour depending how my stomach felt. Hammer Heed and gels worked better for me. I don't know if it was the sushi or the fuel that was causing the occasional flatulence. Sorry fellow ET runners. :)

The Nathan reflective straps cut into my skin. I'll have to wear it over clothing next time... if there is a next time. During the race, I thought about giving up my attempt at ultras. If I'm having such a hard time with a marathon, I should stay away from ultras. This also might be the last time that I run ET. It's just too hard for this morning person. I was unable to meet any of my goals.

I ate some delicious garlic shrimps at an Ohana Hawaiian BBQ Restaurant before leaving Vegas. Good stuff, but I want some from the truck in Hawaii.

America's Finest City Half Marathon 2010

Pre-race
The alarm went off at 1am. I rolled out of bed about 15 minutes later. I got ready, left the house around 2:45am for the drive down to America's Finest City... San Diego! This year I decided not to follow the directions given to us in the final instructions. I took the 163 and got off at Washington and took University over to Park Blvd. I parked in the small parking lot near the zoo. Ate my Powerbar and took a quick nap before boarding the bus a little after 5am.

Once we got dropped off at Cabrillo, I walked over to the visitor center and sat down against a wall to get out of the wind. Later I got up and walked around so the legs wouldn't get stiff. I ran into my San Diego friends: Charlie, Adam, Louis, and Jackie. I went to make one last visit to the portapotty and made my way to the starting area where some friends of my college friend Joe recognized me from the La Jolla half. Shortly thereafter, the national anthem was sung, we moved up to the starting line, the gun went off, and the race was under way.

Goals for the race:
Goal A: 1:49:59
Goal B: 1:55:00
Goal C: go home

Strategy: Run "hard" for the first 10k, cruise the next 5 miles, and survive the 6th Avenue hill.

First 10k
For the most part, it felt fine. The first 10k is fast, but not easy. There are huge descents but some pretty good size rollers. I was kind of feeling sick in the stomach around mile 5, so I pulled it back. Besides, I knew there was no way I could keep that kind of pace for another 9 miles. I think this was the first time that I've gotten to the 10k mark of any race including a 10k in under 50 minutes. Here was the only time in the race that I felt that I had a shot at goal A. I just needed to cover the next 7 miles in 1 hour.
1: 7:38
2: 7:49
3: 7:31
4: 7:15
5: 8:44
6: 8:26
6.2: 49:01

Mile 7 to the Finish
Then I got to Harbor Island and things just began to fall apart. I took my salt cap and gel between miles 7 and 8. The right foot started to get sore at mile 8. I knew goal A was out the window. I really wanted to walk starting at mile 9. But I just kept slowing down until the foot wasn't hurting as much. Mile 12 was the huge 6th Avenue hill. It's a hard climb, but every year that I've ran it, it has gotten easier. As I crossed the bridge with all of the flags, I finally convinced myself to just take off and finish the race! I must have passed at least 50 people except for 1 shirtless guy with a safari hat who was really hauling butt. After I stopped I really felt the soreness in the right foot.
7: 8:35
8: 9:19
9: 9:06
10: 9:22
11: 9:47
12: 10:38
13.1: 10:07
Finish: 1:54:17
Course PR
Tied my half marathon PR, but I actually ran 13.1 miles faster during SD RnR Marathon in 2010 (1:53:32). I know I can run much faster, but first I need to fix the flat tire. :)

I had to work hard for these 3 items: 1 fugly shirt, 1 big triple crown medal, and 1 finisher's medal

Post-race
This race was a good mental training run. I was successful at resisting the urge to take unscheduled walk breaks. At one point it was interesting where I had an internal debate going on. One voice said to dig deep... no stopping until I cross the finish line. Another voice said the more you dig, you're just digging yourself a deeper grave! I settled the argument by running slower and fooling myself into thinking that I would save the walking for the 6th Ave hill. I ran that entire hill. The foot doesn't hurt as much when I run uphill.

I bumped into my faster friends near the exit after picking up the triple crown medal and my fugly race shirt. We chatted a little about our races, took some pictures, and reconvened later for lunch at Louis and Jackie's house. I couldn't wait that long for food, so I stopped by Santouka to eat some ramen and natto gohan before going over. It was fun hanging out, but man I was a zombie. Definitely not used to staying awake for that long. I was dozing off a little on my drive back home. Once I got home I showered and drove up to Arcadia for Red Lobster with some old church friends. I love seafood!

San Francisco Marathon

Leading Up To The Race
So I strained my right calf on a training run about 2 weeks ago. It was still hurting on a short run last week Friday. I have not ran at all since then. So coming into this race, I was fully prepared to drop out and take a DNF. It was somewhat demoralizing to be hurt to the point where I couldn't run. I spent the week or so leading up to the race just doing weights, working on the core, and drinking caffeinated drinks. I've all but eliminated daily caffeine consumption. I've been having lots of GI issues during marathons. Since both my gels and Nuun contain caffeine, I figured I would condition myself to be used to it.

Travel and Expo
I flew out of SNA to SFO on Southwest. It was only my second time out of that airport. I love going to airports... even LAX. Once we landed in SFO, I took my annual ride on the BART. I took it to the Embarcadero station to catch the expo shuttle just outside of the Hyatt. The expo was a madhouse. After picking up my bib and shirt, I made my way over to the RunRacing booth. It's good to have friends that have a booth. I was able to drop off my backpack and get back into the crazy expo.

Chicrunner "pretending" to be busy for my picture, looks like she's shuffling cards. :)

After surviving the expo, I took the shuttle back to the Hyatt. I walked over to my hotel, Grant Plaza hotel, in Chinatown. It was a pretty old hotel with very rickety floors and it smelled like a Chinese restaurant, but there was no restaurant in the hotel.

Welcome to Chinatown

Scary elevator

Food and People
I went back out to eat lunch at L&L. If I come back next year, I'll definitely need to fit in the pho challenge at Pho Garden. But I don't want to do it by myself. After lunch, I walked over to Walgreens to buy some juice and water. On my way there I thought about stopping in Murphy's to get a beer or 3. On my way back to the hotel I stopped at the Paul Frank store. I thought about buying a Skurvy with glasses shirt but they didn't have my size.

Murphy's Pub

I relaxed in my hotel room for a few hours watching Braveheart before going to the Marathon Maniacs carbo-loading dinner. It would appear that across the street from the hotel, an old guy plays a weird Asian sounding stringed instrument ALL DAY from sunrise to sunset. It reminded me somewhat of vuvuzelas and that Asian lady singing that original theme song in the Spiderman movies. We had our meet up at Caffe Bella Venezia. We had 20+ people there. It was fun meeting so many maniacs. But for whatever reason, our food did not start coming out until almost 2 hours later. Mine did not, so I wished everyone a great race and bailed. The restaurant was just not ready for a marathon weekend. On my way back to the hotel, I stopped to eat in Sushi Rock, which was right across the street. I had seabass shioyaki, chicken katsu, and shrimp tempura. It was ok, good enough for a backup carbo-load meal.

Race Day
Nothing new on race day. One of the best advices. I bought a pair of the Injinji compression socks. I was going to wear it for the race especially since I strained by calf. But when I put it on, it was too big for my chicken legs. There was no compression whatsoever. FAIL! But since I'm well prepared, I had brought along a pair of regular toe socks. Next time I'll just bring the 2xu or Zensah calf sleeves. I met up with some of my RWOL friends and headed over to one of their office near the starting line to use the nice bathroom.

My main goal was to just finish the race in time to check out of my hotel and catch my plane. You know you're in for some serious hurtin' when your A goal is 5 hrs!
Goal A: 5 hrs
Goal B: finish first half
Goal C: DNF

1st Half
I stretched out my legs during the first mile to see how the calf responded. It was ok, but I held back knowing that during my last run, it started to hurt after 2 miles. This time it felt normal. But after the first 3 miles, the ankle did not feel right. I tried to hold it together for as long as I could taking my usual walk breaks every 30 minutes. Mentally I was losing it. The only thing that kept me going was me wanting to run across the Golden Gate Bridge. After that I could just drop out at the first half. As the race progressed, I started to run with a grimace. It actually felt better to run uphill. My friends caught me near the end of the first GG crossing. On the return crossing, that was pretty much the last of what my legs had to offer. Helen caught me here, I tried to encourage her to catch the 3:40 pace group. I think she finished 9 minutes behind them. At this point, my ankle was hurting and I haven't made the climb into the park. I took the climbs really slow as the hip was starting to bother me. Surprisingly the back didn't bother me, but that would come later. Being the stupid maniac that I am, I made the right turn at the park to continue on with the marathon. It was good seeing Kristy out there cheering because I was in a foul mood and in a world of pain.
1st Half: 2:04:22

2nd Half
I started doing a lot of walking to ease the ankle and hip pain. I stuck to my usual 3 hr 2nd half plan. There were a few sections where I tried to run with my regular stride, but it just wasn't happening. There's nothing really to report about the 2nd half. The ankle, hip, and lower back hurt. I drank a small cup of beer, walked a lot, and visited a few portapotties. I ran the last .2 in. I saw Steve cheering near the finish line.
Finish: 5:02:28

The Aftermath
I think caffeine might be the source of my GI issues. It was fine this time. But then again I wasn't running as much this time. Anyway, I walked back to my hotel. I took a shower, packed up, and headed for the airport. I bumped into Andee at the airport. She finished over 1 hour faster than me. My flight was delayed so I was wandering around and found her eating with her fiance. I could never eat so soon after a marathon. The gels and stuff always ruin my appetite. But as soon as I landed, I drove over to Mitsuwa to eat some ramen at Santouka. I love ramen.

This marathon madness really won't end until late February or March. These 5 hr marathons are really wearing me out both mentally and physically. The injuries are starting to build on each other. I was getting better with San Diego, but the body is still trashed. Once I get into 2011, things will start to wind down. It has to because I'll run out of money. :)

Thoughts on the LA Marathon 2011

The LA Marathon registration begins today. Why am I not in a rush to sign up when they warn of an inevitable sellout? One thing is, I don't think they will. But really, I've ran enough of these marathons to know if they're worth what I've paid for... ~$190 for NYC last year, yes. LA this year for $125, no. Lord knows I'll still run LA again for $145 plus active.com gouging fees. I'll run it every year because I do it to raise support for charities and I'm a marathon maniac. But honestly if you want to be a major player in this business, you can't just continue to hype your course and charge high fees. You have to take care of your runners. If you don't know how, learn from Chicago, NYC, and Boston with whom you claim to be on par.

I'll just use the New York City Marathon as an example. NY handled over 40,000 runners in 2009 versus LA's 25,000. The packet pickup and the expo was a logistical disaster at LA. It was as if they were expecting only 200 people to show up. Send someone over to check out how they handle things in NY. Also months in advance we were sent a booklet in the mail explaining everything that there is to know about the race. You can tell from the beginning that the money charged was being used properly to ensure that the runner has the best experience from start to finish, not just the race.

But bottom-line, I hope to God that the LA Marathon becomes as popular as Chicago, NYC, and Boston. It took a good step this year. I've ran it the past 7 years and I plan on running it every year. I just think it's too soon for them to be charging $145. If they must then they need to justify the cost to its runners. With that I leave you with this "timeless" music video... I LOVE LA!

Ultramarathons

Mostly Lack-of-Progress Report
For about two years, I've been unable to keep up with my friends. They have all gone on to run 50 milers and 100 milers while I'm still messing around with marathons. I know that I have a bad right leg and a bad back from years and years of playing tennis on hard courts and skiing. Tennis and skiing was fun, but for the first couple of years when I switched to running, it did not help me. I have decent speed, but I really don't have the desire to work on endurance. I preferred the shorter races. I've been forcing myself to run slower, but normally I don't run slow until that's all I could do. Also the biggest reason why I don't want to work on endurance is that my lower back gets really sore around 1 - 1.5 hours on my feet. Regardless of me standing or running any pace, it'll hurt once it reaches its time limit. That's one of the main reasons why my marathon strategy of choice has been to run the first 8 - 10 miles of the first half as fast as I can and just walk/jog the second half. I've been working on losing some upper body weight to try and alleviate the pain. There's not that much to lose, but I think once I get down to the 130's I should be fine. I'm currently hovering around 145 - 150.

I've been trying to rehab the right ankle for awhile now. I first hurt the Achilles tendon back in October 2009 right before the Long Beach Marathon. It progressively worsened because I couldn't get myself to DNS any of my paid marathons. I was finally able to rest after the Malibu Marathon. I returned almost a month later with pretty much zero running at the Las Vegas Marathon where the Achilles was getting better, but it was still too soon of a return.

For the next 3 or so months, I kept resting for the most part with a measly weekly mileage of ~3.5 (excluding races) and just crawled through my paid marathons. I even managed an AG DFL at Sycamore Canyon 30k. I remember sitting down on a boulder trying not to pass out. It was not a smart idea to run a half marathon the day before a 30k trail race when I was so out of shape. Fun times. Good thing was that the Achilles finally was about 100%. That's when I got greedy and ran the Carlsbad 5000 all day 25k. It was fun running fast, but apparently I hurt my anterior tibial tendon. I thought I had just tied my laces too tight, but it was definitely swollen. Again I mostly rested and didn't increase the mileage until I stopped feeling discomfort. It was mostly annoying and didn't hurt. While I did get through my races, my endurance still sucked since my weekly mileage had been below 20. My attempt to run the Country Music Marathon on Saturday and the La Jolla Half Marathon the next day was thwarted by bad weather in Nashville. But I was glad to finish in about 4:30 at San Diego. After my bad race at Seattle, I finally was able to increase my mileage to a point where my base was big enough to finally put in a real marathon training cycle. But during a recent longish run (~11.6 miles), I took a bad step and stretched out the calf. It burned when I pushed off so I knew I strained it. When I go easy and cruise it's fine, but if I tried to push the pace it was painful. At work it would hurt to go down stairs. But surprisingly a few days later there's no longer any discomfort. I will go for a short run on Friday to test it out. I'm hoping it wasn't anything serious because the SF Marathon is right around the corner and we all know this maniac isn't going to put in a DNS.

Tracking Badwater Runners
My least favorite season is definitely summer. I hate the heat. But July is always a great time to track those running the Badwater Ultramarathon. In honor of those running in 120+ weather, I ate piping hot ramen at Santouka on Monday and at Shizuma Ramen on Tuesday. I believe Shizuma is fairly new or a remodeled restaurant. I had their pork chashu ramen. Their appearance suggests that they're Japanese, but I think they're Chinese. So no surprise that it tastes similar to Kohryu, but nowhere near as good. Their menu is very limited and rather unappealing.

Shizuma Ramen - Pork Chashu Ramen

Anyway... just how do they do it? I'm uncomfortable walking around in 85 degree weather. I cannot imagine running around in triple digit weather. The hottest race I've ran in was in the low 90's... the 2004 LA Marathon. That was ridiculously hot enough for me.

The Future
I'm planning to make my second attempt at completing an ultra with the Santa Monica Mountains 50k in November. I have friends running the Noble Canyon 50k in September. But I'm not sure I can get my body ready by then. I think I should stick to my conservative plan. But we'll see... run or die, right? :)

Rock n Roll Seattle Marathon

Travel and Stuff
I took an early morning flight out of LAX to Seattle with Virgin America. I got there in a couple of hours. I took the fairly new Link light rail to the Stadium station and walked over to the expo. I went through the expo, stopped by the WorldVision booth, and met Meb again. He's a really cool guy. I ended up signing up next year's Seattle RnR race for $40 off and the DisneyWorld Goofy's marathon and a half challenge. I met up with my friend Ryan to go eat sushi. Too bad we couldn't find one open for lunch. Instead we ate at Pho Hoa.

Visiting my friend at the WorldVision booth

"Free" bag for signing for the Goofy's marathon and a half challenge

Met Meb again... great athlete, great guy!

Carbo-loading at Pho Hoa

Afterward we met up with Sam, who ran Seattle as his 31st marathon this year. He will be running a total of 60 this year for Train4Autism. Here's Sam's website: OperationJack. I usually sleep early, so I wished them both a good race and headed north to my hotel. On my way there I stopped by Walgreens to pick up cookies, water, and some juice. This year I stayed at The Roosevelt. I took a quick nap and went back out looking for some sushi. I had thought about eating at a kaiten sushi restaurant across the street from my hotel, but I decided to go for quality sushi and walked over to Shiro's Sushi. I lucked out, there was one seat left at the sushi bar. I ate my usual picks: toro, mirugai, hamachi, amaebi, geso, albacore, and a salmon skin temaki.

Pre-race
I walked over to the Westin to catch the bus to the starting line in Tukwila. I met a couple of Loma Linda Lopers on the bus. When we got to the starting area I met and hung out with 2 marathon maniacs, Ed from Hawaii and Ponytail from Arkansas. I also got to meet the guy who takes crazy photos, Dave from Chicago. I also happen to spot Ryan and his friend Jennifer a few minutes before the start of the race.

Pre-race photo with some maniacs

1st Half
I started off in the front of my corral. Ran as comfortably as possible. Few people ran ahead of me and I was smart to not follow them. After getting my first mile split, I knew I was going a bit fast. I made sure not to speed up during the steady climb all the way through mile 5. Mile 6 was a huge downhill. Once again I started feeling discomfort in my right ankle at around mile 8. This was when the 3:40 pace group started coming up to me. I hung with them for about a mile and then I had to let them go since I still do not have the endurance. I felt that the pace would be really comfortable if I could get my ankle back to 100%. I wasn't pushing very hard but the lower back was getting tight. So with the ankle and the back I stuck to the usual plan... a slow 2nd half. While on the Lake Washington Bridge, I was able to see my friends Ryan and Sam.
1: 7:52
2: 7:58
3: 8:13
4: 8:32
5: 9:11
6: 7:44
7: 8:17
8: 9:09
9: 8:35
10: 8:47
11: 10:18
12: 9:16
13: 11:02
13.1: 1:55:59

2nd Half
I slowed down a lot, more than I expected. I used the same refueling plan as San Diego, but I started feeling nauseous when I took my next scheduled PowerGel. I tried to push on and switched to drinking Cytomax only for carbs. But by mile 17, I knew it wasn't working. I was starting to get light headed and was having the feeling of diarrhea coming on. I walked most of the next 2 miles trying not to pass out and crap my shorts. I tried to stick to my plan for the most part. I took my salt at regular intervals and tried to run a little for the next 2 miles. But then at mile 21, it happened again... nausea, light headed, and feeling the squirts coming on. I eventually made my way to the median divider to sit down before entering the viaduct tunnel. I was getting really dizzy. This was when I decided to go back to taking the gels. I would rather risk throwing up and crapping my shorts instead of passing out and taking a ride with the EMT. I would walk a little right after taking my gel and salt to let the stomach settle before running. I guess it worked out ok since I was able to recover enough to speed up a little and get to the finish without any unfortunate accidents.
14: 9:28
15: 11:07
16: 11:44
17: 14:07
18: 18:21
19: 13:12
20: 13:21
21: 17:47
22: 16:08
23: 13:43
24: 12:47
25: 12:07
26: 12:39
26.2: 1:36
Finish: 4:53:05

Post-race
It was good to get a feeling of what it's like to run at a 3:35 - 3:40 marathon pace. The ankle is getting better, but I need to get off of the maniac bus. I'm pretty sure everything will be solved once I am able to work on my endurance. It's just too much to ask my body to run 26.2 miles when my longest runs have been less than 12 miles. I finished about 40 minutes slower than what I planned. Anyway, I hung out with Steve at the finish area for a little bit. I then had to get back to my hotel to clean up and eat with my friend from college.

Gordon Biersch

We ate at Gordon Biersch. I had a burger and a schwarzbier. Good stuff. Then I was knocked out for the "night" at around 6ish. So early, but I was pooped from the marathon and had to catch the first train the next morning to catch my flight home.

Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon

Expo - Friday
I normally attend the Friday expo when I run the San Diego RnR Marathon. But this year I was actually planning to attend on Saturday and just spend the night in a hotel. But when they finally released that Kara Goucher was going to be there on both days, I just had to be there on Friday. The expo would be a zoo on Saturday which could possibly hinder me from finally meeting her. So off I went to the expo on Friday. There was a huge line waiting to get into the expo. As soon as it opened, I picked up my race packet. Then I donated 4 pairs of shoes that just had to go. Then I planted myself in the front row and waited for Kara to show up.

She's just a normal girl, very approachable person, and never once acting like a diva. She was taller than I'd expected. It was also very cool to talk to her husband, Adam. I asked him when he was going to take a shot at the marathon. He said he'd like to one day. I think he's still injured.

Introduction

Kara Goucher being interviewed for RunCenter

Picture on stage with Kara

Signed magazine and shirts I picked up from the expo

She signed my magazine before the interview. Afterward I got a picture with her on the stage. I stopped by The RunRacing table to say hi to Danica. Then I quickly went through the expo. Within about 5 minutes I had signed up for the San Antonio RnR Marathon and next year's San Diego RnR Marathon. Economy stimulated! I drove up to Costa Mesa and ate ramen at Santouka.

Expo - Saturday
I drove back down to attend day 2 of the marathon expo. It was much crazier and more super packed than Friday. I made sure that I wasn't going to stay long or else I'd spend way too money. I ended up buying some black Injinji micro socks and their new compression toe socks. I figured I'll just wear that instead of socks plus calf sleeves, but only when it's really cold. I'm convinced that they don't help that much to be wearing them when it's warm.

Danica working the RunRacing booth

The legendary ultra-marathoner, Pam Reed

I bought another pair of Mizuno mustangs. I love those shorts. Got them in black again. Economy stimulated again! On my way out I ran into the legendary Pam Reed. She was running the treadmill for training or something. From my picture with her, I realized that I've been getting skinnier. I might need to start wearing size small t-shirts. My shorts were pretty much falling off. I keep forgetting to wear a belt.

The last meals
I drove over to the Mitsuwa in Kearny Mesa to eat lunch. For good luck in the race, I ate a katsudon at Kayaba. I've had better. I will have to try something else next time. Then I headed over to my hotel. I stayed at the Hampton Inn. Not too bad... it had a small fridge and free internet. I got my stuff ready for the race and accidentally took a nap while watching a movie. I think it was Batman Returns.

I met Glenn (blogger) back at Mitsuwa to eat ramen at Santouka. I guess I can't get enough of that place! We talked a little bit about each other's training and how the Rock n' Roll races have sort of grown out of control... especially in how much they'll be charging runners in the upcoming years. I think all of their races will be at least $100 next year. I'll run San Diego every year. The only other 2 races that I will consider running after this year are Las Vegas and Country Music. But other than those 3 races, they've essentially priced me out of their races.

Pre-Race Shenanigans
I got myself to Qualcomm Stadium a little after 3:30am. There was barely any cars in the parking lot. I took my time to gather my stuff and boarded the shuttle. Turns out I could've waited another 30mins and still would've gotten to the starting area sooner. The bus driver was lost from the get go. First he drove the wrong way when he was trying to exit the stadium. Then when he turned around and got directions, everything was fine? No! We got into downtown San Diego, but I noticed that we were headed towards the convention center. The park's the other way dude. Then he had us heading west. He signaled the dispatch, but continued to drive in circles. Eventually he started heading in the right direction. We came to a road block. The guard there initially didn't allow our driver to cut across from 5th Ave. to 6th Ave., but one of the event traffic controllers spotted our rogue bus and bailed us out by telling the guard to let us through so we could be dropped off at the park.

Fun stuff.

I used a portapotty and waited by my UPS truck. Ran into a maniac friend Joel. At about 40 minutes before starting time, I dropped off my gear bag and headed towards corral 5. On my way GrapevineRunner (RWOL) spotted me... first time meeting him. I lined up at the potty line for one last time just outside my corral. I spotted Lifesabeach (RWOL) while waiting in that long line. I made it with 10 minutes to spare. I squeezed into my corral and shortly thereafter we were off.

First Half
My goal for this race was to finish at 4:30 and see how fast I could run the first half. I started off running at what felt like an easy pace. Turns out it was an 8:10 pace. I must have sped up during mile 4 because that included a walk break. After I saw the split for mile 5, I knew I had to slow down. I saw Lifesabeach, James, and Howard on this short out and back section near mile 7. James of course told me to slow down. I should not be catching up to either him or Howard because they started in corrals 2 and 3 respectively. So at mile 7 when I took my 2nd walking break, I made sure that I started up slowly. I kept it in the 9s for a while. Going up the 163 was a pain in the butt only because it was an obstacle course full of walking half marathoners. They need to rope them off next year. Adam spotted me from the sideline... this was a good section to get some encouragement. I got to the halfway mark faster than I've ever ran any half marathon. What baffled me was that I could not run faster 6 days ago at Laguna Hills.
1: 8:10
2: 8:10
3: 8:13
4: 8:10
5: 7:39 oops
6: 8:22
7: 8:58
8: 9:00
9: 8:57
10: 9:32
11: 9:24
12: 8:29
13: 9:30
Halfway: 1:53:32

Second Half
I stopped to fill up my water bottle. Here was when my back started giving me trouble. First I was passed by Noel. Then Teatime (blogger) spotted and passed me at around mile 16. My back had already seized up so I told her it might be a 4:50 kind of day for me. The right hip was giving me problems as well. I'm guessing it's an IT band issue since it only shows up when I get into the higher mileage. I kept plugging away at about 11 min pace until I hit the wall at around mile 20 somewhere on the dreaded bike path. Everything started to hurt. I saw Charlie (RWOL) cheering as I was entering Fiesta Island. Apparently I was so out of it, I didn't even see Wayne (RWOL). I started to feel better during this loop. Almost got taken out by a guy on a bicycle near mile 24. I was even lucky enough to come up to an empty portapotty. I filled up my bottle for the final 2 miles or so. I tried to speed up, but I couldn't sustain anything. I would run. Stop. Run some more over and over until I saw the mile 26 sign. I ran hard for the finish and as soon as I crossed I went over to the side to lean up against the fence. Before the medical aids spotted me... I gathered myself, grabbed a medal, and headed towards the ice cold towels.
14: 11:04
15: 9:59
16: 11:01
17: 11:01
18: 10:43
19: 11:02
20: 12:46
21: 13:46
22: 13:30
23: 13:00
24: 12:47
25: 12:58
26: 12:07
26.2: 1:42
Finish: 4:30:08

In this race, I took a salt cap every hour to begin with then I took it more frequently as the day got hotter and the cramps started creeping into my legs. I took 1 Powergel per hour but near the end I was taking one every 30 minutes. I think I've gotten the salt replacement and hydration figured out since none of my muscles locked up.

Post Race Shenanigans
I headed over to the food area and ran into Noel again. I got a bottle of water and a Cytomax. We went over to the gear trucks and waited for our friend Oksie to finish. After we met up with Oksie we went over to catch the shuttle to the trolley station. While in the huge line which wrapped around at least 10 times, my legs were screaming from the lactic acid. I just wanted to sit down or walk around... anything but stand around in a long line. I ate my electrolyte jelly beans just to distract myself from the burn. It was nice to finally sit down in the shuttle. We saw lots of people walking to the trolley station.

When we got off of the shuttle, we encountered a huge mass of people waiting at the station. Once we got on the trolley, it was a pleasant ride to Qualcomm. It was a short walk to our cars. They need to figure out a better way to deal with the finish line and parking logistics.

I ate at Niko Express in Tustin. It may look like a Japanese food stand but it's Korean. It's in a food court next to the Freshia supermarket. I ordered their sashimi on salad and rice (hwe dup bap).