A Good Day and Two Medals For Me

Ran America's Finest City Half Marathon today; the final race of the Half Marathon Triple Crown. It was a beautiful course starting at the most Southwestern point in the continental United States, the Cabrillo National Monument. I'd been there before, but it always impresses me. The views across the bay to San Diego and to Mexico are postcard perfect.

The race didn't start until 7 a.m. and there was no marine layer to keep things cool. It was hot out there. The race started at 7, but we had to be a Balboa Park to catch the bus to Cabrillo a 5 a.m. Cabrillo is part of that National Parks Service and there simply isn't room for 8,000 people and their cars. Every single runner must take a bus from Balboa Park. That said, I really wish that they'd start this race at 6 am and have us get to the buses at 4. I hate the early morning, but I hate running in the heat more.

The first two miles are a gentle uphill that's followed by 2 perfect miles of downhill running through the Point Loma neighborhoods. Oh, I lurve me some downhill. This was the only part of the course that I had never run before and it was lovely. Tons of families and kids were out to cheer on the runners. I love that. It makes running so much fun.

Then it was on to the familiar territory of Harbor Island, the Embarcadero, downtown San Diego and the (dreaded) 6th Ave. hill. Amusingly, 6th Ave was nothing. All those Monday nights running up and down that hill and it was just nothing on race day (even at mile 12 of the run).

At the end of the race I got my America's Finest City Half Marathon Finisher's Medal. It is a lovely medal. A nice medal is normally is very pleasing to me. However, I what really wanted my Triple Crown finisher medal. This was race three; I did them all. Give Me My Medal. I had to walk another mile to get it and I was ridiculously stressed out about it. Joanne and I finally found the tent for Triple Crown Finishers. The volunteer gave me the medal and asked me if it was worth it. I knew the answer - after months of work starting in January at the Carlsbad Half Marathon, to the steamy, pukefest that was the La Jolla Half, through the training doldrums of the summer getting ready for today - yes.


Yes, it was totally, completely and absolutely worth it.

AFC Half Marathon Preview Run

Tonight we ran the 6th Street hill that is mile 11-12 the America's Finest City Half Marathon. Considering all the miles I've covered around Balboa Park, it's amazing that I missed the 6th Street climb. It's a bugger even though it's only a mile with about 300 feet of elevation.

There are some real corkers in the middle of the climb - spots where it shoots up quickly. It's not nearly the beatdown that mile 6 of the La Jolla Half Marathon, but still tough. Of course, the hill in AFC comes at the end of the run. Hopefully, the long downhill and flat will give me plenty of easy miles before the long climb toward the finish line.


It was hard, but I made it without stopping. I was "running" pretty slowly in parts. Guess what I'll be doing every Monday between now and August 17?

Calendar Management Skills Fail

I somehow managed to get behind on my training calendar and I haven't been doing enough running mileage to be fully prepared for San Francisco. Normally, I like to increase my long run by a mile a week. If I follow that plan, I'll have only run 10 miles before San Francisco. That's actually enough to do the race, but I really want to have 12 miles of running under my belt.

That means I need a more aggressive plan than bumping it up by a mile a week. Here's the new long run plan through the AFC Half Marathon in mid-August:
July 12 -9 miles (+2),
July 19 -10.5 miles (+1.5),
July 26 -12 miles (+1.5).
August 3 - 13.1 mile (+1.1). San Francisco Half Marathon
August 9 - 14.5 (+1.4)
August 17 - 13.1 (-1.1) America's Finest City Half Marathon

Of course, this is silliness. I can walk a full marathon. If I can't do the full distance running, I can always fall back on my walking to finish the race.

But I'll be really, really disappointed if I can't run the whole way.

Race Notes: La Jolla Half Marathon

Hot. It was so very hot. In fact, today was record setting heat. Bless Noel's heart. As we got out of the car this morning, she pointed off into the distance and said, "I think I see the marine layer!" It wasn't the cooling marine layer; it was heat squiggles. Some people do well in the heat. I am not one of them. If I was supposed be in direct sun and hot weather, then I wouldn't be so pale skinned. Given the choice of a full marathon in the cold or a half marathon in the heat, I'd take the cold every single time.

Here is the picture of the race for me using the brutal course elevation map.



A: Feel great. I'm hot, but I'm fast - just banking minutes for when the heat kicks it up a notch and I have to slow.

B: This is where I stopped to heave on the side of the path along with a lot of other runners in the middle of "The Hill". Before I got unwell, I knew it was going to happen. For a few minutes, I had black spots swimming in front of my eyes and my stomach was churning. Honestly, I couldn't wait to get sick so I'd feel better. It didn't work. Afterwards, I still felt puny.

C: What I'll call the "shocker vomit." I felt sick and got sick within seconds. No warning. I was sure I wouldn't finish at this point. Luckily I was close to the side of the road. About a minute later someone showered the runners with a garden hose. I love this person with my whole heart.

D: Someone who I won't name, but her initials are Lynne, met me here with ice cold beer. There is a place in Heaven for her, I'm sure. Normally, I'd pass on beer on the course. However, I was already sick and the beer was cold and wet. Plus, my stomach was completely empty. I've never enjoyed a beer more.

E: Steve and one of the cycle mentors rode up on his bike to check on me. I was in the full-on Bite-Me mode. Bite-Me mode is awful and it happens to everyone eventually. Steve has done enough endurance events to recognize the Bite-Me's. He checked on me, cheered me on for a minute and then rode away on his bike.

F: Stomach stabilizes. Damn if that beer didn't help! I started to feel good and strong. This is when I knew I'd finish. There is a special spot in Heaven for the people along the course who hosed down participants. I don't think I could have made it without a relief from the heat.

G: Flying. I'm flying. Here I start to be me again, cheering on other runners and walkers. I start having fun.

H: Princess St. hill - why? Why another hill? Why?

I: Go, go, go! Passing on your left. I'm sure a few people wanted to slap me when I passed them and I'm not talking about giving me a high five.

I'm sunburned and blistered, but I came home with this.

After the race we hung out in the shade of the post race beer garden. Traffic made it impossible to get out of La Jolla Cove and we decided to simply hang out there instead of getting in the car. We finally headed out after about hour. On our way out of La Jolla, we saw (what I hope) were the last few finishers turning onto the last mile. We cheered for them, but they were in the throes of complete Bite-Me. I doubt that they heard us.

Bend to My Will!

Why won't the weather cooperate with me? I need to have Sunday be a cold, cold day. Everyone is faster when the weather is chilly.

The forecast?

San Diego, Sunday April 27, 2008

85° F | 58° F
Average High Temperature: 69° F
Record High Temperature: 86° F

Yep, that 1 meager degree off the record high temp. Please, let there be wind.

Oh - and I just think this is so cool - there are always two cyclists who lead the pack of runners. The cyclists show the path of the course so that the lead runners don't get lost. Trust me, the pack would simply follow the leaders. It would be Moses in the desert out there. Any way, Steve is going to be one of the two cyclists this year. We may be the first couple in La Jolla Half Marathon history to have both the first and last finisher.

La Jolla - The Prep Work Continues

I'm starting to get a little worried about not completing the La Jolla Half Marathon within the required time frame for a medal. It's a hilly course and I haven't been training hard enough particularly on hills. Since this is the second race of the triple crown if I can't make it within the time frame, I'll be tanking on both the La Jolla medal and the Triple medal. That would be sucky.

The obstacle is that I have two more weeks of travel before the race. That always throws a wrench into my training schedule.

Really, I know that I can't get any stronger in the next 25 days. Also, I know I'm more than strong enough to complete the event. I'm worried that I may miss the finish time by a few minutes.

Race Notes: Carlsbad Half Marathon

Not a bad day, but not the race I was hoping to have. My goal was to break 3 hours, which for a walker is pretty darn good. Our training has been spotty for the last few weeks - we haven't really been doing long mileage. Other than last week's 10 mile training, I haven't done a training longer than 5 miles since the Pasadena event in December. To break 3 hours, I needed to maintain a pace of 13:43. That was certainly optimistic, but not unrealistic.

I think my race finish was about 3:05. Not horrible, but not what I wanted. I was nearly 25 seconds per mile over my target pace. Grrr.

However, it's good to remember that less the 8 months ago I had never done an event longer than 10K. That's a scant 6.2 miles, and to be honest my 5K and 10K days were long, long ago. To have come from where I was a year ago and to be able to crank out a half marathon with minimal training is quite an accomplishment.

Race Notes:

• Please, please, please learn to hydrate better the day before events. I was thirsty all day yesterday.
• Parking always takes forever at these events. Steve and I barely got there in time to go to the bathroom and queue for the start. We didn't really get to stretch. I did some high steps and some leg circles as we walked toward that start. That was not really enough stretching.
• Oatmeal is the perfect pre-event meal, particularly my beloved Coach's Oats.
• Until the final mile, never go faster than my optimal race pace. I've heard this a bunch of times. On Friday, I listened to a talk given by one of the "pace team" leaders and it really sunk in for me. Essentially for every minute you go faster than your optimal pace, your body is going to take that minute back and 3 more as a surtax later in the race.
• If I want to break 3 hours, I need to lose weight. Every extra pound forces me to work harder or go slower.
• Get a decent night of sleep. Going to bed at midnight and waking at 5:30 is no way to go into a race.