San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon (06/06/2010)

New personal record: 1:46:45
Overall standing: 670/13573
Man Age Group(35-39) : 75/668
Man Age(38) : 16



First of all, I needed to say "thank you" to : Jason and Janice, Allen and Ellen
and especial thanks to Paul who woke up at 3:00am and came with us at 4:00am.
It took unusual courage and will to do that...

The decision of making this long trip seemed to a distant past. I couldn't hardly remember.
Well, we did it anyway.

The Rock N Roll race series was always my favorite, it had the best race service
among all the races I've ever joined. Yes, best service meant a lot of free food
and free beer for runner !!
So, here I was, 460 miles from home, and of course, I  always carried extra bag with me in the race, ready for the post-race snacks and drinks.

Unlike the Rock N Roll San Jose, the arrangement in San Diego was a little complicated. Everyone (runner and family) was encouraged to park the car in Qualcomm stadium, and runner would take the shuttle to the starting line. Family would take Trolley train first, then take another shuttle to the finish line. That's why we needed to get up at 3:00am....

At first, I was really worried that my wife would need to take Allison to go all the trouble
by themselves to get to the finish line. Thank to Paul, who was willing to go with us
on the race day that I felt so relieved they could make it without any problem.
It made me feel a little bit guilty that we had to wake up the kid at 3:00am just for
her father's pleasure ...



Qualcomm Stadium, all the runners were lined up for shuttle


Just got off the bus


The starting line was in Balboa Park, there were more than 20,000 people for this race,
I could only say WOW, when I saw the countless people resting around the
starting line area, I had to be very careful not to step on the people on the ground!!


Starting Line rest area


people lined up waiting for massage

pre race massage ?? No kidding !! Wouldn't you fall asleep for that ?? I would, if I had one.
I preferred post race massage instead, but there was none.


People started to gather in the corral area. 




taking off!!The fun began, let's rock and roll....

The people-boost took effect again. Somehow, when a lot of people ran together,
there was a invisible force to push you faster.  My first 5 miles splits was around
7:45 min/mile, and I was not feeling too fast at all. Maybe it was the distraction or
something else. It was about 45 sec faster than my training speed.


Well, I had to admit, the speed was manageable, but couldn't say comfortable.
I could barely remember we ran into the downtown, and passed some museums, and parks.
All I remembered was I kept watching my speed, and controlled my running form.


The coolest part of this route was, we could actually run on the highway !!


We were running on high way


we were caught up by full marathoner lead group

The routes for full and half marathon were merged in here, this was the first time
I could personally see the lead elite runners this close !! Some crazy idea suddenly
came into my mind, I tried to catch up their speed, to see how fast they actually were.
Well ... as you could expect, it was very frustrated, it was like I was driving my Subaru and racing with a Lotus..
The Lotus kept going further, and I was still in the starting line, totally different league.



7 miles, still on the high way

After we got off the high way, around mile 10, I hit the "wall".  It was kind of feeling that
suddenly all my energy was drained away. Usually, my GU power should take effect, because
in the race, I took one around mile 4, and the second one around mile 9.
My legs were so heavy,  and I was panting heavily, feeling exhausted. The little devil started
to talk : You needed to stop, took a walk, no big deal ..
I hated this feeling, it was awful , but on the other hand, it was not a stranger to me.
Somehow, I just needed to let go my mind, and got it over with, and kept running, running.


Hey, where the hell was the beautiful view the official website promised me ?
It was mile 12 already, all I could see was gray sky, cars, and running people.


Mile 13, I was so exhausted and dragging myself. I didn't even notice my wife and Paul
were right beside me , taking this photo.




Springing to the finish line.



finish line looking back.



taking the trolley train back to stadium



on the train





Another Rock N Roll was collected !!!

Summary:
I found that my regular training distance was too short, it could carry me to the
finish line, but can't sustain my initial pace long enough. The speed after mile 10 was
terrible, it dropped to 8:50 ~ 9:00 min/mile.
I was a little disappointed about the race route, especially the half marathon, there was no beautiful view at all. It seemed all the best parts were in full marathon route.
In fact, they changed the route this year, last year's route was circling the mission bay
and passing two cross ocean bridges!!
Well, it gave me the reason to train for marathon again. Should I ?

Garmin GPS data:

Tilden Park (Grizzly Peak) Trail Run -- 21km (04/10/2010)

Me at the check-in tent.

This is my second trail race of the year. I had a good excuse last time for dropping from 11 miles to 5 miles in Woodside Trail, Hepatitis A was really killing me, but this time, I am fully recovered,  I have to give all I could give. The success of running the whole PG&E trail in San Antonio Ranch  somewhat gave me a little confidence about tackling hardcore trail running.

"As long as I keep a steady pace, though slower, I might still manage

to the finish line without burning out all my fuel, or get a cramp

on my leg again" I said to myself.

The problem about the race is: sometimes, or I should say most of the

time people will get too excited and forget about

there is a long trail ahead with unknown condition. Haha I am one of

them. The result, as you could imagine, running will become walking and

finally got passed by a lot of people. That will be quite frustrated ..

So, my goal this time is : steady pace, don't get too crazy, and try to keep running. Shouldn't be too hard . I guess.

Back to the race day. I got up around 4:30AM, still quite sleepy.

I checked in all my gear, had a light breakfast, and headed out right away.

It was a clear sky but the wind was blowing hard.

5:30AM I picked u Yi at his place and headed north.

It was still very dark outside ,but I like this kind of feeling, smell like an excited adventure.

6:40AM, after about 1 hour drive on HWY 880 and turned into HWY 80, the stupid GPS wanted us get on to Hwy 24. The map must be too old, Yi told me.

So we totally ignored the robotic sound from GPS and continued HWY 80 until

we hit the exit : Bucknan Ave

The winding road took us into a residential area with a very steep climbing.

My impression about Berkeley and Oakland was really bad from the TV news lately,

so I was kind of at the edge of my seat, and watched out for any movement outside.

To my surprise, it was a pretty good neighborhood, beautiful and quiet,

Within 10 minutes we found out way out and the entrance of the park was on the

left of the road.

6:55AM.

The cloud was darker here and the temperature dropped to 50F. It was not as cold

as the CIM race. But this unseasonably cold and humid, I still needed to continue moving to keep warm.

7:30AM race started right on time. Yi will transform to a non-stop train after the race starts.

and I was right about him. After about 10 minutes, he was out of my sight totally..

Who said "I am going to take it easy today, and take more pictures..."

I just can't keep up with his "easy pace" at all..

The trail condition was not good (it is a trail running, what do I expect)

About 2 minutes after we started, there was a big muddy section right in the middle

of the trail. I hesitated for about 2 seconds about where to land my foot, and all the people behind me already passed me and went forward without any delay.

What the hell was I doing, I came here to get dirty, not kept clean!

No second thought, I followed the crowd and headed forward.

Wet shoes on the steep climb trail, not a very pleasant feeling, the steady pace strategy didn't work at all, it became steady walk and then slowly walk and I was gasping for breath already. Where did all my endurance go ?

It seems forever to get to the top of the long hill, on the first short downhill, I finally could catch some breath, but right at the moment, I found I lost one of my power gel.. Oh my God ..

I was planning to enjoy my seasonal limited edition vanilla gingerbread GU for the returning route, looks like I had no choice to get to it now...

To the top of the hill , snapped some pictures , and also got passed by three people ..

Around 4 miles, I reached the first top, and followed by a steep downhill to the aid station.
600 ft drop in 0.5 mile ! It was kind of slope you wished you wouldn't need to climb back again.
When I was descending, I really prayed for not coming back from here on my return, and what do you know,  my dream "came true", a really bad one.

 
The bottom of the first V is the aid station.



somewhere on the trail

I didn't remember how did I wander to the second top of the hill , but when I saw the beautiful view
there, I almost forgot about my shaking legs and hunger. It was dark gray color background , but with some imagination, I could realize how beautiful it is when the sky is clear.


San Pablo Reservoir on the left, and Briones Reservoir on the right.

Then, it was the happy time , around 2.8 miles easy downhill, I could finally smiled and enjoyed my speed up for the first time in this race !!
However, the happiness didn't last long,  when I saw the aid station again, I knew the bad dream started . "This is the last hill, and after that, it will be all downhill to the finish line" The guy said.
It was "the" hill, I just almost tumbled down.

There were 4 people at the aid station and we took off together after a quick refuel with the snacks.
I followed a guy on my way up and kept my focus on his feet, and the two girls ahead just talked their way up to the top, then disappeared. Again, gasping for air , more air, even with my headphone on, I could still hear my heartbeat bumping loudly.


The last 4 miles downhill seems never end, turn after turn, up and down, down and up, I was all by myself, and at one moment I felt like I was lost. Then I found the ribbon again and a sign said "To the finish line" . I was relieved. Finally, I saw the familiar mud and ran right though it, and back to the paved road again. Finish line !!


my running through finish line moment and Yi was taking photo for me.


The finish line.

Final time, 2:41:05 on my watch, and another beautiful view of the race -- post race snacks!!



my steady pace strategy failed, but I didn't get a cramp on my legs !! Not very happy with the time, but at least I reached one of my goals. So, where is the next race ?