Becky has always wanted to run a race at sea level so for Christmas she got me a trip to San Diego to run a half marathon. What she didn't realize was that she picked a race with a crazy amount of hills. We flew in to Long Beach on Thursday morning and enjoyed a nice run along the beach. On Friday we went to Disneyland and did an insane amount of walking. We relaxed for the monst part on Saturday before driving the course. It was shocking how much uphill there was. We were both kind of psyched out.
On the morning of the race, I warmed up with an easy mile. Legs felt pretty good. Original goal was under 1:30 but revised it to 1:35 after I saw all of the hills. There were about 1,500 runners so it was very crowded at the start. First 3/4 of a mile was downhill (meaning a nice uphill finish). The race announcer proclaimed that what goes down must come up and I quickly realized we weren't in Utah anymore. First mile came in at 6:30 thanks to the downhill and felt very comfortable. I was holding back because I did not want to tear up my legs at the beginning. Second mile climbed 75 feet then dropped 25 feet. Split was 6:52 and I was surprised it was that fast and how good it felt. Third mile was a fun one. It was a 200 foot steady climb and I ran it in 7:34. I was consistently passing people and felt really strong. Everybody was breathing really heavy and my breathing was not labored at all. I guess this is where living at altitude was an advantage. The fouth mile started with a 25 foot climb then plummeted 124 feet. The downhill felt great and came in at 6:36. Mile 5 offered a little more variety with the ups and downs with a net 125 gain (6:50). Dropped off a cliff during the first 3/4 of mile 6 (200 feet) before climbing 100 feet over the last 1/4 mile (6:58). Seventh mile started with a 75 climb then it was flat for a couple of miles (6:56). Hit the half in exactly 45 minutes and knew I could negative split and come in under 1:30. Miles 8 and 9 were flat and came in at 6:30 and 6:33. Felt really good about holding a 6:30 on the flat secitons. Tenth had a 150 climb over 1/2 mile. I started to really work the legs and moved past a couple of runners. A real boost to the confidence. I knew once I crested this hill, I would have a couple miles of extreme downhill that I could take advantage of. Finished with a 7:11 and then put the roller skates on. Ran mile 11 in 6:07 and 12 in 6:34 while passing a couple more runners. Now it was time for the fun uphill finish. I started up the hill and saw a runner ahead. Shifted into my climbing gear (short, quick strides) and felt like I was floating up the hill. Slowly moved past the runner and kept on moving. Ran that one in 6:46 which I was thrilled with considering it had a 150 foot climb. Pushed hard through the finish and crossed in 1:28:30.
Very happy with the result. A bit surprised I was able to handle the hills as easily as I did. Guess those runs up to Mueller Park are paying off. Ran back to run Becky up the last hill. She did really well, coming in at 1:44. Of course, I had to re-learn the lesson that my "words of encouragement" are not received very well at the end of a race. Who knew that telling somebody that this was not the time to relax when they are ready to puke would be taken negatively?
It was a great weekend getaway topped off with a great race. Now it's time to really focus on the last few weeks of Boston training. | 