Ran with the arlsbad training group. I attended an Office Christmas party on Friday night with an open bar, so I was a little worried about running 18 miles on Saturday. I ran with a sub-8:30 group for most of the way and then the last few miles at about race pace. The course followed the marathon route. There was a hill up to the airport that seem to drag on for at least 2 miles. It was nice coming down it. In the marathon, I believe you run the hill at about mile 7 or 8, but we were running it much later in our training run. The last hill up to the park (not part of the marathon course) was a challenging last mile. Some of the other runners said it was very similar to Heartbreak Hill in Boston. If that is true, then its a great hill to finish all the runs on. | 