Last weekend I ran the La Jolla Half Marathon and beat my goal time of 1:40:00 and set a new personal record!
On Saturday, to prepare for the event the following day, I woke up early and ran five miles at Nobel Park in the morning. This has been my daily routine for the past two months. I showered, put on a thick layer of sunscreen, and went to Tomoko’s birthday BBQ party at La Jolla Shores Beach. Though it is recommended to eat more carbohydrates the day before an endurance race, I ate a hamburger, a hotdog, and some beef. Legs still sore from the morning workout, I played a little volleyball in between all of this eating. Then I went home, showered, and got ready to go to dinner at my boss’s house.
Dinner was delicious Persian food with 3-4 types of rice, and again some BBQ chicken and ground beef. I ended it with a large serving of cake, leaving me bloated through the night but full of energy for the next day’s race.
On Sunday I woke up at 4:20AM after six hours of sleep. I put on my clothes, and drove with Amber and Mary to La Jolla Cove, where we parked and took a shuttle to the Del Mar Fairground where the race start was. We had to wait for 2 hours in the cold, and after half an hour I was sitting down on the street holding my legs to try to stay warm. But shivering in spite of the effort.
I started running with Anil and Vijay but lost them after a few miles as I got warmed up. First mile was 8:30, then 8:00, then 7:30. I maintained a steady pace until I reached the Torrey Pines hill, the half mile which was the most challenging feature of the course. It was the equalizer, and as I came up I smiled at the camera crew because I knew what was ahead. I kept a steady pace and remarkably did not stop running at the end, even managing to pass a few people. By the top of the hill, I had averaged an 8 minute pace overall, so I knew I was on track for a decent finish.
The trail slowly sloped uphill after the Torrey Pines hill, and then slightly downhill until just before La Jolla Shores Beach. I gulped down water at the stops every two miles (surprisingly there were plenty of water stops). When I reached La Jolla Shore Beach I was expecting some downhill, and I was confident on the downhill. Unfortunately, I was a bit overconfident and very unprepared for the slope. The downhill went down for maybe half a mile, and once I started going at top-speed I couldn’t stop! Each step was pain as I struggled to get my legs underneath me in time to catch my fall. At this point I was running with the elites, so there weren’t many other people around me, and those around me were matching me step for step.
By the next mile marker I realized I had run around a 7-minute mile including that downhill. The next few miles were around 8 minutes, but I was on track for meeting my goal. Each step got harder as I ran, so I tried to conserve energy by drafting behind some other runners.
I reached to near La Jolla Cove and saw the finish line across the grass. I started sprinting at top-speed and made it to the finish. I was so out of breath at the end that I had to lie down on the grass for a few moments to recover.
I made a new personal record for a half marathon of 1:38:57! Thanks to my running buddies and running group.
Coming up next is the San Diego Rock’n'Roll Marathon on May 31st, 2009.
http://www.rnrmarathon.com/home.html
I’m also thinking of trying for the Medoc Marathon in 2010.
http://www.marathondumedoc.com/
I’m hoping to qualify for Boston in 2010. Atlanta and Chicago are my backups in case I don’t make a 3:10:00 by the San Diego R’n'R. Wish me luck!
