Begin part of my tradition I always try to eat a bowl of Katsu Don (Japanese Pork Cutlet Rice Bowl) before a big race (half/full marathon). Since the first place I go to was closed and the Katsu Don of this second place doesn't taste that good, I felt something bad may happen.
Katsu Donat KourakuAfter having a tasty dinner I went back to the hotel to prepare. I lay everything out on my bed so I know I don't miss anything. Since I am a backpacker, I am pretty good at bringing everything I need. If this is your first marathon, consider coming up with a check list.
Do everything you can such as pinning your BIB to your jerseyI set 4 alarms at 3:30 am and I check out the hotel around 4:15 am. I got to the parking lot at maybe around 5:00 am. I recheck everything (because I can't go back to my car) and I hoop on the bus at maybe 5:15 am
While we were near the start point I can see the pacific ocean from the bus while the full moon was still out. The moon reflection from the ocean is just awesome. That scene itself worth all the trouble.
So I got out of the bus and my first business is to go to the porta-potty as I don't want to get into the porta traffic jam later. After I went to the porta-potty I sit aside to finish my breakfast and put on my sunscreen. Bring a headlamp definitely help... you can find your stuff and you know what you are touching in the porta-potty because it can be very dark inside! I stronger recommend people to bring a cheap headlamp with them and put it in their bag check in.
looking at San Diego Bay from the Cabrillo National Monument (Starting Point)By now the sun has came up a little bit so I walked around and do some sightseeing. The good thing about being at the start line early is that you have enough time where you can walk around and do stuff. Some people just sit there waiting for the race to start... why not take the advantage and walk around as a warm up.
After I finish my walk I start to jog just a little bit and then I started stretching. By now there are @#$#$ number of people near the starting line and I decided to go pee once again.
@#$# number of people near the starting line, click to enlargeLuckly there are lot of porta-potty for the us so the wait line isn't that long. In LA marathon we have 30,000 people and we have like... 30 restroom? In AFC I waited maybe 5 minutes. In LA I waited for 45 minutes (end up not having time to warm up and injured myself... I think because of that). Anyway, enough with the potty thing. With 15 minutes to go I start my warm up run and do more stretching. Then I make my way to the starting line.
I know my teammate Emil and Partick are running this race but I couldn't find them so I started the race by myself. Emil caught me from behind after like 2 miles. We just said hi and bye because he is trying to finish the half in under 2 hours. I continue and talk to some TNT people when I bump into them. Early in the race I know I am sweating a lot so drink extra water. I however did not take enough salt. I was going strong until I hike mile 6 something. I took a short walk break to refill water and eat a some luna blocks. I continue the race and I was feeling slow. I started to do run/walk ratio and the walk really cool me down.
I was getting tired by mile 9. I think it's a combination of the heat and food intake. I usually eat a lot more on my other half marathon but today I wasn't eating that much. I think that has something to do with myself being tired... plus it was hot. So at mile 9 I started to pick people to keep pace. at around mile 10 I notice this girl was running next to me and I didn't pay much attention. I continue to run and I bumped into the mile 10 water station plus freshly grilled hamburger... and did I mention it was free!
I am going to do AFC next year just for the hamburger!!!I was doing good on time and I was hungry... so I ate one piece (1/4) and move on. Guess what, I don't know if is the hamburger or the luna block, I got my second wind and start running like crazy. That eventually die down and I was doing the run walk thing again. I wish I had more hamburgers!!!
So now I was at mile 11 something and there is nothing but uphill. I took a quick look at the uphill and I decided to use my hiker's walk. I combined power walking with a kind of steps that mountaineers use to travel steep snow mountain to get the speed of power walking while and being as efficient as I can going up hill. This works like magic. I am much faster than all walkers and I would say I am almost as fast as some people running.
When I got up to the big hill on the sixth ave I realized that it was the same place that I started the San Diego Rock N Roll marathon back in June 1. I was amazed!!! By now I was ready to run toward the finish. I thought to myself... good job on the uphill. However, when I started to run my leg start to cramp up. I know right away that I sweat too much salt. I didn't want to stop and stretch so I continue to push forward. At this point I am just taking my time. After a while I walked into to a church and I took the following picture. Right after that I feel a little dizzy. I saw a few people black out during the run and I don't want to be one of them. I took a moment to recollect myself and I was ok.
The Church looking buildingAt I walk toward the finish line someone tab me on the shoulder. It was a girl and she encourage me by asking me if I want to run with her. I was like sure and I started running with her. I am feeling better at this point and we both see the finish line. I asked her if she want to sprint to the finish line and she asked me to go ahead. I finished the race at a bit before her and I gave her a high five at the finish line.
Before I go on I want to say thank you to this girl. This girl encourage me to finish and I didn't even say thank you. I even left her for a spirit finish when she was the one who invited me to run with her. I couldn't even try to look her up on the result because I didn't get her name and I didn't look at her BIB number. It's weird how I was taking a picture of this church and then this girl appear. I am going to name her as my guardian angel.
Well after I high-five my guardian angel I left right away to look for the triple crown tent. After a long time I finally found it and I waited for my medal. I wasn't that excited when I got the medal, I am just glad to get it over with.
I was disappointed because I didn't bump into Patrick and Emil after the race (After I got home I realized Emil did make it under 2 hours and Patrick was only like 1 minute behind me after I finish. Patrick is faster but he started later than me. I am happy for them both)
I actually walked around the finish area this time (first time ever) and got some goodies. I think went to the Island Hamburger at Carlsbad just because the burger I had during the race was so good. I was so sleepy (not tired) I fell asleep while I was waiting for my food. The waitress got freak out a little bit because she thought I was sick. I told her I was just sleepy.
I knew I am going to fall asleep again so I park at the rest area to sleep. Not wanting others to steal stuff from me I only open my window half way and crack the other 3. I was getting hot and I popped open my instant icepack (something I always carry in my check bag to ice my knee... or other people's knee). The icepack make a big difference and I fell asleep.
I got up I don't know when, and I start driving again. Soon I realized I was still sleepy but I made it home ok.
It's was an interesting weekend. I think I am too goal driven this time. I consider myself lucky for not getting into any car accident. I'll definitely try to run this race next year. It's a beautiful race and I want to beat my time next year. Plus I want to see if I will bump into my guardian angel again.
My medals: Carlsbad, La Jolla, AFC, and the Triple Crown 
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