Encinitas Half Marathon 2018

Saturday 3/3
Before heading down to Moonlight State Beach to pick up my race packet, I swung by Disneyland in the morning for a half day visit. Per the usual, I stopped in Disneyland first to go on two of my favorite rides:
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Star Tours

Then I hopped over to Disney California Adventure Park to visit the AP corner over at Hollywood Land. I took a picture in front of a Food & Wine Festival backdrop and got an AP button. After I said hi to my friend who happened to also be at the park, I headed over to Guardians of the Galaxy ride to use my FastPass.

At first I wasn't planning on sampling any of the food. However it was lunch time, I was hungry, and I didn't feel like eating at Earl of Sandwich again. So I caved and bought the Sip and Savor Pass for $45. I started things off with the Korean BBQ beef short rib tacos at Hollywood Land. Then I headed over to the bulk of the food kiosks near the place soon to be known as Pixar Pier. I then got the avocado & pepper jack petite guac burger. I followed that up with a grilled Harris Ranch beef tenderloin slider. All three items were some of the best food that I've sampled at a Disney Food & Wine event!

Korean BBQ Beef Short Rib Tacos

Avocado & Pepper Jack Petite Guac Burger

Grilled Harris Ranch Beef Tenderloin Slider

On my way out of the park, I pick up a paper chef's toque. Then it was back to my car for the drive down to Encinitas. The drive was okay until the usual weekend traffic on the 5 freeway as I got into North San Diego County. Parking was kind of scarce, but I found some street parking on 3rd St between A St and B St.

It was a pretty quick and straight forward packet pick up process. I first looked up my bib number and moved over to the next table to get my bib. Then I walked over to the t-shirt tables to pick up my race shirt. Finally I was given a small burlap sack with some food and running related samples.

After picking up race packet, I walked around the small expo to check out the vendors. There wasn't anything that caught my eye, so I started heading out. On the way out, I noticed that their mile markers were pretty cool and each had unique artwork. I'm not much of a beach person, but it was nice to look at the ocean and the waves from close by. :)

On the way back to my car, I placed an order on my McDonald's mobile app. I then drove up to Oceanside. Once again, I was staying at the Ramada Oceanside motel. Before checking into my room, I stopped by the nearby McDonald's to pick up my order. Since it was still pretty early to be eating dinner, I took my time finishing my Grand Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with cheese, and fries. Before going to sleep I laid out the appropriate flat runner.

Flat runner

Sunday 3/4
As I hopped on the freeway to head down to Encinitas, I came across a pack of about 10 Porsches. They sounded and looked really cool traveling in a pack. I thought that perhaps a couple of my friends were part of that group. Turns out, they were not.

I arrived at the Encinitas Coaster Station at 6 am. The parking spots looked to be already half full. I took a little cat nap before walking over to the starting area. There was a little chill in the air, so I took with me a mylar blanket. Along the way, I came across Raul's Shack. A couple of my coworkers are really into watching DrDisRespect's live stream on Twitch, so if you're also into that, you would know the significance of this name. They have pretty good reviews on Yelp, so I will have to check them out next time when they're open.

DrDisRespect

They had a cache of portapotties at the Moonlight Overlook cul de sac at the end of C St. I got in line to use one before heading back up to the starting line are.

Portapotties at Moonlight Overlook

Start line

As the start of the race grew closer, I headed towards the start line. It was pretty cool to bump into John aka Pony Espresso, a LA Marathon legacy runner, before the start of the race. I also bumped into Charlie as he was talking to the 1:30 pacer.

CharliePro and the 1:30 pacer

I ended up sitting down at the curb near a couple of my announcer friends, Fitz and Rudy. You know, you run too many races when you have race announcers as friends! While waiting there, I bumped into a few of my half fanatic friends.

Fitz and Rudy!

The race started at 7:30 am. It started with a short but steep downhill down to highway 101. The turnaround point is a little past mile 2 at Avocado St. Then it was back up that short steep climb on 3rd St. As I turned onto C St, I saw that they were doing a little news piece on the side.

Can you spot me in the video?

From there the course zig-zagged its way to highway 101... 4th St, E St, 3rd St, down K St turning north on highway 101 for a short out and back. Then it was all the way down south on highway 101 to Plaza St for a short out and back at almost mile 9. My left ankle tendon was giving me trouble again by about mile 8. I slowed down the pace and was still able to keep moving without having to take extended walk breaks. I then traced my way back to the finish line at Moonlight State Beach. I thought I could get pretty close to a sub 1:50, but the rollers wore out my legs to the point that cramps were setting in during the last couple of miles.

Finish line

Finish: 1:52:07
Click here for my Garmin data.

After getting my finisher medal, I got lots of food and drinks which included chocolate milk, a boxed water, muffin, banana, a RXBAR, and some almond butter. The boxed water had a funny taste. They also gave us a mug for some hot cocoa. I ate the muffin and drank the chocolate milk before heading back to my car to go home.

Medal, mug, and post race goodies

For a second year race, I thought that it was well organized and had good value. Something that they could improve on was the finish area which was a bit tight and crowded. Between the finishers and spectators, it was hard to move around.

LA Chinatown Firecracker 10k 2018

Saturday 2/24
The packet pick up was scheduled to open at 10 am, so I drove out to the Sierra Madre Villa Metro station in Pasadena to take the Gold Line over to Chinatown. The first thing that I noticed when I got off at the Chinatown station was that the Blossom Plaza construction was finished. It looked pretty nice! I then walked up a block over to Broadway.

Gentrification of Chinatown

I was about 10 mins early, but they were okay with giving me my bib, race shirt, and drawstring bag. However the carbo load tables were not quite ready. They had me and other early birds line up against the railing. Just as with years past, it was a small doggy bag container with a small portion of noodles. Besides the noodle, there was not a whole lot of meat or anything. I actually had to add some soy sauce just to get some flavor.

Bib pick-up

Race shirt

Swag bag

Carbo-load

Doggy bag noodles

Fortune

After I was done eating the noodles, I walked around a little bit to check out the vendor booths. There wasn't much that interested me, but I did get a sample can of Yerba Mate. I then hopped back on the Metro Gold Line to head back home.

Bruce Lee statue

For lunch, I ate some more noodles over at the local noodle shop, NOODLEMii. After finishing lunch, I drove down to Brea to watch a new movie that had just been released, Annihilation. I pretty much will watch any movie that stars Natalie Portman. I enjoyed this movie in that it was somewhat similar to Arrival in pacing and story telling. However this movie was much weirder. I think I'll end up reading the book as most movie adaptations don't do the book any justice.

More noodles for lunch

Annihilation

After getting home from the movie, it was time to rest, relax, and lay out the flat runner for tomorrow's race. I decided to go with the appropriate Lunar New Year Disneyland Annual Passholder t-shirt that I had bought at Disney California Adventures during their Lunar New Year Festival.

Flat runner

Sunday 2/25
I got ready and rolled into the Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station at a little before 6:30 am. Once again, I took the Gold Line train over to Chinatown. The day started off a bit chilly so I wore arm sleeves as well as gloves. I arrived at the Chinatown Station about 10 minutes past 7 am. I walked over to the starting area to watch the opening ceremonies which included the lighting of the firecrackers. I made sure to stand far enough away just in case I was standing downwind. The firecrackers were loud!

Lighting the firecrackers

They were a bit behind schedule, so the 5k race started past the published 8 am start time. After the majority of the runners and walkers had crossed the timing mats, I made my way over to the portapotties to empty out the bladder before the start of the 10k race.

5k start line

Before lining up in the starting corral, I hung out a bit with Dexter who was one of the official race photographers. He was also running the 10k. I positioned myself about 2 or 3 rows from the front row. Per the usual, I saw Alberto the barefoot runner position himself in the very front. He's not a quick runner, but he told me that he starts in the front so that people don't step on his feet.

Dexter pulling double duty: official race photographer and 10k participant

10k start line

The race started about 7 minutes after the published 8:30 am start time. I could definitely sense the pent up energy from all of the participants standing around me right before we were released. When we were given the start command, I took off running pretty well. I tried to keep the pace in check as the first half of the race would be a steady climb. I started feeling overheated about 13 minutes in, so I pulled over to the side and walked a bit to cool down. Then at 20 minutes in, I took another walk break as I was laboring with my breathing. Once I crested the highest point of the course, it was good to finally cruise down the long stretch of downhill over the next couple of miles. It was cool to see my friend out cheering during this downhill section. There were 2 more inclines that I walked as my left glute and hamstring both felt really tight. Once I got on Bishops Rd and Broadway, it was downhill all the way to the finish line.

Free finish line photo

Finish: 52:15
Click here for my Garmin data.

This was only the third time that I've run this race and it was my slowest performance. Still I thought it was a fun event and I did the best that I could for today. Perhaps I should work on clearing up some of my niggles and wear a singlet next time to run a faster time. :)

After crossing the finish line, I got my medal, a bottle of water, a banana, and an apple. I went off to the side to eat the fruit while I waited for my friends to finish. I actually saw quite a few people that I knew. I ended up giving away my free beer ticket before hopping on the Metro Gold Line and heading home. While the race was somewhat poorly organized with the course usually on the short side, it was still a great event. I plan to participate each year as long as I physically able and can fit it into my race schedule.

Post race snacks and medal

Mississippi River Marathon 2018

Friday 2/9
I took an early morning American Airlines flight out of LAX with a layover at DFW. I was able to finally catch Blade Runner 2049. It was an okay movie. It made me want to go back and re-watch the original movie since I don't remember much of it anymore. I landed at Memphis International Airport just a little before 1:30 pm local time. After getting off of the plane, I made the long walk over to the Ground Transportation Center to pick up my rental car. The walk seemed long because about half of the moving walkways was not operational. After signing paperwork at the Budget rental counter, I went to go get my car. Even though I had reserved an economy car, I was given a red Jeep Wrangler. It turned out to be quite the gas guzzler.

Before I started my drive down to Greenville, Mississippi, I stopped in at the McDonald's just west of interstate 55 to get some food. I didn't want to waste too much time so I went through the drive-thru and ordered my usual Big Mac combo. When I got my food, I found a parking spot and ate my burger. I then hopped on the road, ate the fries and drank my iced tea along the way.

It was a pretty relaxing 2.5 hr drive. There was a little bit of rain falling as I got closer to my destination. I rolled into Greenville at about 5:15 pm. I pulled into the Days Inn just off of highway 82. I checked into my room so I could drop off my bags and use the bathroom before I went to pick up my race packet.

US State #48 for me

Brown water from the Delta

Lots of emails with important pertinent information were sent out in the weeks and days leading up to the race. That was very well done and most helpful. I was certainly well informed. The packet pick up was located at the Leyser Gallery on Washington Ave near Poplar St. It was a well organized and a quick packet pick up process. After getting my bib, I got a long sleeved 1/4 zip race shirt and a drawstring bag.

After picking up my race packet, I stopped in a CVS Pharmacy along the way back to my motel. I picked up the usual bottle of water and a Powerade. I then pulled into the McDonald's just around the corner to pick up something quick for dinner. I went through the drive-thru. It took a while before the person was ready to take my order. It took so long that I thought that the intercom was broken. After I paid, I waited at the next window for my food. All I ordered was the Double Quarter Pounder meal. They brought me my drink, but told me to pull up to the next window to wait for my Double Quarter. It was about another 10 minutes or so before someone brought me my burger. It was long enough that I thought about parking the car and going inside to check. So much for a quick meal. At least everyone that I interacted with were all pretty friendly. Perhaps they were just short-handed for the night.

I took my food back to my room and polished it off before laying out my flat runner. I watched some TV and relaxed a bit before calling it a night.

Saturday 2/10
Man, it was pouring cats and dogs. I waited in the car for as long as I could. Once I saw the that rain had let up for a bit, I walked over to where the buses were parked. Then the rain started coming down hard again. The marathon buses were on the left side of the road. It was almost like a small Marathon Maniacs/50 States family reunion on the bus that I was on as I recognized a bunch of folks. We were bused over to Lake Village, Arkansas. As we got off of the bus, everyone made a beeline for the cache of portapotties. The ground was pretty muddy from the rain. Once we were done with the portapotties, everyone congregated underneath the pop-up tent to stay dry. I happened to bump into my friend from CA. I didn't she was also running this race. I also had a nice chat with a couple of people from Minnesota.

Right before the start of the race, the race director invited us to look for him at the finish line and to give him comments and suggestions on where they could improve the race. I really like races that aim to improve and are open to constructive criticism.

The race started with my legs not feeling too fresh. My hamstrings and glutes still felt tight. The rain wasn't too hard, but it was steadily coming down. I stuck to my regular walk breaks after every 30 minutes of running. After my first one, I ended up running with the 4 hr pace group. There was only 4 of us. I hung with them until my second walk break. The tendon in my left foot was giving me trouble, so I couldn't push off very hard with that foot.

Crossing the Mississippi River

After getting off of the bridge and during a walk break, I decided to take the rain poncho off as it was starting to feeling a bit stifling with it on. It wasn't raining much at that point. I still hung on to the poncho in case the rain came down hard. At about the aid station at mile 17 just north of Basf Rd, I came up to the welcome to Mississippi sign. I pulled over and tried to take a picture of it, but my phone screen was too wet for it to work. I did manage to wipe it just dry enough to check-in to my Southwest flights. At about mile 20.5 I turned right onto Tampa Dr. Then it followed with a left turn onto Bayou Rd. It was pretty cool to see some nice houses, but the road was partly flooded. At about mile 22.75, I turned north onto Main St. I ran up Main St until the road split to the right as Washington Ave. During the last mile, I somehow picked up a large pebble in my left shoe. The 4:45 pace group had just passed me, so I didn't stop to remove the pebble. I just wanted to follow them as much as I could to the finish line. After the road took a left at the railroad track, you could practically see the finish line several blocks up ahead.

Finish: 4:45:26
Click here for my Garmin data.
Click here for my finish line video.

After getting my medal and mylar blanket, I hung around the finish line area talking to a guy from New York that had just finished right ahead of me. His support crew was there to greet him. His support crew was very encouraging to other runners out on the course. We talked about him qualifying for the Marathon Maniacs as he had another marathon to run tomorrow. After that I spoke to the race director to tell him that he had put on a fine race. Always love a race that gives out free race photos!

I then ducked into the Leyser Gallery to get out of the rain and to get some post race snacks. They had a little bit of everything! I saw pizza, bananas, and food from McDonald's. I grabbed a Nequik, bottle of water, a banana, and a sausage biscuit sandwich. My stomach wasn't quite ready for food yet, so I took it with me back to the motel. I ate the sausage biscuit sandwich and got cleaned up.

Post race food

I then headed over to the Birthplace of Kermit the Frog Museum as it was stated on Google Maps to close at 4 pm. As I entered, I signed their visitor book. I ended up having a very nice long conversation with the lady that was watching the place. She told me that she was actually a substitute. She pretty much told me everything there was to know about the place. After a quick little tour, I ended up buying a t-shirt from their little gift shop. So if you've grown up watching Kermit the Frog and you're in the area, you really should stop by for a little visit!

I was pretty hungry and didn't eat a proper lunch, so I stopped in at Shoney's. I just had to stop in because of its cameo in Rick & Morty and it was right next door to my motel. Apparently a lot of people come here for their buffet. I didn't want to eat too much, so after getting seated, I ordered their All American Burger. I think it was a good burger and just enough to tide me over to dinner.

All American Burger

I then went back to my room to rest up until dinner time. At about a quarter to 6, I went back out first to fill my gas tank at the nearby Exxon gas station at Colorado St. I then drove out to Doe's Eat Place to eat a steak dinner. I came at the recommendation of a friend that used to live in Greenville. There's a small parking lot and street parking available. The surrounding area doesn't look at that nice, but you'll be fine as long as you stay at the restaurant (it looks more like a house) and don't wander off. The decor inside was very unique to say the least. The food was pricey, but it was good. It was also very nice to experience good 'ol Southern hospitality! I arrived pretty early at 6 pm and was seated right away. I wasn't given a menu as the lady taking my order just verbally told me what they served. I ordered their bone-in ribeye steak cooked medium rare and an order of shrimp, half broiled and half fried. Make sure to bring your appetite! It was a big steak. It was pretty good piece of meat without having to add any sauces. Man, that certainly hit the spot! To complete my surf and turf, these shrimp certainly fit the bill! Both versions were good, but if I had to choose, I would get the fried version. They was perfectly breaded and came with cocktail sauce and tartar sauce. It looked like this place will most likely be busy for dinner. The front waiting area was filled with hungry folks as I was leaving. If you're in the area and have a hankering for a steak, you should stop in here for a good steak!

Unique decor!

Bone-in ribeye and shrimp, half broiled and half fried

Bone-in ribeye, medium rare

With the big dinner, I went to sleep early and slept pretty well. That was perfect as I had an early drive to make tomorrow morning to catch my flight home out of Memphis International Airport.

Sunday 2/11
I got up early, packed up my stuff, and left the motel at about 3 am for the 2.5 hr drive up to Memphis. It was raining most of the way, but overall an uneventful drive. There weren't many other cars out on the road at that time of the day. As I was nearing my destination, I got off of the interstate and pulled into a Circle K to gas up the car before returning it. There was no attendant on duty at that hour, so I took down the mileage and noted the full tank of gas on the rental agreement papers. I dropped that and the keys into their drop box before heading over to the terminal.

My flight home had a layover at Dallas Love Field. I took the opportunity to try out Whataburger for the very first time. The line for the place was definitely much longer than any other food joint in that food court. What? What's so special about a Whataburger? I guess I'm one of those that can't understand the hype with Whataburger. It wasn't bad, but it was okay at best. If we're going to go with an okay burger, then I would rather eat at McDonald's because they're okay and I have plenty of fond memories eating at McD's as a kid. It definitely didn't even come close to a burger at The Habit, In-n-Out, or Shake Shack. The appearance of the Whataburger was lacking and so was the taste. There was nothing special about it. Perhaps it was because of this airport location. I'm willing to give it a second chance ordering at a location outside of the airport. As of right now, what a disappointment!

Well that's US State number 48 completed for me. Only Rhode Island and Massachusetts are left.