My plans for this weekend was not my first choice. If I had to pick, I would much rather run the 50th anniversary of the NYC Marathon. My second choice would've been the LA Marathon as it would be my 10th consecutive year running the race. Here's the timeline on how I ended up with 2 half marathons this weekend.
- 1/25/2021, OC Half Marathon sent out an email asking that I confirm my deferment for Sunday 11/7. My race calendar was open for that weekend, so I confirmed my entry.
- 1/26/2021, Los Angeles Marathon announced that they are postponing to the Fall. Race date to be announced later.
- 3/8/2021, Los Angeles Marathon announced that their new race date will be Sunday 11/7. Bummer.
- 4/5/2021, NYC Marathon sent out an email asking registrants to rank our choice between 2021, 2022, 2023, or a refund. I opted with 2022 as I wasn't sure how things would pan out with the COVID situation in New York.
- 9/30/2021, I registered for Thrive San Diego Half Marathon. I took it as an opportunity to get in some training for the upcoming Dopey Challenge.
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Race packet goodies
I hopped back in the car and drove over to the Ramada near SeaWorld/Mission Bay. I checked in and was assigned room #126. I used my Wyndham reward points for a free 1 night stay. I found the room to be clean, pretty modern looking, and everything in working order.
After I got situated into my room, I went back out to get an early dinner at the nearby Chick-fil-A. I placed my order on the mobile app before getting into the drive-thru lane. For this meal, I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with pepper jack cheese, Greek yogurt parfait with granola, mac & cheese, and a large Sunjoy. Included in my food was a flyer for a hiring event. I guess there's a shortage of staff due to a lot of people losing their jobs during the pandemic shutdown and not very many of them returning to work.
Drive-thru
After finishing my meal, I laid out my flat runner, and proceed to veg out while watching the TV. I ended up catching the second half of The Equalizer. Denzel Washington is a good actor. He's especially good in this type of movie. I followed that up with some WWE Friday Night SmackDown. They're still going on with The Bloodline story with Roman Reigns at the head of the table as their tribal chief. It's a tiring and quite boring story as Roman Reigns lacks any charisma. Yet WWE keeps pushing him as pretty much the face of the company. I took a shower before calling it a night.
Flat runner
The Equalizer
The Bloodline... yawn
Saturday 11/6
I planned to get to the parking lot at Ski Beach Park at 6 am. So I got ready, packed up my bags, and checked out of my room at about a quarter to 6. The race was scheduled to start at 7:15 am, but I wanted to be sure that I got a parking spot. I waited in the car until about daybreak. With about 15 minutes to the start, we were instructed to position ourselves accordingly in the corral with the pace signs to guide us. I lined up just behind the 7-8 min/mile sign.
Starting line at dark o'clock
Corral
I wasn't sure what pace that my legs could handle, but I definitely got caught up with the runners around me and went out a bit too fast. After two quick miles, I decided that I had better ease off on the pace before I burn out early in the race. I took a walk break just after reaching mile 3 to let my heart rate come down a bit. Shortly after that walk break, I ran a little bit with a guy (bib #1171) listening to Atlantic Starr. I told him that that was an interesting choice for a race. He told me that it helps him stay relaxed. I guess it worked as he was faster than me, finishing in 1:47. For the next 5 miles, I kept about a 8:30 min/mile pace. Shortly after reaching mile 8, I took my second and final walk break once again to let my heart race come down a bit. It was a slow mile 9, but I was able to rebound a bit and finish feeling pretty strong.
Happy to see the finish line just up ahead
Finish: 1:51:58
Click here for my Garmin data.
After crossing the finish line, I got my finisher medal. Then I got a banana, some snacks, and a few different drinks. The drinks included a can of non-alcoholic beer, QURE alkaline water, and Kirkland sports drink. I thought it was Powerade and didn't realize that it was Kirkland brand until later. I guess they really do make everything.
Finish line
Post race snacks and drinks
As for my race, I was pretty happy with my time. After my race last weekend, I didn't think that I would be so close to finishing in under 1:50 on a non-downhill course. Lately, I've been noticing that if I do any sort of strength training, I get a noticeable increase in performance in about 2 days after that workout session. I've been doing some upper body workouts on Thursdays and my walking or running pace increases on Saturday and Sunday.
As for the shoes that I wore. They were an old pair of ASICS that I had purchased many years ago to support breast cancer research. Today I was reminded as to why I had shelved them instead of wearing them consistently until they were completely worn out. I wanted to wear them for my races as one of my friends has been battling breast cancer. However, the top of these shoes was digging into my ankle. The discomfort was quite noticeable, but not so much that I couldn't ignore it for a half marathon. I'm hoping that these stubborn rigid shoes would finally break-in soon or I'll have to donate them. I wouldn't want a repeat of what happened back in 2018 when a pair of shoes nearly ended my Dopey Challenge legacy.
After I was ready to hit the road, I hopped in the car and drove over to the Tesla Supercharger on Balboa Ave to charge up the car. While I let the car finish charging, I walked over to the nearby Chick-fil-A to pick up breakfast. I ordered a hash brown scramble bowl with grilled nuggets, Greek yogurt parfait with granola, and coffee. I took it back to the car to enjoy.
Hash brown scramble bowl with grilled nuggets
Greek yogurt parfait with granola
Coffee
Once the car and I were both done fueling up, I hit the road to go pick up my race packet at the OC Fair and Event Center. Per the usual, I parked at TeWinkle Park so I don't have to pay for parking. It was a short walk over to the packet pick-up location. It was good to walk around for a bit after having run a half marathon earlier and then driving about 1.5 hours on the freeway.
After getting my bib, I got my race shirt. Just like the shirt that I got at the other race, this one was also made of a spandex and polyester blend which feels much better! In additional to the race shirt, I was also given a nice long sleeve 3/4 zip pullover.
Expo
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Long sleeve 3/4 zip
After I picked up my race packet, I went inside the expo where I bumped into my race announcer friends, Rudy and Fitz! I was a bit bummed that Rudy wouldn't be at the race tomorrow as he was going to be the race announcer over at the LA Marathon. It's the rare occasion where the duo had to split up on race day. Truth be told, I was having a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out)! I really wanted to run the LA Marathon instead. Oh well, the OC Half Marathon wasn't a bad substitute even though they didn't have the full marathon this year. I picked up a Pocari Sweat towel, a bottle of QURE alkaline water, Koia smoothie, and a case of Heineken Zero. I guess non-alcoholic beer still isn't very popular these days. However, I'm glad that slowly, there are beginning to be more options. It was interesting to see Pocari Sweat at the expo as I've only had it when I was in Japan for the Tokyo Marathon.
Expo freebies
Expo freebies
On the way back to my car, I headed east towards Newport Blvd hoping that gate 8 would be open. Fortunately, for me it was or else it would be a much longer walk than had I headed west. As I was getting into my car, another race participant that had the same idea of parking at the same spot noticed that I had a case of beer. He told me, "wow, they let you have a whole case?!"
From there I drove over to the Chick-fil-A on Harbor Blvd to have lunch. On the mobile app, I ordered the usual Cobb salad with grilled nuggets, a bowl of chicken noodle soup, and a cup of mac & cheese. After I got my food, I found a small table near the corner of the restaurant. For some reason one of the employees that I assumed was on a break kept bumping into my chair from the table adjacent to mine. I understand if it was once or twice, but it kept happening without a single apology as if he wasn't aware of it. Oh well, some people are pretty dang clueless.
After I was done eating, I drove over to the Travelodge Orange County Airport/Costa Mesa to check into my room. I don't live very far from the OC Fairground, but my friend and I thought that it would be both a time and cost saver to stay around this area. He stayed at the hotel across the street. We would only be a few blocks from the OC Fairground. We planned to walk over together and bypass parking fees and catch one of the buses to the start line over at Fashion Island. When it was my turn in line at the front desk, I was assigned room #149. The room was pretty spacious. I found everything to be clean and in working order. A couple of minor complaints were that the mattress was a bit worn out in the middle, the drawer for one of the nightstands was kind of busted, and the cups weren't wrapped.
For dinner, my friend and I carpooled over to the Chick-fil-A on Bristol St. For some reason, I thought we were headed to the one on Harbor Blvd. I guess this location was slightly closer. On the mobile app, I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with Colby jack cheese, Greek yogurt parfait, and chicken noodle soup. My friend got in line to place his order. When I got my food, I noticed that my sandwich came with some free bonus bacon. I don't eat pork much these days, but man bacon sure is tasty!
After being dropped off at my motel and before calling it a night, I laid out my flat runner and took a shower. I'll be wearing my Tottenham Hotspur jersey for tomorrow's race. They will be playing Everton tomorrow. The match will start right when my race starts.
Flat runner
Sunday 11/7
I got up early and got ready to meet up with my friend for the walk over to the bus pick-up location. Just a few minutes before 4 am, I took my bags to my car just in the odd case where I wouldn't make it back in time for the check-out time. While I was loading my bags into the car, I smelled cigarette smoke. I looked around and noticed that there was a sketchy looking guy sitting in a nearby car. He was staring in my direction as I walked to the corner to meet up with my friend. He drove by slowly looking in our direction the whole time. I didn't think it was a bad area, but I was hoping that we weren't attacked or my car broken into while I was off running the race.
During the walk, we came across some guy visiting his dad. He found out from us that he had trouble finding parking because some of the surrounding streets were being shut down due to the race. We were later joined by a couple of other participants that were also headed to the bus pick-up. Just as we were walking alongside the long line of buses, we ran into our friend, Albert. We usually all meet up at the hotel near the start line, but this made it a lot easier than trying to find each other before the race.
After we were dropped off at Fashion Island, we headed towards the Newport Beach Marriott. There was a lot of construction, so a bunch of us had a hard time finding the entrance to the hotel. We eventually found it off of Santa Barbara Dr. The hotel employees were very nice and welcoming even though clearly none of us were hotel guests. They had us enter through their sundry store. It's always nice to be able to use real flushing toilets and to wash your hands afterwards.
Friends
As the start of the race drew near, we started heading over to the start line. My friends had some gear to check and also they didn't want to start in corral 1 with me, so we went our separate ways. As I waited in the starting corral, I bumped into my friends from San Diego. Just before the corral started to fill up, I moved to the back of it as I didn't want to bolt too hard out of the gate.
Starting line
Corral
San Diegan friends
Starting corral
The race started just a couple minutes after 6 am. I started off that first mile at a decent effort, but didn't get too crazy as there was a slight climb up to MacArthur Blvd. Then the next mile was a huge downhill to PCH. My friend Dan caught up to me here. Once we reached some rollers, I let him go on ahead. I focused on running on effort and not trying to stay with some of the runners around me. While running on Bayside Dr, a faster runner passed me. He told me that he was listening to the Tottenham match. He said he wouldn't ruin it for me in case I was going to watch it later. I was running a decent pace through the first 7 miles. However, the short climb up Dover Dr just wore me out. I had to take a walk break. I took most of the section through Castaways Park to try and recover. Another one of my friends caught and passed me as we ran on the bike trail with a nice overlook view of the bay. I took my second walk break just as I was closing in on mile 9. For the next 2 miles, I had to manage my energy for that final steep climb on Irvine Ave. During that final mile along Mesa Dr, I was passed by the 1:55 pacers. They were a bit ahead of schedule as they slowed up in the parking lot and was encouraging us to run strong for that final stretch to the finish line.
Finish: 1:56:42
Click here for my Garmin data.
Shortly after crossing the finish line, I bumped into my friend Dan. With chip timing, he beat me by a mere 13 seconds. Per the usual, he was waiting for his fiancé, so I went on ahead. I got my finisher medal followed by a bunch of post race goodies which included a banana, a TruMoo, a bottle of QURE water, and a couple of Power Crunch bars. I had to double back as I had forgotten to get a plastic bag to carry everything.
Finish line
Finish line with Dan
Finisher medal
Post race snacks and drinks
While making my way through the finisher chute, I was recognized by a Japanese girl at the finish. She asked if I had run the Pasadena Half Marathon back in late September. I just so happened to have worn the same exact outfit for that race. I believe she was one of the volunteers at the finish area handing out post race items to the runners. I guess it's always cool to be recognized by strangers.
After exiting the finisher chute, I headed over to where the packet pick-up area was to collect my Beach Cities seahorse medal. It was quite a cool-looking medal. I also took the opportunity to pick up the legacy tote bag at the solutions table. I found out online that I was supposed to have picked it up at the expo otherwise I wouldn't have even known about it. It sure made it much easier for the walk back to my motel.
Beach Cities seahorse medal
Legacy tote bag
On the way back to my motel, I eventually stopped and joined a group of spectators at the corner of Mesa Dr and Santa Ana Ave to cheer on my fellow runners and to wait for my friend to pass through. The cops that were at that corner were really cool. They also got into the cheering. They even asked for the names of our friends and family members that we were waiting for so that they can call out the names on their patrol car's speaker. After my buddy came through, I then started on the final stretch back to my motel. Thankfully, my car wasn't broken into and I still had plenty of time to get cleaned up before I needed to check out of my room.
Back at my room, I watched an English Premier League match between West Ham and Liverpool while I got cleaned up. Normally, Liverpool has a really dependable defense even though they play a very high line. Today was an exception. It's rare that they give up 3 goals to any team. They would eventually lose the match with a score of 3-2.
West Ham v. Liverpool
I dropped off my room key at the front desk and met up with my friend at The Habit for our traditional post race meal. His friend also joined us. Not sure what was going on, but the restaurant was not ready to open at 10:30 am. You would think that with the time change and the clocks moving back an hour that they would be plenty ready to open. Since I had placed my order on the mobile app, I just went straight to the counter to wait for my food when they finally opened their doors. I waited beyond the promised time for my order, but eventually an employee brought out my food. She told me to wait a moment and she would make me my caramel shake.
Double Char and green bean tempura
She never did make my caramel shake. She went back to the grill and never came back. I gave up waiting at the counter after 10 minutes as my food was starting to get cold. None of the other employees were available to even check on me. We got a table in the outside patio to eat our food. I went back in to ask for my shake after I was done eating my food. We took a pic before heading our separate ways.
Caramel shake
