It's pretty clear from my splits what happened here :). I've been working a lot on pacing, and I managed to stay calm and take it out nice and easy. I picked up the pace once I felt loose and warmed up. I felt pretty good throughout the first half, including the long slog through the obstacle course that was the half-marathon merge at ~mile 10. I started sensing trouble around miles 18-19, as my pace slowed along Mission Bay Dr., but I got my second wind and held on a little longer. Once I hit Fiesta Island, though, things fell apart, and I couldn't hold much more than a shuffle. I alternated walking and shuffling, trying to hold on for a PR, but it wasn't going to happen. I stopped for some time to help a runner who needed medical attention, as did several other runners and a man on a bike (a spectator, I think) who I'd seen earlier cruising up and down this isolated stretch of the course checking on cramping runners. It took a long time for medical to arrive, but once they did the guy on the bike told me to get going and stay hydrated so I thanked him and went. The rest helped me get back to a (slow) running pace for the last 1.5 miles. It wasn't my best race, but I gave it what I had on that day and I'm okay with how it turned out.

More and longer long runs. I've increased my base mileage over the past year, and that's helped my speed, but I still need to build more endurance.

I skipped the line to pose for a post-race photo, and hobbled out to the family reunion area, which was a zoo taking place on an asphalt parking lot with almost no shade. It took awhile to find my family, and then we found a spot of shade to sit in (on the asphalt next to some trash bags, yum) while we waited for my cousin to finish. After she finished, we took the kids to Sea World for the rest of the day, so I did a lot of walking and did not tighten up much.


Endurance. I think things would have gone south on Fiesta Island even if I'd paced this more conservatively.


The bands were fun and the support from volunteers and spectators was great, but the course was not very scenic for a destination race. The merge with the half-marathon course at mile 10 was poorly planned - the half-marathoners were at mile 5, so they were running at a much slower pace. The post-race scene was dismal, with runners and spectators packed into a trash-strewn parking lot with almost no shade.