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Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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San Diego, California
United States
Competitor Group, Inc.
64F / 18C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 58m 51s
Overall Rank = 3320/17600
Age Group = M50-54
Age Group Rank = 123/476
Pre-race routine:

Earlier this year, we had the wild idea to get the entire family together for a half marathon in San Diego. At that time I was the only one who had ever run that distance. But when we gathered Laura had already completed two half marathons (as had I) in 2012. This would be the first half marathon for Sarah and Carmel. We met at the San Diego airport around noon Friday, ate lunch, checked into the Hard Rock Hotel and hit the Expo for packet pickup at the Convention Center. That evening we had a wonderful dinner at George’s overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla.It was June gloom in SD and we got precious little sunlight even during the afternoon. Temperatures never climbed out of the 60’s. Saturday was more sight-seeing and we had a nice carbo load dinner at la Terrazza in Coronado.

Event warmup:

We were in bed early, up on time and out the door by about 5:30. After a banana and coffee for breakfast we were walking the 2 miles to the start. It was a nice brisk “warm-up” at Carmel’s pace. Good thing too because we got to the start and the race was underway. Duh. I heard the count down for my corral’s start. Obviously I missed that. I shuffled to the start and got in Corral 16 (should have been 11) but I had no chance to pee and forgot to take my Shark Salt. Both decisions would cost me some time.

Run
  • 1h 58m 51s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 04s  min/mile
Comments:


I got underway and was feeling great in the cool weather from the very start. I ran the first couple miles in sub 8:30. I figured I’d slow as miles 3-5 was the “hilly” section. The hills were mostly highway service roads and I thought there was more downhill than uphill. My pace was now near 9:00 just where it should be. The only concern was a need to pee. The few port-a-potties on course all had lines. Finally a break – I spotted open port-a-potties on the marathon side. So I crossed the highway and used one of those. Cost me a minute but more than worth it. It was quite humid and I was sweating a lot but still running strong at the mid-point and at 10 miles. I was taking a cup or two of Gatorade at every opportunity but it wasn’t quite sufficient. They had some salt offered at mile 11. I passed not sure how much it could help at that stage. The last two miles I clearly felt the effect of electrolyte/salt loss. I was working very hard (based on HR and perceived exertion) but turned in two of the slowest miles of the day on an easy section of the course. But mentally I was riding a high because I knew I was going to bring this race home in under 2 hours which was my goal. When I crossed the line my Garmin told me 1:57:59 for 13.27 mi. My actual (chip) time was 1:58:51 (potty break being the difference). This was my first sub 2 hour finish since a 1:54:34 at White Rock Lake on Nov.6, 1993 and exactly 6 minutes faster than the Phoenix R&R half in January.

Peter 1:58:51 Pace: 9:04 Age Group (AG): M50-54 123/476 Men: 2104/6380 Overall: 3320/17600

After a bit of limping around (my legs got sore quickly) I had the pleasure to wait in the finish area to watch my 3 favorite people in the world finish their races:

Sarah 2:10:32 (PR – first half marathon) Pace: 9:58 AG: W25-29 639/2218 Women: 2752/11220 Overall: 6054/17600

Laura 2:19:45 (PR – third half marathon) Pace: 10:40 AG: W25-29 959/2218 Women: 4194/11220 Overall: 8263/17600

Carmel 2:30:55 (PR – first half marathon) Pace: 11:31 AG: W50-54 230/685 Women: 5838/1220 Overall: 10678/17600


What would you do differently?:

Get to race on time. Pee and take a Shark Salt before the start.
Post race
Warm down:

After lots of congratulations and picture taking we made our way through the post-race activities even skipping the free beer in the hopes of getting out of Dodge quickly. I knew that money spent sending Sarah to NYC for a summer would pay off one day. Today was that day as she hailed a cab while thousands were left behind with a long wait for transportation home.

Event comments:

Good race but 30,000+ runners is just too many to handle at start and finish. Transportation from the finish line is a real disaster. We got very lucky.




Last updated: 2012-05-30 12:00 AM
Running
01:58:51 | 13.1 miles | 09m 04s  min/mile
Age Group: 123/476
Overall: 3320/17600
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2012-06-09 12:25 PM

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