Another week is over and it was wonderful... Okay, so I barely ran at all this week; however, San Diego caught up on some much needed rain. For those of you who live in this area, you know that the weather this week made it very difficult to get out there and get productive milage in. I tried to run a couple of days on the treadmill, but I quickly realized just how much I despise those blasted machines and each time I bailed after less than a little over a mile. I did my best! But my best sucked. As an excuse, I will say that I was preparing for the Carlsbad Half Marathon on Sunday, so I didn't want to put out to much an effort less I not run well in that race.
I got up Saturday morning with the intention of meeting the RnR group in an effort to put in a few miles before Sunday's race. When I awoke at 5:00 am, the last remnants of the storm where still overhead and I considered crawling back into bed to resume my sleep. But, after some self guilt, I decided that I might as well make an effort. Then, as I was getting ready, I got a text from Brent letting me know that him and Nena were going to sleep in-- damn! I thought to myself, I really should take the morning off. Something kept me up and I got ready and made my way down to Mission Bay. Needless to say, it rained the whole way down there-- wait, rain isn't exactly the right word: it freaking poured!
When I arrived in the parking lot, I parked next to Jessica and then Bob and Donna parked next to me. I then declared that even a drop of rain were to fall on the run, that I would pack it up and head home. I got the others to agree, which was odd, and we sat in my car and waited for 7:00 am. As luck would have it, it cleared up and we were off for an easy five miles around the bay.
Next day: Carlsbad Half Marathon. I carpooled with my wife (who was running her first half), and Jason and Jane. We got there early and met up with a couple of Track Club peeps. In addition, my brother was there (he was running his second half). I met up and stretched with Nina, as we planned on running the race together. After chatting with Brent and a few other, we into carrel one, which was nice. It was odd to be up there with all of the elite-- in addition, it was surprisingly empty so we had plenty of room to stretch out.
You have probably been told that Carlsbad is the easiest of the Triple Crown series; however, I disagree. The first mile is up hill (seriously) and then it is a series of small rollers until you get to the coast. Once at the coast the view is beautiful, but the hills continue all the way to mile 6, where the biggest hill in the course is. Nena, Jason, and I took it pretty quick, clocking off 7:30s most of the way out. At mile 8, Nena had enough of us and took off. I dropped Jason at 10 and finished with a respectable 1:39 (one minute slower than last year).
We stretched and waited a bit for Jane to finish and then Nicole rounded out the group with a strong finish in her first half! I am very, very proud of her. She ran the entire 13.1 miles alone, except for the tunes pumping through her iPod. I am stoked that she was willing, and able, to experience something that I am so very passionate about.
All in all, fairly good week of running (GREAT week of rain!). I was happy with my results from the half. Didn't really do much in the way of preparing for the American River as I took the race as a tempo run.
Stats for the week (fairly incomplete because my Garmin battery died):
Overall Place: 421 out of 7138
Men: 335 out of 2729
M 30-34: 66 out of 457
Age/Grade: 59.44% Place: 1207
Finish: 1:39:38 Pace: 7:36
