The San Diego Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon course is definitely a very fun course. A couple of the highlights include running on the freeway and running along side the elite marathon runners at some points. I had the opportunity to stay with my second oldest sister who also ran the race. Her and her family was very hospitable and I extend my thanks to them for such a relaxing weekend. Over all, I am pretty pleased with my performance for this race, but it was not without several challenges.

The first challenge was thanks to myself. I misread the start time, which hindered us to a late arrival. I ended up starting the race in the 13th or 14th corral when I was slotted for corral number two. I spent a good four miles weaving in and out of traffic, constantly adjusting my gait and my speed. Although I had some decent splits at the beginning of the race and was right around where I needed to be, it was really hard to maintain the pace that I needed. It was almost as if I was doing intervals for four miles instead of a steady state run. I will occasionally use bursts of energy during regular races but I usually reserve those for hills. The elevation was another challenge.

Before the race, I usually map my strategy out to the course elevation. Instead of using the Garmin elevation from the last time I ran the course, I used the elevation chart that was on the event’s website. A large part of me thinks that the elevation chart from the event’s website was from the prior year’s event. There was a freeway overpass that I do not recall being on the last race or remember seeing in the course video. I cruised along pretty good there but could have used that energy for later hills. There was nothing to crazy uphill but there were definitely rolling hills a plenty. One good thing that I do remember doing is holding back for a long decent at around mile six. I know I could have moved faster but I wanted to save my energy, which ended up paying off.

Those were probably the two biggest challenges for me during this race. While I feel that I could have better prepared, I am happy with my 13-minute improvement. The last time that I ran this course, my average pace was around 8:20 per mile whereas, the new pace was 7:27. I have had a couple times better than this performance but I feel that I was better prepared for those events. For those events two were truly flat and fast and the other was right in the middle of marathon training.

I could (and should) write another entire post regarding injury prevention, but did have something to share. Due to daily stretching and constant attention to my legs, I have been lucky enough to remain injury free. I had the normal soreness post-race and feel fine a day later. This has been a great year for me recovery wise and I think that it should be noted for newer runners that your body will need some time to normalize and get used to running. While I am sure my body would have adapted better at an earlier age, it probably took about a year for me to get my stride and form down so that I do not hurt myself. Injuries are part of the game so, do not get discouraged and remember to address the problems and listen to your body.

 

I had an amazing time in San Diego and will probably be back to run this race again. I really enjoyed myself and enjoyed the run. I would like to extend special congratulations to my friends and all first time marathoners as well as all who finished the race. San Diego truly is a beautiful city and I am looking forward to being back. As a matter of fact, my next race will be the America’s Finest City Half Marathon held in San Diego, California.