AKA the 13.1 mile sweat-fest disaster of the AFC Half Marathon.
Let me begin by saying I had goals for this race....lofty goals. After I surprised myself and ran a 2:13 in
Carlsbad back in January, the idea of running a sub-2 half entered my mind. I did not want to set that goal for
La Jolla because that is a challenging course. But maybe, just maybe for the AFC, the last race in the Triple Crown Series, I could finish with a bang of an amazing new PR.
I talked to my trainer about it. She built an intense training plan for me. Since May, I have been busting my ass at the gym, at the track, on the treadmill, in boot camp, and in my long outdoor runs. My Friday nights for months were spent at the YMCA doing crazy-hard leg workouts that almost made me cry. When I wanted to quit, my mantra was "Sub 2 half...sub 2 half....sub 2 half...." And maybe sometimes "Must beat Gerald" Gerald is my co-worker who also did the Triple Crown. I beat him but a large margin at Carlsbad but by only a minute at La Jolla. It was a friendly competition we had going.
My training was hard but I was getting through it. Then, about 2 weeks before the AFC, the mother of all heat waves hit Southern California. Along with a heavy veil of humidity. It does not get humid in San Diego. After spending the last 3 summers perfectly comfortable in max temperatures of the low 80s and cool, ocean breezes, I felt like I was back in Illinois. My last few long runs before the race were grueling. I had planned to run the actual AFC course for my last 2 long training runs but decided not to simply because there was no place I could refill my water. I stuck to the running path in my neighborhood where I knew where all the water fountains were.
Fast forward to the morning of the race. It was a point A to B course so runners were instructed to park at the finish area and take the provided buses to the start line. I was in line for the bus by 5:15am. Very glad I got there early. I had plenty of time at the start area by Cabrillo Monument and I actually heard race coordinators saying "No more buses on the roads, we are closing them down to start the race."
For the first time ever, a race photographer snapped a shot of me before the race and before things turned ugly.
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| I may or may not have been in line for the port-a-potty |
I found some of my buddies from Wednesday nights track practice and we hung out until the start time.
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| Christopher, Alexis, Mine, Ian, me and Johannah |
It was humid already. I decided that a sub-2 was likely not in the cards for me today but I felt confident I could get a new PR and set my goal for what I thought was a conservative 2:10.
The race started promptly at 7am. I like to be in the middle of the pack so I'm not trampled by the speedsters and not frustrated dodging the slower runners. I loved running through the residental neighborhood in Point Loma. The homes were gorgeous with lots of shade trees. Several of the people were out in their front yards with hoses spraying off the runners. I loved those people. The first 5 miles of this race were downhill and fairly shady. It was peaceful running down from the monument. I was sure to stop at every single water station to avoid getting dehydrated. I had one of my
Island Boost's at mile 5.
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| Shortly after mile 5, still feeling pretty good |
Then we hit Harbor Drive and that's when things changed. It's like the sun got turned up full blast as soon as we rounded that corner. We ran around Shelter Island and there were no water stops for a long time. It got hotter with every passing minute.
I think these were taken around mile 6.....
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| Starting to get uncomfortable here.... |
Thankfully, even though it was freaking hot, the gorgeous course along Harbor Drive distracted me. I never get tired of seeing all the beautiful ships. That's the Star of India in the background.
Somewhere along Harbor Drive, Gerald caught up with me. The first thing he says to me? "It's soooooo hot!" He told me he was on pace to get a sub-2 but then quickly lost steam. Feel your pain, Gerald. We ran together for a few minutes but eventually lost track weaving in and out of people.
From Harbor Drive, we turn on to Ash street and start making our way towards Balboa Park. This is when things really started to suck the most. It was a hilly course to the finish. From miles 10-13 I was certain I was going to puke or pass out (I didn't). Honestly, I really feel that I hill trained enough but the heat and humidity just took it out of me. I walked more than I care to admit. The last miles were by far my slowest. 2:10 was not going to happen.
Then we get to 6th Avenue which was entirely uphill - no exaggeration. I felt like death trudging up that damn hill. There was a group of people handing out pretzels and I grabbed a handful craving salt but my mouth was so dry I could hardly chew them up. Then I spot Skylar. The first thing she says to me "Andrea!!!! I've been looking for you, you look so great, so strong!" Love her. She was my personal cheerleader. Bless her, she ran with me for close to a quarter mile
in flip-flops and injured, cheering me on. Even sidelined with an injury, she is a great running buddy. I immediately started bitching how angry/disappointed I was with myself...all my training and I'm not even going to PR! But she kept it positive and helped me out of my funk. I love that a race photographer got a shot of us together.
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| My personal road crew |
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| Yelling a THANK YOU to Skylar over my shoulder |
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| Skylar helped me get to the top of the 6th Ave hill! |
I had a little over a mile left at this point I think. I tried to let the beauty of Balboa Park distract me. I even slapped on a smile for some photographers.
Then as I rounded the last corner to the finish, I dug as deep as I could and tried for a speedy finish. The fastest I managed was just until a 10 min/mi pace which is slow for me to be pushing to the finish. Never in my life have I been so happy to see a finish line. Don't get me wrong...you should be tired, spent, worn out after a race. But this was beyond that. All I could think about was laying down under a shade tree.
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| Yay! I didn't die, puke or pass out! |
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| This picture does not convey my disappointment |
I walked over to the Triple Crown tent in a haze to grab my Triple Crown medal and stumbled over to a shade tree, laid down and threw a good 15 minute pity-party for myself. Official time: 2:18:35. Bleck. I mean, I didn't do any speed workouts, intense weight training, tempo runs, etc. for Carlsbad. I really put in a lot of work for the AFC and am about 15 lbs lighter now than when I ran Carlsbad. I do not like the idea that the weather affected me this much.
So, while I hoped AFC would by far be my fast half in the series, it was actually my slowest. Icing on the cake....Gerald beat me by about 90 seconds. All I could think about was "I didn't even PR!!!! Screw the sub-2, I didn't even PR!" I stretched in the shade for a few minutes, walked around to the different vendor booths, then meandered my way to my car where I had to wring the sweat and water out of my running skirt out before I could get in. Gross. But let me tell you, AC full-blast has never felt so good. My car said it was currently 88* outside. It is not supposed to get that hot in San Diego!
I came home and it was just the dogs; Matt was fishing. I hugged my dogs and lamented to them. They were just excited to see me and glad I rubbed their bellies while I stretched out in front of the fan. I drank some
NUUN and got my salt fix with some pickles.
Matt got home about 30 minutes later and before I can say a word he spies my Triple Crown medal laying on the end table and says to me "I am so proud of you. You worked so hard for this and have been totally committed to this goal for over almost
year...you are so amazing and I'm just...so. proud. of. you."
I told him I didn't get my sub-2...that I didn't even PR. And he said "Of course you didn't! It's freakin' hot outside!" I whined about my goals, my training, blah blah blah and he had some wise words for me. He said "Andrea, I could set a goal to go catch 50 lbs tuna off of my boat. But that's not going to happen in December. Just like a new PR on a half marathon is not going to happen for you in the middle of a heat wave in this humidity. You can always try again." Well, that's perfectly logical and I couldn't argue with that.
He promptly put an end to my pity-party and took me and the dogs to the boat. Can't really be upset when I'm doing cannon balls off the bough of the boat and the dogs jump in after me for a swim. :)
I read somewhere that everything beings with a thought. I still have the thought of getting my sub-2 and am now thinking about signing up for another half...but this time, in February. :)
