La Jolla Half Marathon
April 25, 2010
Today was the La Jolla Half Marathon. I signed up for this event about two months ago and I wanted to be committed to something that I have never tried to achieve before. I started training with my roomate ran about three times a week and were doing very steady on that pace as well. This morning I was excited to run this route, because I have never done it before, and I heard it was one of the nicest runs in San Diego, let alone the nation. I woke up bright and early at 430 to head to La Jolla, as they shuttle me to Del Mar where the starting line was. It was an overcast morning, but perfect weather for running, because it wasn’t too hot and the sun wasn’t beating down on us. I made a goal for myself to run the half marathon in one hour and forty-five minutes, because I have run the same distance before in that time, but it was more of a flat road run that I have done. I drove the route the day before the race, and knew what to expect, a huge uphill battle, followed by a downhill battle…It was going to be rough. I squeezed my way to the front of the starting point so I wouldn’t be stuck in the traffic of nearly 6,500 people running the race. I was keeping up in the top twenty for the first two miles, but mile after mile, the experienced runners passed me one by one. I did not mind it because I was still on pace to beat my goal, and that is all I went there for, I was not expecting to win. (The winner got one hour and nine minutes…CRAZY) I was at good pace before the hill, which was at about mile five. I ended up the hill pretty exhausted, followed by a two-mile flat, then an insane downhill. There were about two miles left and I was going through La Jolla, and I knew the finish line was near. I wanted to practically collapse but I had to get to the finish line. What really motivated me was that a fourteen year old kid passed me up, and he was running barefoot! I thought that was crazy, so I had to keep up if this kid can go on like that. I sprinted the last stretch across the finish line, and my time was about one hour and thirty-five minutes. I have not received my official time and place yet, because we wear a chip on our shoe to track our personal time/place, and they have not been posted online yet, so I am eager to find out. All I know is that I beat my goal and I was very proud of myself. I never would have thought I could run a half marathon, but I stayed committed to it and I’m really glad I did it. I enjoyed the run a lot, I am pretty sore tonight, and am for sure going to be taking it easy for tomorrow.
