La Jolla Half Marathon Race Report

It has been quite the year of racing! And it’s only April! This season started off poorly as I have had to deal with a lot of nagging injuries which seem to plague me each month since December. I have started to address the problems and hopefully things will improve. On a more positive note I have managed a PR in 3 of the 4 events this year. I thought I PR’d at Safari Park but it seems I was about 20 seconds off.
I haven’t run La Jolla since high school (5 years). Being one of my favorite roads in San Diego I was excited to see what the legs could produce. Race morning was the business as usual. I spent the night at my parents place and awoke with my Dad (who was running) to down some coffee and chow down. We got dressed and it seemed that we would have perfect running weather. The day before it was in the high 80’s but today it was in the mid 60’s with overcast skies. I usually hate cloudy days with a passion but I was SSTOKED. We drove the few miles to Miltons, which is only a ½ mile from the start line at the Del Mar Race Track. After jogging over we lined up at the front so that we wouldn’t have to weave through the crowds.
Off went the gun! My dad and I ran together for the first 3 miles but at mile 4 there was a slight up-hill and I kicked it in gear. Looking at my HR monitor I saw that I was going a bit too hard as I didn’t want to start my push until after Torrey Pines hill. However I was really afraid that my friend Linzay was going to catch me!
So a little back story is needed here. Linzay is a stud runner. She caught me at mile 4 at San Deguito, but I managed to push on an uphill and stay away with a bit of a cushion. The next time we “meet” was at Safari Park. I was having a terrible race that day (well I felt terrible) and she passed me at mile 5 and stayed away for about a mile. I had to work really hard to pass her again, she ended up finishing about a min back of me. She and all my running buddies said she was going to kick my butt at La Jolla. Consequently she had been putting in a lot of work and I had been suffering from plantar factious so my run training was less than ideal. However, I ran a 1:40 at IMCA70.3 2 weeks prior and that was less than a min off my stand alone 13.1 PR.
Ok back to the race report: I knew she would be running strong so I decided to start my push at mile 4, before the hill. I refused to let myself “look back” and continued to keep the pressure on as I ran through Torrey Pines on my way into La Jolla.
With about 3 miles to go we run down a really long hill into La Jolla Shores. I HATE RUNNING DOWN HILL! Once I hit the bottom I started my final push to the finish. After having biked the course the day before I thought I would have enough gas to have a strong push into La Jolla Cove. Once I started to pass the La Jolla Beach And Tennis Club I could tell that I was starting to fade a bit but figured once I crested the top I could let gravity pull me towards the finish. With about a quarter mile to go I knew I had another PR so I was pretty stoked. I cruised into the finish with a time of 1:37:21 finishing 21st of 159 in my AG and 187 of 6,064 finishers.
I am very pleased with my efforts on the day. I pushed hard from start to finish, executed a great nutrition plan thanks to Hammer Nutrition, rode 45 miles the day before, and focused on keeping good form during the race. I want to give a special shout out to my dad who averaged an 8min pace over the course after crushing the bike the day before and having to carry that super buff body up the hills. Many thank to K-Swiss and Injinji for keeping my feet happy, and TP Therapy for allowing me to walk today haha.
I might not be able to make it up to Wildflower so we will have to see. However its FULL steam ahead for Ironman Coeur D Alene!!! Congrats to all finishers!


Happy Training/Racing…