Carlsbad 13.1, Pizza, Beer & Fun!

I went into the Carlsbad Half-Marathon assuming I'd pull off a 7:30 pace given the training I've done thus far. I knew a 1:38 or 1:39 was doable. But secretly, I hoped I'd somehow miraculously pull off a 7:00 pace. That didn't happen. Finish time- 1:37, a 7:29 pace (7:24 on my Garmin though, hm).

Getting on my game face at 6 a.m.:

Keeping it in perspective, I know why I didn't pull off that faster time. I've NEVER run just a half-marathon (only in 70.3s) and I'm only just starting to build volume on my run training for this season. My longest runs have been ~10 miles, and there's only been several of those since I've been back at it. Plus, unlike veteran runners, I have no past years of 13.1 or 26.2 experiences to fall back on, so what could I expect? Running an all-out half-mary was completely new territory for me! The reason I thought the 7:00 pace was possible is because those 10-mile runs have all been hilly trail runs--I figured the hill training would transfer into faster times on a flat course; sort of did but not entirely. (Btw, I don't consider Carlsbad a flat course, either.)

One GOOD thing about C-bad: I felt fabulous for the first half. My splits on the Garmin show that I ran my first 6 miles in 43 min (7:10 pace). That's good for me. It was the second half where I started to fall apart. So, that just means I need to keep building more volume and do more long runs before I can expect a faster 13.1.

One BAD thing: I never found Tatiana. I parked a mile from the course (so ended with 15 miles of running) and obviously didn't have my cell. Finding one person in a sea of thousands wasn't going to happen. She ran a smokin' 1:30. Wow! Go teammate! I wonder: Had I run (or tried to run) with her, would my time be faster?

But overall: Stoked on the race and all that it taught me.

Even more so, I'm stoked on the whole weekend....

After I finished with my AM clients at SPI on Saturday, I headed to SD. Packet pickup, then La Jolla. I stayed with Brad, the ex. Yes, we're still friends... just friends!! But with how crazy busy we both are, we rarely ever talk (hadn't seen him since Kona), so this weekend was a good opportunity to catch up.

Saturday afternoon was spent lounging around enjoying blue skies. Felt good & refreshing after the week of storms SoCal endured. Brad is fresh off a surf trip he took on some remote island where he had a gnarly accident aka pounding on the reef, so he can't surf (or do much of anything right now) but we had to go down to check out the killer swell that was rolling though. And I got me a little beach time/La Jolla sunset action...

Sunday was a complete 180 from Saturday. Action packed! Brad worked out while I raced, then we converged back in LJ for a coastal spin at noon-ish with a halfway stop back up in C-bad at Pizza Port for pizza & beer. Apparently I still had enough left in the tank post-Cbad for a solid ride sans nap--I was surprised! Maybe it was the PERFECT weather that got me pumped. Pizza Port was Brad's idea... and I was totally stoked on the pizza part, but I've never been one to drink beers halfway into a bike ride. But hell, you only live once, and I had gotten in my "quality" workouts by that point.


I think the adventure took us nearly 4 hours. We spent a good amount of time at Pizza Port because I didn't want to get a "BUI" on the way back. Still, let me tell you, climbing Torrey Pines 1) post half-marathon, 2) after a few beers and 3) burping pizza is something!

In the end, Sunday was a 65-mile day for me (15 run/50 bike) and it left me spent and with a huge smile on my face. I love when you're so tired/worked/sore/"buzzed" from the day's activities that you can barely lift yourself off the couch that night. And that's why Mondays are my recovery days, ahhhh :)