San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon Full Race Report (long)

I sit here realizing that a little over 24 hours ago, I completed something I never dreamed possible until about 6 months ago.

Before I get to the actual race, I had a real adventure even getting here. My flight left pretty much on time Saturday morning and I was expecting to get into SD, rent the car and head to the expo by 2:30 pm at the latest.  Well about 45 minutes into the flight, the pilot comes on and says the tower has him in a holding pattern over Catalina Island for 20 minutes due to weather/visibility issues in SD.  Slight setback, but no big deal in my mind at the time. A half-hour goes by and I realize we are still circling.  The captain comes back on and says that we are now being diverted to LAX because SD is now closed.  The last plane that tried to land there, had to abort the landing, so they closed the entire airport.  Oh great, here we go again.  I swear I am CURSED when it comes to travel.  But now I'm getting really worried because I have to get my bib number and chip at the expo, which closes at 5.

We land at LAX and they announce they will be busing us to SD.  Well forget that, who knows how long it'll take them and it’s already 2 pm.  I have a car reservation, so I called Enterprise and they were able to get me a car at LAX.  I get the car with relative ease and take off down the 405 toward SD.  I'm usually a cautious driver, but this time I'm flying down at about 80-85 mph most of the way, I make into the downtown area in about 1 hour and 45 min, by the time I park, it’s about 4:45 pm, I race up the stairs and I'm there just in time as they close up the expo.  I was told that people could pick up their packets the morning of, but I really wanted my stuff so I would have one less thing to worry about on race morning.  I get into my hotel and set my alarm for 3:30 am

I set 3 alarms, my cell phone, the hotel alarm and a wakeup call through the voicemail.  I heard my cell alarm first and popped out of bed.  I began my morning ritual, made one last check of my gear and headed out the door.  I got to the parking lot about 4:30 am and there were already plenty of people there.  I got into my space and walked to the shuttle.  For this race, you actually park at the finish and take a shuttle to the start because there are no shuttles that go from the finish back to the start after the race begins.  It was about a 10 minute ride and the start area was already packed with people.  There were some very loud groups and I thought to myself that these people were WAY too chipper for 5 am.  I made my way to the gear check, which was basically a bunch of UPS trucks and had to wait a bit as they couldn't find the key for my truck (go figure).  Finally I get everything situated and I begin stretching out and mentally focusing.  About 6 am, the corrals open up and I make my final pre-race port-o-potty stop, hoping to not see them at all during the race.  The weather was great.  About 60 degrees and overcast, very little wind, but if there was a breeze, it was a mild one and didn't feel cold.

I stood in Corral 19 and looked at the starting line about a quarter mile away.  The amount people in front of me was an amazing sight.  With the pre-race instructions and pep talk complete, the gun went off at 6:30 am.  It took about 6 minutes to get to the actual starting line, but it didn't feel that long, I started off my journey of 26.2 miles.

The start line was on the west side of Balboa Park and turned east, then I head south toward the zoo.  I was pacing myself pretty well for the first 3 miles, about 12 min/mile, then miles 4 and 5 were downhill and I picked up speed going into the downtown area.  I hit the 10k split at 1:14:46, and I couldn't have paced myself any better.  Heading into mile 8 was the start of the freeway portion, where you run on route 163. Most of it was not level at all, but slanted and slightly uphill, I kept pace pretty well, dropping back to 12:30, but still strong.  Coming on the downside of the 163 at Mile 11 was a sight that no one wants to see.  An older woman (50s maybe?) was flat on her back, passed out cold.  Her running mates and a couple others were around her administering what aid they could and an ambulance was making its way up the freeway.  I do hope she was ok, but that's a scary thing to see!

There were definite characters out there, I saw a duo dressed as Batman & Robin, also there was a group each dressed as Elvis and a couple of dudes with rock wigs.

By Mile 12 I was off the freeway and onto Friars Rd, past the shopping mall and I hit the half mark at 2:40:33.  A little behind my optimal pace, but I was still on track. On Miles 14-18, I dialed back the pace a bit to 13 min/mile, needing to conserve some energy. Just before Mile 19, another scary sight.  An idiot car broke through one of the street barricades, despite being yelled at continuously by the attendant, and barreled across the street, narrowly missing a half-dozen runners, including me.  I don’t know what the heck that person was thinking, but they had a screw loose.

About Mile 19.5, I saw a friend, who lives in SD, on the side of the road cheering.  After a short chat and hug, I was inspired again. I had reasoned in my mind, that if I could make it to her at Mile 19, then I only had 7 more miles to go.  Little did I know that they would be the longest 7 miles of my life.

I hit the 21 mile mark at 4:29:17.  Still within my pace range, but I was really beginning to feel the toll that the race was taking on me.  My left hip felt really tight and that it could rip out of its socket any second.  I passed Mile 22 and that's when I hit the wall.  There's a section of Mile 22 where the runners will pass each other coming back, so I made the turn, refilled my water bottles and tried to run.  No go, the body wanted to quit, but I wouldn't let it.  I did walk up the slight incline to make the turn to Mile 23 and that's when my mind decided to quit on me.  Every time I looked up, I swore the mile marker had moved further back.  It felt like it took 5 hours to make it to mile marker, but I finally snapped out of it.

I got to say, the crowd support in SD is great.  I hit mile 24 and there was a group of kids about 10-12 years old.  A couple spotted the name on my bib (I had The Beast on it).  And started saying stuff like "Go Beast" and "There's the Beast! Go!"  So it gave me just enough kick to keep me moving.  I would stop at the last remaining stations to get more water and the volunteers were encouraging too.

After Mile 25, I hit the outside of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.  I took off my iPod and began to soak in the atmosphere.  There were lots of supporters and as I made the turn to go inside the base, marine recruits were out there in full uniform cheering us on.  I blocked out the pain and picked up the pace fueled purely by adrenaline.  As I approached Mile 26, I could hear the PA announcer call out the finishers and the roar of the crowd.  I hit the final straightaway and it was an exhilarating experience.  The crowd was really cheering for everyone and I crossed the finish line with the final chip time of 5:44:17.  Five months of training paid off for that moment crossing the finish line.  I AM A MARATHONER.

After I got a bottle of water and medal, I made my way to the medical tent to sit down and ice my knees, which were really feeling it.  I limped around to the food stations and got my gear.  I made some calls and texts and sat down for a good 20 minutes.  I made the 3/4ths mile walk to my car and wow, it felt like 3 miles, but the lines for the shuttle were super long and walking was better than standing in my view.

I woke up today without much soreness at all.  Oh I have some aches and muscle stiffness, but I don't feel like a truck ran over me like I did yesterday.

So will I do another marathon?  I got to say, I probably will, but probably not till 2010 lol.

What's next for me? SF Half Marathon, July 26th!

I'll post pics on Facebook, PM me and I'll link you to my profile.

Brian
~350

Brian... Awesome job buddy. That was a solid write up and an awesome race. There is nothing like completing your first marathon. Even though it didn't go according to your plan because of the Wall, etc... It's amazing how that doesn't even seem to matter after you finish. That's what keeps us coming back... The desire to improve upon our results. Take plenty of time to let your body heal.... I would recommend two weeks of no running. Do some spinning or swimming and again let your body recover from the pounding you put on it. Great job bro, I am way happy for you...

Thanks Dan

I can't take too much time off cuz I gotta get back to training for SF Half where I wanna set a PR (sub 2:20).  Will be taking it easy this week for sure though

Brian
~350

You are VERY prone to injury after a marathon... you will not lose any fitness by taking an extra week recovering. Anyways, you know your body, listen to it and be careful...

Congrats! A marathon is an accomplishment I can't even imagine right now.

Great job, Brian!  It's should feel great to be among a group of elite runners.  I remember the biggest struggle after the marathon was getting off the bus.  It was brutal oing down those couple of steps.  Take some time to soak in  your accomplishment.
Rob

Congratulations Brian - what an accomplishment!! 

Awesome job Brian and awesome report. What a great feeling of accomplishment you must have. You guys make me want to push that much harder in my fitness so I can achieve my goals. Thanks for the report and the inspiration!

Darrell

great report, great read, and congrats!  i hope to be able to run a race like that some day if my body can take the punishment of training.  congrats again, great accomplishment.

Wow Brian, what a great accomplishment.

Congrats on your success.

Come on up and do one of the 1/2 marathons in Healdsburg in October.  I could use a running partner, and your 12 minute mile pace is right where I am at most of the time.

They have one on the 11th, and one on Halloween

Scott