America's Finest City (AFC) Half Marathon Recap

The AFC Half Marathon is the third race in the Half Marathon Triple Crown series. The other two races are: Carlsbad Half Marathon and La Jolla Half Marathon. The Carlsbad Half Marathon takes place in late January and boasts an oceanfront course in Carlsbad. The La Jolla Half Marathon is held in April, featuring a breathtaking course stretching from Del Mar to La Jolla. Lastly, the America's Finest City Half Marathon (AFC) is held each August and runs from the historic Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma to beautiful Balboa Park. All participants that finish the three races in the same calendar year receive a Triple Crown award, a nice medal.


Race Course

Elevation

Saturday, August 20th - Race Expo at the Sheraton Hotel

After picking up my running bib, I stopped by the iFitness stand to say hi and thank them for the BEST birthday present ever. I also purchased two bottles for my hydration belt. I couldn't talk very much since my little kids started playing around with the belts in the table ;-0

Then, I swung by Glam Runner and bought my first tutu. I talked briefly to someone that looked very familiar. This morning, I found out it was Monika with a K. I read her blog a while back when I checking for other Bikram yoginis that love to run. She had posted a picture in a tutu with a caption "Bending It Like Bikram" :-)

Finally, I went to pick up my technical t-shirt. Unfortunately, it was too big. I ordered a women's small-size but they gave me a men's small-size. What a shame! I talked to one of the event organizers and he mentioned I could exchange it after the race, as long it's not worn. OK, I'll do that. Next to this area, there was a stand were you could get your running bib printed on the shirt. How nice! This is something I've never seen in an expo before. Since, mine didn't fit, I bought a new shirt and did that. My husband had his official t-shirt printed too.

After the expo, we drove to my new favorite vegan restaurant, Love Hut, to carb load. On the way there, I was checking my husband's shirt versus mine to see how big they were and realized that he had printed his bib on my technical shirt instead. Oh noooo! hahaha, no luck with t-shirts today.

Sunday, August 21st - Race day

My husband and I woke up at 4:00 am and drove to Balboa Park. We actually parked at the Zoo, as many people suggested the day before. Parking was relatively easy. We walked for 5 minutes and picked up the bus right away. The ride to the Cabrillo National Monument seemed an eternity. It reminded me of the Rock 'N' Roll Las Vegas bus ride from the Staples Center to the Griffin Park. We arrived at the park at 5:30 am and met some friends. The next hour and a half went by really fast.

I usually take pictures before the race at the starting line, preferable holding the corral 1 sign, which is usually reserved for the fastest runner. I am not one of them yet but I like the idea. It's all about visualization. Here, there was not a glamorous starting line nor corrals. We decided to move to the front of the line to avoid the crowds. I started fast. Not a BIG surprise here. The uphill rollers were pleasant. It was nice running with a breeze. The temperatures were perfect. Not too cold, not too hot. I've been training during lunch time lately when it's extremely hot and almost unbearable.

I picked some time during this part of the course. I was concern about the upcoming plunge into Point Loma. I am not too thrilled about downhills, especially after running La Jolla Half Marathon. I find them more challenging than uphills. This was my main concern. I ran and ran and ran and waited for the downhill without realizing that I was running it. I guess I was expecting some crazy incline like the one that followed Torrey Pine.

Next time I checked my Garmin, I was already in the Lindbergh Field Airport area. This part of the course was flat, a little too long and boring. I felt like stopping a couple of times during this stretch but I kept going thinking "you gotta finish this race. You either run it or walk it all the way to the end. It's up to you". I ran out of gas when we reached 6th avenue but kept going at a much slower pace. Soon enough, we were at beautiful Balboa Park. Once we crossed the bridge, I gave it my 100% and hammered it all the way to the end. To my surprise, I PR'ed on this race, 2:10:44. I am happy but I feel I could have run harder the 6th avenue ( 11 min/mile ouch!). I need more hill training.

Overall, I am overjoyed. This is exactly how I wanted to finish the Triple Crown. This is my favorite out of the three races. My husband PR'ed as well with 2:15. Yahooo!