2010 Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon

Date: May 31, 2010
Start: 7:00am
Goal: Sub 1:46
Finish: 1:49:42 (a far cry from my goal time..haha)
Elevation:











Commentary: I woke up this morning at around 5:15am to get ready for this race which is somewhat very close to where I live. I didn't end up leaving my place until 6:20. I got to the race site with 20 mins to go before the gun went off so I stood in line to use the potta johns. Unfortunately the lines were really long since the Half Marathon and 5K participants were all starting at the same time this year. While I was waiting in line, I saw a friend of mine exit one of the potta johns so I decided to skip it and catch up with him. This ended up being a good move since at about mile 1, there was an empty potta potty which I used quick-style and took off.

So the gun went off on time and we were off. I was feeling good aside from my usual shin splints problems. It eventually went away at around mile 3. I was feeling pretty good today and was out for a PR. Unfortunately, those hills showed me who's boss and I ended up clocking in mostly 8:10 min/miles (edit: hahaha...ok so more like 8:20s once I saw my official time). Not good enough to PR. I can honestly say that I gave it my best. However, in comparision to my first running of this course back in '06 (2:07), I think I've improved..haha.

Despite missing my PR, this course is great to run. As my friend pointed out to me, it would be a good training ground for the LA Marathon. Also, I love that the race is small and local. I really didn't have to dodge that many people at the start. The weather was just great this morning and the sun eventually came out towards the last couple of miles of the race. I am not sure why I've waited this long to rerun this race. They are super organized and have one of the best finishline grub, as they are sponsored by Souplantation and the Corner Bakery. One weird thing, they were giving out canned water in a large Monster can...the same company that makes those energy drinks. I don't know how I feel about this. When I was going through the line to get some fluids and food after the race and they handed this canned water to me, I had to ask them 3 times if it was really water. While canned water doesn't seem very "green" to me, I did noticed alot of recycling bins around the expo area.

One regret I do have was not doing the Marathon in May program. My running buddy who I paced at the Cinco de Mayo Half picked up his Marathon in May medal and it was spectacular. I am super jealous. I must have it next year. Guess I will be coming back to face these hills again. They better be ready for me because now I have something to prove...haha.

That's it! I was home, showered and icing my legs by 9:30am. Love those local races. If any volunteers are reading this, THANK YOU for your time and spirit out on that course!

Here we have my pup modeling my race medal for me since I currently look like a mess. Also pictured is the race swag that I picked up yesterday at the Laguna Hills Mall.


Pictured: this is just a funny before-and after picture of my pre-race meal at Souplantation last night. Honestly, I don't normally eat that much, not anything even remotely close to that amount before a race but I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if I did eat a lot. Not a lot happened except I felt really full and uncomfortable. Guess I won't be doing that again. I need to get my eating back on track. Also pictured is a bowl of fruit I had after I got home and the goodies I managed to carry away from the Souplantation and Corner Bakery booth at the expo. I also picked up a bottle of MyoPlex Protein drink but I didn't take a photo of that since I don't plan to drink it but it is sitting in my fridge now.


Pictured: Monster canned water, closeup of the race swag, race t-shirt and close-up of the medal.