Carlsbad Half Marathon 2012

pre-race: no nervous energy, just excitement!

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I love the Carlsbad Marathon and all of its events.  We moved here in February '08 so I had just missed it that year but swore I would participate in this awesome hometown event every year that we are here.  I almost missed it this year due to timing of other races, but I'm glad I found a way to participate at the last minute!  This year, I ran the Half Marathon event.  It was my second time and, as always, it proved again to be my favorite race distance.  The day before I had run the Kids Marathon Mile through Legoland with my children.  I love that it's a fun, family weekend of running!

I felt comfortable going into the race and knew it would be a solid effort but definitely not a PR race for me.  The course is primarily up and down Pacific Coast Highway which is just that - up and down.  The hills aren't terrible but there are enough of them that a PR was not in the books for today.  However, I knew that going in and had my goal set on beating my previous time at the Carlsbad Half (1:52:30 in 2009). 

The day before the race it poured.  It also poured the day after the race.  For Southern California, these were "stormy" days and it really was quite heavy at times.  Yet, by the luck of the draw, race day for Carlsbad was absolutely perfect.  It didn't rain, the sun stayed away for most of the race and there was no wind worth mentioning. 

I was in Wave 2 for the Half Marathon and ended up starting in the back of that wave due to getting to the corrals late.  The first few miles were a bit congested and I had to do a lot of passing.  It forced me to start at a slower pace; the first few miles were run at an 8:30-8:45 pace.  Miles 3 to about 10 were picked up and kept steady at a 7:50 to 8:00 pace.  I felt pretty good, not working terribly hard but pushing it a little.  The last few miles felt harder than my pace reflects.  I knew I was starting to tire and the course at that point was climbing to get over the 5.  The finish was as fast as I could muster.  It's a little deceiving because once over the 5 you begin to descend and people will often push it.  However, you're still more than 3/4 of a mile away so it's way too soon for me to push.  If I do, the flat finish feels extra hard.  I waited until the last turn (under 1/2 a mile) to give it all I had.  It felt great to finish having met my goal for this race!