13.1 miles, 2:23:55 time.

On a cold, rainy, dark Sunday, we ran in the Pasadena Half Marathon. This was the first time that the race was produced by the same people that put on the LA Marathon. I guess expected more. Weather did not cooperate.

Kirk, Bill, GT, Tiffany, Lynda, and Joe. We found Ryan, Alvin, Ben, Eddie, Mike later in the morning.

The traffic control and parking was ridiculously uncoordinated this morning. I’m sure that people missed the race because of this. My friend Ryan waited for 45 minutes from the freeway to the parking lot, but he made it to the race on time. The race started and ended at Rose Bowl. They do football games and 5k here all the time. Mind blown. For me, I came at 5:30 and ended up parking near the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center and walking about quarter mile in the rain. I found my friends near bag check. Oh. and the bag check kids was overly picky today. I usually attach the bag check number on my Ironman back pack and it’s done, and it’s a lot easier to spot between all the 1000s of regular plastic bags afterwards. But, not today. They made me shove my back pack in the plastic bag. Sheesh.

Dressing for a rainy run is a crap shoot. It was lightly sprinkling in the early morning, but threatening for a downpour at any second. Eddie who lives in the Valley said it was totally pouring over there and it was headed this way. I opted for a running hat, disposable gloves, cycling jacket with vents, over a tech tee. I wore shorts and a race belt. For my feet, I wore socks, then produce bags with rubber band around ankles, in my new Altra Trail Shoes Lone Peak 3.0, topped with gaiters. Overall, this strategy worked well. Dry feet. I could take off the hat and gloves and open the jacket vents to cool off. Then, when it was cold blast of rainy wind, I zipped up and put my hat and gloves back on.

The race was delayed by 25 minutes, during which time the rain started. I got cold waiting for the start. Race Director was apologetic, but he had to wait for the police and traffic green light.

Overall, I was feeling okay for most of the day. My breathing still makes running a struggle. I have a slight wheeze on most runs, and during intense running, the wheeze will instigate a vicious coughing fit. The course is very hilly. The first hill out of the Arroyo is at California, it’s probably 5% for a quarter mile. Then, rollers for a few miles through Green Street, up and down Lake and Wilson. The rain stopped for a couple miles. But, on the return trip, it started raining in earnest at mile 7 & 8. I was keeping up the nutrition, which is a gel every 3/4 miles and plain water to sip. I took a couple breather stops to sit out coughing fits on significant climbs. Crossing Suicide Bridge at mile 10, the winds picked up and the temperature dropped, and the rain started. It got colder and colder for the victory loop of 3 miles around the Brookside Golf Course and Rose Bowl. I zipped up, but started feeling nauseous. I finished feeling very cold.

I found my friends at the Pasadena Pacer tent. Love those guys. Thanks for always waiting around for me! I changed into dry shirt and jacket and put on pants. The Pacers are great too. They had official locker room passes, to change in the warm football locker room. I didn’t take advantage of that, I just wanted to get home to a hot shower and a warm food.