AFC Half Marathon Race Recap
Another AFC Half Marathon in the books! This was my 10th year running this race and with that comes a ton of knowledge of the course, how to best run it and how to best prepare for it. Typically the weather for this race is just ridiculously hot and humid. In San Diego, late July/August is when the temperatures start to spike and in recent years, the humidity levels have gone up with it. This year has been no exception. I had been eyeballing the weather all week and it looked like the temperatures were going to be right where I’m used to seeing it for race morning. But the weather gods were on our side and it turned out to be great race weather for this time of year! Yes it was still in the low 70s, but it stayed cloudy and overcast the whole race. A nice breeze helped keep it from feeling so sticky as you ran. This was probably the third time that the weather for the AFC Half wasn’t a factor in how I was able to run.
This was the first half I ever ran, so I feel obligated to run it every year as one of my runner-versary races despite the heat, humidity and hills on the course. I also ran it as a tune up race to see where I’m at with my training for the Chicago Marathon in October. Since I ran it so many times, I know what an overall finish time should be around. I give myself a window of around 1:30 - 1:35 to be done by. So somewhere between 6:52 - 7:15 per mile pace. I decide to run with the 1:30 pacers just to help keep me on point and to have a group of people to run with should I need that assist.
Family party meant getting just under five hours of sleep. Ugh.
So for those of you that have run the race before you’ll nod your head in agreement with this race description. For those that haven’t, this’ll make you either register for it and book your trip now or skip the race altogether and make SD a regular vacation instead of a run-cation.
Race starts off super early at 6:15a. The start time has been moved back further and further over the years to help runners avoid as much of the heat as possible that typically just consumes you. For me, that meant the alarm going off at 3a to get ready, take care of bathroom biz and be at the bus pick up area before 430a. With the race starting at a national monument, this is the only way to the start.
Mile 1 - 2: Starting at Cabrillo National Monument, expect ascending rollers from the jump! You have beautiful and somber views with the city skyline on your right and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery around you. A cramped first mile will force you to run slower than your intended pace. That’s a good thing!
I’m chilling on the outer edge of the crowd as we start because I know that’s where the most room for me is without having to bob and weave through the crowd as it funnels down the street. Mile one - 6:51. Mile two - 6:47. Close enough to where I need to be.
Mile 2 - 4.5: Bomb the hills from 400ft to sea level in this stretch. It’s steep and easy to run faster than you want to. It’s okay! Go with the flow and stay relaxed. Keep your heart rate low and ease into the faster pace. Run with momentum.
We’re finally headed out of the monument/military base at mile two and it’s time to bank some overall time. At this point, I start to pull away from the pacers and head off on my own. Experience tells me I can get down to about a 6:15/6:20 pace without killing my body for the rest of the race. It’s fun taking your foot off the brakes and flying down the hills! I feel like the elites! Mile three - 6:25. Mile four - 6:11. Averages out perfect.
Mile 4.5 - 10.5: Flat, boring and hot with one bridge overpass at 5.25mi. The sun’s up by then and it’ll be all up in yo face! Most years the heat is already blazing and it’s humid being on the coast. Take advantage of the misters on Harbor Island and on Ash St. Hydrate plenty!
Except it’s not blazing or humid! At mile four I’m thinking maybe the sun will peak out at around mile 6 as we get close to Harbor Island. I don’t want to get my hopes up, so I just focus on slowing down my pace from coming off the hills. It would be nice to hold that pace the whole flat part of the race, but I know better. Get to Harbor Island and it's still overcast and slightly breezy! Loop around the island and as I'm making my way back toward Harbor Drive, I feel the wheels wanting to come off. Like it always does every year. Hit mile eight just past 53 minutes and I pop a gel to help give me that boost. Hopefully. Getting back onto Harbor Drive I feel people running up on me. It’s the 1:30 pacers with a few racers. Ha! Held them off until now. Fuck. They caught up. Welp, that’s what pacers are for! So I tuck in with the group to help me get that boost (hopefully) to stay on track. That stretch from mile 9 to about 10.5 seems like forever every year. I always tell myself “this is where the race starts”. You can crash and burn on this stretch, lose your pace and not be able to make it up because of the impending hills. And usually the weather’s murdering you by now, but that isn’t the case this time, so it’s all on me to dig deep and hold on. I try to draft behind a few runners here and there as the wind picks up a bit and I can use all the help I can get! Eventually the pacers and runners move on ahead of me and a few other stragglers. I’m left pretty much alone. This all happens between mile 9 & 10. Told you it seems like forever! The suffering must’ve paid off because I shaved off some time between these two miles. Mile nine - 6:57. Mile ten - 6:50
Mile 10.5 - 11.5: Turn onto India St. & you’ll notice the course climbing uphill a tiny bit. As you run east on A St. you’ll see the terracing of the road as you cross each block to 6th Ave.
I turn onto Broadway and I see the rise of the street in front of me. I also hear the railroad crossing bells. I see the volunteers and traffic police too, who will stop you if the train’s going to cross the road, but they’re not telling me to stop so I hurry my ass along to get past this and not have to stop and wait. “You’ve been here before, dude. Keep on pushing” I never bring my phone for a race and this was the first time I did so I could take pictures before and after the race. Ya know being an influencer and all… 🙄 Around mile 10, I decide to whip it out and play some music. I can use all the help I can get. Got my playlist blaring with all the motivation that 90s/00s/10s Hip Hop brings! I’m trading places back and forth with this younger guy as we head up A St. toward 6th Ave. I kind of do well on hills and though it sucks, I’m getting comfortable with the discomfort and manage it well. Mile eleven - 6:49
As seen on my run. F*ck that hill!
6th Ave.: This mile long mountain will test you, try to break you, and make you wonder why you signed up for the race! Fuck all that noise! You made it this far. Don’t quit! Run tall, lean into the hill and the crowd support and make it your bitch!
We hit the corner around the same time and man it always seems to take you by surprise. I got to run up this bitch? The crowd at the corner cheers us on as we head on up. Someone calls out my name, but I’m too much in a daze to recognize who it is. This dude and I are still duking it out back and forth about halfway through. As we run over the freeway overpass and get to the southwest corner of the park, I tell myself to “downshift” and hit that low power gear and start to muscle my way ahead of him and it feels like I pick up the pace. THIS IS WHY YOU STRENGTH TRAIN!!! About a quarter mile left of the hill and it’s hurting! I can’t keep the pace! Must slow down! Heart is racing! I alternate between leaning into the hill from the hips to let the quads do more work and running tall to let the hammys and glutes go to town. Must stop. I run past another crowd of people that are cheering and telling me to push and that helps get me out of my head and refocused that I can keep pace; that I can keep going; that I will make this hill my bitch. Before I know it, I get to the top and turn onto Laurel St. Mile twelve - 7:25
Mile 12.5 - Finish Line: Catch your breath as you cross over the Laurel St bridge and into Balboa Park. As you turn right past valet parking, take advantage of the slight downhill and lay the hammer down as you cross the finish line! Congrats!!!
I’m heading toward the bridge and though I’m a bit gassed from trudging up the hill, I feel pretty good. It’s not taking me forever to catch my breath, slow my heart rate and recover. Usually, I’m feeling wiped crossing the bridge. I look at my watch and I see that I might be able to break 1:30! What?! So I got some extra motivation to get a move on! I see some runners and decide to give chase and run them down. I pick them off one by one as I run under the Museum of Man archway. I know better than to pull the trigger and take off on a sprint from here. Wait til you hit the corner. Pass one more guy as I run past the corner and I finally hit the afterburners to the finish! Slowly pick up speed as I hit the finish line chute and I’m working to hold on just a bit more. It always feels like forever. I hear the announcers call my name and add some extra flare to it (helps when you know them 😉) and finally cross the timing mat! 🥵
Official Time: 1:30:24
Super happy with that time! Breaking 1:30 would’ve been a cherry on top. But otherwise, it’s right where I want to be at this point with marathon training.
Finally catch my breath, get blinged up from the volunteers and head over to the post race after party. It was really great to catch up with all my run buds and talk shop, trade war stories, be amazed about the weather and complain about the hill! Still waiting for the city to install that escalator up it! I wish!
Bling bling! Every time I run around the city. Bling bling!
One of the run groups I get a chance to run with here & there. Shout out to SM|RC!
