2:37:01

This past weekend, i completed the Asheville Half Marathon in 2:37:01.

For those who are unfamiliar, Asheville NC was devastated when Hurricane Helene ripped through the area in September 2024. My dear cousin Teena who lives in the area was thankfully not personally hurt or injured. In the past 6 months, the region has been slowly picking itself back up. While far being completely recovered, they have been slowly rebuilding. I've been keen to visit Teena and her family for a while. Well, the stars aligned and i happened to be free on their marathon weekend, so i booked everything up and headed over.

I think i'm late to this party, because i never realized how vibrant and interesting Asheville is.  They have a very active restaurant and brewery scene, and the vibe downtown (granted, it was St. Patrick's Day weekend) is energetic.  It's quite the shame that the River Arts District was ruined by all the flooding.  I wish i had gotten the chance to see it the way it was, but i'm sure they will rebuild it into something better once their recovery is complete.  I hope to visit again when that happens.  

From a personal standpoint, i am completely unhappy with my time.  I was aiming to finish under 2:30 and woefully overshot my target BY A LOT.  For the most part, i feel that i was gun-shy on pushing the pace because i was afraid that i would either bonk too soon or end up hurting myself.  I could kind of feel my right heel starting to ache when i ran down the downhills, and ended up just not trying to go fast on the flats or inclines.  As far as bonking, it's probably an irrational fear.  I've previously demonstrated (to myself more than anyone) that the run-walk-run method is an effective way of conserving energy for the latter parts of the race, all the way the 26.2.  As far as injury... well, i've proven time and again that i'm entirely injury-prone with no end in sight.  I am still dealing with my plantar fasciitis.  It's better than it was, but still hurts after runs.  Meh.  I just need to put in more work and hope for the best.

(An aside: In no way am i minimizing their tragedy, but it has occurred to me that my own troubles mirror theirs.  I was struck with fasciitis in September 2024 and have had a verry sloow recovery. As demonstrated by this race, i'm - ahem - half of the way there.)

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

RACE NOTES: 

1.  The expo was decent and honestly more interesting than some bigger races that i've been to.  They had some local vendors sampling and selling their wares.  I ended up buying a new race hat and some electrolyte mix.  Not a huge sum to pump into the local economy, but every little bit counts, IMHO. 

2.  The weather was great, hanging out in the mid 50s and cloudy.  It was a little windy (a storm was getting ready to pass through the area), but not intolerable.  I barely needed my throwaway sweater and pants.  

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

3.  At 1740 runners (516 for the full and 1264 for the half), this was not a miniscule race, but it was small enough to have ample parking and not need to separate runners from the spectators.  Gianina and Teena basically stayed with me until i started running, and they were right there waiting for me at the end, no need for a long chute or "family reunion area."  

Sadly, Asheville no longer has a Chinese buffet in the immediate area. 
Photo credit: Gianina Chong

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

4.  The half-marathon course was mostly run through Asheville neighborhoods.  Honestly there wasn't that much to see; i wonder if it would have been prettier if they ran this in the fall.  The prettier vistas may have been in the second 13.1.  I really only had one beef: a lot of the roads remained open during the race.  It wasn't uncommon to have cars driving down one lane while all the runners were in the other.  I understand that it's a small city, so there may be limitations to how many roads they can realistically close.  It was just weird and not something that i've previously experienced in any organized race. There was a decent amount of elevation gain, although there was a net elevation loss in the final analysis.  I wonder how much the uphills messed with my time.  Note to self: do more hill training.  Good thing i spend some of my weeks in the hills of Sonora. 

Dashing down a hill.
Photo credit: Asheville Marathon

Photo credit: Asheville Marathon

5.  There were only three aid stations on the half marathon course.  I had to bring my own water to keep well-hydrated.  There was no entertainment to speak of, except maybe for some music blaring at the aforementioned aid stations.  The spectators kept us entertained with the requisite signs saying "touch here to power up," and "you run better than the government."   

 6.  I managed to drink my "free" beer at the end of this race since the line wasn't too long (small races FTW).  There wasn't enough parking at the Brewery, but luckily Teena managed to find a secret spot near enough to easily walk to.  

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

Aside from having automobiles on the course, this was a decent race.  I might do it again to either better my time or run the full 26.2.  But really, those will just be excuses to experience the city again and visit with family.  

1:36:58 + 3:03:33 = 4:40:31

Several weeks ago, i completed the 2025 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Dumbo Double Dare Challenge (try to say that three times fast) in 4:40:31.  To the unaware (like i previously was), the "challenge" consists of a 10K on Saturday followed by a half-marathon on Sunday.  Unfortunately there's no finisher certificate for the challenge itself, just a line on a PDF file.

Fortunately, the individual races DO have finisher certificates.

I am emphatically NOT a Disney adult.  I honestly have no way of justifying the exorbitant $450 that i paid to run these races except that it seemed like fun when i signed up.  Running through the Disney parks does sound like a cool concept.  In reality, the 10K is probably the only real value-for-money proposition here.  It is run almost completely in both Disney parks.  In contrast, the half marathon only goes the the parks in its first third, and then runs through Anaheim neighborhoods.  While those neighborhoods are pleasant enough, the state of the roads leave a lot to be desired.  

I did not run this race seriously AT ALL.  I've been dealing with bad plantar fasciitis since September, which ultimately led to me missing the 2024 running of the CIM.  It was so bad that even though i didn't run in the entire month of October, i was basically hobbled when walking through the hospitals in November.  Frankly, i don't think i was even ready to run this race, but because the sunk-cost fallacy is hard-wired into my brain, i dragged myself back into training mode in December and slowly built up the mileage.  

I purposely ran the 10K very slowly, mindful of the 13.1 i still had to run the next day.  I finished with a cumulative run-walk pace of 15:36.  While that sounds uber-slow, the final results show that i finished 4,648th out of 7,317 participants (1,947th out of 2,629 men).  Definitely with the slowpokes, but still relatively close to median.  

I ran the half a little faster, with a cumulative run-walk pace of 14:00.  I finished 6,287th out of 10,513 participants (2,706th out of 3,789 males).  Slow, but still relatively average.  

Now 4:40 and change to run 19.3 is not necessarily anything to crow about, but i was not running for time.  This was basically rehab, and i'm happy to report that although my plantar fasciitis flared up after the half, it was manageable enough for me to walk back to the hotel (approximately 1 mile away) and go about my business thereafter. 

I feel like the only way i was even able to finish this race was because of the run-walk-run method.  With the rundisney races being billed as inclusive of all shapes/sizes and fitness levels, this is actually a featured method of training/running them.  Jeff Galloway himself was at the expo and the races, but i was too shy to get a selfie with him.  

NO, THE RACE ENTRY DOES NOT COME WITH PARK TICKETS.  The park tickets still cost at least $200 each.  At least it was a slow weekend and we barely had to wait in line for the rides.  The only "perks" that come with the race entry are the on-course photos.  Provided that you are okay with waiting in line (they look long, but they go fast), you can get your photos taken by some landmarks and subsequently download them for free.  Apologies to the photographers, but the pictures aren't really the best and require a bit of editing to be memento-worthy.  I only got two because i abhor waiting in line.  

In front of the "Pixar-Pal-Around" at California's Adventure.

In front of the Millenium Falcon at Disneyland Park. 

No race notes for this one, since it was really just a fun run.  If anything, the only "tip" would be to try and submit a relatively fast "proof of time" during registration, so as to get into a good corral.  

5:03:14 (AKA "It's Alaska, People!")

Last weekend, i completed the Anchorage Mayor's Marathon in 5:03:14.

There was nothing particularly special about this race that called out to me.  It just happened to fall on a day that worked perfectly. I’m always on the lookout for a good Saturday marathon, since almost all of them run on Sundays. It's probably just me, but i feel that Saturday is more conducive to travel overall.  I do wish they had timed it for the evening, to celebrate/experience the "midnight sun" on the summer solstice, but i'm not one of the organizers.  

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

My time was (as seems to be the theme over the past 2 years) nothing special.  Perhaps i could have finished sub-5 (which i consider to be the minimum requirement to not hang my head in shame), but throughout the race i reminded myself that I AM NOT IN TIPTOP SHAPE and never tried to push too hard.  This was good AND bad: despite finishing with a time that results in me hanging my head in shame, i still feel like i finished pretty strong.  Let me explain.  

Even though i didn't have a "gameplan" like the pros, i had come up with a "loose strategy" based on the elevation chart: take it relatively easy until mile 17 (basically to "get over the hill"), and then open up for the last 9 miles. In this, i think i did a decent job, not running any particular target pace, going "by feel" (easy at the first 17 and hard-ish at the last 9), and deciding what to do depending on what the course presented.  

Elevation chart

I mostly stuck to my tried-and-true run-walk-run ratio of 3-minutes-to-1.  HOWEVER, if it was a tough uphill, i would slow down to a walk, and if it was a decent downhill, i would do a fast jog, regardless of what my ratio called for. 

Enjoying one of the downhills.
Photo credit: Gianina Chong

In the end, i conserved enough stamina to do my running intervals at 9:00 to 9:30 when i finally let loose.  This resulted in a negative split.  If i may toot my own horn, i am somewhat proud of that, since it indicated that i sped up while every else was slowing down.  You can see that in how my "place" got better as time went by.  I was in 638th out of 742 around six miles in, but finished 473rd.  So, i outran 154 runners who were ahead of me by the halfway mark.  

"Placing."

I honestly felt strong for most of the race.  More significantly, AFTER the run: i haven't experienced as much soreness as i have in the past.  Since my overarching goal is to keep healthy while running marathons indefinitely, it's probably ok that i didn't push myself too hard.    

Some other things that may have contributed to how good i feel after this race (documented for future reference, in no particular order): 

1. Gu up every 30 minutes.  I went through 10 gel packets. 

2. Drink water when i felt even remotely thirsty AND at every mile.  I ended up finishing my entire 2 L bladder, running empty only when i was half a mile from the finish.  I urinated once, around mile 9. 

3.  I immediately ate a huge piece of loaded focaccia (the equivalent of a small pizza) almost immediately after crossing the finish line.  

4.  I wore compression socks after the race.  

Finishing strong and feeling good after the race may be an accomplishment in and of itself, even if i do have to hang my head in shame.   Now, if only i can get a faster finishing time... 

All-in-all, i'm happy with my fitness journey over the past 12 months. I've made steady gains since i started training with a heart rate monitor. The latest piece i've added to the puzzle is calculating my training zones based on my heart rate reserve, using my ACTUAL maximum heart rate (around 184) instead of my calculated max of 173. When running, i FEEL like my cardiovascular fitness has improved. More importantly, the metric i use (average HR vis-a-vis average pace during an easy run) has also shown objective improvement.  If i continue to train this way and apply the racing lessons i continue to learn, maybe i'll be able to hold my head up high again one day. 

Feeling good.
Photo credit: Gianina Chong

RACE NOTES 

1.  The expo was straightforward, really no vendors except for a local running store. HOWEVER, they had a Qdoba stall handing out free chips and salsa, and another stall where they had a wall of names.  This latter stall gave out "free" shades and gaiters. 

There i am.
Photo credit: Gianina Chong

2.  Weather on race day was less than ideal. It started out in the mid 50s and ended up in the low 70s. Considering the location, i expected it to be cooler, but it IS summer, and it WAS basically the longest day of the year (around 16 hours of sunlight). Thankfully, there was plenty of shade on the course to keep one cool.  

Mid-50s and sunny.
Photo credit: Gianina Chong

3.  Small races are really a pleasant experience. There were just over 700 marathon runners. Since the field was so sparse, Gianina and i were able to leave our Airbnb around 45 minutes prior to the race start, get to the site, park, and mosey on over to the start line with plenty of time to spare. In fact, she stayed with me all the way until the race actually started.  Unfortunately, because of the narrowness of some of the running paths, there was quite the crowd to navigate through for the first 2 miles or so. It eventually thinned out enough that i could run-walk-run most of it without fear of being run over. 

Photo credit for the above: Gianina Chong

4.  The course - while pleasant enough - wasn't as picturesque as i expected/wanted it to be.  Even though we ran the first part on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail which nominally has a view of coastline, you couldn't really get that view unless you wanted to walk off the trail a bit.  There were some gorgeous views of the mountains, especially when running through the city and there weren't as many trees in the way.  A few years ago, they had to stop the race for several minutes because a bear was blocking the path.  I was looking forward to a similar experience, but unfortunately the closest thing i had to a wildlife encounter was spotting a moose standing 200 yards off to the side.  Overall the course wasn't super difficult, but it seemed decently hilly, especially leading up to mile 17 and then at the finish line.  There was a gravelly area from miles 15 to 17, but nothing that my road shoes (Nike Vomero 17s) couldn't handle.  

Squint and you'll see the moose.

A view of the city and the coastline.

Mountains in the distance.

5.  The aid stations seemed well-stocked but i didn't really partake, except for a few cups of water here-and-there.  Someone was handing out beers at mile 21.  I believe there were an ample amount of porta-potties, but we were actually ENCOURAGED to use the woods ("It's Alaska, people!") for bodily functions.

6.  There was no organized entertainment and almost no spectators.  Not an issue for me. 

7.  The post-race experience also had zero fanfare.  Cross the finish line and collect your medal.  They were giving out "free" food (there were grilled cheese sandwiches and chips with salsa) and you could also wait in line to get your "free" beer.  I did not partake.  Because the event was so small (?!), Gianina was able to meet me at the finish line, give me the aforementioned loaded foccacia bread, and help me walk to the car that was parked about a block away.  Small races FTW!  

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

Photo credit: Gianina Chong

I kind of enjoyed this one, mainly due to the timing and small size.  I also thought Anchorage was a pleasant place to visit, as long as one doesn't overstay their welcome.  However, with the course overall  being meh and the amount of hassle it took to get there, i would not run it again. 

Beer flight + fried halibut and chips at 49th State Brewing.

With a year of heart-rate-zone-training under my belt, and more experience with proper hydration, nutrition, and recovery... let's see how i do at this year's CIM.