Mission Inn: No PR; What's Up Next

It's been a few days since my half marathon but I wanted to take a look back at the race and write about some things that didn't make the race recap.

No PR

I don't want this race to be remembered for not having set a PR. I did, though, have a stretch where every race I did, I did just that. I set PRs in each of my two previous half-marathons, this year; had improved my 10K time the last two 10Ks I ran; had bested my marathon time in the second one over the first.

So this is sort of new to me, running a strong race but not setting a PR.

I'm not upset. I wasn't upset during the race when I realized it wasn't going to happen, wasn't upset after the race and am no upset now, a few days after.

It would be one thing if I didn't know why my time wasn't what it was in Long Beach. I hadn't run as much as I should have been running after Long Beach and, perhaps more importantly, I didn't do any speedwork. Speedwork is critical for improving time, and I did none of it.

Still, I managed to get a 1:56:20 so I'm not exactly lamenting over a poor time.

Hometown Race

I've lived in Riverside since 1989 save for a two-year stretch Mrs. LB and I did in Temecula (yeah, it was like a prison sentence). Oh, and then there were the few months we picked up and moved to Mexico, in 2002. But aside from that, I've lived here in Riverside since '89, and Mrs. LB longer than that.

But it wasn't until 2008 that I participated in the Mission Inn Run. That year was my first year as a runner, and by November '08 I was embracing that. I ran the 10K that year as there was no half-marathon option. Last year I ran the 10K again because the Lopers recommended that I do as much, but I was pretty bummed that I didn't run the half as it was the first year.

After having run this race for the third consecutive year, I think I'd like to keep running it for the foreseable future. I might not run the half every year, might try to set a 10K PR or something, but it's cool to know that I have a hometown race that I enjoy and now have some history with.

That being said, it would be nice if the course ran through more streets and less of the out-and-back bike path.

Tape Issues

When I went to Seattle, I bought some medical tape for my nipples. It's worked great, and considering I lost the other tape I had it's been a bit of a lifesaver.

(If you aren't aware, I have nipple issues as they bleed on me like crazy if I don't take care of them. Don't believe me? Look here)

Well, I had taped the nips before the race... okay, well, let me rephrase that. I had tape on them. I'd had tape on them from earlier in the week. Sometimes I just like to let the tape stay on there because it kinda hurts to take off.

Late in the race, I felt the unmistakable nipple pain that's cause me so much grief since I've been running. I dismissed it though because I was focused on the race. Also, my undershirt of choice is one that's pretty skin tight so it helped stave off pain and blood.

Later, when I took off my shirt the tape was indeed gone from both nips and I felt some tenderness in the area.

I'm just lucky I didn't bleed.

What's Next?

Sadly, I have no more races to run in 2010. This was race number 10 and it concluded a memorable and busy calendar.

My next race won't be until Surf City 2011, on Feb. 6, when I will run Marathon No. 3. I would like to run a half marathon in January, to use as a training run for Surf City but not sure if that will happen.

My next half-marathon won't be until much longer. Next spring, the Run Through Redlands will present another challenge but I'm not sure if I'll run that. I will run the Fontana Days Half Marathon in June and will look to PR there since it's all downhill... literally. The course is downhill from start to finish. Can't beat that.