I spent the weekend not thinking about Avenue Z at all because I was prepping for the La Jolla Half Marathon, which I ran yesterday.

Whew. A tough race. Here’s the official description:

The La Jolla Half Marathon is one of America’s most picturesque and challenging runs. Starting adjacent to the Del Mar Fairgrounds main entrance, the course follows a scenic route along the coast before reaching the challenging climb to the summit of Torrey Pines State Park. After leaving the park, the course continues the beautiful residential district of La Jolla Shores, and finishes on the grass in the park at La Jolla Cove.

Challenging climb indeed! I decided to power walk up it, hoping I could make up the time on my way down. A few people around me were “running” it, but their tiny steps and labored breathing as they s-l-o-w-l-y passed me confirmed that I would be wasting energy to try to run it.

But I used the downhills as an advantage, and I ended up with my best time ever! It was so hot and the race was so challenging that at the beginning the announcer actually warned us not to go for a Personal Record (PR). I ended up a second or two faster than the course average for the day.

If you need something to click on today, view the results from the other half I did in January.

Back to the adventures of Life on Avenue Z tomorrow, I promise.