After much deliberation I have decided to run the Berlin, Germany marathon for my 10th worldwide marathon the race will be on September 28, 2008. I registered for the race [$90.75] very early [1/1/08] due to the fact that it is Germany’s biggest race and it fills up very quickly. I have started doing some research on Berlin to prepare for my trip – this will be my second trip to Berlin.   J

January 2, 2008

Registered for the Carlsbad 1/2 marathon on January 20th  – I will use the race to work on my marathon pace [9:00/mile] as preparation for my Berlin marathon. I only have 2 1/2 weeks to train for the race but I believe I will be ready – hopefully my hamstring will be okay for the race. I have set a goal of a 2 hour 1/2 marathon – looking forward to the challenge.   

January 20, 2008 [Carlsbad 1/2 marathon]

I got up  around 4:00 AM as it is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from San Diego to Carlsbad – and I did not want to get tied up in the traffic on the highway. I arrived at about 5:45 and found a parking spot near the start of the race. It was a cold morning and fortunately I was able to stay warm until the start of the race. The race is sold out every year and the start is very crowded with marathoners and 1/2 marathoners. The start went off on time and fortunately I didn’t have to go around many runners. By the time I got to mile 2 I had plenty of room to run. My goal was a 2:00 marathon and at the halfway point I was on pace to meet my goal. At mile 10 my pace slowed a bit and I had to pick my pace up if I wanted to meet my goal of 2:00. At mile 12 I realized that I was just going to miss my goal and I finished in a time of 2:01. I was very surprised to find out that I came in 2nd in my age group of 70-74. For my 2nd place finish I received a very nice glass trophy. After the race I did some stretching because my right hamstring was really bothering me. This is the same injury I had at the Bangkok and Buenos Aires marathon. The injury just does not want to go away.