I had been pretty sick all week. I couldn't take any time off from work either, so I was actually considering not starting the race. Instead of chicken soup, I was pounding the pho and ramen all week to see if my body would rebound in time for the race. By Friday afternoon, I had finally regained my ability to breath through the nose, so I started having some hope of running this race. After work, I rushed over to the expo at Huntington Beach. The traffic actually wasn't too bad. After picking up my race packet, shirt, and legacy club stuff, I bumped into a few of my Marathon Maniac buddies. After shooting the breeze with everyone, I headed up to Ramen Yamadaya in Costa Mesa to eat dinner. I then headed on home to get some rest.
Expo time
Mile marker
Longboard legacy club
Maniac friends
Saturday
Rest day. Did nothing but watch TV. Got my race gear ready before going to sleep.
Race gear
Sunday
I left the house around 4am to get to my usual parking spot on Beach Blvd. I parked and got my stuff ready before making the trek over to the Hyatt Regency. I usually wait inside here until it's time for the Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo across the street at the end of the bridge. After taking the photo, I jogged over to the starting corral to meet up with a few of my RWOL friends. We talked a little about each of our race strategies. It was good to catch up.
Marathon Maniacs
Starting corral
RW friends
The full marathon started at 6:30am. My legs felt better and my lungs were working so I went out comfortably hard. I ran most of the section in the Park with my friend Marathon Mitch. The hill at mile 8 really wiped me out. I couldn't recover to take advantage of the downhill miles that followed. My legs were falling apart as I turned onto the PCH. It was a pleasant surprise to see my friends here at this spot cheering. By the time that I got to the turnaround around mile 12, my legs were done. I coasted into the halfway point right around 2 hours.
1: 8:11
2: 8:20
3: 8:54
4: 9:14
5: 8:18
6: 8:38
7: 8:40
8: 9:20
9: 9:28
10: 9:06
11: 10:14
12: 10:18
13: 9:56
Halfway: 1:59:53
Headed to the finish line
I really tried very hard to keep all of my miles around 11:30 - 12:00 in the second half. After crossing mile 16 we turned onto the bike path. This is my least favorite part of the course. It's narrow and crowded with all sorts of traffic. Also several of the mile markers each year are in the wrong spot. There was a group of people grilling bacon and passing out Bud light again this year. They liked my Team Beef shirt and tried to give me some bacon and beer. I told them that I might take some on my way back. My legs were cramping up before I even got to mile 20. It was good seeing my barefoot running buddies that had set up a tent at around mile 21 to encourage runners and to pass out some snacks. I would get the legs to loosen up several times, but then they would just cramp up again. I had to take so many walk breaks. During my many walk breaks, I met one of my blog readers. You never know who is reading your blog! The final .2 to the finish was a little rough. I tried to run as fast as I could without having my legs lock up again. It was good to see my friend Casey cheering at the finish.
14: 11:28
15: 11:49
16: 11:40
17: 11:52
18: 12:19
19: 14:05
20: 12:57
21: 16:53
22: 10:54
23: 14:24
24: 14:44
25: 13:27
26: 12:39
26.2: 2:02
Finish: 4:49:58
I felt like crap after crossing the finish line. I got my awesome surfboard medal. Then I proceeded to got a banana, water, and a bag of goodies. I found a place to prop myself up so I could eat the banana which helped make me feel better. I then bumped into a few of my friends outside of the beer garden before I went in to get my free beers. Thank goodness Longboard Legacy members have their own express lane. I believe they were serving Kona Pipeline Porter and Fire Rock Pale Ale. They also had Michelob Ultra if you're into diet beer. Each person was allowed two beers. After grabbing my beers, I happened to find a few of my friends sitting near the fence. I hung out with them for a little bit before I headed out to eat lunch.
Surf board medal
Hanging out in the beer garden
I tried to meet up with my friends for lunch, but they had already been at the restaurant for a while already. With the traffic it wouldn't taken me close to an hour to get there. I didn't want them to wait around for me, so I told them that I would catch up with them at the next race in San Diego. So I decided to go eat at the all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, Korea House, in Garden Grove. I ate mostly boneless beef short rib and thin sliced beef brisket. I finished up by grilling a bunch of shrimp. I think I put more than enough protein back into the body. :)
Beef!
More beef!
Shrimp
No comments:
Post a Comment