Friday
I left work a little bit early to make my way over to the Surf City Marathon expo in Huntington Beach. Traffic getting there wasn't too bad, but the parking was a pain in the butt. So I ended up parking far away and walking to the expo tent instead of trying to find a closer spot. I got into the super long line and picked up my race packet and shirts, regular race shirt and the legacy shirt. I also picked up race packets for two of my friends. I found out later that that line was for the half marathoners. There was no line for those running the full marathon. I went through the expo pretty quickly and then talked to my friend at the Renegade Racing booth for a little bit.
I then made my way through heavy traffic to meet up with my coworkers at The Bruery for some after work beer flights. I'm not a big fan of sours, but it's always fun to try out new beers.
Flight#1
Flight#2
Flight#3 and some Krave jerky
Berazzled!
I drove over to my nearby favorite ramen shop a few blocks away to eat a late dinner before heading home.
Saturday
Originally I had planned to park for free at the corner of Mulholland and Las Virgenes Rd. But my friend told me that they were letting runners park for free in the lots inside the park as long as there was spots still open in the parking lot. So I drove on into the Malibu Creek State Park. It was early enough that it was almost pitch black. My friend Mitch was parked close by, so I was able to find his car in the dark and give him his race packet for Surf City. I then found my way to the starting area to pick up my bib for this race and meet up with Eddie to give him his Surf City race packet. I found it odd that they had run out of medium shirts, so I took a size small.
It was pretty dang chilly, but that would all change as the day went on. I shot the breeze with Eddie. He is always quite the talker. Always nice to talk to him about anything and everything. After going back to my car to grab my stuff, we took a pre-race Marathon Maniac photo. It was just your usual suspects in Southern California. I was the baby in the group with only 110 marathons under my belt. :)
Mitch, Yolanda, Deo, and Eddie
After a few last minute instructions from Keira, the race director, we were off! I'm definitely a road runner. I love to find my groove and just zone out. I do find that trail running does have its merits. One big one is that with trail running, you're almost guaranteed that the views are going to be spectacular. You'll have to earn those views though with some butt burning climbs. I also enjoy the more technical parts of a trail course... makes you feel a little bit like a billy goat.
Nice spot for a picnic
I was running at a pretty comfortable pace knowing that I have another marathon the next day but added some bonus miles by following a group of runners in front of me instead of following the pink ribbons. Eventually we all turned around and got back on the right trail.
Clearly marked to go down this trail
But I followed the runners ahead of me up this nice climb :)
After reaching the turnaround point for the marathon, I started dealing with leg cramps. I love the creativeness of all of the volunteers at the aid stations! Thank goodness that there were long stretches where it was shaded. I never do well with hot weather.
Turnaround point for the marathon, thank you volunteer!
This is always my favorite section of Malibu Creek State Park where the climb is steep and so is the decent on the other side. It gives me a chance to stop and take in the spectacular views.
Near the end of the race, I had to cross the creek again. My legs were tired and the rocks were slippery. I had to go pretty dang slow so that I don't kill myself falling into the creek although the water would be nice and cool!
1 - 6.5 miles - 1:37:06
6.5 - 11 miles - 0:56:48
11 - 13 miles - 0:29:33
13 - 15 miles - 0:41:32
15 - 19.8 miles - 1:11:36
19.8 - 26.2 miles - 1:53:59
Finish: 6:50:36
After crossing the finish line, I hung out a little bit to catch up with a few of my friends. I used to love drinking an ice cold Coke after a race or anytime actually, but I've given up drinking sodas. These days, I been sticking to just water, tea, and the occasional beer or two... or six. :)
That's not a cookie Carlos! :)
Sunday
I was pretty tired when I woke up. I remembered why I hardly ever run doubles. When I started my car up for my drive out to Huntington Beach, my car indicated that my right front tire was low on air. Oh well, good thing I have run flat tires. I'll get it checked out after the race. Per the usual, I parked on Beach Blvd just south of Atlanta Ave. I then walked on over to the Hyatt Regency to relax and wait before going outside to the chilly weather. As the time got closer, I used the restroom one last time and crossed over the bridge to meet my fellow Marathon Maniacs for the customary pre-race photo.
Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo from Keith Schlottman
I bumped into a few of my friends in the starting corral. The first two miles felt okay, but I got tired pretty quickly. I started in between the 3:50 and 4:00 pace groups. My goal was to just get it done in about 5 hrs, so I slowly backed off on the pace and let the 4:00 pace group run on ahead of me. Running through the park is my second least favorite part of this marathon course. The course gets a bit too narrow in certain sections. By the time I reached the PCH, I was already having to go into damage control. Near the halfway point at the turnaround, I saw my friend cheering and taking pictures. The section on the PCH is my third least favorite part of the course because you have the speedsters from the half marathon passing you the entire time. But the course is wide enough that it's not too bad. While running along the PCH, I was able to spot my very good friend running the half marathon despite battling breast cancer and going through chemotherapy. I wore my pink breast cancer shoes to show my support. From the turnaround it was about 3 more miles before we turned off of PCH for the marathon route on the bike path which is my least favorite part of the course. It's an out and back section totaling about 6 miles. The path is at times very narrow and besides those in the race, you'll have to share it with regular pedestrians, runners not in the race, cyclists, dogs, baby strollers, etc. you name it, they're all on that section of the course. The last few years, there has been a beer and bacon station that makes it a tad more fun. I've only been taking the beer. The one thing I like about this section is that I get to see some of my friends that are either ahead or behind me.
Near the halfway point photo from Lan
Beer and bacon station!
1: 8:50
2: 8:54
3: 9:18
4: 9:46
5: 9:01
6: 9:02
7: 9:50
8: 10:54
9: 11:28
10: 11:23
11: 12:10
12: 12:42
13: 12:22
14: 12:22
15: 12:52
16: 11:52
17: 12:36
18: 11:31
19: 12:36
20: 12:54
21: 14:12
22: 13:32
23: 12:33
24: 15:15
25: 14:11
26: 12:57
26.2: 1:42
Finish: 5:06:44
I missed my goal by about 7 minutes, but close enough for me. I was just happy to finish another marathon. After crossing the finish line, I made my way to the expo tent to pick up my extra California Dreamin' medal. I then made my way over to the beer garden to have a couple of beers from Kona Brewing Company. Thank goodness that the people that belong to the Longboard Legacy Club get to use the shorter VIP line to get their beers. After grabbing my beers, I found a spot and looked for my friends. I didn't spot anybody that I knew, but eventually some of my friends spotted me. After finishing our beers, a couple of my friends and I decided to get some real food in our tummies.
Post race beers!
So we headed on over to the Burger Parlor to eat some burgers. I had the Paris Burger along with a Kona Koko Brown. The burger was good. I was going to get another burger, but decided to try the Goldberg Hot Dog. I love hot dogs, but this one didn't do it for me. Next time I'll know to stick with their burgers, but I had to try it out just to find out if they're any good.
Paris Burger and Kona Koko Brown
Goldberg Hot Dog
Monday
Looks like it was the drastic change in weather that caused the low tire pressure sensors to go off. As I started my car to go to work, it was now showing all 4 tires as being low. Off to the shop I go. I hate cars, especially dealing with tires.
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