On my way home from work, I swung by the Mike Ward Community Park to pick up my race packet for tomorrow's race. It was pretty empty when I got there. I went to the line with my assigned bib number and told the lady that my number was 115 (one fifteen). She proceeded to grab bib 15. I said, "No. My number is one fifteen." She then went to grab bib 150. I said again, "No. My bib is one fifteen. One, one, five." She went back and grabbed bib 15. Just as I was saying, "one hundred fifteen," she finally grabbed bib 115. To top things off, she read the name on the back of the bib as Emily. #facepalm You can mispronounce my name all you want, just don't call me, Emily! :)
Race shirt
In addition to the bib and race shirt, we were given the standard sturdy Lexus LaceUp tote bag, a couple of sample Nuun tablets, and a Honey Stinger waffle.
Tote bag, sample Nuun tablets, and Honey Stinger waffle
Later that day, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race. I decided to go with my new Chick-fil-A shirt. Lately, I've been eating there instead of McDonald's as I've been making an honest attempt at cutting back on my red meat consumption.
Flat runner
Saturday 9/7
I arrived at Mike Ward Community Park at about 5:30 am. I was driving in from the North on Culver Dr, making a turn on Barranca Parkway. There were roadblocks already set up blocking a right turn onto Lake Rd. However everyone ahead of me was going around it and like a good lemming, I followed. Next time I'll just enter from Alton Parkway which is just the next street after Barranca. The parking lot was filling up really quickly when I got there. Parking shouldn't be an issue since the church across the street had plenty of spaces. However they didn't have anyone directly people to the other lots as everyone was funneling into the park.
This year, the start line got moved over to Barranca Parkway near the bridge. It was definitely a much better place to start a race rather than from inside the park. The gear check truck was also there. As the start of the race approached, I walked over to the truck to take a pre-race photo with my fellow Half Fanatics. After we were done with the photos, I positioned myself behind the 1:50 pacer.
Half Fanatics!
More Half Fanatics!
Start line
The course was very similar to last year's course, but was run in reverse. I might have bolted out the gate a bit too fast as I clocked a sub 8 min first mile. I had no business going out that fast as my Achilles tendon was still a bit sore. So at about halfway through mile 2, I started taking walk breaks whenever I felt like I was struggling or overexerting. The race started in the low 70's with pretty high humidity and it progressively got warmer. It was one of those races were I was throwing water on my head at every aid station. I looked like I had just gotten out of a swimming pool in some of my race photos!
It got warm!
Finish line
Finish: 2:11:21
Click here for my Garmin data.
The course was much easier than my last race at the AFC Half Marathon, so I was able to finish almost 6 minutes faster despite all of the walk breaks. The warm weather really had me working hard. My Garmin data showed that it was an overreaching effort. I'm just not a warm-weather runner! One of the good things from taking all of those walk breaks pretty much prevented the usual right arch discomfort that I had been experiencing in my recent races.Relive 'LaceUp Orange County Half Marathon'
After crossing the finish line, I got my finisher medal as well as some post-race snacks and a small bottle of water. It was a pretty good looking medal, nice and colorful. I then made my way over to the vendor booths where I bumped into a bunch of familiar faces.
Finisher medal
Karen
After trading race stories and taking the obligatory photo, I headed over to the food trucks to get some complimentary food. One of the best perks with the LaceUp race series is the post race food! Last year, I went home before I realized that the food was included with the race registration. I checked out my options before deciding on getting a gaucho bowl with chicken from the Piaggio food truck. I had their food last year at the Palos Verdes race, so I knew that it was good. It was a very short wait for my food to come out. Most of the tables were exposed to the increasingly warm sunlight, but fortunately I found a table with shade where I enjoyed my food.
Food truck
Finisher medal, post race snacks and food
After I was done with my food and was ready to head out, I bumped into a few of my friends that had just finished and was checking out the food trucks. Before saying goodbye to them, we got a nice photo in front of one of the food trucks. I also stopped by the finish line to say a quick hi and goodbye to my friend that was doing the race announcing.
Post race friends
My friend the race announcer!
This year, I'm planning to run all 4 of the LaceUp races as part of their challenge, so that's 1 down with 3 to go! Apparently doing so will earn me an extra challenge medal.
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