Since I didn't feel like going to the expo on Saturday, I rushed over to the expo right after work. I didn't have a whole lot of time to spend at the expo since I had dinner plans with some old friends. I parked at the usual parking structure on 3rd near Pine which lets you park for free for 2 hours. It was a few blocks to the expo. The walk over was pretty warm. I made sure to stop by the LA Marathon booth to say hi to some friends. I guess I hurried a little bit too much as I had apparently forgotten to pick up my Beach Bum shirt.
Expo
My running friends!
For dinner, my friends and I ate Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster. Apparently they treated me for my birthday which was more than a month ago. I wouldn't have ordered the second beer if I had known that they would be treating. I think that this might be the last year that I eat Endless Shrimp. However while I do I love to eat shrimp, there's always too much of a good thing. I keep returning because it's hard to resist such a good deal. However their string beans and rice pilaf always tastes a bit weird. I guess my OCD kicked in as I made some art with the shrimp tails.
Artistic OCD tendencies :)
Saturday 10/10
Before meeting up with some of my friends from San Diego for an early dinner, I drove down to the expo again just to pick up the Beach Bum shirt. The Beach Bum area was a bit obscure this year. You had to first get a ticket from the table just outside of where you would pick up your Beach Bum gear. They have a list where they verify your status. After picking up the shirt, I bumped into a couple of my friends near the Pony Express Marathon booth. I signed up for their drawing for the chance at winning a free race entry.
Beach Bum
Pony Express Marathon
After I was done with the expo, I then drove over to the Deli News Pizza. I broke my marathon tradition and ate their spaghetti and meatballs instead of the usual meal from McDonald's. Coincidentally there was a McDonald's at the other end of the parking lot. The food was pretty good, but the place was almost unbearably hot especially if you sat near the window.
Spaghetti and meatballs at Deli News Pizza
Sunday 10/11
I usually prepay for parking for one of the parking structures, but this year I decided to just get there early and park at the lot at the end of Seaside Way just North of Shoreline Dr. I got there at about 4:30 am and there was already a lot of traffic getting into that parking lot. I got there by turning right onto Ocean Blvd off of Los Alamitos and got in line to make a left onto Linden Ave. Once I had gotten through the bottle neck of paying the $10, it was pretty easy to find a parking spot. I parked pretty close to the VIP parking entrance.
I bumped into a few familiar faces walking over to the starting line. At first I wanted to walk over to the Hyatt Regency to use their restrooms, but I ended up just using a portapotty since I didn't want to walk that far. I eventually made my way into the corral to meet up with a couple of my friends. We might have lined up a bit too close to the front as the 3:10 pacers ended up standing right next to us. The course would be a bit more crowded this year, as the half marathoners were allowed to join the marathoners for the earlier start to beat the heat.
Starting line
3:10 pacers
I banked most of my time during the first few miles while the sun hadn't come out yet and it was still cool. Most of the faster running was done before reaching the beach path. I took it easy on the beach path as the concrete always beats the heck out of my legs and lower back. Most runners ran on the old concrete path instead of the new softer path that had been put in recently. I'm guessing that was probably because spectators and regular folks were walking on that path. Then the weather got muy caliente in a hurry as I headed for the little out and back to the halfway point. I was pretty wiped out after making the loop in and around Cal State Long Beach. I was reduced to a walk shortly after passing mile 20. The little shot of cold beer helped a little. I ended up walking the next 3 miles or so until the dizzy spells went away. Thank goodness I was able to run the last couple of miles at a decent pace when I joined up with the half marathoners.
Click here for my Garmin data.
Finish line
After getting my medal and grabbing some post race drinks and snacks, I started making my way over to the section of the beer garden reserved for Beach Bums where they served Shock Top instead of the usual Michelob Ultra. I must have been suffering from heat exhaustion as I was fumbling a bit when I was grabbing my beer. I ended up spilling some of my beer. Party foul! I felt a lot better after re-hydrating with a couple of beers.
Beer garden
We then made our way over to the Rock Bottom at the corner of Ocean and Pine to get some lunch. I started my meal off with a big 25 oz mug of their Moonlight Porter while I figured out what I wanted to eat. I eventually went with their Jack-stuffed burger sliders double up. They were ok, but with the price, I should've just ordered one of their burgers. I finished off the sliders with their Citra Swell IPA. I do prefer an IPA with Citra hops. On the way out, I just happened to bump into a Marathon Maniac that I had just met on Facebook. What a coincidence! After that, we made our way back to our cars and it was time to drive home.
25 oz mug of Moonlight Porter
Jack-stuffed burger sliders double up
Citra Swell IPA
I was feeling pretty exhausted when I went out for dinner at Daifuku. I had the sushi and sashimi bento deluxe. The only thing that made it a deluxe was that it came with a drink.
Sushi and sashimi bento deluxe
I don't do well at all in warm weather, but I'm getting better at coping and dealing with it. I'm definitely better at recognizing when I need to back off and regroup. This was my 7th Long Beach Marathon with a current streak of 4 consecutive years. I would have to get to 10 consecutive years for my name to be enshrined on a bench on the Long Beach Run of Fame Bench in Lighthouse Park. I guess you can expect me to be running the Long Beach Marathon for the next 6 years.
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