the short versio
n. as i have been explaining to the interested few who don't really understand or care about the whole running part of the marathon but are kind enough to inquire anyway - surf city was amazing. the weather was perfect. just feet from the beach. pacific ocean on one side. clear views of catalina. mountains on the other side. palm trees overhead. friendly californians and other happy runners. great volunteers. and a really sweet surfboard medal. not really a bad way to spend a sunday morning.the longer version. pre-race. kristen and i arrived in huntington beach on friday night in the rain. we m
et up with amy, nick, julia, amanda, ash, and autumn at our rather nice though oddly decorated rented house in a gated community. saturday we headed to the expo. in a tent. or rather a few tents. nestled alongside the beach. for the most part it was all well organized if not a bit humid and damp. some of the clothes on display were even soggy from fridays rain. strange. off to trader joe's for a few essentials and our pre-race dinner ingredients (tilapia and fingerling potatoes) and lunch (butternut squash soup, pasta, and bread). we watched 80's movies including The Princess Bride and Sixteen Candles while trying to relax. tried to pound some water all day and eventually made dinner. at 9pm i called it a night. took the platypus my boy had packed for me to bed with me and slept quite well until about 3am. was up shortly after 4 and rearing to go. race day. marathon go time was 6:30am. half marathon time was 7:45. 3 marathoners in the group and 4 half marathoners. but it was decided that everyone should just go together. so everyone was up and at 'em in various states bright and shiny. 5:45 we piled into the huge suv and headed out. 3 runners were making their racing debuts and you could feel the nervous energy. after a few missteps we made it close to the start and the three marathoners hopped out. we made our way to a port-a-potty line and waited. once we finished up there we lined up. it was just starting to get light out and it was about 50 degrees. gorgeous morning. a few puffy clouds and a light breeze. perfect running weather. as i stood there with 2000 other people preparing to run 26.2 miles i didn't really feel scared or overwhelmed. it seemed almost normal to me. maybe confident is a good word for it. i didn't doubt whether i could do it i just didn't know how long it would take. and then we were off. running along pacific coast highway. spectators lined the streets for the first 2 miles. around mile 2 an older gentleman running said "hey you are looking great". i ran beside him and we chatted briefly. he had run surf city several times. he was over 70. i said i hoped i would still be running when i was over 70 and he encouraged me to run faster than he was. then he said "i wish i could run like a girl. i wish i could run like you." mile 3 we turned off of pch toward a park and a hill. nothing major. into the area around the library there are literally hundreds of kids waiting to cheer you on. it was pretty cool. the paths are narrow but since there aren't a lot of marathoners it was not a problem. i ran in step with a woman who had run dozens of marathons including Boston 10 times. recently injured she was running part of this marathon as a recovery. it was nice to chat with someone new for a few miles. back down toward pacific coast highway and the half marathoners start coming up on the opposite side of the road. around mile 10 julia was waiting to take my picture and slap my hand as promised. always great to see a friendly face you know. then up and down pch. around mile 14 amy came running across the road from the half marathon course to say hello, take a pic and hug me. and kristen yelled out a hello. it was amazing to see everyone. i was excited for them and to actually see them helped inspire me to keep moving forward. having looked at the marathon course map i knew what was coming but it still didn't make what was to come any easier. as you are progressively moving toward the finish line you are closing in on it but when you are about one mile from it you are shifted on to the boardwalk beach path. and turned back around. heading away from the finish. for another 9 miles. well technically you are only running away from the finish for about 4.5 of them. and then you are heading toward it again. as you run away you can see all of the half marathoners heading toward the finish. and faster marathoners on the same path heading toward the finish. and random beach goers and bike riders and whomever else on the path on a sunday morning. at times it was fine. but the monotony became mentally exhausting after a few miles. by mile 20 i was spent. i guess i have never really played into the idea of "the wall" all the much. in my mind you keep running until you are supposed to stop. and that is what i do when i train and in previous marathons. but my splits were horrible. for the first 16 miles of the marathon i hadn't even looked at my trusty garmin 305 really. i checked it around mile 13 to see where i was at (ahead of pace). but aside from that i was running based on how i felt. once i was on the repeat out and back i started looking at it. initially for distance. and i started playing mental games. saying things to myself like "in 8 more miles you get to go home and see spencer. in 7.5 miles you get to go home and see spencer. etc." but then i found myself looking at my pace. and wondering why my legs just wouldn't go any faster. good god. what the hell was wrong with me?! i tried to push it but it was difficult. i had shot bloks with me but the thought of putting them in my mouth and chewing them required effort i could not conjure up at that moment. and then at mile 23 my garmin started beeping. no more space to save laps. so it was deleting old laps. okay i don't care. except it was beeping. beep. more steps. beep. more steps. beep. every tenth of a mile. so i was running and trying to fix it at the same time. not working. as soon as i hit a water stop i walked for a second and deleted everything but the last three months and the beeping ceased. and i no longer felt the need to launch garmin 305 into the pacific ocean. the last 2 miles i pushed to just get it done. after mile 25 you finally reemerge with some half-marathoners. for the most part they seem to be chatting away and having a good old time. which makes sense. they have been running for 12 miles less than you at that point. i wanted to just pick up and run as fast as i could. but my get up and go had got up and went without me. but i was happy. i love running. and it was fun. i just wanted to be done. so i put my head down and focused on the finish. and then it was over. a minute slower than portland. a minute. arghh! but i had a gorgeous surfboard medal around my neck. probably the coolest medal ever. and any self-doubt about finishing was extinguished. and i could stop running for right then.
the added details or where the extra minute came from. my stomach was not agreeing with me. or at least i thought it wa
sn't. and in an effort to stave off a potential um, blowout, i stopped off in a port-a-potty. and i was fine. an unneeded pitstop. but then i started thinking that i had to pee. and sometimes once this thought is in your head its all you can think of. so i stopped again 7 miles later. and really that wasn't necessary either. but you just never know... when i looked at my garmin today for my actual running times it turns out i was over a minute faster than actual run times for portland. just to know that i was that close to improving my slow times and i didn't because i was in a port-a-potty. that stings a little.post-rac
e. after reconvening with the running crew (everyone made it!) and hearing about some great new PR's we took a few pics and headed back to the house. spent a little last minute quality time with some of my favorite people before relaxing at LAX awaiting my delayed flight and subsequent return to the midwest icebox of minnesota.note: i don't suggest running a marathon, driving an hour, sitting in an airport for nearly two hours, flying for 3.5 hours, getting in a cab for an hour, then going home and going to sleep. after initially lulling you into a false sense of security your legs yell things like "i supported you for 30 years and this is how you repay me!" on tuesday.
"recovery" time: so by wednesday i was more than ready to sign up for another marathon. i mean i was ready before that but by wednesday i was actively looking again. but i promised myself. and meredith. that i would not register for a marathon. or a half until at least after the end of april. so that means i can look and even prepare but i can't say go. so yesterday i registered for a 10 miler in mid-march. a little something to get me through.
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