Santa to the sea

Dear fellow runners, this is the blog about my latest 13.1. The entries were made and saved as a mobile post, with a retrospective summary. Hence, the interesting tenses. Last time I blog posted immediately, I didn't like the way it looked- created a new entry every time- but the microblogging (i.e. Twitter) was odd too. Let me know if you have any feedback re the style.

6:18 am Bus ride from harbor blvd to the start. In life in general I'm not known for being overly enthusiastic ever, but I often seem under- enthused on the races bus rides, in comparison to many hyper 30 some year old women...I'd say they seem the most excited. Least excited "looking"group I would say older men, but that was to be expected.

Overhearing first timers- wondering if they'll finish the half, certain they will never train for a full, but maybe if all goes well...

I don't know what makes somebody decide to run a full. For me it was the lower percentage of finishers than a half- especially women. (The second time it was for a better experience). The half though is an optimal distance. I still am aiming for a full once a year or every other year- if anything for the training, and the marathon weekend. The challenge of the marathon doesn't really get easier, it's just approached differently and with more experience every time.

Interestng start location, but at least I caught the sunrise

Why am I at the start time so early? On a random thought, a case can be made to race directors for technical race shirts because in addition too people actually wearing them (as opposed to tshirts, they are great conversation starters among runners).

7:39 am The worse part about races? Port-a-potties and even worse waiting in line for it.

7:42 still in line- seeing vibram fivefingers a lot more. Have any of you tried them? Any feedback? I want to try them but I don't want to spend $100+ and wear them once to find that I don't like them

12/13/10 The race was fun. My overall time did not improve although, my 10 mile time did. Weird, I know. My overall time was 2:42:21 which is just 9 seconds less than the SB Half last month. (and 10:23 more than the Disney half, and 19:00 minutes more than my PR of the first SB Half).

My first mile was a 10:06 mile, the second was a 20:20 mile, the 3rd, was at 32:00 so I was running between a 10 and 11 mile pace for the 5k. At the halfway point I was at 1:17:00 so an 11:50 mile. So far so good right? A little while after mile 10 I looked at my watch and it had been about 1:52:00 so at that point I was doing 10:58 pace, but it was all downhill from there. I was exhausted. The last 2.8 miles more or less took me 44 minutes :p yikes!

So, lesson is, again I went out way way too fast. I did find a guy that was running a nice pace and followed him from mile 4-6, but then he ran past where I could see him. ( I was following his foot turn over, and when I mirrored it, my pace got steady). But then he stopped at the halfway point to get water. At mile 7.5 he caught up to me and asked if he could run with me, cause he liked my pace...lol...go figure. Eventually he passed me though. I find that I need to be able to find my own pace, and maintain it. I had a good time, and the course was flat. The people were fun. I was a little dissapointed about the end result, mainly because it looked like while I might not have PRed, there was no way I would come in at a 2:30 or more...and then I did. Oh well, running is a sport where you live and you learn.

The one cool thing about this race is the guy that I was following, at some point was following me, and we were shooting for 11 min pace. And there were 2 other guys that were pacing me! First time it either happens, or I notice it. Which means, I can't be that bad of a runner.

Oh yea, and did I mention it was in the mid 70s? Who would've thought a blazing sun in December. Next up- Santa Run 5k this Saturday...no reason why I should not do well. Heck, if I just go out as if it were a half-marathon, or a long run, I could even PR.