My morning pretty much goes the same every time before race day, 4:30 alarm, shower, lite breakfast of oatmeal and tea, nothing to exciting. I lay out everything I'm going to wear the night before. My gym bag is always packed and waiting by the door ready to go. I was able to purchase the new Ifitness hydration belt at the expo, so I decided to try to use it for this race instead of my handhelds, I need something new for LA Marathon. I have to say...best thing ever, highly recommend it. No bounce and it actually fit my Iphone! YAY!
Penny and I met at the farthest parking lot we could find. I need to get in 16 miles this weekend for my LA Marathon training, so we ran to the start line then back again after. If it wasn't for her I would have parked allot closer and took a shuttle. THANK YOU PENNY!! However before we could even start our run Penny was having a wardrobe malfunction. Apparently she didn't realize with all the running she's been doing lately she's lost inches, so she had to safety pin her running skirt for a better fit. After about 4 safety pins on each side Penny and I were back on the strand heading over the start. People we looking at funny probably thinking "Why on earth are they running before a race"
Penny fixing her wardrobe malfunction!
We got to the start line area to meet up with Lauren and Ali. Everyone seemed ready to go so we headed over the corral to start and to our surprise we found Lori and Candice. We chatted for a bit wished each other good luck and off Lori, Ali and Candice went into the corral. Ali was there to PR, which she did by a whole 30 mins..AWESOME WORK ALI!
Lauren, Ali, Penny, Lori, Myself and Candice
Before the race started we discussed what we had "planned" for the run. Because I had PR'd 2 weeks before at Carlsbad Half Marathon I was there to run with them and have fun. I didn't feel like I wanted to put as much pressure on myself and I needed to have a fun run to break up the training I was doing. The race started and we all stayed together enjoying ourselves. Lauren was doing a little rapping along with her music, and I was giving Penny a singing audition so one day I could be on Glee...Penny I'm still waiting for that call from your people!
Lauren was on intervals for her training, so we decided stayed with her and do them as well. Around mile 5 Penny and I somehow lost Lauren. Not sure how this happens but I always seem to loose someone during races.
I have to say this year there were tons more spectators and supporters on the coarse then last year. Not sure if it was because I was in the back of the pack walking last year and everyone was done cheering by the time I got to certain points, but the vibe was great. The sign below made us laugh so I had Penny take a photo of it.
We were doing great up to mile 6 keeping a pretty fast pace between 9:30-10. I was feeling really comfortable and had a feeling we were going to get good time. I kept asking Penny if she was feeling okay because she had been sick the week before. She assured me she was fine a few times however at mile 8 Penny wasn't feeling fine. She started to have a mild asthma attack. I stayed calm on the outside for her because I knew if I freaked out it wouldn't help out the situation. But on the inside I was doing the "OH MY GOODNESS, what do I do if this gets worse". Penny always carries a inhaler with her, so I knew if I had to grab it for her that's what I was going to do. We took a small break so she could get her breathing back and I made sure she was perfectly fine before we started again. At this point if we had to stop running for her sake I was okay with it, I wasn't going to leave her alone. She took a few minutes and we headed out onto the coarse again. We slowed our pace down and did as much walking as we could. I'm sure I turned into that annoying person that kept asking "are you okay". We also found Lauren coming up on the turn around, we did a quick check up on everyone and headed off. Miles 9-11 came pretty quickly. A little after mile 11 Penny realized that I might have a chance to PR again, so she told me to just go. I made sure she was fine AGAIN, and ran the last 3 miles with all I had. As I cam up the finish there were TONS of people and the cheering was great. I hit the finish with Mr. G saying 2:30, and official time has me at 2:32. I was very happy with that until I realized I had to now run back to the car, another mile to make my 16 for the day! 
Surf City Half ...done
I really did enjoy running with the girls today and can't wait for many more races with them. I learn a few things during this race, how to stay calm when I really want to freak out, that I have great friends, and the most important how to have fun..and how delicious a Slurpee is after a long run!!!!
My congratulatory Slurpee on the way home!
Okay so I have to get mushy for a moment.....I want to give a shout out to my boyfriend Robert! I can't thank you enough for staying at home and getting our house ready for our Super Bowl party. You did everything from picking up food, to making sure the balloons we ordered were set in the right spot in the house. I didn't have to worry about anything when I came home from the race because it was all done! THANK YOU SO MUCH..I LOVE YOU!!
Outstanding Kristy! Nice seeing you at lunch Saturday.
ReplyDeleteAwww loved reading this! Great job!
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