Long Beach Half Marathon Race Report

ONE DAY BEFORE THE RACE - Saturday, October 10th

I arrived at our predetermined meeting location, which never changes. I'm amoungst the first in my running group to arrive and it's not as cold as it was last year, but still cold. This is a great sign for race day. Coach Steve arrives with all of the swag to sell, hats, short and long sleeved racing and training shirts, our lunch tickets for race day. We all took care of business and then literally stood around chatting.....and not once about the race. Eventually, Steve and Gary address the group and we all walk to our race day location as a group so we know where exactly to meet. Let's face it, asking a runner to meet you somewhere at 5am before they have had any coffee is not a good idea. Let's face it, we rely heavily on training, structure, and a well marked course that without we would just run in circles and at that point we'd just be track runners. Then Steve says "hey, we are going to go out for an easy 15 and bring it back and head over to the packet pick up and expo" (see, Steve HAD to be back in 30 minute because he had a speaking engagement). At that point I thought "aw heck nah. I have been working out for the past 20 days with no days off and the day before a race is my damn excuse to finally do a whole lot of nothing", and off to packet pick up I went.

Now, I am a full on race expo junkie. I love nothing more than being given free bars and buying something I undoubtedly do not need. This year, I flew through packet pick in record time and left straight away. I'm trying to control my expo addition sans a 12 step program. I figure if I can kick this habit imagine what else I could do! I get up to Ocean Blvd and start to head the 1 block to my car and low and behold....it's the twins! See, there are these two twin brothers that creep me out to no end, and I have done 4 races with them this year. They are inseparable. They are identical including body build, of course, even the same haircut. They wear the same clothes....in different colors. One has Newton running shoes in yellow and the other in orange. They dress alike on race day, and for the Pasadena Marathon right down to the arm warmer thingys. Needless to say, I stopped in my tracks when I saw the twins. They said "hi", I said "hi". It was a very Newman-Sienfeld moment, and when it was over I got into my car as fast as I could. I'm sure I'll see the twins in February at Surf City and/or Pasadena.


RACE DAY - Sunday, October 11th

The following is all based on fact to my recollection....well, my version of fact within my own little racing bubble.

I had set my alarm for 4am. Alarm went off, I pressed snooze, or at least I thought I did. I looked at the time and saw it was 4:48 and sprang out of bed. I was supposed to be in LB at 5am. I wanted to say "hi" to Moni and John before they took off on the bike tour. DAMN IT! (let the foul language begin. After all, there was no small child around). I get dressed and realize I forgot to shave my legs the night before. I proceed to do a fast half assed job, but it was good enough. As I'm out the door, and it is now 4:59, I realize how grateful I am that McDonald's drive thru is open 24 hours on the weekend. I promptly get my coffee and water and off I go. So, the thing about this race is part of it goes on the very end of the 710 freeway, so of course they close the freeway, which means those with their thinking caps on that the 405 South....you still with me? So, I exit the first exit and SHOULD have made a left, but folks, there are a hell of a lot of things in life I should have done, and that left wasn't one of them. I made a right.....eventually wound up in San Pedro. See, this is what I mean about runners, and triathletes for that matter, being left on their own with no direction at five in the morning. It's a bad idea. Eventually I make it into downtown LB to realize the closest I can get to the start is one mile away. So, I parked and busted my ass to get to the designated meeting point. We take a bunch of photos and within five minutes, I'm at the start line.

Now, three months ago I had some "elective" surgery. Oh, fine, I had a tummy tuck, and I'm proud of it! The thing was I only expected to be laid up and banned from working out for 8 weeks, tops. It's not unrealistic, it's a normal recovery time. Well, that wasn't in the cards for me, it wound up being about 10-11 weeks. I literally just started fully training three weeks prior, and I came back with a vengeance. I lift, go to yoga, i'm still on a run/walk combo, but i'm thiiiiiiis close to the run part. Needless to say, going into this race it was going to have to be all about the walking. I get to the start line with "Always Happy" Jason and we settle into Wave 5 in a sea of bodies. We managed to hold a position on the outside so I could start off running and then ease into 10 miles of walking without obstructing traffic. People, my race manners are impeccable. I hate people with bad race manners! Eventually we start and here comes the brand new race mix on my ipod:

Miles 1-3: I feel really good. Smile on my face (yes, I'm one of THOSE people). There seem like a lot more people this year, but that's alright. More people to watch. Now I listen to my music very, very loud. The fact that I'm not deaf is amazing....so, what happened next was not surprising at all. Shaggy looking hippy guy who you know when he was 20 at least followed the Dead for their last year asks me "um, excuse me, are you listening to Rusted Root?" and I respond "Totally"....his response "Nice! Have a great run!"

Mile 4: Mile 4 gets it's own mention for just this one small thing. THE GREATEST MULLET EVER! I look to my right as I am going through the water station and see this man who is about 62-ish. Full grey head of hair, has the full on Patrick Bateman 80's business man haircut.....and ALLLLLLLL party in the back. If you saw this man face on you would have no idea he was rocking out in the back. It was gathered into a ponytail, because why would you want to get that piece of art all sticky and sweaty. At that moment I decided I will need to carry a sports camera with me from here on out.

Mile 5-7: At this point we are at the lighthouse and I will admit I was a little annoyed that there wasn't one guy with a camera out there. I'm a total photo whore when it comes to race photos. I rather ham it up before the halfway point, otherwise it's just not a pretty picture. All of the sudden Kool & the Gang come on with "Celebration" and what's that I see ahead? My first photo op. I position myself to not take anyone moment to shine for the camera and then I jump up....well, hopefully the pic will come out because a picture is worth a thousand and one words. The guy behind me just started laughing and we ran/walked together for about a mile until I reached the Sole Runners aid station. I had been craving coconut water for about a mile now, and there were also pretzels! I hadn't eaten since the night before and that hit the spot.....and now we were running on the beach.

Mile 8-9.5: So, our run is now where we train, the LB bike path. So man damn people! I stayed off to the side because that is what you are supposed ot do when you are the slower of the pack, but I notice that everybody is mostly walking and are all the same people I have been with since about mile 5. Then it happens. Miles 8-9.5 are dedicated to one man......the smelly man in the tight red sweat shorts that were soaked with sweat, was shirtless, had Fabio length hair that was glued to his head and was, well, he was shaped like George Costanza, but really tan. See, every time this guy would come into my vicinity his odor announced his presence before his physical self. At this point I kept track of "Tan George" and when he got closer I ran ahead a little bit. This went on for 1 1/2 miles until we were on Ocean where we could completely spread out. At that point I was happy to let "Tan George" run on ahead.

Mile 10-13:I'm still in a pretty damn good mood....and yes, I'm still smiling. It was at this point that "Africa" by Toto came on the iPod which left me to ponder "why didn't I ever realize how cheesy and lame these lyrics are?" At this point the marathon then merges back with the half marathon. Luckily, It was early enough into the race that we weren't overtaken by an influx of exhausted marathon runners. It was a slight reversed false flat, so I probably could have run and been alright, but I wanted to make sure I had something left for the race photo of me making the final decent and crossing the finish line. It was also here that a lot of us noticed the old couple that had been wheeled out to the sidewalk by their caregivers. They were just sitting there. We came to the conclusion post race that it was the one time of the year their caregivers didn't have to plan a daily outing of sorts because the entertainment was at their front door. It was a little eerie.

Mile 13.1-13.3: Let me start with this to the LB Marathon peeps....A HALF MARATHON IS 13.1 MILES! Jeebus, I walked a mile to get to our pre-race meet-up, .25 mile to the starting line, just went 13.1 miles and still have to walk to the lunch and massage area AND a mile to my car and now, now they have me running an additional .2 miles! Nonetheless, I turn left onto Shoreline and book it downhill to the finish. Thanks for all that hill running we did last winter to train for the Catalina Marathon I have become quite the downhill runner, so it didn't hurt one bit to run downhill at a 7:45 pace (or so said my GPS). I crossed the finish line.....and made a beeline for food. Eventually I had my one beer of the post race event. It was Bud Light, but when the beer is free beggars cannot be choosers, and besides, I'm watching what I eat!

The Finish: "Always Happy" Jason finished under 6 hours. It was one of the great moments of the day. If I could bottle that man's determination I would be rich! I would love to know what I exactly finished my walk in, but the website crashed because apparently all 10,000 people want to know as well. I cannot wait for next year!

Next up: I leave Thursday late morning for Henderson, NV for the absolute last triathlon of the season: PUMKINMAN! And it's going to be awesome....http://www.bbsctri.com/pumpkin.html