Surf City

On Sunday, for the second year in a row I ran the Surf City Marathon and Roos ran the half marathon. We didn't bring Connor this year. He stayed home with Carisah (which he loved!!)

On Friday, we headed to Huntington Beach to the expo. It was pouring rain. We got there early and had lunch at the Long Board Cafe which included several beers!

We hit the expo, picked up our bibs and did a little surfing.

On Saturday, we spent the day at Downtown Disney, just looking around and shopping. It was pouring rain again and I was worried Sunday would bring the same. We found a fireplace at the Grand Californian hotel and sat and had a few drinks. (Is there a theme here?)

We woke up early Sunday morning and drove to Huntington Beach. No rain!! It actually was a beautiful morning. I started at 6:30 a. so I made my way to the corral where I could see the 3:30 pace group sign sticking up from the crowd. I have really been trying to run under 3:30 so I thought I would stick with the group and give it a try. I know your not supposed to do anything different on race day, it's the #1 cardinal rule but what the heck....

We were off and I started into a comfortable pace. The miles ticked by. We hit the 13.1 mile mark at 1:45:10. By mile 17, I was needing to get some supplies from my fanny pack so I stopped to walk. I refilled my water bottle at the next aid station and looked up and saw Roos running towards me from across the highway. He, Christe and Keith were just at the 3 mile mark.

I could no longer see the pace group sign so I just settled in to running 10 minutes and walking 1 minute, which is my usual routine. I was running strong and my legs felt pretty good and I was passing lots of runners which is always a mental boost.

At mile 24, you come up from the boardwalk and onto the Pacific Coast Highway. Last year this was a killer but this year, I felt good and pushed it. I crossed the finish line in 3:33:35. I had a positive split on the back half but I'm okay with that.

I waited for Roos to finish. He had a PR for the day with a 3:08. He is now determined to take 8 minutes off his time in Oakland on March 28th.

I took second in my age group (45-49) which is always nice. Here is how I officially finished:

Chip time: 3:33:35 (average of 8:09 per mile)

Gun time: 3:34:14

236 out of 2353 overall

36 out of 963 in women

2 out of 130 for women 45-49

72.09% age grade

The weather was great, I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Run fun...