Surf City USA Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Huntington Beach, California
United States
Kinane Events
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 39m 27s
Overall Rank = 486/11788
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 65/617
Pre-race routine:

Got up at about 5 and had a quick bite to eat. My sister and father in law came over at about 5:30 and we picked up my sister-in-law on the way to Huntington Beach. It wasn't too bad traffic-wise...I guess at that time of the morning it never is.

We got down to the beach area just in time to hear the national anthem and see the Marathoner's take off. It was a bit cold so we headed into the Expo tent which they had opened up to the athletes. We gathered in there for warmth and chatted and had our pre-race nutrition.

A quick (nothing quick about it) stop at the port-a-pits and we headed over to the wave starts. I guess we got going a bit too late or stood in line a bit too long because there was no way to get up to the earlier waves even though that about how long we were targeted to run.

My sister-in-law headed more towards the wave 4 area...ended up starting in like the second to last wave. We headed up towards wave 2 area and ended up kind-of trickling through at the tail end of wave 3.
Event warmup:

no warm-up...I figured I could warm up the first few miles since that's about what it takes to get out of the dodge and weave crowded areas.
Run
  • 1h 39m 27s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 35s  min/mile
Comments:

I felt good going out but we had a decision to make. Do we try to catch pace group we wanted to run with or just run our own pace. We settled on just running to pace...between my sister's garmin and my watch and the mile markers we would be fine.

We started off at a pretty good clip and I was feeling pretty good. After the second aid station, my sister and I got separated since I walk a sec to drink without choking. I slowed down for a few to try to find her and didn't see her so I figured she must be up ahead so I sped up (she's training for Boston so I figured faster). I finally gave up trying to catch her and saw her at the turn-around...behind me. Too late to slow down since I could smell the finish line...just grin and go.

It turned out to be a beautiful day...sunny beach on one side and off in the distance on the other, a spectacular snowy mountain view. Cool temp, not too hot and a light breeze but not something you would hate to run into. Great day.

The marathoners were coming back in as well. It worked out pretty well as their pace where they joined up with the 1/2 runners seemed to match pretty well speed wise, not much running around each other. We also go to glimpse the flash of speed going by before the turn-around which turned out to be the lead 1/2 runner...nearly un-identifiable as a human runner, doing 5 something ridiculous pace...nice. I gave him a cheer but I don't think the sound waves caught up to him until he stopped.

After the end, I hoofed it out of the end chute (I almost called it transition) and tried to get back around to see my co-runners bring it in with style!!
What would you do differently?:

I forgot my clif blox in the car so I had to make due with the gummy sharks at the aid stations and they served the purpose well enough. I need to try to remember stuff better...it would've been rough if the race didn't provide that.
Post race
Warm down:

I walked about a mile here and there trying to find people and cheer people...not too bad but not much of a warm down.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

crowds

Event comments:

Great fun and a great race. I look forward to doing it again.




Last updated: 2009-11-25 12:00 AM
Running
01:39:27 | 13.1 miles | 07m 35s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/617
Overall: 0/11788
Performance: Good
I didn't wear my HR monitor because I'm not too used to running by it and I think my LT calculations aren't correct.
Course: This is a nice flat course, maybe one hill...and a couple rollers...mostly along the beach north, then turn-around and headback south to HB downtown for the finish.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4