I saw Tim in the corral. He had just finished the one mile swim and was now doing the run. I wondered why he was back with us slow folk, as he is crazy fast! Then the pirates (yes...pirates) shot their guns (loudly) and we were off. I saw Dolores cheering as I started! I felt pretty good at first. My shins were a little twingy, so I went out easy. My number one goal for this race was not to overheat like last week. My number two goal was to run the entire 3.1 miles and not walk at all.

It was warm out, but I was okay. I settled into a slow, but steady pace to get more warmed up. I was heading east along the beach bike path. I was surprised how soon the first water station arrived. I was then surprised at how soon the frontrunners were heading back the other way. Tim waved as he went by.

I took a right at the Granada Launch Ramp and turned around. I was pleasantly surprised to see that at least a dozen people were behind me. Yay! Shouldn't be DFL! I hit the one mile marker and was okay with my 15:50 split. It was faster than the 1 mile splits at previous stand alone 5k's, but slower than some of my tri 5k's. Overall, it was better than I thought I'd do today.

I saw another runner that was WAY behind me which really helped me realize I wouldn't be DFL. Woo hoo!

At about a mile and a half I was about at the water station again. Unfortunately this was the last station of the course. At the Belmont Plaza Pool we hung a right. I had been getting hot, so I took my hat off and put it in my pocket. That helped. I saw outdoor showers and considered running over and cooling off, but decided against it. I was happy to see that on the backside of the pool there was shade...sweet, beautiful shade!

I crossed Livingston and was now running on the path behind the parking lot. It was shady, which rocked, but was gradually uphill, so I couldn't gain too much speed. I crossed over the pier and enjoyed the brief downhill. I then hit the 2-mile marker and had a slightly slower pace than mile 1. Usually I go faster on mile 2, but the incline may have thrown me off.

Then an odd pain started in my right foot. It wasn't anything I had felt before, so I slowed down, but kept running. As I was nearing the turnaround I PASSED TWO WOMEN!!! I almost never pass people on runs, so I relish it when I do! I heard one of them griping about the distance. Must be her first 5k. As I headed into the turnaround, and after feeling cocky from passing those women, I noticed another woman jogging ahead of me and thought "I can totally take her".

I began speeding up and gaining on her. Then I felt like I was going too hard, so I slowed a bit, but before getting back to the pier I PASSED HER! Did you hear that folks...I passed not one, not two, BUT THREE PEOPLE ON A RUN! I so rule! ;)

I crossed over the pier and sprinted down the short downhill. I looked back and the woman I had passed wasn't gaining on me. I sprinted in to the finish and smiled for the Brightroom guy! I had achieved my goals. I had not overheated. I had run the entire way. I had even surpassed my goals by passing three people, apparently beating 16 people, got my best time for a stand alone 5k, and it was the first stand alone 5k that I completely ran without walking. Woo hoo!

I need to rethink clothing for run only events, since I'm not wet and therefore get hotter. I need to get a visor, not a regular hat. I need to get a white shirt that is sleeveless. I think this would help. Otherwise, I think I did as well as I could.

After getting my chip cut off of my shoe, I grabbed a sports drink and started walking up the path. I saw Dolores and she walked for ten minutes with me.

We talked to Tim and Chris, and then we went into the water to cool off and bob around. I had a great time talking to Dolores out in the water. The cold water felt SOOOOO good after that run.

I then had an idea. I took my large shirt over to the table to see if I could trade up for an XL. I figured there had to be people DNSing this race, especially with so many events. Sure enough, I got one! Woo hoo! I put it on!

We then saw Jeff. He was there with his daughter and wife who were both doing the half mile swim. We hung out then watched the half mile swim and aquathlon swim. We waited by the run course and cheered Verna as she went by. Tim and Dolores left for a while, so I reclined my beach chair back and just enjoyed the amazing day. I almost fell asleep!

We went to the finish line and cheered for Verna as she finished. We met her friend, Lee, and then all packed up our stuff. At this point I checked the 5k results and although I was last in my age group, I was 140 out of 156 overall. I'll take it!

We then met up with Dolores's daughter, Camille, and her sister, Angie. We went to Chuck's, but there was a wait, so we headed over to BBC and had a great breakfast! Later I headed home and had a wonderful shower and nap! Aaaahhhhh...


Inconsistent training and as always, my weight


I really like this race which is why I wanted to do it, even if I couldn't or wouldn't swim. I love any Long Beach event and this was a particulary good one. I do think there should have been a water station later in the run. Otherwise, I thought it was well run, just like last year. Great race!