Surf City USA Marathon

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Surf City USA Marathon - RunMarathon

View Member's Race Log View other race reports

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California
United States
60F / 16C
Sunny

Total Time = 4h 42m 11s
Overall Rank = 1123/1953
Age Group = M-40-44
Age Group Rank = 124/178

Pre-race routine:

Picked up my packet on saturday at 9 am at the expo and noticed it had warmed up quite a bit since 7am , The expo was on PCH at the start finish line.
When i decided to race this event , i was hoping for cool weather and maybe
a coastal fog for much of the morning . Turns out we were blessed with fog for the first 2 hours.
The race uses the disposable chip for timing which came glued to the race number.
This permitted to start large number of runners in waves and helped spread out the field early. Avoiding the MOB running effect. The Marathon had two waves : below 4 hours and Slow coach 4 hour + . With 2 minutes delay to start the second wave . Many in the group raised their hands when asked by the MC if this was their first marathon. Awesome . I was a sophomore. So 2nd race.
The Half marathon waves started 1 hour later around 8am .

Its beautiful down there , I wish i could have gotten a hotel room , i would have gotten more sleep the night before. With no day of packet pick up .. I have to drive down there twice . Its my car that is getting a workout this weekend. The race shirt is White Long sleeve technical shirt . When will i be wearing this ? I was thinking when i looked at the shirt. Turns out right after the race . As i was a little sun burnt and the shirt felt very cool.

Also Picked up cheap o gloves for 2$ and bodyglide at the expo .

There was Already a crowd at 9am . I am glad i did not wait until lunch break for this.

Went to work and then home for a nice pasta dinner my wife had cooked. :)
Tried to fall sleep but all in all got 4 hours.

Event warmup:

Got up at 4 am ate breakfast , hit the jacks . Drove down in no time . Got near PCH but the parking lot looked very slow at letting cars in , while sitting on Beach i had noticed parking spots open so U turned and parked 2 block away on a side street off Beach Blvd ,
Walked down and around the expo start area in the dark , located the start line , the bag check in , Had a little trouble locating the bag drop off , I had past it early but thought i was a day off packet pickup. Duh!
Hit the bathrooms Part 3 . Just nerves i guess. Light Fog was everywhere making it quite atmospheric.
Took in a gel 10 mins before the start.
Checked in my sweats .
National anthem (sung properly) :)
ie : no long showboat diva notes.

Race is started

I did wonder/debate with myself about bringing the IPOd as it would have helped keep me pumped up during the second half but decided against it for safety since it interferes with your hearing . Not to mention it is probably against the rules.

Run

4h 42m 11s
26.2 miles
10m 46s min/mile

Comments:

The run went quite well and i was very happy. i had tapered , i was rested , i had done my homework with back to back high mileage months to prepare and my splits were all excellent . 9:14 average at mile 3 , 9:15 average at mile 6 , My half marathon split was faster than Santa Clarita 3 months ago . Then i hit mile 15 . I got really hungry real fast and needed to take in some calories (eat) and on offer was cliff bars . My neck was also developping a cramp at this stage .
i sat down and stretched while eating and drinking and this helped and i ran a mile and walked a minute until the turnaround at mile 20 . Then on the long return trip the walking / stretching breaks were every 5 minutes . I survived through it and found more
inner strength to will failing and tried muscles into some more running .
By this stage i was taking 4-5 cups at each aid station .
To help During the race I took 2 salt tablets every hour and brought/consumed 4 gels with me .

What would you do differently?:

Better nutrition /calorie intake plan . I felt really out of energy by about mile 15 which is where the course split off marathoners from half marathoners and turned on the bike path and head north again for a second out and back .
I probably should have carried more gels .

Post race

Warm down:

Walked around a little got a food bag for marathoners but really needed to sit down , preferably on grass , did manage to sit down inside the beer garden to savor my 2 drinks :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I need to lose weight , i need a better nutrition plan . Well its tough doing these long races as a clydesdale . All the will-power and training helps but the inescapable fact is every foot fall you are fighting gravity. And the more lbs you carry the more energy must be expended.
I enjoyed the day especially the first half , there was a cool fog and nice onshore breeze . I was running good and i was posting low 9s split aiming for a Big PR . I ran out of gas at mile 15 and had to sit down to eat food from then on it was lots of walk break and stretching and eating to be able to keep moving .
Lovely setting and a great course with some rollers from 3 to 8 and mercifully flat from then on. Well organized.

I was tested today but fought off the inner demons and finished. :)

Event comments:

its a well put together large race , lovely location on the coast. I recommend it.
Things i did not like:
Must say i did not enjoy merging with the Large hard charging Half Marathon traffic , it felt the running equivalent of merging onto the 405 after an hour driving on a scenic country lane.
Doing the beach loop along the same shoreline a second time was the most challenging part for me today . You end up running the same stretch 4 times .
Despite this it was great day to run, weather was perfect , Despite my later difficulties I PR the distance by 8 minutes and i am nowhere as beat up as the first time i ran the Marathon. No lost toenails , No nasty rash, no bleeding : thank you "bodyglide", Just 2 small toe blisters.

All in all a cool well organized winter race . :)

Two nice souvenirs : the lovely large surfboard Finisher medal and the Race shirt .

Last updated: 2008-11-11 12:00 AM

Running
04:42:11 \| 26.2 miles \| 10m 46s min/mile
Age Group:	124/178
Overall:	178/1953
Performance:	Below average
Hr was at 159-160 constant when i was running strong then up and down as i needed to take walking breaks during the last ten miles . Turned out the overall average HR was 154 and the max 166 probably going uphill in the first third. KCal 4972
Course:	HAlf the miles were on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) the first half inland and out of Huntington Beach parks and back streets north of Beach Boulevard. Some of these had soft grade uphill and downhill sections . All very runnable .
Keeping cool	Average	Drinking	Just right

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:	Average
Mental exertion [1-5]	3
Physical exertion [1-5]	4
Good race?	Ok

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]	5

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CalTri_Paul

2009-02-02 7:34 PM

Master

2055

Santa Clarita

Subject: Surf City USA Marathon

Another nice memory was the teens handing out the food after the race . i was disappointed with my later pace and struggling hard over the last 11 miles and to an arduous finish. But they thought it was really cool i ran the WHOLE distance . :) Thanks Guys ..

Another cool thought was the local Junior High school kids playing tunes in the park. Around mile 5 What the group of 20 lacked in musicianship they made up with enthusiasm.

Edited by van_paulus 2009-02-02 7:43 PM

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