This is the 3rd half marathon I've run this year. My first was the Pasadena half marathon in May, and it was actually an amazing experience for a first time half marathon run. I thought that it would be horrible to run in the rain, but it was wonderful. I didn't feel any pain that race, and although the course was hilly, it was downhill for the last 2 miles, which now I know can be the hardest part of the race.
Going into Long Beach, I had been averaging about 20 miles a week for training runs. That's about all I can manage with my schedule. I have been running with some ladies from church once a week, which has been great. One of them joined me in the race, but we didn't run together. I was feeling a little tired the day before the race, so I took some extra Vitamin C. It may have helped me kick whatever was attacking my immune system, but it also seemed to dehydrate me while I was running. More on that later.
On the day of the race: My running buddy and I decided to carpool. We left my house at 5:50 AM and were flying down the freeways to get to the race site. However, the closer we got to the destination, the more traffic built up until I realized that they may have blocked the end of the 710. We got off at PCH and took surface streets to find street parking. I was so glad Nate and I had done a trial run of the surrounding area Saturday before the race. We managed to get into a parking garage fairly close to the race and park by 6:30. Then, my next priority was finding a public restroom. My friend who had never run a half marathon before asked about the port-a-potties and I told her it would take too long. We ran into a 7-11 and were directed to a public restroom nearby. We waited about 10 minutes to get our business done and were on our way. We followed the crowds of people through the downtown area and wound our way through Aquatic Park to the start line. There we checked in my friend's bag and wormed out way into the 3rd wave start. We were just in time to hear the announcer try to separate the elite athletes from the first wave runners by telling people who had to buy their own shoes to step behind the rope.
After about 10 minutes, we began the race. I ran with Avery for the first mile and then tried to find my own pace. It was difficult because my first mile appeared to be a 12 minute mile. My goal pace was 8:30, so I sped it up. There were so many people around that it was just hard to tell how fast I was running and how fast they were going. At about mile 3, my shoelace got untied and I stopped to tie it. I was feeling really out of it by then. I finally focused on a guy in a red shirt and tried to settle down. Mainly, my impressions from the race were that there were too many people around for the first 10 miles and the last 3 miles, I was telling myself that I would never run another half marathon again. I started to feel leg cramps about 8 miles into the race and my legs bothered me the rest of the race. I was drinking water the first half of the race, but I started drinking Powerade the second half.
I did push to finish in under 2 hours when I realized I could still make this goal, but after running 2 other half marathons faster than this one it was a disappointing finish. Looking back I was probably running too fast in the beginning and kind of stalled out in the end. I may have also been suffering from dehydration issues.
Final stats:
1:56:12
8:52/mile average
1693 with 9022 runners behind
510th woman
88th in division (30-34)
