Surf City Half Marathon race recap. Beach Cities Challenge done!

Yesterday I ran my 7th Half Marathon in beautiful Huntington Beach: Surf City Half Marathon.  What a beautiful town! I loved it.  I cannot believe I had never been there before. 

Friday we had THE birthday...more on that tomorrow.
Saturday morning we had Will's basketball game first and then we headed to the Expo for the race.

The Expo was right on the beach.  We were lucky and found a parking on PCH.  I was supposed to meet Patrick there...but someone needed his beauty rest and fell asleep :(

Doing the race Expo with the boys is not the greatest so I didn't stop to check all the vendors and I skipped all the free samplers of stuff that I don't care about anyway.  I got my bib and shirt and a really nice bag.  I love the shirt, on the back at the bottom it says Run Surf City.  I think I would actually wear this one..much nicer than the horrible one I got at the Disney Half Marathon! 

Took a few pictures at the Expo hoping that Patrick would show up (I had no clue he was dreaming of his next triathlon at the time).

 This me texting Patrick one last time...

After that we drove to where Bill would try to meet me on the course so that he could figure out where to park, we were lucky to have had great advices from Patrick for that.  Once we had a good plan for that and also a meeting spot for after the race,  we headed to the hotel and I tried to take it easy until race time.  It is not ideal to sleep in a hotel the night before a race.  Once again I got very little sleep because I slept with my 6 yrs old son and he kept hitting me ALL night.  My sinus were still completely plugged when I went to bed, things were not looking up in that area :(

I got up at 5:30 am.  As soon as my right foot hit the floor I felt the pain from plantar fasciitis...I may have said all the curse words I know in French right then.  I stretch it right away hoping it would calm down a bit.  I got ready and took to shuttle to the race.  The hotel where we were staying was super organized for shuttle and they offered a complete breakfast for all the guests from the Race.  I got to the race around 7 am.  The line for the porta potty was so long I thought I would miss my wave.  I made it to the start right on time.  I thought the start would be crazy like in Long Beach but no.  It went really smooth even with some walkers lining up next to the 2:00 pacer! 

Right from the start I had 3 things against me:

1. Sinus plugged and massive headache because of it.

2. Plantar Fasciitis flare up

3. The freaking sun was out at the very beginning of the race.

Really all I wanted is to be able to run that race and complete the Beach Cities Challenge and I remember thinking just that as I crossed the starting line.  It was hard to breath and I could feel mild pain on my foot at each step.  First 6 miles went OK, I had good pace, if I had kept it I would have had an easy PR.  Bill was supposed to be at mile 4 but when I got there they were not there...I thought he had a hard time finding a parking and he missed me.  The course turns around between mile 4 and 5 and in the turn there they were! I was so happy to see them and that I was still doing good enough to run so no walking in front of my sons!!!

See me waving at them to get their attention?!!

 Here I am telling the boys to be good for dad!!

After that, the course headed back to PCH..it is hard to beat that view of the ocean.   Around mile 6 I saw Patrick who was at mile 10 coming down the other side of the course.  I yelled his name but he is too speedy, he did not hear me!!!  Mile 7 my foot was starting to hurt more and I had more difficulties breathing.   I was also pretty hot.  I could not believe people were in long pants and long sleeves.  My plan was to drink small sips of water often.  It worked for a while but when it got to a point where I needed to drink more my stomach went in rebellion.  Every time I tried to speed up a little I could feel the water coming back up.  This really sucks and it is so frustrating.  My legs were OK and I wanted to try to go faster but I was not able to.   The volunteers were great at all the stations, they had plenty of them also.  This race is very well organized.

The last few miles were not great for me.  I knew I had lost any chance of having a PR long before the end.  I wanted to finish the best that I could and that is what I did.  I kept thinking "No giving up, the BIG medal is at the end of this!"  I saw the kids and Bill right before the finish line, that was nice!  The crowd was fantastic there; a lot of people were lined up at the end.

I loved that race.  The course is beautiful, it is mostly flat.  Nice weather for hanging out but for running I prefer the clouds over the sun. 

I am dissapointed in my time.  I wanted to do well at that race and I did not.

After the race I had to make a stop to the Expo to pick up my Beach Cities Challenge Medal. Now THAT is a Medal! By far the nicest one I have now.  It is huge and super heavy.  Even though I am dissapointed with my race, I am very proud that I have completed the Challenge. 

Back of the medal

Tomorrow I will announce the winner of my book giveaway!

 



Surf City on Dwellable