Long Beach Half Marathon Race Recap

Yesterday was the Long Beach Half Marathon.
This was Half Marathon #11 for me and my second time running Long Beach.

Before talking about me let me start with Saturday.

It was the kids race.  That is the best kids race in Southern California! It is FREE.  They give NICE medals.  They are organized.  With bibs and waves by age group.  They have mascots and a race announcer and this year they even had a London 2012 Olympian as a special guest!

The race is 1 mile.  It was Will's second year running this one and Jonathan's first time.
I thought Will would come in the high 9' and Jonathan over 10:00.  I was off.... 

I was near the finish to take pictures and Bill was taking some pictures on the course...he waved to me and I thought this is the signal to get ready for the first one to come shortly...then he waved again...so I got ready...and I saw Jonathan come in....and I thought he had came in before Will...I stayed in my ready to snap a good shot position when Bill came to me and asked what I was doing...I said I was waiting for Will....and he said he passed already!!!!! WHAT? I missed him! That's what happens when you are a bad mom and you under estimate your kids! Turns out the first signal was for "there he is" not get ready!

Will: 8:24 
Jonathan: 9:06

The start: Will in red shirt, Jonathan behind in orange, can barely see him

Olympian 400 hurdles silver medalist: Lashinda Demus

After that Bill took the boys out for pizza and I went to the Expo.
I saw my Hood to Coast Teammate and newly TEAM OISELLE MEMBER Sarah there:

We stayed in Long Beach Saturday night.  With everything that is going on with my family it was a little strange for me to stay but we did because we had pre paid the room when I signed up for the race.

This is what Long Beach looked like on Saturday night:

The Race:

I knew I was not ready.  My mileage was not where it should be to do well for that distance.  I lost a lot of fitness-speed-endurance over the summer because of my injury.  I am still injured.  I am exhausted because of what is going on with Bill's job.  I have not slept more than 3 hrs straight since the day we got the news (09-24).  Are those excuses...well you can say yes to that...I think in this case those are reasons or just facts.  It is what it is.  OK so I wanted to finish and not end up in the ER like last year.  And if possible no personal worst.

I got up at 4:30 am.  The hotel had a free shuttle to the start so that was nice.  No need to walk the extra 2 miles...or pay a cab...or get my family up.  I got to start before 6 am.  My wave was 7:15 so I had plenty of time.  I saw the start of the bike race and met Rebekah and her dad (my weekends running buddies). 

My plan was to start slow and not follow anyone who would go faster than my plan.  I also wanted to be good with hydration and taking a few calories and also salt. I was not going to fall apart like last year.  I can say that I was pretty good with that.  The weather was a lot warmer than what I thought it would be and in the end it did cause me some trouble.  

I started feeling the pain in my groin around mile 5.  It was a real bummer because I was doing good with the pace I wanted to keep and with everything else.  I had to walk there.  This was hard on the mental part of the race.  We passed a spot where we could see the Queen Mary and lots of people stopped to take pictures...I tried to take some with my phone and wasted some time there...to end up with no picture to show...huge fail....

At mile 7 I saw Bill and the kids.  Big lift for my spirit!  To see my little guys running towards me.  I can see on the pictures that it made other people smile... that has to be a good thing! (I am in the flower skirt and black top)

One of my favorite race picture for sure
 

The second part of the race was hard.  Hot and hard.  I was in pain and I walked a lot.
There is not much to add to that.  I did the best I could with the situation.  I went in dry heaves once at mile 11 and that was it for that.  I think because I walked more than usual, I did not have bad GI problems like I always do.

At mile 10 ish a really great surprise!  Heather was there with her friend and they had a  table with NUUN and pretzels and signs for the people they came to support.  How awesome is that?!  Pretty awesome!  It gave me a boost!  I was not in a good place at that point. (photo from her blog: see blue sign on the left...THANK YOU HEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!)

Mile 11, I texted my NUUN HTC teammate and friend Harmony.  Her family is in THE fight.  The fight against cancer.  I texted her that I am running the last 2 for her husband who is at war with cancer right now.  Please send prayers and good thoughts their way.

And so I finished. 
Not a PR. 
Not a PW. 
No ER. 
All in one piece but in a lot of pain.

I have a lot of work to do.
Endurance.
Speed work.
Continue the PT program at home to get that darn groin better.

The medals:

Long Beach on Dwellable