race report: 2010 surf city half marathon

what a fun weekend!!  i am a big believer in running races for fun, it just gives you a whole different aspect of the race, and it’s so fun when you have friends that you can do that with.  i was very lucky to be able to run with some of my favorites this weekend!

this weekend was my friend kristin’s birthday, and she had wanted to run the surf city half marathon to celebrate!  chris and i talked about it and we decided to make the trip down to celebrate with her… i am so glad we did.

the way down we broke up the drive, driving to my parents friday night and dropping off the pups, then saturday morning making the rest of the drive down to orange county.  we met up with the birthday girl a little after noon and hit up the expo.  she had been really sick all week so wasn’t feeling very great and wasn’t sure of how she was going to be able to run the half marathon the next day.  we all went back to our hotels and relaxed and napped, then got ready for her birthday dinner.

what we got at the expo – fun new bag and an awesome tech shirt

danica joined us for kristin’s birthday dinner – i was so excited to see my long lost running twin!  i hadn’t seen her since CIM so we caught up and had fun celebrating.  around 9 we all went back to our hotels to get some sleep before the race in the morning.

we wear real clothes!  danica, kristin and me

 

chris and i had signed up for the 6am shuttle, so our alarm went off at 5am.  there had been threats of rain all week but the skies looked clear.  we had problems deciding what to wear, but i eventually just layered up with shorts, tank, long sleeve and a jacket i was planning to check.  our shuttle was late (aren’t they always) but we made it to the start of the race with an hour to spare.  we found our friends, hit up the porta potties, and checked out stuff at the most organized bag check i have ever seen.  i had been texting trying to find danica but the start was getting close so kristin and i made our way down to the start line without ever finding her.  i figured we would run into each other (literally) during the race.

me with the birthday girl

we lined up around the 1:50-2:00 wave.  kristin wasn’t sure how she was going to feel, but i told her we would just keep it easy and cruise in the 9:00s.  i was in no hurry i just wanted to have fun with my friend on her birthday!  pretty soon the gun went off and we were crossing the start line.

we tried to keep the pace slow the first couple miles because we knew danica and billy were going to be trying to catch up with us, but sometimes it’s just sooo hard to go slower.  we were having fun though and kristin’s shirt was getting SO MUCH attention.  she got a million birthday wishes those first few miles which was awesome.

the first couple miles you go straight out on pacific coast highway.  you can see the beach to your left but pretty much you just see freeway.  the temps were perfect at this point but the sun was definitely out and i was thinking i would most likely be getting hot since i am not a fan of the sun :)

3 miles/27:47/9:16 avg

the course turns right around mile 3 and we pulled over quick to grab some tissue and ran into danica and billy!  they had been hauling trying to catch up with us, and luckily it paid off.  from this point on we spend most of the race chatting away, looking for other runner’s we might know and just enjoying being out there running together.  oh and don’t forget taking pics too.  we would switch around and talk to each other and i had fun scheming with billy on upcoming trail races too.

pics borrowed from billy’s blog – thank you billy :)

 

after you do a couple miles on the little side turnout, you come back out onto the great highway and run more miles down that thing.  gah.  this was a pretty terrible course for mind games, i can’t imagine what the full marathoners feel like, but i was definitely glad i was running the half and running with friends.  

finally you hit the turn around and run back down PCH on the other side.  at least on that side you are closer to the water.  i took a gu around mile 6 and sipped water throughout the race.  i definitely could feel the sun beaming down on us on the way back and i may have whined about it a couple times.  at that point i wished it would have rained!

8.2 miles/1:14:19/9:04 avg pace

taking pictures of taking pictures

 

through all of our goofing around we were actually able to maintain very consistent splits, we were actually even speeding up a little bit.  towards the last mile danica and billy took off and we were still keeping the pace strong.  kristin wasn’t feeling that great from being sick, but we just kept on running.

once we hit mile 12.1 i told kristin we could push it a little bit and come under 2:00 which was our original goal.  she gave me the ok so we picked up the pace a bit and saw the finish line get closer and closer.

finally it was in our sites and we pushed hard and we both crossed the finish line under 2!  we hugged, got our medals and made our way through the finishing tent to find the rest of our crew.  definitely a great way to celebrate her birthday.

official results:  13.1 miles/1:58:25/9:02 avg 

overall: 2676/11783, female: 1018/7515, age group: 196/1274

we lost danica and billy in there somewhere, so sadly we did not get a pic of us all together at the finish line.  i found chris and we rushed back to our hotel, showered and checked out, then headed to kristin’s birthday lunch where we ate yummy food and recapped our races.  then we hopped in the car for the long drive home.  we picked up the girls half way, then made the rest of the drive home and finally pulled into the garage around 10pm.  it was a long weekend but well worth it and i am so happy i got to celebrate with my friend!

happy birthday kristin!