Racing in Surf City

Today was the big day. My first 5K of 2010. It was a little hard to drag my arse out of bed at 4:00am, especially since Laura had been up at 3:30am already begging for a hug. But I did it, stepped outside into the biting cold (yes, in Southern California 50° is biting cold), and drove to the beach in the dark.

It's still pretty even in the dark...

With the pounding rain that we've had the past few days, I'd been praying for sunshine. The sky this morning was clear... The crescent moon still hung high. I was ready. Cold, but ready.

Waiting for the race to start....

Got to watch the marathoners go by first. As I watched them run by, I just thought to myself, "Maybe one day...." Oh, about those marathoners! I found so very interesting that I saw at least 3 people running barefoot, and the variety of people that run the race is so inspiring. From your super fit athletes to your 100+ overweight ladies. I say it again, it's inspiring.

The mob at the starting line... I think I heard it was 5,000 racers in the 5K.

Mile 1 View

Mile 2 View :)
Yeah, we were on PCH the whole time....

Not a great time, finished in 28:53 (479th place overall, 176th place for women, 28th place for ages 35-39), but maybe next time I shouldn't take so many pics while I'm running (this is just a sampling). You'd think I hadn't ever seen the Pacific Ocean before. But that just makes me excited to get back to work and train hard to beat down that time.

Surf City race organizers did an awesome job. It's been along time since I've raced, so maybe this is the way the big events are handled. This was slick -- organized, on time, which makes for a lot of fun. I'll be back next year! Maybe I'll even do the half-marathon....