OC Half Marathon

Boy, was I ever nervous about this one. My training sucked, my recent runs have been horrible, I hadn't put in more than 8 miles in a long run... I. Was. Not. Prepared. I had two other girls running with me, and I felt like I was letting them down. But as we got closer to race day, it became more and more clear that I was not the only one who was having a rough training season. For various reasons, the other girls hadn't gotten in their miles either. At least we were all in the same boat. Our goal: 10 minute miles, or 2:11 finishing time.

Of course, last night I could hardly sleep. I'm always too nervous. Not nervous about the race, but always, that I'm going to oversleep and not get there in time. This race started bright and early at 6am. For me, that meant getting up at 3:30am for a quick "wake me up!" shower, a quick breakfast of my usual pre-race grub: oatmeal with brown sugar and banana, coffee, and out the door.

Of course I got up on time, and I made it to Brenda's house right at 5am. She had picked up my race bib and goodies at the Expo for me, and had arranged to have her neighbor drop us off at the starting line. This half marathon has a great course - it's a point to point. You start at Fashion Island, take a great tour of Corona Del Mar, Balboa, Newport Bay, and then weave your way to the OC Fairgrounds. But this also makes logistics a challenge. Either you get to the Fairgrounds even earlier to take a 4:45am shuttle to the race start, or you do what we did. I like Brenda's plan (it gained me an extra 30 minutes of precious "sleep".)

2011 OC Half Marathon Course Map

After waiting in the massive 20 minute porta potty lines (while waiting I downed a Gu), fighting with the porta potty door lock, relocating each other, listening to a brutal slaying of the National Anthem (just horrible!!), we lined up in our corral, and were ready to run!

Me, Alicia, Brenda, and Brenda's friend Shannon who she ran into when we got there

We started off nice and steady. No one took off and pushed too hard. We were running smart, and it felt really good. Alicia, Brenda and I stuck together until about 6.5 miles in... Brenda slowed down on a hill, and Alicia, who has been having knee problems, stopped to walk for a few miles. I downed another Gu, and kept on keeping on...

I was doing surprisingly well, but once again, at mile 9, I started getting twing-y cramps in my calf muscles. Even then, I was still looking at my Garmin and thinking, can I break 2 hours? I'm going to have to keep it under 9 minute miles, can I do it?? They were weird twitchy ones until mile 10, and then I started getting the same alternating foot cramps that I've experienced in my other ill-trained-for half marathons. At this point, I accepted that it was foolish to think I'd break 2 hours when I went into the day just hoping to do 2:11. I should be happy for anything under that. Then, at 12.5 miles, the big one hit me - my right foot cramped so bad, my toes curled under. I was literally running on my toe nails. I pushed through (seriously, at 12.5 miles into a 13.1 mile run, what else are you gonna do?), and then it subsided and I finished stronger than I had before. I finished relaxed, breathing calm and steady... It's only my legs that protest, so I just need to train them better!

There were more hills in this race than Carlsbad (which I felt was a relatively hilly course), but not a single one of them gave me any real trouble. I thank all the repeats on Hidden Valley Parkway for this progress! All in all, I couldn't be more pleased.

Brenda & I shortly after finishing

(and right before my right calf when into a major post-race spasm that locked up my entire leg for a few minutes... and then went away never to be heard from again....)

Our Group

Steve (did the 5K), Me, Alicia, Brenda, Mike (Brenda's husband)

Official Results!

Here's the breakdown by mile:

Mile 1: 9:29
Mile 2: 8:32
Mile 3: 9:05
Mile 4: 9:09
Mile 5: 8:57
Mile 6: 9:11
Mile 7: 9:20
Mile 8: 9:32
Mile 9: 9:14
Mile 10: 9:56
Mile 11: 9:54
Mile 12: 9:54
Mile 13: 9:25
Mile 13.1: 1.34

Bottom line is that I fall apart after mile 9 every time. I need to get my miles in so this doesn't happen next time. Next race? Disneyland Half Marathon. Goal? 1:45. With a proper (and completed) training and diet plan, this is completely doable. I look forward to proving myself right.

For now, I remain very pleased. Usually after a half marathon, I'm done for the rest of the day - completely wiped out. Today, I came home, showered, went to a birthday party, then drove back to OC to pick up Andrew, came back home and took care of a bunch of stuff for Kevin's class tomorrow. I'm tired, yes, but I'm definitely getting much better at these.

I'm proud of myself. I'm very proud of Brenda and Alicia. And I have a renewed motivation to continue on my current fitness path to reach my goals. But for now, I need sleep.