Sunday, May 19, 2013

California Classic Race Recap

As usual, I woke up in a great mood this morning, even though it was 4:55 a.m. on a Sunday. I could have slept in. I could have define so many other things. But I, like so many other running freaks, made a conscious decision to run 13.1 (or, according to the GPS on my cell, 13.5) miles. The drive there was fine. The organization there? Meh, not so much. The line for the porta potties occupied the same space as the line-up for the start line.
I was in a good mood, despite the disorganization.
I started off okay, completely realizing that I had grossly under-trained for this one. Still, I just wanted to break 2:45. I chased the 2:30 pacer until mile eight to ten or so; it gave me hope, but I kept calculating his time and thinking that his pace was off.
One of the big selling features of this race was running through the zoo, and especially past the new sea lion cove! Sounds kinda exciting, no? Well...not really, no. It had to be less than fifty feet. Well, maybe I'm not the best when it comes to estimating distance, but it was all over in less than five minutes. And I don't run fast. Very disappointing.
I was feeling okay, just a little disappointed. I kept running my intervals as planned (at least, for the most part).
I started feeling like I wanted to die at about mile 10-ish, and this hill (overpass) didn't help. About halfway up, a woman appeared at the top of the stairs and gave me half of an orange Otter Pop. It was like a light shone down from the heavens, and the bright colors of the box just glowed! It was amazing.
Mr. Kilt and I kept leap-froggies each other, and not just for a few miles here and there, either. We paced each other THE ENTIRE DISTANCE. We even talked a few times, to make the time pass.
This chick was awesome, dressed up as Bat Girl; when we passed a guy dressed as The Flash who was handing out water, she had to stop to take her picture with him. It was awesome. I love people who dress up for races. I'm not a great fan of it - tulle chafes my forearms after just one mile.
At this point, I was pretty much ready to die.
By my Garmin, I did - what - 13.25 miles, but by my cell GPS, I did 13.5. Either way, I ran the full thing, and I did it in 2:41-ish.
It was fun, actually. Really not bad. I'm not saying I'd do it again. My favorite half remains the Shamrock'n Half in Sacramento sometime around St. Patrick's Day. I've done it twice, and I'd love to do it again and again and again.

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