Conquering 26.2: 2013 Long Beach Half Marathon Race Recap

Race Date: October 13th 2013

Start time: 7:30 am

Distance: Half Marathon

The Long Beach Marathon is one of my favorite races in Southern California. I ran it for the first time last year and I had the time of my life. I originally signed up for the half marathon but upgraded to the full in the very last minute at the expo. You can read more about here. This year, I was invited to participate in any Long Beach event ( half marathon, full marathon or bike race), courtesy of Team VW. After having such a great experience last year, I chose the full marathon! Unfortunately I've been suffering from plantar ~~fasciitis~~ fuckciitis for the last 3 weeks so I ended up downgrading to a half marathon. It was a FREE race and I had a lot of friends running it so I figured why not. I would take it easy and run/walk/crawl ... do whatever it takes to finish the race.

Saturday October 12th - Expo

My friend Tessa and I left San Diego around 9:30 am and drove to Long Beach to pick up our race packets. Our first stop was Dexter's house. Who is Dexter? He is a serial killer. He is the main character of a television drama series which took place in Miami but was mostly filmed in Long Beach. To be honest, I never watched this show before but my friend Tessa is a big BIG fan. She had promised to give me a "killer" tour this weekend as we would run by some locations featured on the TV series

This is where Dexter and Rita lived

The actual owner of the house was there and she let us sit in her porch. How cool is that!

After the quick stop, we went to the Expo.

I picked up my race bib, technical shirt and headed to the Team VW booth. We were given a cool VW backpack, one technical shirt, 2 cotton shirts for my supporters and a Volkswagen car. Isn't it amazing? I am just kidding! The backpacks and shirts were very nice treats. It was completely unexpected. I thought I would just get a free entry to the race.

We walked around for a couple of minutes and met Julie Weiss aka Marathon Goddess.

She was featured in a movie called the Spirit of the Marathon II. If you haven't watched this movie, I really recommend it. It might inspire you to run Maratona Di Roma one day.

Sunday October 13th - Race Day

We woke up at 4:30 and left my friend's apartment 15 minutes later. The full marathon was scheduled to start at 6:00 am and the half marathon at 7:30 am. There was a lot of traffic but we avoided most of it. My friend Nadine lives in Long Beach so she knows her streets. $10 for parking, just 2 blocks from the front beach. Not bad at all! I met some of my friends at the start area.

Sheri (yellow shirt and flower) was running her first marathon

My blogger friend Monika with a K

My friends aka The Medal Whores (FB page)

My friend Marathon Mitch, a fellow Marathon Maniac

I also met Ingrid, Jen and Katie from Embrace the Crazy

We started with the 2:15 corral and no BIG expectations. My friend Tessa is a fast runner but has a double fracture in her pelvic bone while I have my foot issues. We make a wonderful pair, don't we? We ran together for the first 2 miles before we reached one of the bridges. Tessa pointed out at some deck that was featured in Dexter. I like my friend's enthusiasm. A stranger wanted to know more about this and kidnapped my friend with a million of questions and a faster speed. Heeey, what do you think you are doing, man?

Suddenly, I was running alone. No problem. I spent miles 3-6 playing the "let's see how many people I can pass before my foot starts killing me" game. My ultimate goal was to meet Tessa again. I could no longer see her on the course. I focused on a girl wearing a purple top. She had nice speed. I passed her. Next target, a couple wearing red shirts. I passed them. It was time for a quick body check. "Yep, my feet are still attached to my legs. Let's keep moving". I had no clue what my speed was. I was not wearing a Garmin or carrying my iPhone, on purpose. I didn't want to obsess over time. I just wanted to run until my foot says NO.

At mile 6, I reunited with Tessa, right before entering Long Beach. We ran on the bike path for 5 loooong miles. It felt like an eternity. Aha, for some reason it's called Long Beach! For those who don't know, this is also where they filmed Baywatch or "Los vigilantes de la playa" for my Spanish audience.

Photo Credit: Rick Warren

At mile 8, my foot started to hurt like hell. However, the thought of not having to run another 18.2 miles put a smile on my face. "I can do 5!". I also started thinking about my daughter and her love for running when a biker passed me blasting music from his speakerphone. He was playing my daughter's favorite running song, Journey's Separate Ways. It gave me chills. Thanks Universe!

At mile 10, we turned around at Dexter's sister's house, Debra.

There I realized that I'd lost Tessa at some point. She was probably hanging out with Dexter's sis somewhere :-) At mile 10.5, the half marathons and full marathoners merged. I found myself playing the passing game again. In the horizon, I could see the Aquarium. It was the final home stretch. My finishing time time was 2:09:17. It's not fast by any means but I am happy considering my plantar fasciitis.

I don't think I will race with music again unless it is a very hilly course. I missed my Garmin, though. It would be nice to go back and check my stats. But for now, I really like the ones provided by the Long Beach race organizers.

- Of the 11933 who finished, 58% were Women and 43% were men.
- I was ahead of about 55% of men runners. I like that!
- I passed 652 runners and 178 passed me.