10 days late. But here it is.
As I mentioned, I skipped Goofy Challenge. Too many things to take care of. So, Surf City was my first road race in 2010.
I ran 14, 23, 28, and 14 the weekends prior. Just base-building at this point, so speed wasn’t in the cards. Was also coming back from a bad flu situation that took me out during the Las Vegas marathon in December. The long distance runs were just to get my lungs back in shape.
I showed up at Surf City (this was my 4th) dreading it like usual. Can’t stand the cold breeze from the ocean in early February. Always end up freezing. So I wore a jacket throughout. I got quizzical looks, but I could have cared less.
I decided to run 13.1 at 8 minute pace, and then run the second part super-easy. That’s how it happened. I got 3:55 for that marathon, with a 1:43 at the 13.1 mark. Yeah, slowed down plenty.
I remembered the course well, so it was kinder to me this time. Also glad I ran the second half easy, because it helped with me having a better time on this course than prior years. The goal was to give the lungs a try for half the distance, and then just work on endurance for the rest. After all, this was only my first race of the year.
Glad they placed a coned-off area for the marathoners in the last 3/4 mile, because the half-marathon walkers were just crowding the street. I don’t enjoy the finish line area configuration, because area is just super-crowded with runners and greeters.
I went to the expo area near the stage and sat amongst the crowd. Maybe a hundred or so others followed. After you run 26.2, sitting is good.
So in my memories, I can say for sure that this running of Surf City turned out positive. Maybe when it comes time to sign up again, I won’t hesitate.
Let’s go, 2010!
hello , thanks for this aticle its very nice .