Okay, maybe not a win, but I was 35 seconds off from medaling. Let's back up a little bit. For months I've been looking forward to the Malibu Half Marathon. Nothing beats running along the coast. My friend Kami joined me for the adventure for her first half marathon. Consistent training became very difficult for me as I travel a lot and ref college soccer throughout the fall. I was doing great juggling everything until the last few weeks leading up to the race. I never got a chance to get my track work or long runs in. It was still a good trip, but I would definitely do things differently next time. Anyhow, here's how it went.
Day 1:
We drove to Las Vegas and stayed at the Monte Carlo. It was a nice hotel, but we didn't really have time to enjoy the pool or anything. We ate dinner at the buffet, and I pretty much tried every dessert they had. Not really a good thing to do before a big race. We shopped at the outlets a little bit, walked to the Bellagio and around Caesar's Palace. Too exhausted to walk back, so we took a cab, and the cab driver grunted a lot. Gross.
Day 2:
Breakfast buffet. I'm not really a breakfast eater, so I lost money there. We made the drive to Teresa's to drop off our stuff and head to Malibu to pick up our race packet. It was windy and cold, so we didn't stay long. We then made the drive to Carson to the Home Depot Center to watch the LA Galaxy play the Houston Dynamo. Longest game EVER. A 30 minute late start, a 20 minute delay in each half due to a power outage, and 30 minutes of overtime. Aside from that, it was a fun game. Galaxy won 2-0, scoring a goal in each overtime period. Now I can say I was Beckham play.
Day 3:
Pho and shopping in old town Pasadena with Ami, Brandon, Teresa, and Easton, followed by New Moon for dinner. Not much else as we were prepping for our race the next morning.
Day 4:
Race day. It took the first few miles for me to feel like I was getting into a rhythm, and there actually ended up being more rolling hills that I had anticipated. No matter though, because that's where I crushed everybody. The past two half marathons I started to feel fatigued around mile 10, but that didn't happen until about mile 12.5. In that last half mile, I passed a girl, but then 2 passed me, bumping me to 6th place overall female. Only the top 5 get medals. I was SO close. I still set a personal record at 1:38.08, and placed 2nd in my division, 31st overall. It's all good numbers, and I beat my La Jolla time by 42 seconds, but I really wanted that medal.
Kami finished in 2:12. She did a great job for her first half, and a bad ankle. Afterwards, I surprisingly had a lot of energy... runner's high perhaps. I played in the ocean for a little bit, and we headed back to Teresa's. I crashed EARLY that night.
Day 5:
Trip over. Time to go home. We drove the entire way home, and I do not recommend that a day after a race. My legs weren't too sore until we spent the whole day driving. We stopped in Cedar City to eat dinner, and I could barely walk.
Here is my adventure...
This year has gone by so fast, and for once I feel like I've lived it to the fullest. I've done all these races for me, and it has been such a great experience as well as what I have accomplished. I have placed in the top 10 in my division of each race. I think 7th is the worst I've done. I can't be upset with that. My last race of the year is a 10K in two weeks. I hope I keep the tradition alive and end the year with another medal.
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