Surf City 2012

On February 5, 2012 I ran the Surf City Marathon at Huntington Beach with a time of 3:28:38. Signing up for this early season race was my winter training incentive to think about running under these warm blue skies with 70 degree sunshine. I'm also using this ocean run to train for similar beach conditions at my A race, IMCA just 55 days out. Not being an A race, I continued training right up to this event and went out for 18 miles with elevation last weekend. Somewhere along the way, I lost track of treating this as a training race and got caught up with the BQ pace just to see what it feels like. You'll never know what your capable of unless you push your limits and learn from your mistakes. Here is play by play for each mile:

Mile 1 - 3 start along the PCH (7:05, 6:58, 6:54) & I'm running with Matt Stoval running his BQ pace, not my pace.

Mile 4 - 6 is windy through Huntington Beach Central Park (7:16, 6:44, 7:15) so at the 6 mile mark our average is 7:02, going out too fast.

Mile 7 - 12 continues out along the PCH to the turn around point (7:18, 7:27, 7:31, 7:06, 7:20, 7:38) holding the avg of 7:14

Mile 13 - 16 continues back along the PCH to the turn around point (7:15, 7:21, 7:49, 7:55) & on this stretch the 3:10 pace group drops me and I'm dealing with a wicked oncoming stitch in my side.

Mile 17 - 20 continues out along the PCH to the turn around point (8:39, 8:33, 9:00, 9:13) and I'm at my runners low dealing with that wicked cramp. I execute my ultra pace which is something I can revert to all day because of my ultra's, its just a slow marathon pace which I did not want to resort to.

Mile 21 - 26.2 (9:16, 9:05, 9:23, 8:23, 8:56, 9:06 last .2 kick 7:41) with an avg 7:57 for the day.

I actually had my runners high at mile 24 when I was picked up by the 3:25 pacer who I followed mindlessly. Running behind the pacer I made a resolution to myself for more pace work. I was beat up and in tunnel vision finishing this final stretch. The sun was beating down and the single narrow trail was lined with pedestrians and traffic both ways. Following the pacer, I was mentally being pulled behind him. I distinctly recall a drum performance on the side of the trail and the beat of the drum matched the pace of heels I was barely holding on to in front of me. That is the trance, the enlightening moment why I do these events. I will be in search of that moment in my training as I embark on more pace work in the months leading up to my A race. Consistently holding my own pace is where I need to train.