Here it is, my first running race. I've slowly been building up my mileage for 4 months, and it's finally here. This is also a race I would file under "Unfortunate Timing." It is the day after a good friend's 40th birthday party. Who's got two thumbs and gets to be a designated driver? m/ This Guy \m
On registration day, I took my daughters and dog with me. It was a nice day, so I figured we'd walk around Huntington Beach a little while we were there. One cool and unexpected thing about the race check-in process...dog-sitters. The race organizers actually had volunteers there that would watch your dog for you while you completed your registration in the large circus tent at the expo area.
So, after a late night and an early morning, I drove to meet up with my carpool buddies Dave and Jill. Dave was nice enough to drop Jill and I off near the starting corrals. As with other popular races, parking and logistics is a separate adventure in itself, so it was nice to be dropped off.
The OC Tri Club had a canopy set up on PCH, so we had a place to meet and even leave our bags during the race. I felt good, and was anxious to start. I had a good idea about my pace, so I headed to the "1:50" corral. As it got closer to starting, I had one GU pack, plus I had two more stashed in my race belt. I hadn't tried the race gel, so I didn't want to risk trying something new during a race.
And, we're off. Wow, it's crowded. Triathlons are never this crowded running, maybe swimming, but not running. Speaking of triathlons, since headphones aren't allowed, I opted not to use them on this race. Ultimately, this race is preparation for Wildflower in April.
The race was pretty non-eventful. I took small drinks of water at each aid station. I had heard this was a faster course with only one true hill, but mostly flat. The crowd support was great, and the creative signs always make me laugh.
The home stretch is a straight shot down PCH. I was feeling good so I decided to up my pace a little. Unfortunately, I forgot to set my Garmin to record 1 mile splits, so I don't know exactly how much faster I was at the end. I do know one thing, the blisters were coming, and the last 3 miles, they made their presence known, with every step.
I crossed the finish line at 1:48.12, with an average pace of 8:16/mile. This put me at 174 out of 766 (23%) in my age group and 1017 out of 4098 (21%) for men. Wow, there were 1016 men ahead of me. That's more people than were in the last two triathlons I did, combined.
Overall, it was a good race. Other than a couple blisters, I was feeling ok. Now, off to a Super Bowl party. What did you do on Super Bowl Sunday?
