Since I had work on Friday and Saturday I was not able to pick up my number until Sunday before the event. Thankfully the whole thing was very well organized and there were no lines at the pickup tables. After that, and a few minutes mentally preparing, we were off. The route follows a downhill causeway after mile 3 which I always dislike because it means we'll have to come back up at the latter part of the event, a thought that was made certain when across the way we saw groups of mariachis setting up. I put this thought aside and kept on going when to my surprised we passed right by the lake I used to sit around and write school papers while I attended UCI! and a few miles later the route went right by my old apartment in Irvine, which is kinda bittersweet, but fun nonetheless.When we reached the 9-mile marker the clock read 1:22. After a few calculations I thought that if I kept my pace and didn't relent in those last 4 miles I would break 2 hours. My goal up to that point had only been to complete the course. I was expecting to end somewhere in the neighborhood of 2:10, but seeing that clock gave me a new goal. I maintained my pace and fought the last freeway overpass and the uphill causeway. after the last turn, (which I didn't know was the last turn) the wind was right on our faces, which slowed everyone down but nothing more than a few seconds I thought (cue foreshadowing). At the finish line I missed the clock, but asked the person next to me, who I had been running near by for the last 6 miles, what time he had on his watch. To my surprise he said 1:52. Here I was thinking that I had broken 2 and by a lot! Unfortunately, and rather comically, I missed breaking 2 by 14 seconds.
The more I think about this 14 second SNAFU, I was aiming for 2:10, so being that close to 2 is a big win for me. I'm very encouraged to PR this year.
Now I have a guitarron to go with my other medals.In the horizon I'm eying the Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half. Here's to a good and successful Running Season for 2011.
