Long Beach Marathon

After another sleepless night due to our delightfully noisy neighbours the alarm went off at 2.45 am and I have never felt less like running a marathon.  I came so close to blowing it off but I managed to convince myself that I'd start and if it felt really awful I'd just pull out. We were fortunate enough to get free entry since I met their elite criteria so nothing would be lost..... It seemed ridiculous to be eating breakfast at 3 am but with a 6 am race start that's what we had to do.  At least there was no stress involved in getting to the start, we left the apartment at 5.15 am and strolled there in 20 minutes or so.

Once we got to the start and started soaking up the atmosphere I began to think, ok, maybe I can do this. We positioned ourselves ready to get to the front of the field and as soon as the start funnel was opened up we rolled under the barriers and beat the rush - only to hear the bad news that the start would be delayed by 25 minutes due to safety issues. Just what we needed! Finally at 6.25 am we were off. Martin was in charge of pacing, my inclination is always to go off too fast and it was still just dark enough that I couldn't check pace on my GPS. Our target pace was 6.45 and it felt so easy for the first few miles as we crossed the river and headed down towards the Queen Mary. A few girls had gone off fast in front of me and it's a fairly good indication of how negative I was feeling that I didn't immediately give in to the urge to give chase.

As we ran along the scenic area on the shoreline past the Aquarium we reeled in the girl in 3rd place and I was just congratulating myself on moving into the placings when another girl overtook me and opened up quite a lead. We stayed on the pace and started the long section across the beach gradually catching up and passing one other female. Just before the half marathon split we caught the girl who had overtaken us a few miles earlier and exchanged a few pleasantries as we passed her. It took a while to shake her off but now I was in 2nd place, I knew I had no chance of catching the leader but I badly wanted to maintain both position and pace.

The miles ticked off and it became apparent that our GPS' were measuring the course long which meant that we weren't as well on pace as we had thought. We completed the out and back at the Marine Stadium and crossed the half way point in 1.29.33. It was already a given that we weren't going to achieve sub 3 today so I suggested we aim for 3.02 instead and hang onto the pace as long as we could. I could tell that Martin was struggling a bit already by his breathing and tried to encourage him to stay with me, which he gamely managed until after we had passed through the University campus - but then he gradually began to drift backwards.

The lack of long runs in our training was already telling and our pace had dropped off still more. I hate feeling so tired with 6 miles to go but there was nothing I could do except grit my teeth, dig deep and hope that I wouldn't be caught. A couple of times I tried glancing back, I could still see Martin and I was fairly sure there were no females closing in...but I couldn't be positive. I must be honest, the thought of the prize money was really the only thing that kept me going!

It was such a relief to hit East Ocean Boulevard and know that the end was finally within reach. Running past half marathoners gave me a bit of a boost but the tiredness remained and I so badly wanted to stop.  When the 3.05 pacer passed me with 2 miles still to go I really thought I'd blown it but he was finishing a bit fast and I crossed the line in 3.04.56 having maintained my second place.  Martin came in some 90 seconds later for the usual emotional reunion. I always find myself in tears at the end of a marathon!

As we headed away from the finish area we were intercepted by a volunteer who said she was to escort us to the VIP tent! How exciting and flattering was that! In addition to the very handsome finisher's medal and well stocked goody bag we were both given great Long Beach Marathon towels, I received my 2nd place trophy and we had a veritable feast of food and drink at our disposal. Sadly I can never eat straight after a hard run (although I always manage to make up for it later on) so I only managed some fresh fruit and coffee but Martin did his best to take full advantage and had the chefs make him a special vegetarian omelette!

Later we reluctantly left the festivities and headed back to our apartment for a much needed shower and change. On looking at the results, which were already on line, we discovered that Martin had finished 1st V55, so we headed back to pick up his medal and enjoy our courtesy visit to the Aquarium.

All that remained was to chose the venue for our evening celebration and as we really wanted some beer we went to the Beachwood BBQ and Brewery where we enjoyed a sampler selection of their finest beer and some excellent Albacore. What a day and how differently than expected  it turned out.

I love Long Beach, who needs to sleep?!