Here are some course maps....
Ok, first things first: Injury. Getting better every day. Still there a little. Compression shorts helping keeping things in place. Nice. The lower abbs are usually much better but I still feel them a little. My adductors are also still weird. Elizabeth's sun salutation yoga pose targets it nicely and I am starting to do it. Not really doing it the correct way as much as a modified bastardized version. It's that whole leaning the body forward while leaning back thing. This last week I felt much much much better. Still not but hey. It seems to hurt for the first 1/2 mile and then it's ok.
Saturday I flew to California. The timezone works well when you travel West. It's a 6 hour flight but since they are 3 hours behind it's like you only flew 3 hours as far as the clock goes. Jetblue did a great job and I land in Long Beach Airport. Taxi ride and am at the hotel. Spoke to the cabbie and he waits for me while I check in so he can drive me to the expo. Cynthia already picked up everything but I wanted to go and see if there is anything I can get Elizabeth. Nothing...
Back to the hotel and do what I need to do. Things are a little weird. It's 5pm local and 8pm in NY. Starving and tired but it's early (local).
Eat and set up for tomorrow. Bed and wake up. Buses start picking us up at the hotel at 3 and I was down there by 3:10. Caught the 3:20. It's a little chilly and am not too sure what to wear. Dress for the now or for the later. It's 50 degrees and chilly but will warm up to 79 later. Wore the long sleeve shirt and light gloves for now.
Started talking to this woman. It is a woman's only half-marathon so no big suprise there. She's military and her husband and kid are still sleeping. We walk together and talk. Get to the porta-potties and text Cinthya. She was going to get there early but I beat her. Still we connect and she's planing on running with shirts and singlet putting me to shame. Took pic with some Half-Fanatics and MM's and also meet Cynthya's mom and uncle.
She's in first corral. Corrals A and B are woman only so I am in C. Got a good place to stand when I realize I need to pee again. Out of the corral, take care of biz and trying to get back in. I follow this linebacker dude back in. Actually, told him I am doing so and grabbed his shoulder. Two woman saw me and followed me. Dude stopped early but I continueed along with my 2 new friends...HAHA...
Made it close to the front and A goes off with fireworks. In Florida, every wave gets fireworks, here only the first. I talk to my 2 lady friends and another guy and eventually it's our turn. We start and I feel good. Singlet and shorts and light gloves.
Almost PR possible like last time? Running well and the course is different from the DisneyLand Half. That one left the park early and ran outside in Anaheim for a while. Kinda boring except for running in the stadium. That was cool. This time we didn't run in the stadium. Hell, we never even saw it. We stayed in the park for a big portion...Which was both great and dangerous. Why you ask? Well, it was pretty cool seeing the park and the characters (tho I don't stop to take pictures) and running through Cinderella's castle of course and everything was really beautiful in the dark but it really was dangerous. Not enough light... There was 1 point when I was running and I decided to go on the left and pass a bunch of people and it went well and even tho I was on the outside of a right turn it was the right thing to do when I suddenly noticed a bench in my way. Luckily, I was able to get back in to the main stream cause it could have been ugly. I was in corral C...Imagine Cinthya in corral A (15 minutes earlier and faster). Could have been real dangerous...
Anyway, running well and having a good time. Missed my buddy Eric Jensen from Utah that I met here during the DisneyLand Half but so it goes.
Up to Mile 6 all went well and I was on pace and then the GI system started acting up...What to do....Oh what to do...
Continued running and eventually back to the park. I remembered that section of a turn behind things. During the Disneyland Half I think some old guy collapsed here. Anyway, close to the finish and was just trying to make sure to break 2. That bad! Kept chasing people and passing them. Gotta do what I gotta do. Eventually, I see the finish line and I gun it even tho it didn't make sense. We had just passed mile 12 and I got to the end and it was a U-turn and a bunch of us almost collided. I yelled out sorry even tho it wasn't my fault. Someone else cut people and almost caused us to crash. Running straight still trying to gun it and I see mile 13. Left turn to the finish and really gun it and I am still passing people. One guy saw me and didn't like it and chased me(!) and got me too. Sucks...Oh well.
Got my medal and my box of food and a bag and started to find my way out. One of the things I don't like about the DisneyLand races is that it's weird leaving. You gotta walk far and not everyone knows which way to tell you to go but I found someone and started walking to where I needed to.
Walking and I suddenly realized that I am walking on the wrong side of the tape, meaning on the course. How do I realize this? In the worst possible way...I see walkers walking the course and I realize that we are in the early stages of the race course and right behind them was the SAG wagon. I mean literally right behind them. How do I explain this so that you could fully realize what I mean...? There were walkers and the SAG wagon was 3 feet behind them. If they would have stopped, then the SAG wagon would have hit them. IT WAS THAT CLOSE!!! I never felt worse. Here I am walking back to shuttle, food/liquids at hand, all happy happy, talking to wife and kids on the course that they are suffering on. I quickly ducked under the tape and yelled some encouragement. Some smiled and waved. Others looked like they were in agony. It was horrible.
Anyway, to the shuttle and I was the last to board. Not that it was full or anything. Me and 4 or 5 others but they gotta leave every 20 minutes. Back to the hotel and called Danny the cabby to touch base.
Got to the airport quickly and it was nice. Big line through security but right then they decided to open another line and that was awesome. No line...Went through no problem except that apaprently the machine is programmed for random checks and I was it. No biggie...Checked for bomb residue on hand and I'm done. Sat down and had a great idea. I didn't have a great seat. I had a middle seat of a 3 seater in the back. YUCK! Figured it can't hurt so I asked and got an aisle seat much closer to the front. YAY!!! And the pilot was in a hurry to get home. Called Abbas before I left California so as soon as we landed I called him again. He was waiting for me as soon as I stepped out of the building. Home in a jiffy. Early and saw Jessie before she went to sleep. Yay!
Even tho it was a Sunday, it was a 3 day weekend and Monday I slept late. Cool.
New Best sign at a race: At mile 1.5, there was a guy holding a sign that said "WORST LIAR IN THE WORLD". I read it and didn't get it until he started screaming, "the finish is right around the corner". HAHA...Everyone started laughing. Love it.
