Best dressed team!
Well, what can you say about a race that follows the California coast other than AWESOME! It was the inaugural event and as expected, everything was a mess. No worries though…for those that can go with the flow, it is just another day of racing. Racing is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. People failures (mental or physical), weather, race director errors, equipment travesties…you just never know.
From the time we left our house until 20 minutes later when we picked up Mo Mo, the race director sent out an email saying that CALTRANS would not approve six legs going through Malibu. Okay, I get that…it is a little spooky there. So the members that were to run these legs could choose to run any other leg of the race to make up for their cancelled leg. Too cool - I chose the leg before the cancelled ones that was still in Malibu, but in the northern portion of the area on Pacific Coast Hwy away from the mania.
Our team had a chance to meet up and run with other team members because of this situation and the race director even gave every team member $20 bucks back to accommodate them for the inconvenience. That was dinner for Rich and I. Oh, yeah, Rich drove the van as usual. This was our third relay race together as van driver and wacky runner.
Above ~ My new best friend!
My first leg was through Santa Barbara and was beautiful…I ran an 8 minute mile the entire time. I then ran consistent 8:30 minute miles for the next 12 miles. I am amazed that at any point in my mileage, the slowest mile that I ran was 8:53. I am running faster and more consistently than I ever have. Especially with no sleep and running in the middle of the night. I am not sure the body ever gets used to that.
Out of 105 teams our team was the sixth to cross the finish line and we were the fourth place team in our division of mixed ages and sexes.
As a matter of fact, when we arrived at the finish line, waiting for the last runner to come in, the music was not playing yet and the announcer had just plugged in his microphone to say that the first team was coming in a few minutes. Strange… I can truly say that I have never experienced a finish line not being ready for my approach.
I am grateful today for all that I have as one of my legs was through the barrio of Long Beach and in the middle of the night. I am tough and was not afraid of anything happening, but during my 6.6 mile run here is what I experienced:
At the exchange, I took the headlamp and race number from Natalie and headed east toward the dregs of Long Beach. I was immediately aware of my surroundings as I was running away from an industrial train station, the freeway was on my left and I was running on a road that had run down houses on it. I could hear the freeway with my iPod on. As I was running the first mile alone, waiting for the van to get organized with their route and to catch up to me, I notice that the last three cars that I have passed by on the road all have their driver side windows bashed in…or as my mother-in-law said “shot out with a .22″. I felt a little uneasy at that point but carried on listening to Crystal Method’s upbeat tempo.
As Rich and the others caught up to me, they kept me in sight the entire time. I kept dodging glass on the road until my toes began to hurt a little. At that point I had to stop swerving and stay focused on the ground below me for larger trash items, pot holes, huge cracks in the driveways, and still more glass. I crossed over endless freeways, waterways, train track exchange areas, an oil refinery and went past a myriad of ethnic businesses that were closed. The entire run consisted of weaving, dodging, stepping up/off of large on ramp/off ramp curbs and again crushing glass.
The last mile of the run was along an industrial park area that had parked cars on the sides of the road. As I passed a couple, I looked inside and saw a couple of people wrapped up in blankets in the front seat in an older car sleeping. At first I thought…I HOPE they are sleeping! Then I came across a newer BMW with a man sleeping with his seat slightly back. And then again further down the road…another car with another person wrapped in a blanket in the front seat! What the hell! Is is so bad that people are sleeping in their cars now?
At the exchange I was charged with fear, anger, wonder and awe about a multitude of things. I will never complain about my home or car again! I am grateful for the monotonous drone of housekeeping! Why did the race director take us through here? I couldn’t believe my eyes…it felt like Stephen King’s, The Stand for a mile of the run.
Rich and I were chatting with two police officers who were at the exchange waiting for their runner and they said that it is easier to let the house go and live in the car than the other way. They are now paying rent and their car payment each month. All I could think was “God, bless these people”…and I am not one to break out in prayer.
Now that I have really thought about the entire event, I think that most of the 105 teams came through that area in the daylight. Since we were running so fast, we ran through at night and really experienced it differently. I was only passed by two Collegiate built youngsters on that leg…so we were really ahead of the pack.
Of course, the competitor in me has already thought about next year and what my estimated pace will be by then. I am honored to have run with the top notch runners that were a part of our team. 20 hours to run down the California coast is nothing simple. Years ago Rich and I were on a team that took 30 hours…we were the second to the last team. The year after that we ran on a team that took 26+ hours and had a pace average of 8:39 - we placed 24th in our category. This year we finished in 20 hours and change and our pace was in the 7 minute range (details to come later) - this year we were 4th in our category. I must say that I feel a little competitive today and this is a different experience for me. Thanks for reading!
Below ~ Waiting at the finish line for the last runner
Annual Mileage ~
Swim ~ 5 miles
Bike ~ 882 miles
Run ~ 146 miles
