Surf City

Jason, Kelly, and I had an amazing weekend in beautiful Huntington Beach. The marathon course was gorgeous -- the park, the boardwalk, the ocean views, the homes, the people, everything! It was a perfect day. Can't wait 'til next year!

Jason met me and Kelly at 5:30 am for our official send-off. We were excited! Jason ran the 1/2 marathon and accomplished a personal record -- 13.1 miles in 2 hours, 1 min. It's very difficult to sustain that pace for long distances. Great job, Jay! His 1/2 marathon course merged with the marathon course and Kelly and I looked for him in the crowd of 18,000. And he found us! He came running up behind us and we were able to run together for about one mile.

Hot Marathon Moms. Alex, Kelly's son, wanted Kelly to buy a t-shirt at the expo that said "marathon mom." Kelly responded with a definite, "Uh, no thanks." She's one hot marathon mom, though. If you look closely you can see the crystals on my t-shirt that spell --26.2. Kelly put hers on the back. We had to bling, bling the boring black tank!

Our surf board medals! The 1/2 marathon medals are only 1/2 as long as the full marathon medals. It's like "Mini-Me" (for all you Austin Powers lovers).

Jason finished his race about an hour before I did. He waited on the beach at mile 25 for me and ran in the final mile. I needed his support to get through it and I love him for it. I ran my first 20 in great time, but promised everyone I wouldn't push myself. I was fine walking/running the final 6.2, but really wanted to run in my mile 26. I saw the mile posting for 26 and I started to cry. I had three minutes to meet my goal time of 5 hours, so I sprinted in my last tenth of a mile and heard people screaming and cheering me on. I finished in 4:58 and some seconds. That was euphoric. Crossing the finish line is an indescribable feeling. It's the feeling that inspires me to race again.

After the race, we had a picnic lunch in Corona del Mar. I was craving a turkey sandwich on wheat bread -- so good! It was absolutely beautiful! Kelly and I decided that we're gonna move there . . .

A little sore but still smiling. The beach always makes me happy!