Surf City Marathon: Race Extras

Some of the things from Surf City Marathon that did not make the race report:

* The weather was perfect. It was overcast until about Mile 23. The sun started to come out then but really wasn't all the way out from behind the clouds until I was almost done. I know those who came in after me, both the full and half marathoners, were running in sunlight for a bit of time but for the most part us runners lucked out on Sunday morning.

* Three marathons, three times I used my phone as my music player, three times it messed up on me. Ugh. Next marathon, I'm not going to listen to the phone the entire time... actually, for last year's Surf City, I didn't listen to it the first 10 miles and it still crapped out on me. Ugh. On Sunday, Mrs. LB called me a few times on it and she couldn't hear me. After the race, it took me about 15 minutes to get a signal. I couldn't even text or anything, but that may have been because of so many people around there all probably trying to use their cell phones. Still, I'm a little perturbed by my phone.

* Speaking of music, the playlist was fine but I turned off the music the last few miles. It's like if you're on a road trip, you need a change of pace. Maybe you, dear reader, can but normally I can't listen to four straight hours of music, even if it's music I like. For roadies, I like to listen to talk radio or news or stand-up or something, to mix things up, along with music.

* Supporters are awesome. I had a ton of supporters. Tahoegirl was among my virtual supporters - check out her set-up. All the well-wishes, be them in comments on here, FB, Twitter, texts, in person... all were appreciated. I wish I could take the time to thank each and every person individually but please know all the support is appreciated even if I didn't directly respond to you.

* The supporters for this race were out in full force. I remember having a lot of supporters cheer me and the other marathoners out there last year but this year, it seemed as if there was more support. The middle-schoolers who manned the aid stations and dotted the course during the part that took us through a park were back again. It's great to have hyper middle-schoolers jumping up and down non-stop cheering you on as you run a marathon. Maybe it's not so great to have them in a classroom acting up but that's a problem for their teacher. I embraced the hyperactivity on Sunday. Also, there was a group of about six or eight women, probably in their early 20s, with some, uh, unique signs. One of them read "Runners have great stamina (call me)" and another "Keep it up (that's what she said)" and another "Runners do it longer" and I can't remember the other sings. There were about five signs in all and I hope the race photographers captured them on film because they were great to look at... the signs too ;)

* The course wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, mentally I mean. I didn't know what I was getting into last year but this year I knew what the course would be like. There are two long out-and-backs, about three miles up on PCH and three miles back, and then five miles up on the beach path and then a little more than that all the way back to the finish line. I though the mental pain would be a lot worse than it was on the beach path. I mean, I dealt with a lot of mental issues but they weren't because of the out-and-backs.

* I learned a lot from my pace leader last year, when I was training for my first marathon. I mean, a lot. And I keep learning from her. One of the things she said was to make a list of things, like sit down and write an actual list of things, and check them over before you A) leave for your race and B) when you get ready the day of. I didn't listen of course. Also, one of the things she mentioned to take with you during races as money. Her rationale - you never know. Again, I didn't heed her warning. Guess what would have kept me from my timing chip disaster? A list. And what would have been my safety net? Money.

* Okay, okay... I know you're all wondering what's next. I'd thought about and had planned on running the LA Marathon on March 20, which would mean two marathons in six weeks. Well, there's been some movement on that front. However, seeing as this post is already really long (I'm wondering how many readers already hit the eject button), I will save that for another day. Sorry to be a tease but that's the life of a blogger sometimes, gotta give you a reason to come back.