OC Marathon: More Fallout

More of my leftover thoughts on the OC Marathon. For the first part of this post, click here:

* Strong Organization: Of all the things that go into a race, the most important for me is the organization. Was the race well-organized? Did things run as efficiently and smoothly as they needed to have run? No matter how great the course is, if a race is poorly organized I will not want to run the race again. This race was supremely organized. Things ran as smooth as possible. There was one minor hiccup - the start was delayed by about 12 minutes - but that wasn't necessarily the race organizers' fault. The shuttles from the finish line to the start line ran just fine and all on time; the gear check was easy to find at the start (even though I didn't use it) and transported back to the finish in UPS trucks; mile markers were large and easy to spot; the course was well marked; water stations were plentiful on the course. I can't think of one area where the race was not well organized.

* OC Redux: I usually ask myself in these types of posts if I would run this race again. The simple answer here: yes. I want to run this race next year. I'm not sure if I'd run the full again or try for the half but one way or another I'm going to line up at Fashion Island on May 5, 2013.

* Musical Plan: When I ran LA, I did not listen to music for one second. That did not repeat itself in OC. I made two playlists - one was about three hours long and filled with some of my favorite running songs. The other one was about an hour and change and made up solely of Metallica songs (my top go-to group to run to). My plan was to hold off on music until I was at about Mile 12, the turnoff from where the half marathoners leave us and head for home. I got antsy though and threw on my headphones at Mile 11. At about Mile 20 or so, I switched from the first playlist to the second one. It worked great. The first playlist I just hit shuffle so it was a bit of a guessing game to see which song came on next. And when I needed to push through the last few miles, I had my A songs playing through my ears. The music could not have worked out better.

* What's Next: So what races are upcoming on my calendar? In June, I've got the Fontana Days half marathon, on June 2. I'm looking forward to this one. I'm calling my shot now, I will set a massive PR. I'm going to gun for a 1:45. So why the bravado? Am I suddenly fast? Well, no. This race is all downhill. Last year I was undertrained and I ran a 1:48. This year when I actually run it and am strong enough to run it, I know I can do better. So I'm going to set a massive PR that I won't actually count because this is a bit of a different course. But it will be fun to smash my old PR. After Fontana Days, I've got the big one - the San Francisco Marathon. I am already excited about this race of course, have been since I was accepted as an ambassador. This race I hope will be the highlight of my year. Those two races I will have on my mind as I run through the upcoming months.