Long Beach Half

 Here we are sweaty and tired, but happy and satisfied. All four of us ran the Long Beach Half Marathon on Sunday. My beautiful daughter ran her first one and I couldn't be prouder. It was my 12th, so I was the veteran of the group and also the oldest! As I have said many times, I am not fast. I am a plodder.
Amber and I had a plan. We would run a mile, then walk a minute. We would NOT deviate from the plan. Many people start a race way too fast and often run out of gas before the end. It is not a good feeling! We did keep a bit faster pace than we wanted to, but not by much. If I had to break down the race, I'd say, Amber helped push me the first 8-10 miles and I helped push her the last 3-5 miles. She hit the wall about mile nine and it took some words of encouragement to get her to keep going. I knew she wouldn't give up, she had trained long and hard, but, for the record, 13 miles is a LONG WAY!!! Next time you are in your car going somewhere, look at the odometer and see where you are thirteen miles down the road. Now, imagine RUNNING those thirteen miles!! It puts it in perspective. A small incline in the road when you are driving, feels like a huge hill when you are running it!

 This was on the back of the shirt I wore on race day. Many people commented on it as they ran by us!! Every element of a race, people cheering, crazy costumes, funny signs on the side of the road, all make for a memorable experience. You never know what inspires someone else.

Kim and I had an extra special day because we had run the three races, in consecutive order, Surf City in February, OC Half in May & now, Long Beach in Oct. We qualified for the Beach City Challenge medal. It weighs about five or six pounds and we wore it proudly after the race.
Funny thing, I went into this race with the focus on my daughter and her experience and being there for her and I ended up with a new PR (personal record)!!! I have been trying for four years to beat my best time from a race in Dallas and I did!! Guess it, once again proves, "If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else."
Such a great day...and, dare I say, FUN!!!