2010 Surf City Half Marathon - Race Report

EVENT: Surf City USA Half-Marathon
DATE: Sunday, February 7, 2010
LOCATION: Huntington Beach, CA
RACE BEGAN: 7:45 am (wave start)
FINISH TIME: 01:48:12 (PR Half Marathon time)

This year marked the third year that I've ran the Surf City Half Marathon. A couple of years ago they changed the name and course of this race from Pacific Shoreline to Surf City. Since I ran that inaugural course and this being my third year, I am now a legacy runner for this race so this is one of those that I try to run every year. This year as a reward for being a legacy runner, I got a long sleeved shirt with this surf board design on it. It is ok, good for layering but I only wore it 2-3 times since I got it. I am not in love with the design. Here is a photo of my sister (A Case of the Runs) wearing it. Hope she does not get mad that I linked to it. The course is an out and back and for the most part is fairly flat. The return path inclines slightly and at this point in the day, the sun is normally out and in your face, which makes for some uncomfortable running. Bring and wear your sunglasses if you are use to running in sunglasses or wear a hat and lower your head on the return.

But here is the reason I love this race...the MEDAL! It is always in the shape of a surf board. A different design every year. I love these!

This was the only photo I was able to find of me running this race. I think I was over-dressed a bit even though it is February, the sun was out and it was warm the second half of the race.

I was originally going to wear this tutu that I made but chickened out at the last minute. Mostly because it tends to be cold in the mornings in February.

 

Half Marathon By the Mile

Miles 1-2 Huntington Beach Pier & Main Street

Start on Pacific Coast Highway between the ocean and the Hilton Waterfront Beach Hotel. Running north, the Huntington Beach Pier and Main Street are less than a mile away. At the 5K start banner, look to the left to enjoy the famous Huntington Beach Pier. Downtown Main Street is where you will likely head after your race to watch the Super Bowl in one of the many idyllic beach bars.

Miles 2 -5 Seapoint View

Just past the second mile marker, at the first retro surf band station, turn inland on Seapoint and head toward Huntington Central Park. On this stretch, you will encounter the course's only incline, between miles 3 and 4. Take your turn at the bluff, reenergize at the aid station and head down Seapoint back toward the ocean. Enjoy the ocean view all the way down to PCH.

Miles 5-7 Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve

Just past mile five, take a right on PCH and absorb the energy from the ocean! Breathe in the fresh sea air as you continue north on the highway. The Bolsa Chica Reserve wetlands roll out to the right. This 300 acre ecological wonder is a sanctuary for wildlife and migratory birds. Bolsa Chica, along with the rest of Huntington Beach, CA, has some of the nation's best birding! Nearly half of the birds found in the U.S. have been seen in Huntington Beach. Sightings of great blue herons, snowy egrets and brown pelicans are common; lucky bird watchers can even spot a rare white pelican at the right time of the year.

Miles 8-13.1 The Home Stretch

Just before mile eight at Warner, turn back south on Pacific Coast Highway. The blue waters of the Pacific Ocean stretch out to your right and you are getting your second wind. Feel the fresh ocean breeze and take in the spectacular view. It's flat, it's fast, and it's all yours for the next five miles! Before you know it you are back at the pier, less than a half mile from the finish line. It's a straight shot from there, and the finish line banner is just ahead. Spectators line the highway to cheer you to the finish!

Weekend Recap

What a busy weekend I had or maybe it just felt like that to me. So my weekend started on Friday afternoon when I looked outside and saw this. I know, so depressing!


So after work, I went to have dinner at one of my favorite organic Japanese restaurant, Fukada. I was not planning to eat any meat (more on this towards the end of this post) but my dinner date was not feeling the salmon in his sashimi salad so I ate it. I had some nice hot Sansei (mountain vegetables) udon w/ some veggie curry on brown rice. Man, it was so good. I finished off the night w/ some Nutella and PB on 1/2 a toasted sandwich thin.


The next morning, we went to breakfast at the old stand-by, Side Stree Cafe. I was feeling terrible as usual because getting up early on a weekend day always puts me in a grumpy and sluggish mood, but some eggs and potatoes fixed that all up. The 2 cups of coffee I had didn't hurt either. Hahaha!


After breakfast, we headed to the LA Fitness Expo at the LA Convention Center. This was the reason we got up early today, to go to this thing. We were hoping that we would avoid the crowds but the expo was pretty small compared to Mr. Olympia and the crowd wasn't too bad. The Go Green Expo was also going on at the same time, as well as America's Got Talent tryouts and also some NCAA function. It was a mixed weird crowd there as you can imagine. I don't have too many photos, sorry! I am still trying to get better with taking photos.


We got free admission into the Go Green Expo because we had paid for the LA Fitness Expo, it was a 2 for 1 deal I guess. I love all the vendors at the Go Green Expo, I wish I would have had more time to look around but I was meeting my sisters for Dim Sum and it was already pass noon. I did manage to sample some great vegetarian and vegan food and entered to win a water filter system (like Brita but better...hahaha) and got some neat reusuble grocery bags. I also purchased this really great smelling tea called Pink Passion from Naja Tea. It tastes great but it smells even better out of the can, it is fruity and sweet! I am in love with it! This tea made me realize why my blog name is Tea Time...hahaha. Love delicious teas.


Sorry once again no photos of the dim sum eating as I was too busy stuffing my face! After our face stuffing dim sum session, Sister S took us to this new bakery called Fleur De Lys in Monterey Park. It was cute, I wish I would have taken a photo of it. I promise to get better with this photo taking thing! :D Anyways, I was able to snap a quick photo of some beignets that Sister K got. Beignets are little french donuts, but not as sweet and served with some sort of cream or jam sauce. I'll admit I had one but was not in love with it. I think it needed to be sweeter. I hope to be able to go back soon and try their cupcakes!


Oh, then I dragged my sisters with me to Joann's to buy tulle and ribbon for a project I am working on. More on that below. Then we all went to dinner at Park's BBQ in Koreatown. I also have no photos of any of that because to be honest that place is just gluttony. The neat thing about Park's is that it is almost right next door to the place that I got Teddy from. So I was able to go into the shop and say hello to the lady that sold me Teddy and she had another litter of Teddy look-alikes, I was in Yorkie heaven. I wanted another one but quickly got out of there before I made any impulse buys. :D I managed to pick up some hair ties for Teddy while I was there. I am letting his hair grow out so I can see what he is meant to look like but his hair is in that ackward growing out stage so he is not looking so great presently but still cute!

I got back home at a reasonable hour that night and went to bed at a decent time but still managed to oversleep and miss my long run appt with a friend. I felt so bad but managed to go out and run my 20-miler alone. This was cut short to 18.5 since I run into a coyote on the running path and decided that it must be a sign to turn around at 9.25 and head back. Someone told me I was suppose to pick up a stick and make lots of noises but I think I was too scared at that point to do anything about it. Luckily I got out of there with no incident. I also almost slipped and fell in the mud as the running trails were flooded during the week and there was lots of mud still hanging around under the road underpass. Overall, I am glad I went out there and got it done.

Then I got home and finish up my margarita tutu that I plan to wear at Surf City pending weather conditions. This was the reason I had to go to Joann's for tulle and ribbon...hahaha. I got the idea from Danica. I hope I can wear it because it matches my margarita running top perfectly!


Then I went to a vegan thai restaurant and ordered some yellow curry w/ brown rice and finished off with coconut ice cream w/ fried banana eggrolls. So good! Then I went to Runner's High to get some more GU because I am now in love with GU just like Sister J. I am also in love with Hammer Gel. Unfortunately, Runner's High was closed by the time I got there so no more GU or Hammer gel at my place and I am so sad. Then I went to Whole Foods to do some minor shopping and decided to order a green energy juice drink called Dr. Oz Green Drink at the juice bar. It was ok. Refreshing and gingery with apples and greens, don't know if I like that gingery part or not. I am going to have to say no! Then it was off to the 99 Ranch market to pick up more produce. I got some neat stuff there including some fresh tamarind which I've never had before, some ong choy (yay!), steamed coconut milk buns and some emergency ramen stash! :s I know I said that me and ramen were getting a divorce but I just can't live without it!


And finally, I've been thinking about going vegetarian again (gasp!), at least during the weekdays and maybe eventually the weekends as those are often hard because I am spending time with friends and family and I don't want to be too much trouble but after reading this blog and this blog it has really inspired me to at least try to not eat so much meat. I am not eating a whole lot of it now but I really want to stop. So here's to eating more veggies!

Day 17 - Wednesday

Workout - 7:00am
Walked on treadmill for 37 mins at 4.2 pace
Abs

Breakfast - 9:00am
1/2 cup cooked rolled oatmeal w/ golden raisins, toasted walnuts and PB.
2 boiled egg white
1/4 apple

Lunch - 12:00pm
Chicken sandwich on toasted sandwich thins
Stir-fry veggies
1/2 Bartlett pear

Snack - 3:00pm
1/4 medium apple
1 cup of french vanilla coffee
1 large cup of hot green tea

Dinner - 7:00pm
Big salad (cucumber, carrot, tomatoes, avocado, mixed green, bartlett pear, chicken patty and roquetfort cheese)
Piece of steamed yam

Note: Went to the gym this morning to get in a middle distance run since it is still wet and rainy outside but it just wasn't happening. I got on the treadmill and still felt really sore and tired from all the weight training I've been doing. I love how I am toning up but it is really cutting into my running time. I hope to get in some good miles tomorrow. I have to admit that my goal of running 2010 miles this year is not going as planned. In order to make this goal happen, I have to run 39 miles every week and even now in the midst of marathon training, I am bearly making that goal. So it looks like I will have to always be running in this mode if I am to crank out that many miles a week. I think it will just be interesting to see how many I actually get in this year. I think either way, I will be happy to see that number. This coming weekend if my first 20 miler of the marathoning season. I hope the weather cooperates this Sunday. So far it is looking good but if the weather takes a turn for the worse, I am ready to do this thing inside on the treadmill...maybe. I really hope it doesn't rain! :S

Day 16 - Tuesday

Morning workout - 7:00am
Weights - shoulders, chest and tris
Ran 3 miles - speed work

Breakfast - 9:00am
1/2 cup cooke rolled oatmeal w/ golden raisins, toasted walnuts and 1/2 banana.
1/4 apple

Lunch - 12:30pm
Veggie and udon stirfry like I had last week except less noodles and more veggies this week (photo is from last week)
1/2 toasted sandwich thin
1/4 apple

Snack - 3:00pm
1/2 toasted sandwich thin w/ PB and 1/2 sliced banana
1 cup french vanilla coffe
1 large cup of hot green tea

Dinner - 7:00pm
Big salad (cucumber, carrots, avocado, candied pecans, mixed greens, tomatoes, bartlett pear, chicken patty and roquetfort cheese)
Small bowl of Healthy Choice chicken noodle
1 piece of Ghiradelli chocolate
7 pieces of pita chips

Note: I was really craving some veggies today so I went to our work cafe and put together a nice bowl of veggies for the cooks to stirfry for me. We recently had a change in cafe company at work and the new company offers this cool stirfry bar like you find at a mall. You grab a bowl and pile veggies into it, as much as you can fit in the bowl and then take it to the cooks and they will stirfry it with a variety of sauces and serve on top of rice or noodles. I always get the udon noodles w/ teriyaki sauce. Love eating my veggies this way.

Day 15 - Monday

Morning workout - 7:00am
Weights - legs
Speed walk on treadmill for 20 mins.

Breakfast - 9:00am
1/2 cup cooked rolled oatmeal w/ golden raisins, toasted walnuts, bananas and PB.

Snack - 11:00am
1 boiled egg white
1/8 medium apple
1/2 toasted sandwich thin

Workout - 12:00pm
Run 5.25 miles (6.2 pace)

Lunch - 1:30pm
1.5 cups Penne w/ meat and veggie marinera sauce
2 boiled egg whites
1/2 medium apple

Snack- 3:00pm
1/2 toasted sandwich thin w/ banana and PB

Dinner - 7:00pm
Leftover falafal from the other day's lunch (2 falafal, 1/2 piece of pita, some hummus, sliced tomato and pickles)

Note:

Day 14 - Sunday

Breakfast - 10:00am
1/2 cup cooked rolled oatmeal w/ toasted walnuts, golden raisins, 1 large banana and 1/8 chopped apple

Lunch - 12:30pm
5 pieces of egg battered taro cake
Rice porridge w/ shrimp balls

Snack - 3:00pm - Van's Bakery
1 cup rau ma
1 french roll
some casava - not from Van's

Dinner - 7:00pm - LPH
Various food that I ate too much of :(

Note: Today is a rest day. :)

Day 13 - Saturday

Snack and running stuff :
1/2 toasted sandwich thins
1 small gatorade
2 Hammer gels - 1 raspberry and 1 banana
1 Ultragen recovery drink mixed w/ water

Workout - 7:00am
Run 16.75 miles - I wanted to run 19 but since I did a 6 mile hill run yesterday, I was really feeling it in the calves so had to stop short :(

Lunch - 12:00pm - Side Street Cafe
Spinach and mushroom egg white scramble w/ salsa and 1/2 squaw bread french toast w/ syrup

Snack - 2:00pm
1/2 toasted sandwich thin

Dinner - 3:30pm - I ate lunch at noon but I was hungry again because of the long run today.
Falfal plate w/ garden salad, hummus, and pita bread.

Snack - 6:00pm
1 baklava

Snack - 9:00pm
1/4 cup frosted shredded wheat w/ soymilk
1 toasted sandwich thin w/ PB

Note: Went out for a long run today and did not complete my intend 19 but I will be doing a 20 next week so hopefully that goes well. I will not be doing any weights or running on Fridays from now on as that is really affecting my long runs. Surf City in 3 weeks. I am excited.