26.2 on the beach

After my sisters reception in Santa Clarita we drove to Huntington Beach. I had a New Year's Eve marathon in the morning. We all got to bed around 11:00 pm that night. I started to feel a head cold coming on the night of my sisters reception. Rich ran to the store and got me vitamins and Airborn which I loaded up on. I woke up the next morning feeling great. I felt really lucky. This race is different then any other run I've ever done. Most runs I've done have at least a thousand people running it, huge crowds, lots of cars and a huge finish line. The man that organizes these races is an ultra-marathoner, he does 100 mile races. He only lets 50 people total in his marathons/half marathons. I really enjoyed running with a small group. We all cheered each other on and gave each other thumbs up when we passed one another. When I finished the Bear Lake marathon in 2008 my body felt broken when I was done, everything hurt and it took a long time to recover. I remember thinking after that race that I would never put my body through another marathon. I've been told that running a marathon for the 2nd time is always better. I am happy to say that is was! I felt great finishing this race, it was still hard and a challenge but I didn't feel like I was hit by a truck when I was done. I think training at a higher elevation and then running at sea level made a big difference and I cross-trained a lot more this time too. I absolutely loved running along the beach on the bike trail. There was a lot to distract me when I started to get tired, people playing volleyball, watching the surfers, people camping on the beach, families riding their bikes. There was so much to look at. Then of course my family was there cheering me on. Rich driving our car with all the kids, and my parents honking their horn along the way too. I would do this run again in a heartbeat! Here are a few pictures...

Rich snapped this picture of Blake while they were in the car following me. What a goof!

The man running next to me I recognized from the Bear Lake marathon. I sat by him on the bus ride up to the drop off point. I had a neat conversation with him on the bus, he was 63 when he ran Bear Lake. I remember thinking, gosh I hope I can stay active and in shape like he is when I'm older. He's done the Boston marathon and MANY others. This was his 80th marathon! It was neat to cross paths with him again. I asked him a lot of questions about how he's able to stay so strong and how he's able to keep on running in his late 60's, he gave me lots of advice. It was fun to run side by side with him for a few miles.

Samantha eating the sand.

Blake decided to strip down and take off his wet jeans.

Brooklyn chasing the waves.

Putting my feet in the cold water, it felt so good!!

The man with the blue shirt is Charlie Alewine, he's the director of the marathon. He's 61 years old and he's completed 202 races from marathon distance to 100 miles. Charlie set his new 100 mile PR of 25:34 at the Iron Horse 100 in Florida.

Bike trail

Views from the trail