Saturday was the day Brett and I headed north to Huntington Beach.  It’s such a beautiful drive up the 5….love it!  However, it rained on us the whole time.  That didn’t do well for my nerves!  It stopped once we got there, and we were able to check into the hotel, meet up with my parents (did I tell you my mom ran this half-marathon with me?), and head to the running expo to pick up our bib and race packet. I also got some fun stuff for myself for the race!

Fast-forward to race day.  What a  BEAUTIFUL day!  It couldn’t have been a prettier morning.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  There was hardly a breeze blowing.

I will include my iPhone photos…I think they turned out great!

At the Start Line!!

Taking it in before the race starts

Going uphill...see Arrowhead in the background with the snow?

Around mile 10...the view was amazing!

I’m not sure if I’m ready to do another one quite yet.  It was really hard…especially the last 3 miles.  And I underestimated how steep 6% really is, and that I ran uphill for 1 1/2 miles!

I’m still really sore, and I have 2 toenails that I will be losing.  I wonder if I’ll get a discount on my pedicures?!?

Now you might laugh, because I did when my friend told me what she was doing.  Before she ran her full marathon (that right there tells you she might be a little crazy), my friend got a spray tan.  I thought, “who the heck cares!” In my mind, when you’re running for that amount of time, either you’ll have that “glow” (or for me it’s a really red face), or you’ll sweat off the whole tan.  I was the unofficial photographer for her and her pictures looked awesome!  She had a nice golden glow to her, and I thought, “okay, you sold me.”

Did you know my one of my favorite shows of ALL time is Friends?  Yes, I LOVE Friends and have seen every episode.  At least 4 times twice.  One of my favorite scenes is this one.

I’m happy to say that wasn’t me.  Though I have to admit I always get a little nervous.  Probably because of that episode.  What if I don’t stand right?  What if I didn’t get enough of the “blending cream” on my hands and cuticles?  That’s definitely going to be noticeable!  Plus, tonight, it was so loud in there I couldn’t hear the computerized lady giving instructions. And then I heard, “you have 5 seconds”. No mississippi.

My gear is packed.  New shirt, new matching rain jacket (on account of the old forecast (now it’s only 10% chance of rain)).  iPod with new playlist….

This is scary…I’m typing this wondering, “who is breathing so loud?”  Is it the show my husband is watching downstairs?  My son who has had a cough?  I got up to listen through his door.  The heavy breathing?  Me.  Yeah, it’s my wheezing going on.  Nice, huh?  Let’s hope that’s gone by race day.  Did I not mention I cam down with a cold on Monday?  Lovely.

We leave tomorrow for CA.  It will be a full car.  Not just the 4 of us, but my mother-in-law and  her mom.  I told Brett, “I don’t mean to be a diva, but I need to sit in the front seat.  I’m not going to screw up my back sitting in the middle.  It’s not going to happen.”  There were no issues.

People ask if I’m nervous.  I say “no, not yet”.  It will come.  Always does.  I’ll have a “Part II” tomorrow!