Camp Pendleton's Hearbreak Ridge

2:40:00 As all of you have been such an encouragement and excited to see "How I did" on race day, My response has simply been "I finished!"

Boy - Did I underestimate THAT course! There's certainly something to be said about blind faith. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I knew I would finish the race (there was a 3 hour limit) I knew I wouldn't win a medal. I didn't know how physically and mentally hard it would be.

I ran at the end of the pack the entire race. Come to find out, this is NOT a good race to start with. HA! This race is part of a series entitled "Hard Core Race Series" not pansy weenie series... hmmm. But seeing that I gave birth to my daughter at home, I could surely run 13.1 little miles on a hill course. Childbirth was a little easier...

I was pacing with a very nice lady named Paula from San Diego. We were talking about how you use different muscles groups to run different courses. That was the first thing I had to conquer.

Next came the "electrolyte refueling" They mentioned there was water and gatorade at each mile. That didn't seem accurate as I only saw gatorade 3 times on the course. Which means I was running on an empty tank once I reached about mile 5. I brought a Power Bar with me (which is exactly what I always do) but I couldn't choke it down.

My third mistake was with my ipod - I always - always - run with music the whole way. I know that I don't do well if I'm running & talking with someone because it breaks my concentration. I could run with someone as long as we weren't talking, but for some reason I felt compelled to talk with this nice lady. So, not only did I not have any energy, it was also very hard to concentrate. And let me tell you about the hills....These hills were the equivalent of running up Cove Rd. in Dana Point Harbor a couple of times, with smaller hills in between. Yea - like that! And remember - this was 13.1 miles.

The good news is that I finished! I did it! I did a great job of keeping my normal steady pace for the first 6 miles, then walked/ran back the second half. My injuries from last week didn't bother me either.

So you know what this means? 4 Weeks until the Long Beach Intertantional Marathon!
Woo-Hoo!