Ummm, I was more prepared than I thought. I woke up at 5am, made a cup of coffee, ate a banana and a bagel. Then I started getting ready. I suited up. Stocked my back pocket with my Sharkies and laced up my shoes.
After the shuttle debacle of last year (arrived within minutes of the gun and got stuck at the back of the pack), I walked over to the shuttle station at 5:45am and got on the 2nd shuttle. This, of course, meant I would be stuck in Santa Ynez for an hour before the start... if they started on time. Of course, they did not. It was 43 degrees when I arrived and sort of milled around in the chute trying to stay warm and taking pictures for others. A nice British woman, who was part of a group that asked me to snap a picture, gave me her mylar blanket to stay warm. I wore that for about 15 minutes before I disposed of it, grabbed some water and started to stretch.
I did a little run to warm up, but I only got more cold. The chilly air cut through my pants and I honestly couldn't really feel my hands or feet. I said screw it and lined up. I didn't want to trample anyone, so I got in the 6-7 minute mile pace corral. As I'm standing there, this chick is talking about how she just wants to finish in 3 hours, 30 minutes. I'm thinking, "Honey, this is a half marathon..." Some guy told her to get back in the line. She laughed and he did too. I'm sure she thought it was a joke, but he was serious.
I'm going to line up in the section from now on. That was the most amazing start I've ever experienced. I didn't have to jump around heels, stop short because of another runner's pace or cut my pace down because of the mob. It was perfect! It took quite some time for my legs to wake up, to get some feeling back in my feet and my hands to defrost. Around mile 1.25 the course opened up and I saw the reason why I love this race - rolling vineyards, ranch land plus a mare and her colt parading up and down the gate as we ran by. It was like they were cheering us on.
The miles just ticked by. I got to the relay point (6 miles) in Los Olivos in what felt like 10 minutes. Corkscrew Hill reared its head and I stomped up it and just flew down the backside and enjoyed the beauty of the landscape. We are driving the course on Sunday, so I'll take pictures.
The rest of the race is pretty much downhill and fast. I looked up and saw a mile marker and thought it was Mile 9, but it was Mile 10. I totally missed mile 9. I knew that I had to maintain my pace and slow down a bit because Chalk Hill starts around Mile 11.5 and continues to Mile 12.2 or so. After crossing the peak, everyone started flying down the hill, but I kept it steady because there's another little ass kicker before you descend into Solvang. Unfortunately, my legs were beat (probably from the lack of tapering) and I couldn't push it that much harder. I'm sure I could, but I didn't want to die before crossing the line. I kept my eyes forward and focused on the straightaway.
It was the most perfect run - I felt fantastic, the weather was amazing and my strategy worked. In the end I finished in 1:41.03 (8th in the 25-29 female age group; 139 overall; top 4% of runners). The field of 3,000 runners was made up of 70% females. I don't know how I placed in the female only category, but I'd be interested to know with that many female competitors. The guys have it easy!
Next year I want to place. I'm within about 20 minutes of the overall finisher, and 5 minutes from the top 25-29 female. Remember how I said I would run healthy next year?
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