Long Beach Bound

In just a few hours I'll be boarding a plane and heading down south to Long Beach for my half marathon this weekend! I'll be honest: the main reason I signed up for LB was to complete the California Dreamin' Series. The series includes three of California's "big" races: Surf City, San Francisco, and Long Beach. By running all three (any combo of fulls or halfs) you receive an awesome jacket and a big medal in the shape of the golden state of CA! If you know me, you know things like this are right up my alley : ) Since I ran the Surf City Half in February and the San Francisco Marathon this past July I'm all set to claim my goods after I finish Long Beach this weekend!

So about this weekend... After my big PR at Urban Cow a couple weeks ago I started to reassess my goals for this race - specifically, trying to go for a sub-2 hour finish. After talking to a few people at work I think I could be capable of this. But with all the trouble I've been having with my his lately I don't think it's such a good idea to try and push it. Especially considering I have my big goal marathon (Marine Corps in DC) just two weeks later. And let me just tell you, I booked all my travel for DC last night and holy cow, I better run an awesome race because it's costing me a fortune! So a sub-2 attempt won't be happening this weekend (but will surely be in the not-too-far-off future), but that doesn't mean I'm going to leisurely jog the race. My goal is to run a sub 2:10, which will require me to keep a pace under 10:00/mi. This will be just challenging enough to make things interesting while still allowing me to have fun and enjoy the race. I plan on carrying my camera again, too, so I can capture all the awesome sights of LB along the way. Of course, if my hips start really bugging me I'll pull in the reigns, but here's hoping they behave! My trip to LB is going to literally be in and out - I'll be heading straight to the airport after the race! Should be a whirlwind of a weekend : )

Good luck to all my friends running the Nike Women's Marathon and Denver Marathon tomorrow!