Weekend of Labor - Literally (but it was so much fun!)

Before I begin, here's the tally from the weekend:

Runs = 3

Medals = 3

Blisters = 1.5

Lost Toenails = almost 2

Well, I woke up on Saturday morning and met some new friends for a trail run in Tarzana. It was awesome and reminded me how much I miss my old Hong Kong hikes.  We ran/hiked about three or four miles and then I drove home to shower and pack for Disneyland.  The exciting thing about this half marathon is that I would get TWO medals upon completion -- the Disneyland Half Marathon medal and the Disney Coast to Coast Challenge medal, which I would get because I also completed the Walt Disney World Marathon in Orlando earlier this year.

After sitting in traffic for two and a half hours, I finally arrived at Disneyland, where I proceeded to the expo to pick up my race number and other goodies.  Met some Florida friends at California Adventure and hung out for a while before checking into the hotel with a friend from the tri team. Once checked in, I started to unpack and realized that I left my iPod at home -- darn!  No music for the entire race.  I figured this would make for some good Ironman training.

Woke up at 4 am and we made our way to the bus that would bring us to the half marathon starting festivities.  As soon as we walked outside, the humidity hit us head on.  I was worried because this time last year, it was actually cold outside!  Once we got to the meeting point, we ran into some other folks from the tri team and got into our starting "corals". 

The first few miles were fine -- I believe I averaged about 9 1/2 minute miles.  Then I started sweating.  Typically in a race, I skip the first couple of water stops and use that to pick up some speed.  Not today -- I had to stop at every water stop to grab two cups.  By mile 6, I grabbed water and Powerade (and I hate Powerade!).  Also around mile 6, I felt the formation of a blister on the big toe of my left foot (and I never get blisters!).

As the miles went on, so did I -- only walking through the water stops; however, I probably could've walked faster than I was running by mile 10.  At this point, I knew I would finish, but I also knew that it would not be anywhere near my time from last year (2:12:58). 

Crossing the finish line approximately 2 1/2 hours after I started was a relief, especially after I had two medals hanging on my neck (those Disney medals are freakin' heavy!).  Most of my friends who also ran the race mentioned that their time was also 15 or more minutes off of where it should have been.  Auugggghhhhh!

After showering and enjoying a Starbucks, I drove home, ate something, popped the blister, and took a nap.  At 6:30, I took a couple of Advil and drove downtown for the Nike Human Race 10K.  The 10K started at exactly 8:31:08 p.m. (get it, on August 31, 2008).  I felt great at the start of that race. I also believe that I could've PRd in that 10K had there not been 11,999 people also running with me.  I was caught up in so many bottlenecks that I couldn't break away -- but I felt great!  I finished and got my third medal of the day.

So, my two races were like day and night -- ironic since one took place in the morning and the other in the evening.

Here's the final results:

Disneyland Half Marathon - 6:00 a.m.:  2:30:18

Nike Human Race 10K - 8:30 p.m.:  1:06:03