Carlsbad Marathon

There are many firsts in your life that are memorable. Whether they are happy moments or sad moments, the fact is you will never forget them. Last weekend I completed my first marathon in Carlsbad, and it was full of both happy and sad moments - with a lot of pain to make things interesting.

Race time was 6am, so the morning started early. The alarm went off at 4am, followed by a quick breakfast, and a 45 min drive from Temecula to Carlsbad. It was still dark when the race started, and the weather was a brisk 50ish. Fortunately the moon was a couple days past full, which made for some beautiful early morning running next to the ocean.

My plan for the race was to start slow, and walk every 3 miles to conserve the legs. The plan was going well for the first half of the race. There were a few additional walking breaks between miles 6-9 because of the 3 mile hill up Palomar Airport Rd away from the ocean. As I passed the half point, and reconnected with the ocean, my legs were starting to really hurt. From mile 13-18 we continued south along the ocean, turned around at mile 18 and ran the last 8 miles north up PCH back into Carlsbad. My mind and body went through a lot of battles those last 8 miles after the turn around point.

My goal was to finish the race in 4 hrs 30 minutes. After about mile 13, the time goal changed to 4:45. At mile 18 the time goal changed to 5 hrs. And at mile 22 the goal changed to just finishing. Well at 5 hrs and 15 min I crossed the finish line. It was certainly bittersweet; happy I finished and completed one of my life long goals, sad that I performed so badly.

It was a first I will always remember, and am grateful I had the strength to finish. I now have some memories that will drive me to improve my time for the next marathon. I got a colossal ass kicking in Carlsbad, and I know the next marathon will kick my ass as well - although next time I'm gonna do a little ass kicking myself.