Happy Trails Marathon

Happy Trails for the snail, ME!

Wow, that took forever. Over 8 and a half hours to complete 26.2 miles on a relatively straight forward course at sea level? I'll take it. After nailing the Tahoe Triple last weekend, I am entitled to a slow poke marathon! Yes, this one took forever, but when you consider the circumstances, I'm sure you will understand.

The first weekend of October is reserved for the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. No ifs, ands, or buts. San Jose was my very first 13.1 miler and this is the half marathon that I will run for the rest of my life. I had initially blocked off this weekend only for San Jose, but injuries got in the way of my Titanium quest. I had to squeeze in a marathon the day before. Fortunately, I found the Happy Trails Marathon in Coto de Caza down in Orange County, CA. Logistically, the trail to this marathon and then back for the half the next day was not so happy. I had to really get creative with my itinerary. Check this out:

• Leave work at 4pm to head to the Rock 'n' Roll expo.
• Pick up bib and mingle a little.
• Jump into the Mini-bago and head down to Orange County by 5pm.
• Arrive by 11pm.
• Take a quick nap then wake up for the early start.
• Finish in the early morning, take a nap, then head back to the Bay Area.

Sounds like a logistical nightmare, doesn't it? Well, it was actually worse than the bullet points above indicate. I didn't factor in the accident on highway 52 that kept me at a stand still for two hours. In any case, I did arrive by 1am or so, but rather than taking the nap, I opted to just get out there and run. I ran half a mile. Then fatigue kicked in. So I walked. In the dark. After that Tahoe Triple, I just couldn't get my legs into second gear. I tried, but it just wasn't happening. I pretty much said to myself walk the whole thing, as I had the time. When the race director and all the other runners showed up, I still had quite a few miles to clock in, but it didn't matter. I continued to walk at my grocery store pace. I finally finished a little before 10am. I took a quick half an hour nap and headed back to the Bay Area.

Titanium Score Board: 33 down, 19 to go.

That's all I got for you folks! I can't give you any thrills or frills in this race report because there were no frills nor thrills on this race! I showed up, got the job done, clocked out, and returned home. That's it.