Big Sur-vivor

On Sunday, April 29, I ran the Big Sur Marathon. This year, the course ran from Big Sur Station in the south to Carmel.

While in Monterey Dawn and I stayed at the Del Monte Beach Inn. The night before the race, we met several other runners in the lobby and made plans to journey to the start together.

At 03:00, my watch alarm woke me from a three-hour sleep. After getting ready, I walked downstairs, greeted everyone, and helped myself to Shawn's home-made creation-of-the-day, a hot strawberry dessert cake and orange juice. We left the Inn at 03:45 to catch our 04:15 bus, into heavily humid air, fog, and a slight wind. Walking down Del Monte Avenue we heard the crackling of power lines above us. We found a long line waiting ahead of us to board the fleet of yellow school buses at the East Garage. The line moved quickly, and we discussed running while we waited.

I felt awful on the bus ride to the start of the race. The layers of clothing felt stiflingly hot, the pitch blackness outside the bus made it impossible to stabilize against the rocking and bouncing of the coastal Highway 1, and the seats--designed for schoolchildren--made it impossible to sit comfortably. Combined with three hours of sleep, nervousness, and discomfort from hydration, and it was a long one-hour ride to the start. About 20 minutes in, I removed two of my three upper layers and focused on the lights on the inside of the bus to keep myself stabilized.

After arriving, I felt happy to see a large number of bathrooms available. I met up with another person from the Inn and we drank complimentary hot liquid. We found a quiet place to relax behind the sweats return truck. A few minutes later, we walked out onto Highway 1 to begin.

notes until I finish the entry:

cows running in adjacent field at mile 6.5
coastal flowers
tar sealant markings
marine pollution studies lab-19
paintings for sale-12
Point Sur Lighthouse-8
angle of road
logistics
homes appear-16
artichokes
little Portugal (Hwy 130 and 101)
bus: lights, seats, line, breakfast, black, clothing
pastoral
plants, flowers
bands-it's cold
slow going out
clothing
tired
hills-hard on legs
army barking
bottle and GU-pants
talk to me race director
out of Iraq now (just do it)
headgear (bee)
rivers and forests
relay teams
fog
footprints on shirt
beef cattle running
horse watching
speakers
hurri-pain point
achilles hill
Sur-vival
Surge ahead
Phidippides almost died...
leap-frogging
headphones
silent
birds, windy
cold and gloves
hawks
surf and fog until 14
NYC shirt
downhills tough
overtake in last two miles
convoys of vehicles
piano
hot and cold temps
stone formations and erosions
bridges of ? county
pushing body
Carmel Highlands
strong uphills
belly dancers
samba group-tudo bem
finishing time reports
three runs per mile
mentally tired
Dawn at the finish line
Art the photographer at mile 20
bananas, fruit cup, apple, water
Ibuprofin versus ?
on television?
Marine Pollution Studies Lab at mile 19
Paintings for sale
Point Sur Lighthouse
Logistics excellent
Homes began at mile 16
Artichoke Festival on way home
Little Portugal on Highway 130 and 107