Lessons I learned at the Long Beach Half-Marathon...

I still haven't pulled together a race recap, but Giraffy has some good pictures and a recap of her experience over on her blog, 365 Days of Awesome, including a picture of the largest horseshoe-shaped collection of Port-a-potties known to man as well as one of that morning's glorious sunrise.

I have, however, assembled some of the valuable (and also some inconsequential) things I learned from the Long Beach Half-Marathon...

• Technology has really changed in the past 14 years! There are some really cool stats on the race's official website! In addition to my official gun and chip times, it also gives nifty info like my overall place (2307th...top 22%), my gender place (755th... top 12%), and my age group place (70th...top 10%). It also tells me that I finished ahead of 65% of male participants, and that in the second half of the race, I passed 539 runners and was passed by 85. There are lots of neat graphics that accompany these and other stats...this is new for me! 
• Tangents can be important. A couple of commenters mentioned this when I shared my 'cutting-it-close' race plan, and they were so right. According to Mr. Garmin, I ran 13.3 miles... 

• I have the speed to do a sub 2-hour 13.1-mile run (reference above picture).
• Pee breaks can wreck your time... I peed for a total of almost two minutes in two breaks during the race. I stopped my Garmin for these stops. The first one was necessary; the second was not. Next time, I'm not stopping to pee. Or I'm running faster.
• The Long Beach course is insanely curvy. Insanely. So those tangents had a big effect.
• The Long Beach course is not all that scenic. The beginning is like running on the freeway, then you go through some industrial stuff, then you get a glimpse of the Queen Mary, then more industrial stuff (all the while the route spirals around and around, and you're dodging and weaving through the thousands of other runners... adding more distance to that 13.1 :P) and then you hit the beach for several miles. It's a narrow, paved trail on the sand that's packed with runners. Packed. So what you see is sand. And runners that you are again dodging and weaving through. After several sunny miles of that, you come to the turnaround and wind up heading back on a big street through a bunch of apartment buildings. Anyway, that's what I saw, but I was quite focused so it's entirely possible I missed the scenic stuff.
• I need to start out in an optimistic wave. I went back and forth on which wave to start with. Wave 2 was for under 2:05 and Wave 3 was for 2:06 and over. I started on the front edge of Wave 3 to help keep myself in check for the first mile or two. I didn't need to do that. Next time I will try starting with a faster group...less dodging and weaving.
• Proper fueling and hydration make a world of difference... especially when it's sunny and kind of hot. I did a great job of this. GUs at Mile 5 and Mile 10 and at least a few sips of water at every water stop beginning at Mile 2 worked perfectly for me in this race. Some people say that food and water don't really hit your system for 30 minutes, but I usually feel it within 10 minutes, and it is huge.
• My pre-race meal of a burger, fries and a Coke totally worked for me this time! I had no tummy issues and no energy fails... woo hooo!
• My hip is okay. I don't just mean post-race. Things are sore, but I did just run 13+ miles. It isn't injured anymore. You probably have no real idea how huge this is for me, but it's huge.
• Tweaking about your race beforehand can cost you friends... and this makes me sad :(
• Footwear at this race was all over the map from traditional running shoes and racing flats to barefoot-ish trends... I saw the following:

 Merrell Pace Glove image source

...saw the lady wearing these at the end of the race.

Tarahumara Sandals image source

...the guy wearing these slap-slap-slapped past me very fast at about the 3-mile mark.

Blue Crocs image source

Not kidding. Totally not kidding.
And she was running right next to me from the 4- to 5-mile marks...then she slowed down.

• Race attire runs the gamut... from tutus for women and men (sadly, no pictures) to ninja-esque all-black long-sleeves and long pants and jackets on a day that was expected to reach the high 70's (!) and everything in between.

I am beyond excited to use my new knowledges in my next half-marathon... December 4 in Las Vegas. Running the Strip at night... all the lights... sounded too cool to pass up. Be there or be square :)

Again, massive thanks to everyone for being so supportive and positive! Y'all are the BEST!