I’m way behind on posting things, but I can’t have a part 1 without a part 2. Plus there were some entertaining (for you not us) details I had to share. So I’ll finish this two part post and try to get back on a routine again. Clearly I’m not as consistent about posting as I am about logging miles.

Feb 2nd: The Noise

Lindsey woke me around 12:30 am. As a heavy sleeper, I was unaware that she had not yet been able to fall asleep due to the bass reverberating off every wall. It was emanating from a club across the street aways in downtown Huntington Beach, CA. There was not much for us to do within the apartment we were renting to cut down the noise.¹ We found out the club closed at 2 am, but it was nowhere near the ideal scenario for Lindsey’s rest two nights before her marathon.

We looked for other places to stay but none of our options were optimal. Either they were further away from the start of the race than we wanted to be, or they were in one of the hotels along the beach and would run us $300+ per night for a room we couldn’t cook our own meals in. We decided we would try and make due with the place we had but would take more precautions to ensure Lindsey would have a much improved sleep experience.

The Cupboard Under The Stairs

There was a small closet in our apartment, which ran under the stairs going to the apartment above us. It looked like there would be enough room for us to lie down in it if we took everything out. Naturally, that is exactly what I did. I took all the blankets. pillows, mattress toppers, pads, etc. that I could find and put them all down to try and give Lindsey as much cushioning as possible. We hoped that the extra wall barriers would cut down on peripheral noise.² Lindsey had also bought some ear plugs for added muffling. All in all we had a much more success falling, and staying, asleep the second night even if it was in a closet and not on the futon.

Lindsey’s Marathon

We both had our game plan. We had mapped out the areas that I would plan to see her and either remind her to take the fuel she had or to supply her with anything else she might need. The race started at 6:30 AM. It felt cool, around 60 degrees, and the sun was just rising. Things were off to a good start in the first third of the race. Lindsey had some people to run with and it was a beautiful day. By the time mile 11 or so came and went it was starting to get warm. Originally, there were four spots along the course where I was going to cheer/support crew for Lindsey. The last planned spot was around mile 19. When she passed me there, taking a few sips from the water bottle I had, it was closer to 80-85 degrees and there was no shade to be had. While I have never raced a marathon myself³ but I’ve done enough running in the heat to realize that she might need more help than we originally planned. She still had 7 miles to go but would be back my way in 4 since there was an out and back. I made the decision then to wait. I had some electrolyte pills with me, intending to give them to her with 3 miles to go. It may not be a lot but I know how useful a pick-me-up can be to aid in the last few miles of a race.

I hoped it wasn’t too little too late but I gave her the electrolytes and some water as she came back through and made my way to the finish hoping I could catch her in time. I ran along the beach since the ongoing races took up the road and bike path back to the finish. There were a few other women within sight of Lindsey, and she had been between 5 and 10th among them throughout the race but I didn’t know for sure where she was at this point. By this point it didn’t look like she was going to hit her target time but there was still a good window for a PR. I made it to the finish just in time to see her finish. The result: 7th woman, 3:15:52!

Disneyland & California Adventure

Did I mention we went to Disneyland afterwards?⁴ Even though it was Disney didn’t mean we took it easy. According to the pedometer on Lindsey’s phone, we walked about 20 miles each day. We stayed at a cute little airbnb trailer, which was about a 15 minute walk from the park. It didn’t matter if our feet felt sore each day. We were going to try and hit as many rides as we could as many times as we could. I’m not going to give some long winded count of our time at disney⁵ but I will list what I felt were our (at least my) top 5 rides (not necessarily in order of preference).

• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Jungle River Cruise
• Radiator Springs Racer
• Toy Story Midway Mania
• Gaurdians of the Galaxy

While it may not have made the list, I have to make special note of Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train. Lindsey and I still joke about the voice and the funny jokes/puns made during that ride. I particularly enjoyed the animal cracker joke. I think his delivery changed a little compared to the video but you get the idea. On the other hand, maybe you just had to be there.