SOCAL review

What a long strange trip it was. This was a great run and was very impressed by all you Chasqui's. Like most in the 2nd van, I didn't know what to do w/ myself while the first van was running. I think the half hour before I ran my first leg I went to the bathroom about 5 times because of the anticipation. Well here it is.

Leg 1: Had some hills on this leg but definitely cannot complain compared to what some of the other legs had. Around the 3 mile mark or so I saw the truck on the side and everyone was out and cheering me on. I was so happy to see them I had to bust a little move and skip a little. The sun was out and it was a bit warm but not too bad. I get to the 1 mile marker, look at my watch and think I am either killing this leg or they shortened this thing w/o letting us know. Feeling good about how I was feeling I picked up my pace for about 10 minutes and realized that the mile marker was more like 2 miles. So I pulled back a little b/c I knew I had 2 more legs to go. 5.3 miles in 42: 30 - 8:01 pace

Leg 2: Started this one off on Venice Beach (I think) at about 3:30 am. After having a good dinner and my first leg, I figured I would be able to get a good couple hours of sleep. Off I went w/ Taylor and Aaron to find a place on the pier where all the other runners were sleeping. After walking aimlessly for about 10 minutes trying to find a spot we finally decided to lay our stuff down on the beach. It was not a bad spot to be but didn't sleep that well w/ music blaring from one of the restaurants and the cheering from the exchange that was even closer. I am lucky if I got an hour and a half of sleep. Needless to say i was a bit for this leg. In comes Paul and off I go. About a mile in to the run I was feeling a lot better than I expected. Running on the sidewalk w/ some strange characters was a bit unnerving but I could see a few bobbing headlights not too far off. As we turned inland, the lights seemed to be closer and I knew I was going to catch up to them. About half way through there were 4 or 5 of us now close together and it felt nice that I was actually able to pass some one. I did get passed by one runner, (not everyone can be a Morgan or Warren and never be passed) but I didn't feel too bad because atleast I didn't get CHICKED like I was standing still. Was able to stay close w/ this guy and make a couple more kills at the very end of the run. Surprisingly, I felt the best on this leg out of all of them. 6.9 miles, 56:28 - 8:11 pace.

Leg 3: Started on Huntington Beach and the sun was blarin down. Put some sunscreen on my balding spot and was ready to go. Once the leg turned off of the beach it was nothing but a long straight stretch of pathway. The only 'wildlife' I saw was 2 lizzards. Being my final leg I did what I could to Chasqui up and tried to finish strong. Once I turned off the pathway I headed through a neighborhood and a couple little girls were cheering runners on giving them high 5's. I kind of felt like I owed a little extra effort on their behalf. For about the last half mile I picked up the pace a little bit then I could see the exchange. With Jordan about 100 yds from the exchange telling me to finish strong, I picked up my pace and handed to Morgan. My legs were over and I was thrilled for that but was a little let down because I knew this Ragnar would soon be done. 6.1 miles 51:53 - 8:30

Thnx again everybody and especially Jordan for making this all happen.