Thirdcloud Publications Surf City Strand Mag January 2016 | Page 11

Save your breath as you turn to head back toward the ocean and enjoy the view as you glide
down the bluff to Pacific Coast Highway once again. We suggest you reaffirm your goal-setting
at this stage with another self-talk phrase. Remember, there can be no “if” in your self-talk
thinking at this point in the course. To keep the juices flowing while striding down the bluff’s
incline, begin thinking—“I’ve got the time, they got the beer.”
Don’t get too distracted, breathing in all that fresh sea air or sighting blue herons as you stride
past the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. To keep you from getting light-headed, embrace the
aches and sores that you’ve acquired at this stage in the course from slamming your feet and
joints into the ground. Feel the pain, be the pain, but don’t ask why.
Don’t be shy or too polite to reenergize yourself while running past the aid stations, just tell
those volunteers—“If I wanted water, I would have asked for water, beer me!”
Continuing along Pacific Coast Highway
toward Warner with your mind beginning
to wonder, recalling time tested beer
slogans one after the next, your fellow
runners will definitely appreciate hearing
you chant loudly “It’s got to be Guinness.”
At this stage in the Marathon some
runner’s may start thinking, “It’s Miller
time!” Don’t, it’s too soon. Save that
until you pass mile eight and turn back
toward the pier on Pacific Coast
Highway—that’s when you’ll need to get a
second wind.
Your greatest challenge will come as you
pass the pier less than a half mile from the
finish line—all the spectators will be
slurring their cheers from the beer
garden. They’ll be listening to retro surf
bands guzzling suds and you’ll almost be a Surf City Half Marathoner—smile for the cameras
please.
Knowing that you’ve mentally prepared for that moment, your training will kick in—you’ll begin
a loud rhythmic chant—“It’s Miller time! It’s Miller time!” Say it over and again, until you cross
the finish line.
Nothing’s as fresh as a Surf City Strand “coldie” on Super Bowl Sunday. See you at the finish
line or Downtown Main Street for the game.