I am entering this race report nearly 3 weeks after the fact, so I doubt I will remember specifics- but that's probably for the best as I tend to write lengthy reports. I highly recommend the California International Marathon. It was well organized, a good number of participants, and a nice course. I will likely be back.
Pre-race: We took the train from Denver to Sacramento (highly recommend!). The route is stunningly beautiful. Arrived in Sacramento ~hour ahead of schedule and we were picked up and shuttled to the expo and hotel (conveniently very close to each other) by my brother in law. We bailed on dinner with the family and opted for an early dinner and early bedtime. We decided on a thai restuarant within walking distance of our hotel and I had an amazing pumpkin curry. I actually ate a bit too much and was overly stuffed afterwards. I did some stretching, put together my gear, and we flipped channels a bit (we don't have a television, so it's always somewhat of a culture shock when we see how TV has 'evolved' in our viewing absence). I got to bed around 8:30, with the alarm set for 4:15am. I did not sleep well- I think it was nerves and the fact that I had eaten too much at dinner. Race morning: Took the shuttle to the start. It was much farther away than I thought it would be (that was scary). I ate a Kind bar and drank some energy/electrolyte drink. Got to the start and went to find the Po'P's and there were a MILLION.. okay, maybe not a million, but a LOT. It was so awesome. There was a line of port o'pots probably a quarter mile long.. so I stood in line behind 1 other person (sweet!), did the business and then went to stretch in the vicinity of the Po'P's just in case the lines started to get really long- but they never did. About 15 minutes before the start I decided to get rid of my sweat bag. It was very warm (maybe 60's?)- much warmer than what I was actually expecting, so I ditched the gloves, hats, and long sleeved shirt. I dropped the bag, ate a fruit leather- raspberry, and started to walk along with the mass of people to the start. I meandered about until I got to the 4:30 finishing group.. I wasn't sure where I wanted to start exactly, I had average paces in my head and a plan based on 10 km distances but I never really thought about where to start. I decided the 4:30 group wouldn't be running faster than I wanted to go- so maybe they would keep me from going out too fast. Anyways, I decided to hang out there. Then.. I had to pee. Great. There was NO way I could get back to the P o'P's with the hundreds of people behind me. Ugh. I decided that I would just start the run and stop at the first set of Po'P's that I saw. Got the garmin ready, tightened the hydration belt, checked the shoes, gave myself a good head to toe check and I was ready. Race: Race-Plan: Because I train at ~8,500' or above over hilly terrain- I wasn't sure what my pace should be for this marathon. I tried to research expected gains in racing from training at elevation (specifically high elevation above 7,500') but couldn't find much detailed information (e.g., if you usually average 10 min miles for 20 miles at 8,500' feet, you could expect to run 9:40 average with the same exertion at sea level). This is probably because it is highly dependent on the athlete. So, I decided to start uber-conservatively and run the marathon as if it was a progression run. Here is what I had decided on: 1-6, no faster than 9:50 pace
7-12, no faster than 9:40 pace 13-18, no faster than 9:30 pace 19-24, no faster than 9:20 pace 24-26.2 sub 9:20 pace
Miles 1-6: Started out with the 4:30 group and ran with them for the first mile before I realized that maybe they were a bit slower than I wanted to be running (~10:11 pace), but I concentrated on not running faster than 9:50. The first miles were uneventful, still had to pee something fierce but every Po'P station had a line at least 6 people long.. ugh. I suffered through thinking that either I could ignore it or it would go away. Unfortunately, I think the hydration belt was making the issue worse. Mile 1: 10:11 Mile 2: 9:53 Mile 3: 9:36 Mile 4: 9:50 Mile 5: 9:46 Mile 6: 9:51
Miles 7-12: I decided somewhere in the first 6 miles to start taking my hydration on the odd mile numbers so that I could concentrate on getting through the aid stations rather quickly (usually the even miles) and I could drink at my leisure instead of worry about being tripped or trampled. I followed this for the rest of the race- and it worked well for me. I also took 1/3 of my first gu's at mile 6 or so. I basically started taking 1/4 to 1/3 of a gu every 3 or 4 miles for the rest of the race (placing it back into the belt for continued consumption). I think I only had two gu's total. Was feeling great and was pretty pleased with my pace thus far, even though it was feeling really slow. The goal for 7-12 was no faster than 9:40 pace and I stuck to the plan pretty well.
Mile 7: 9:39 Mile 8: 9:42 Mile 9: 9:41 Mile 10: 9:32 (too fast!) Mile 11: 9:35 Mile 12: 9:38
Miles 13-18: I remember going through the half and thinking 'really? 13 already?'. That was a nice feeling. I still had to pee, but the lines were not getting any shorter, so I continued the mental game of ignoring it. However, the hydration belt was starting to feel like it was bruising my lower stomach.. not really painful, but irritating. But overall, still cruising along and feeling good. No, I am going to say great.. I was feeling good at the start, but nervous. After the half, I started to smile more and I had a lot more confidence.. I was actually running another marathon and I felt awesome! The goal for 13-18 was no faster than 9:30 pace. Mile 13: 9:44 (oops- I think maybe I was running with someone here and didn't realize they were running a bit slower than I wanted to be running, maybe I lost concentration a bit too) Mile 14: 9:37 Mile 15: 9:38 Mile 16: 9:32 Mile 17: 9:28 Mile 18: 9:27 Miles 19-24: Miles 17, 18 and 19 were all fairly easy and I was starting to feel like I was actually having to hold back a bit. I knew I still had a 10 km after 20 miles, but I was starting to feel like I really wanted to run fast (well at least faster). So, I made a deal with myself near mile 17- I said okay, 3 more miles near 9:20 pace, hit the 20 mile marker, re-assess, and if all systems go- then go. Just shy of mile 19 I saw the 4:15 pace group and made it my goal to catch them before the 20 mile marker. I slowly reeled them in and managed to pass the pacers for that group just before the marker. That was a boost. I was feeling really really good at mile 20. When I ran Chicago back in 2001, the last 6 miles were the fastest of the entire race and I felt great finishing. I was trying to do the stats in my head to try to figure out if I could beat my last marathon time of 4:05, it was fuzzy math since I didn't have my splits in my head, nor did I know how far off I was from the official time clock since I had started pretty far back in the pack. So, I just decided to drop it in gear and run. So, I sort of threw the plan for 19-24 (no faster than 9:20 pace ) out the window.
Mile 19: 9:24 Mile 20: 9:18 Mile 21: 9:21 Mile 22: 9:01 Mile 23: 9:05 Mile 24: 9:08
Miles 25- 26.2: Last two miles! I was actually feeling sad that it was about to be over. I was also feeling a bit guilty that I was having such a blast and passing people left and right when others were not looking so good. Yep, I started out WAY too slow. Oh-well.. I decided there would be more marathons in my near future. I started to look for the hubby who said he would be cheering near the finish. I didn't actually see him until just after mile 26 and he got a fuzzy video of me running through the frame (he was not looking through the camera and I guess he didn't expect me to be running as quickly as I was- he later said "you looked like you were just finishing a little jaunt, while others were finishing a death march"). I smiled and waved for the camera and again picked it up a notch as I neared the finish. Just before the first turn (there are two short left turns before the chute), I started a sprint and passed a few more people. I think I heard a spectator say ' Wow, she's got some speed!' , and I remember thinking 'hahaha.. not really'. But as I was sprinting hard down towards the finishing chute, I saw that there was this little old lady wheezing and running as hard as she could in front of me and I just couldn't pass her in the last 20 feet of the race (I thought that would be so uncool of me), so I slowed down and finished right behind her.. I hope I am still running at her age.
Mile 25: 8:51 Mile 26: 8:39 Mile .26 (by garmin): 8:17 ( my sprint was actually a ~5:10 pace sprint over ~200 m- I guess I may still have a little speed in these fat old legs!) Stats from Garmin:
Total elapsed time: 4:09:32
Average moving pace for marathon: 9:27 Average heart rate: 155 *Heart rate was really low for me until maybe the last two miles. It was no where near my usual heart rate during training runs at home.
Post-race: I was sad to be done. I grabbed some water and walked to get my sweat bag. I had no problems walking and I remembered thinking that I could easily have run another 10 miles.. I felt great- definitely still had to pee though. I got my bag and found the hubby and we quickly walked up to the hotel room, where I showered and the hubby called his brother to come and pick us up. When we got to the in-laws, I had some coffee (excellent), more water, and many hours later some vino (also excellent). I stretched numerous times even though my legs felt fine (like 100%). My hips and stomach were a bit sore/ bruised from the hydration belt- but that was pretty much the only soreness I had. It was a great day.
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