California International Marathon 2021 Race Report

 Lodging

We choice an AirBnB downtown. It was just a couple of miles from the finish, buses, and expo. Reviewing the AirBnB would be a whole other post, but it had a full kitchen and that is what I needed.

 

Expo

The expo was super organized. I had my number in under ten minutes, but there were few vendors. I did manage to spend some money, but not a fun expo. It was all business, but they did have multiple spots to take photos.

 

2:55AM wakeup

I need to drink all my fluids 3 hours before the race. Normally, this means that I set an alarm, eat, and go back to sleep, but not this time. Buses loaded so early that 3AM was the true wake up. I ate a breakfast of instant grits topped with a scrambled egg, a banana, 16 oz liquid IV, orange juice and coffee. By the time I finished all that and got dressed, it was time to head to the buses.

 

Buses

The buses were scheduled to boarded 4:45-5:00. I got there at 4:50 and almost all the buses were full. They had beautiful, chartered buses, but I ended up in a school bus, and I felt kinda lucky to get that. This is where I ran into some problems. I desperately had to go to the bathroom, even before I boarded, and I’m not talking #1. The bus ride took something like 45 minutes to go 26 miles, and I was on the verge of crying. Noone sat next to me, so I didn’t even have a distraction. When the bus stopped, this young kid started talking, trying to give us directions and the other passengers rebelled. We were all desperate to go to the bathroom. People started overtalking him saying over and over that they had to go to the bathroom. Finally, he stopped talking and moved out the way, so we could get off.

 

Start Line

There were about a million porta potties, but still a longish line at the one I chose. Disaster was averted by seconds. I used the porta-potty and got directly back in the same line. By the time I finally finished, I had about a half an hour till the start. It didn’t seem to make sense to go back to the bus, so I just people watched and warmed up. At this point, I hadn’t spoken a word to a single person. I thought I might make some conversation, but I didn’t see an opportunity, and I was getting cold. I bought a blanket a goodwill, but I forgot it. My feet were getting numb which was a big concern of mine. There was a gas station that people were just standing in, so I sought refuge there. It was warm, so I stood in there until it was time to line up.

 

Start

The start had self seeded corrals. I hoped to run under 4:00, but I started at the front of the 4 hour corral, rather than the back of the 3.5 hour. I think the marathon started exactly on-time. It took about 5 minutes for my wave to begin. By the time we started, my feet were completely numb. My feet felt terrible. I was really worried. (I have Raynards, which is a disorder that make your hands and feet weirdly colder than the average person.) My feet took a pretty long time to warm up…maybe 5 miles, but eventually they felt like feet.

 

Nutrition plan

Marathons can be made and broken with nutrition. I had a plan to

·         take a gel every 4 miles with water

·         take a salt tablet every hour with water

·         drink nuun at every aid station that I wasn’t taking a gel or salt

I almost always fall off the wagon with my nutrition. I miss something, or I just don’t want to have another gel, and I don’t take it. This time I was on the money for every single step. I train with boom gels, but my pockets were too overloaded, so I decided to take two of the gu on the course. For the record, the course gu was absolutely disgusting. I don’t know how people consume that stuff on the regular. My nutrition was on point, but it was a struggle to maintain. For me to take a pill, I have to come to a complete stop. Hundreds of people just pass you buy as you take a pill or drink, but I knew it was for the best. I really fought to suppress the bad feelings about stopping. Speaking of stopping, I had ANOTHER potty break at maybe mile 8sh. I was a angry at the situation, but after, I felt liberated and ready to crush it.

 

Weather

The weather was on the brisk side for me, but pretty perfect for running. I ran with gloves for about ten mile. When I ditched the gloves. I immediately regretted it. My hands turned to icicles. I’m embarrassed to say that I picked up a random glove off the ground and put it on my hand. My one hand was a slightly warmer icicle for the rest of the race.

 

The Run

I was a beast for 20 miles. I ran by power. My goal was 200W. I ran at about 205 to make up for all the stops. I felt great until about mile 20. You know how it is. At mile 20, I started to question my sanity and swear I’d never to run another marathon. My right knee began to hurt, but no feeling was overwhelmingly bad. I did not hit a wall, but I really wanted to stop running. The last five miles seemed like ten.

 

Pace

Throughout the entire marathon, I had no idea of my pace. My foot pod is way off with the pace, but I turned off the GPS to conserve the battery. I thought I had a data screen that would tell me total elapsed time, but I didn’t . I had no idea how much time was passing or what my pace really was. All I knew was my power number.

 

Finish

I slowed down a little bit in the last 10K, but not too much. My finish time was 3:37:03. That is a -18 minute BQ for me. I was pleased, but the minute I stopped running, my knee started screaming with pain. My knee only hurt a little bit while I was running, but after it seemed unbearable. My kids finally found me, but we were separated by barricades. As I was talking to them, I started to have an asthma attack. My inhaler was in my bag, but the kid with the bag had been conscripted into taking pictures of a random couple. I finally got the inhaler, and it worked immediately. I hobbled my way to the med tent, but they turned me away to the ice area. There were plenty of bags of ice but no way at all to wrap it. The med tent and the ice were in the athletes only section. When I finally connected with my family, I was freezing, my knee was swollen like a melon, and I was in a lot of pain. The throng of people was giving me anxiety. I just wanted out, but there seemed to be only a couple of routes in and out of the cage we were in. We initially went the wrong way and were turned around by the police. It was a long, slow, cold walk to the car, but not completely miserable. Once I was out of the crowd, I felt much better. My kids and my husband were so proud of me and they kept telling me different reasons that they were so impressed with my performance, and, of course, the boys were doing stupid things that made me laugh.

 

Overall

CIM is organized like a well-oiled machine. The elevation profile looks easier than it is in real life. There are rolling hills throughout. The course is not scenic at all, but not actually ugly. Crowd support is sporadic, but enough to keep you going. The shirt is awesome. I would do this race again any time. 

Chapel 2 Church Race Review, Saturday, 2/3/2018

Packet Pick Up

Yesterday, I almost forgot that I needed to pick up my packet.  I remembered at the last minute, and I had to turn off dinner to drive down to the St. Luis de Monfort to get the the packet.  There was no reminder email which evidently I needed.  The packet pickup process as quick and easy.  The packet consisted of a t-shirt, number, sticker and lunch ticket.  I likea cotton shirt, but I have no interest in unisex t-shirts.  I wear them once, as close to the race as possible (for good-luck), and then hand them off to one of my kids or husband.

Cascade Skirt Sports

Breakfast was the usual:  bagel, banana and coffee.  My last glass of water was at 6:15, but I drank coffee until about 6:30.  I decided to just take my small handheld with 10z of tailwind and a goo at 6 miles.

I really wanted to carry my monstrosity of a phone, but I really dislike carrying anything. I almost didn't take the handheld.  I kept going back and forth about it until I decided to try carrying it in the side leg pocket of my new cascade running skirt.  I broke a cardinal rule which is never to race in anything new, but I've worn enough skirt sports to have reasonable confidence that I'd be fine with the skirt.  I wasn't completely sure about running with the phone, but I decided to bring a safety pin and pin the top of the pocket to make it a little more snug.

The logistics for this race were tricky.  It was a point to point race. I assumed my husband would give me a ride, but he had training with the kids at exactly the same time as the race.  He was able to give me a lift, but I had to get to race start earlier than I would have liked.  On the way there, we saw a lot of racers running.  The runners were supposed to start at 9:00 and the walkers at 8:00.  My husband thought that I must have gotten it wrong, but it turned out that the walkers were running. If walkers are going to run part of a race, they need to sign up as runners.  I know several competitive walkers and it really annoys them when walkers run.  It is cheating.  Some walkers don't know that, but I think most know, but just don't care.

The race started at San Ramon Church in Sisquoc.  The temp was mild, but it was slated to get hot. I had plenty of time, so I took some pics and chatted.  One gal that I was chatting with told me that I looked familiar, and we figured out that I was her high school teacher about 10 years ago.  Here are some pics at the start.

This race is uncommonly beautiful, and today was no exception, but it is difficult.  I mean so difficult that it just comes down to survival.  The hills never seem to stop and there is no recovery.  When you finally have a substantial downhill, you are too pooped to take advantage.  The walkers mostly had no clue or desire to make passing them easier, but the walkers made the race more fun.  Even though they made you run an outlandish distance to get around them, they would say something nice to you as you passed which was invigorating.

Elevation Chart

I assumed there were some women out in front of me, but there was only one.  I ended up basically racing by myself.  At some point a guy that I race with frequently passed me on a hill.  I thought I might catch him on a downhill, but he was long gone.  I was concentrating on a guy in orange far ahead of me.  I'd get a little bit close, but he'd pull away.  I'm sure he was unaware that I was stalking him.

At the end of the race, a woman who I perceived to possible be in my age group ran right up next to me.  There was no way in heck that after all that pain that I was going to let her get in front of me. I looked at her and said, "OK, it's a race," and I took off.  My husband thinks that I was rude, but I disagree.  That woman had probably been stalking me for half the race just like I was stalking the guy in orange.  This was a race, and she pulled up right next to me with 1/2 mile to go. In my mind, her intent was clear.  I was just having fun.  I had never seen the woman before.  She could have just as easily been the one to come out on top.

I ended up with second female and first AG.  After the race, I did see the woman, and she didn't seem to mind at all.  We talked for quite a bit.  She is a race director for a race that I have run several times.

People were annoyed with a few things about the race that didn't bother me at all.  The race was actually about 13.4 not 13.1.  I don't care if a race is long, as long as I'm not trying to PR. Nobody could possibly have thought that they were going to get a PR out there.  (I do care if a race is short, but that is another story). It was very hot and there weren't enough water stations. We knew it was going to be hot, and we knew the number of water stations. As long as you are given clear info, you can plan accordingly.  To me the problem is when you expect water, and it isn't there, or you're told that there will be a porta pottie, but there is none.

I think Chapel 2 Church is a great race.  It started on-time.  My chip worked, and it actually looked like Hawaii in some parts.  We ran in paradise.

Here is a pic of my medal and AG goodies.

Awards & Medal

Relive 'Morning Feb 3rd'

Pier to Plunge Race Report, Monday 1/1/2018

I don't normally race on New Years Day, but I decided to run a race this New Years because I could do a polar plunge after.  I don't know why I wanted to do a polar plunge.  I, normally, won't put my big toe in the ocean without a shortie on, but I got this polar plunge thing in my head.

Prepping for the race, before bed at about one in the morning, I plugged in my garmin and it fell apart in my hand!  There is a crack in the plastic where the band attaches.  I have a Garmin Forerunner 310XT.  Garmin used to fix watches for $99, so I'll see if I can send it to them.  I hope that the price hasn't gone up too much.  Luckily, my husband has a Garmin too, so I used his for the race.

The wake-up was tough.  I didn't feel great after staying up late and indulging in champagne, but a bagel and coffee evened me out.  A friend picked me up, and we carpooled to the event.  When we got to the pier to check in, we were greeted with a pretty long, slow moving line.  If we hadn't actually pre-registered, we could have been in and out in a couple of minutes.  I don't know how long we waited in line, but it was long enough for my friend to go to the bathroom and return and for me to get chummy with the people around us.  We finally did check in and got a raffle ticket to put in a bucket for one of several great prizes.  There was a short wait in the t-shirt line, but the smallest shirt was an XL.  The shirt was signed by Jordan Hasay, however, who was there MCing the event.

My friend and I posed for a free pic which I thought was such a nice perk.  By the time we got down to the beach, the 5k should have just been getting ready to start.  It didn't start though.  There was music, and the atmosphere was generally entertaining.  After about 20 minutes, they held the kids race.  I'm not sure when the 5K actually started, but it was pretty late.

The weather was perfect. There was full sun, but it wasn't hot or cold, and the wind was still.The race began in the deep sand.  Runners sped past me.  I couldn't figure out the technique for moving quickly and I was in shock as to how difficult it was to run.  Runners veered immediately to the wet stuff.  Again, runners weaved pass me.  The sand was very wet, so it was sucked at your feet.  I was shocked and was moving very slowly. The race was difficult from start to finish.  During a hilly race, you can wrap you head around the ebb and flow of harder and easier running.  This was all hard.  We ran on loose sand and wet sand.  There was even much hard packed sand.  At some point I decided that there was nothing to do but run, so I had better get to it.  I settled down and tried to get into a rhythm.  I started passing people at this point.  I spotted a couple of gals running close together.  I assumed that they were friends, but as I got closer, I could see they were racing each other.  I thought that I could keep up with them, but when I reached them, they both began to surge.  I didn't have the heart to go chasing those two, so I set my sights on a pair of young girls.  The seemed in great spirits, but I was slowly gaining on them.  Just as I caught up to them, they stopped and started talking.  Young people are so funny.  After passing those two young gals, there were no more females to chase.  Since it was a loop, I could see who was ahead of me.  There was one or two women that might have been in my age group ahead of me.  I couldn't be sure, but there was nothing I could do about it anyway.  As I was just processing my position and probably slowing down, I noticed two guys racing me on both flanks. One died off, but the one on my left was sticking with me.  I held him off for a while, but he got me with about 1/4 mile to go.  If I had my head in the game, I probably could have stayed with him, but I was really distracted feeling sorry for myself.  We had to get back in the fluffy sand to go through the shoot.  I couldn't actually believe how slow I was going.  I honestly was just glad that it was over.  We were given a coin at the finish which was quite nice. (I forgot to stop my watch which would come back to bite me.)

I was pretty concerned with the plunge, so I decided to get it over with and do what I came to do.  The water was cold, but bearable.  I thought that I would freeze waiting for my friend, but in the full sun, it wasn't very cold. By the time I caught up to my friend, she had already plunged as well.  We wanted to do it together, so we went in again.

At some point, I inquired about my time.  The person who I asked told me that there was a problem and that there were no times at all.  He offered me a small bear to make the news a little easier to hear.  I told him no worries.  I got my plunge beanie, and that was what mattered to me. I didn't turn off my watch after the race, so I have absolutely no idea what my time was.  We waited a little while for raffle announcements and headed out.

Without a doubt, there were problems related to organization and execution.  For this particular event, I really didn't care about my time but, under different circumstances, I would have probably been pretty heated about that. Despite the problems, I would give Pier to Plunge an A+ for effort, and I would run it again.

Turkey Trot Sunday, 1/19/2017

I ran a Turkey Trot, yesterday, in the park.  My time was slow, but it was enough for 2nd female.  As for a RR, there isn't much to report.  I ran 4.5 miles to the event.  Instead of a nice easy jog, I was rushing, so I pushed a little.  I arrived at the event with zero time to spare.  A timing person actually had to find me in line to get my bib number.  With a quick look around, I realized that my turkey aspiration would be thwarted by the UCLA running team.  What in the heck is the UCLA running team doing at this little event, I had no idea?  When we started, I took off too fast, but I felt like, "What the heck?"  The UCLA girl took off.  I stayed with her for about 1/2 mile.  Eventually, she was gone and I was left with no women in front of me and none behind me.  I was going to be second female and clearly nothing was going to change that, so I spotted a young teenage boy and tried to keep with him.  The course was two loops with two hills.  On one of the hills I caught up with him and tried to encourage him.  It worked at first.  He put some distance between us and kept it for about another 1/2 mile.  Then, I started gaining on him again.  I told him that he couldn't let up, because if he did I was going to beat him, and he only had one more hill.  He looked at me and said, "I can't," and he slowed up.  I figured that fight was over.  I had no one else to race, so I just ran as fast as I could to the finish.  As it turned out, the young man finished quite close to me.  After he peaked the hill that was killing him, he probably got a second wind and took off.  It is good that I had no one to race, because toward the end, I was feeling a little light headed.

After the race, a parent was talking to me about the Boston Marathon and a local reporter overheard.  She interviewed me as a participant and had her photographer take my picture watching the kids race.  Here is the article.



The 4.5 mile run home was quite tough.  Everything hurt--My toes, my abs, even my right leg.  Ugh..

Spooner's Cove Trail Race Sunday, December 11, 2016

On the first official day of Boston training, I ran the 8-mile Spooner’s Cove Trail Race.  The course starts at the beach and climbs 1670 feet to the top of Valencia Peak and then winds back down to the start. (At the the bottom of the post is a google-earth video of the tracks of the race.)

I ran the 5-mile course a few years ago, but I had never done the 8-mile. The hour drive to the park was terrible.  It was extremely foggy on Hwy 101.  Luckily, by the time I got to Los Osos (closer to the venue) the low fog was burning off, so I could see to maneuver the windy road.  The race started at 8:00AM.  I got to Montana de Oro State Park at about 7:35AM.  The parking lot was full, and I was directed to a spot about .25 miles up a hill from the start.  I jogged down the hill to get my shirt and number, and I immediately noticed how wet and muddy it was.

By the time I got back to my car, I only had a few minutes left.  I put on my backpack (which was probably overkill) and headed down the hill.  On my way down the hill, I saw an acquaintance named Christie, and we made our way down the hill together.  It was nice to have someone to chit chat with.  Sometimes I’m a little lonely at races.  By the time we got down the hill, the race was about to start.  My new friend didn’t quite understand how to use the flag colors to guide her along the course, so we separated while she went in search of her color. 

I started in the middle of the pack, but my goal was to get ahead of a few people before we moved onto the single track up Valencia Peak.  I did pass some, but I probably went out too fast, because several of the people that I passed reclaimed their spot before we reached the climb to the peak.  The weather was perfect and the first couple of miles along the beach were beautiful.

As we started the climb, I was getting tired.  I walked as the group walked.  Lots of people passed me, so I thought that I would not be competitive.  As we got closer to the top, the trail turned into a sloppy mess.  There was at least 6 inches of slop on a narrow trail.  If someone would have fell, they wouldn’t have killed themselves, but surely sliding down that mountain would have produced serious injury.  It was legitimately dangerous, and I abandoned all thoughts of competition.  A couple of people passed me, but most were just trying to get through the mud in one piece.  The view was incredible.  As we moved in and out of the fog, the display was magnificent.

As we got closer to the top, the trail became more rocky and less muddy.  I didn’t realize that runners would have to backtrack.  Because there were so many runners, I assumed that there was a second trail at the summit.  That wasn't the case, so before I made it to the top the fastest runners were making their way down along the same trail.  The runners were picking up a lot of speed, and I began to get nervous.  I knew that I would be negotiating very carefully and in the way of sure footed runners trying to make up time.  I finally made it up to the peak, got my rubber band and headed back.  I tried to very conscientious and move aside quickly as the mountain goat like runners skipped down the hill with ease.  There was a turn off trail, so those heading down were able to avoid the muddiest part.  Still, I was moving pretty slow, and I allowed people to pass as much as possible.  I have a healthy fear of poison oak, so I draw the line at jumping into heavy growth.  One gal ran up and as she approached me started screaming “excuse me.”  I turned around and said I will let you pass when there is an opening.  Within 3 yards I was able to let her pass, but it really annoyed me.  If she was so worried about time, what was she doing behind me to begin with?  Couldn’t she see that there was nowhere for me to go?  As the downhill overwhelmed me, I got faster and faster.  I noticed the same gal in front of me, so I caught up to her and ran on her butt without saying a word, just to be obnoxious.  She eventually let me pass.  I knew I was going too fast for my ability to navigate the conditions, but I was so caught up in the event that I wasn’t being safe.  I started to get smug about passing the woman, thinking about racing, looking behind me, checking my watch, etc. and, sure enough, I slipped and hit the ground hard.  The same gal who I had been thinking such mean thoughts about stopped and tried help me.

I was properly humiliated, but I still wanted to finish strong.  I took off and finished the race.  The food at the end looked fantastic, but the water situation was pathetic.  There were little mouthwash-dixie cups for water.  What the heck?  I asked for a first aid kit to treat my scratches and bruises.  A woman pulled out an ancient first aid kit that was a mess and told me to have at it.  Just as I finished the first aid treatment on myself, I heard my named called for 1^st AG award.  I couldn’t have been more surprised.  I thought that I was going to finish at the bottom, so I didn’t even check the results board.

I was feeling pretty good by that point and wanted some pictures.  I couldn’t bear taking even a short walk up the trail, so I settled for a beach shot.  Christi and I reconnected, and we took selfies together and pics of each other.  I think I may have convinced her to do a trail run with me in January, and we both left.

Spooner’s Cove is a nice event, but I don’t think that I will do the 8 mile next year.  The mud was way too dangerous for me.  I don’t have great balance, and I’m easily intimidated by heights.  My lack of confidence on parts of the trail wasn’t just a hazard to myself, but really to others as well.  I’ll stick with the 5 mile next year. 

Google Earth Video of Garmin Tracks

Mountains 2 the Beach 2016 Race Report

My Sunday race day prep started on Friday.  I never sleep well before races, so I wanted to make sure I had a good night sleep on Friday.  My husband and I had been saving a good bottle of wine, so we opened it on Friday and I had one good size glass.  I’m not sure if it worked or not, but I slept pretty well on Friday night.  I, also wanted to hydrate and get in extra carbs on Friday.  I put some carb powder in my juice in the morning, but it gave me a headache.  My body doesn’t process sugar quite right.  Candy bars sometimes give me a headache.  The carb juice gave me that same candy bar headache, so I’m pretty sure I’ll never take it again unless I’m about to work out.

On Saturday morning, it took us a while to get out of the house, but with the entire family finally on board, we headed to the expo in the afternoon.  The expo was fine.  There was plenty of parking, and I got my bib within a minute, and I got my shirt two minutes later.  I could have been in and out in all of five minutes, including parking time.  I really like the shirt.  I can see myself wearing it a lot.  There were a few vendors, so we walked around a little.

I picked up my free bottle of kool n fit that I had registered for.  It is something that you spray on your legs that is tingly like bengay or tiger balm.  The old lady selling it was very funny.  She handled me, ordering me to pull up my pant leg and sprayed it all over one leg only before I even had a chance to consider what was happening.  There is no rubbing it in, so I walked around the rest of the time with one pant leg pulled up.  It smelled awful initially, so I didn’t want stinky capris.

I brought spaghetti for dinner that I had made at home.  The kids and Tony (my DH) went to a Mexican restaurant a couple of blocks away.  They came back full and happy, and we all watched a Harry Potter movie.  I’m an expert at sleeping through Harry Potter, so I got some ZZZs during the movie.  The room was suffocatingly hot, but I think I slept better than anyone.  I set my alarm for 2:45 AM.  The race had a 6:30 start time.

At 2:45, I drank a water and ate an energy bagel with jam, a banana and I had some coffee.  I didn’t want to drink anything after 3:30.  I have serious pottie issues, and two hours liquid free before my last bathroom break is the only solution.  I didn’t bother going back to sleep, because I figured the coffee would keep me up.  It took a while, but eventually the coffee magic did its job.  At 5:30, I took a caffeine pill, and I ran down to the start (about .25 miles) to get a feel for what it was like and see exactly were the start would be. I wore a jacket, but it wasn’t cold.  I became a little concerned that it would be a hot day, but what I could I do?  I put that thought out of my mind.  

Accompanied by my husband, eventually, I made my way to the start, for real.  The weather was perfect-slightly cool and overcast.  We had about 15 minutes to spare.  I looked everywhere for the 3:38 pace group, but they were nowhere to be found.  Right before the start, my husband left me in the second corral, and two 3:38 pace groups moved up right beside me.  The pace leaders just started talking randomly to people trying to pump them up.  I heard one of them say that you should stay within 5 feet of the group.  If you let a group get more than 5 feet away from you the group will pull away.  I decided, at that moment, to try and stick close to the group.  Within 10 minutes of standing in the corral, the national anthem was sung, and the race started, on time. 

The race was super crowded.  I assumed that the crowd would thin out, but it never really did.  There were just too many people trying to run with the 3:38 pacers.  The route started with 3 miles uphill. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was the most scenic part of the race.  The course meandered through what seemed to be an orange grove.  I felt strong, so I sped up just to get some space to run.    I was running alone, but I could see the 3:33 group in the distance.  I knew that I would catch up if I kept up the pace.  The question was whether or not I wanted to keep up that pace.  I knew a long stretch of rolling hills with an overall downhill grade was coming up.  I decided to pace with 3:33.  There were a lot fewer people pacing with that group.  Even so, it was difficult maintaining an actual comfortable spot to run, because I stopped to drink water at every station.  Everyone else ran and drank, but I actually stopped.  Each time, I lost my spot and had to find a new spot to run.

There wasn’t a whole lot of crowd support, but my DH, kids and a friend found me on the course multiple times.  They even had signs.  Seeing them was so much fun and very motivating.  I felt fantastic most of the race.  Throughout the race I chatted a little.  I asked whoever was running next to me what their name was, if they could hear me.  I sang a little bit.  Maybe a got a weird look or two on “Uptown Funk.”  I felt great and I was in an insanely good mood, almost giddy.  The weather was perfect throughout the entire race.  It was pleasant, maybe even cool, and there was no sun whatsoever-just the familiar coastal overcast.

Around 15 miles there was a hill, and I thought it was getting a little difficult, but I wasn’t worried.  At 22 miles, I was scheduled tot take a gel.  I was getting really tired, and for some reason I didn't take it.  There was a hill at 24 miles and that is when I hit that wall, completely out of the blue.  My body fell apart.  My pace went from about 8:05 to 9:15.  Nothing I said to myself could make my legs go any faster, and a dull pain set in everywhere.  I saw my friend at this point happy and waving, but I couldn’t manage a smile.  People were passing me left and right.  I was running into walkers from the half hogging up the entire lane with their backs to me.  It was difficult to avoid them.  My husband was screaming my name when I crossed the finish line, but I didn’t hear him or see him.  For such a magnificent race, it really was a sloppy, sad finish.  When my husband finally caught up to me, I wanted to cry (happy tears), but I didn’t have the strength or air to let it out. 

If I were alone, they would have had to take me to the medical tent, but my family and friend took care of me.  I never imagined that I would feel so terrible, especially considering how good I felt for most of the race.  I could hardly walk.  I couldn’t eat.  I couldn’t enjoy the after party which was such a shame, because I was so happy deep inside.  No one could tell, because I was on the verge of collapse.  I finished with a time of 3:33.47.  I never even hoped to run that fast.  I give all the credit to the Hansons’ training method.  It worked incredibly well for me.

After the race, my entire body was in pain.  I thought about ringing the Boston gong, but there were too many people.  I couldn't focus or walk without help.  I had to get back to the hotel.  I went directly to sleep in the hotel, but my kids were starving.  I wasn't hungry, but I knew that I had to eat.  After about an hour nap, I hobbled down the street to the Mexican restaurant.  My appetite appeared as soon as I started eating, but I didn't have the strength to sit upright in a chair and chew.  We were hoping to go out for dinner in the evening, but I couldn't manage to get out of the bed after my initial rally.  We ordered pizza, and, luckily, there was more Harry Potter to entertain the kids while I slept.  The next day, I was fine, but extremely sore.  The soreness lasted a couple of days, but, on Wednesday, the soreness completely subsided

This marathon was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life.  I didn’t take the buses, but I don’t have a single complaint about the start, finish or expo.  I thought that course was a little crowded, and I wasn’t crazy at all about the new addition of a hill at mile 24.  If I weren’t doing Boston in 2017, I would definitely do this marathon again, next year.

Bull Canyon Run 2016 Race Report

The Bull Canyon Run has suffered from declining entries for a few years.  I can't figure it out.  It is a great race.  The weather is always fantastic.  The course is amazingly fast, and the race is always well organized.

Unfortunately, I ran while I was sick this year.  The race started on-time, as usual.  I can’t remember how I felt while I was running, but I couldn’t have felt too terrible, or I would remember.  The only thing I really remember about the race is that I tried to encourage a young racer on the home stretch.  I told him to stick with me or something like that.  He said OK and did stick with me for most of the last mile.

I finished second female, which competitively is the best that I’ve done in this race. Below is the info from athlinks.

After the race, the AG winners stand on a podium, get plaques and are recognized.  Everyone is happy and chatty.  The ladies tried to chat with me.  I fear that they think that I was stand-offish.  I didn't want to say anything, because I knew that the moment I spoke, I would start coughing uncontrollably.  After the race, initially, I couldn't stop coughing.  While I was on the stage, I happened to have 2 minutes of relief, but I knew if I spoke I wouldn't be able to control the cough.

The woman standing next to me told me that she was glad when she heard that I had moved up in my age group.  That made me smile.

I have been trying to sub 22, again, for a long time, but I was, honestly, so sick I couldn't enjoy it much.  

DIONYSUS DASH RACE REPORT + PICS SUNDAY, 6/28/2015

I planned to hike or do a P90X3, but it was DH's last day of vacation, so I didn't do anything.  we went out wine tasting.  I'll have to concentrate on hydration tomorrow.

Here is a race report for a race I ran a couple of weeks ago.

I raced the Dionysus Dash on 6/14/2015.  The weather was perfect.  It was a tiny bit cool and overcast.  I won the entry into this race from active.com.  The only parking was paid.  I saw a discount for valet parking for $15, so the race cost me $15.  I got a discount for Tony, too, at some point.  I can’t remember whether it was $35 or $25.  I think it might have been $25. 

The directions said that we needed to get there an hour early for check, so we were there early.  Check in was a breeze.  There was a DJ playing perfect, fun music.  We got our numbers, checked our bag, used the restroom and chatted with some friends for about 20 minutes.  We tried to warm up, but the course was so hilly that I didn’t have it in me to jog around.  Tony was willing, but after the first hill, I called it quits.  We had about 15 minutes and decided to use the bathroom one more time.  There were only 2 restrooms.  We almost missed the start.  When we got to the start there was only a minute or two to spare.

The course was very hilly, but enjoyable.  The hills were just enough to be challenging, but not awful.  I paced myself.  There were many women in front of me, at the beginning, but I picked them off one by one pretty early.  There were no females in my sights after the first mile.  I won first female.  My time was 23:32.  I was 7^th overall out of 224.

The runners were very friendly.  After, we chatted and wine tasted.  I got a bottle of wine a headpiece.  DH won his age group.

There were many wine stations., but the organizers packed up pretty early.  They gave us our keys and bag and shut down the DJ. 

This was a really fun race.  I liked it a lot more than the one we did in Solvang (Wicked Run).  I wouldn't do the Wicked Run again, but I would do this one again.  My only complaint was the bathroom situation.  Two bathrooms for a couple of hundred racers isn’t OK.  They should have brought in two porta potties.  Parking was ridiculous, too.  Full price of $25 to park is exorbitant, and even $15 is crazy.  

SAT, 6/27/2015 TRI-THE-BULL RACE REPORT + PICS

Started with breakfast of a bagel and coffee at 6PM + 16 oz. water

I ran the Tri-the-Bull 5K.  It was measured short (2.82).  My time was 20:09, but extrapolated out to a real 5K, my time would have been 22:09.  I'm running a lot more, but not getting any faster at all.  Clearly, I could use some speedwork.  I really think that I could have run faster.  At no point did I feel like I was desperately, miserable. I placed 2nd female, 1st AG.

When I got home I did the 2.5 neighborhood route, then Tony, and I ran 4.5 near the YMCA.  The last 4.5 was, mentally, tough.