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. 

Seaside Marathon Race Review

It was a mad rush to get out of the house in time to make it to packet pick up before 3:00. It is only a couple of hours drive, but my husband (coach) and son had track practice in the morning. We did make it. The packet pickup was easy, and I actually spoke to the race director.

We stayed at the Amanzi Hotel. The hotel doesn’t look too particularly impressive from the outside, but the rooms are actually very nice. The beds were comfortable and the pillows soft. There was a microwave and a coffee maker in the room. I loved the two separate sinks in the bathroom which is great for a family traveling together. Additionally, there were free cocktails in the evening, and my husband said that there was plenty of hot food at the complimentary breakfast.

I wanted pasta for dinner, but I couldn’t find a close Italian restaurant, so we settled on a restaurant in walking distance of the hotel. The food wasn't very good. I'll just leave it at that. Normally, I would have had put more thought into dinner, but I just decided to run this marathon a couple of days before, so I hadn’t scoped out restaurants. I didn't eat as much as I thought I should have eaten.

I, also, didn't pack as much as I would normally pack for breakfast. I didn't even remember to pack an extra goo to take right before the marathon. In the morning, I like to stop eating or drinking everything three hours before my last bathroom stop. Since, I planned to leave the hotel at 6:30, that would normally mean a 3:30AM food/drink deadline. The race director assured me that there were plenty of porta potties. Since I wasn’t racing, I figured that I didn’t need to be completely strict. I got up at 4:00AM. I had a bagel with cream cheese, a banana and orange juice and coffee. I got back in bed and slept a little more. My intent was to wear a vest, and bring my phone so my husband could track me, but when I put on all the gear, in the morning, I just couldn’t do it. Why spend $130 for support and wear a vest? I just loaded up my pockets.

I knew that it would be cold at the beginning. I intended to wear sleeves, but I forgot them at home. I had brought gloves that I really liked (instead of throwaways) because I thought that I would have my pack to put them in. I have Raynauds (circulation problem) which means that I had to wear my gloves. I didn’t want to ditch those particular gloves, but I figured I would if I absolutely had to. My husband was able to drop me off pretty close to the start. When I got out the car, it was COLD! I was freezing. Everyone was obviously cold. Runners were taking refuge in the gear check trailer. I just started walking in big circles. I was really nervous that I would be cold for 26.2 miles. Surely, there would be a headwind for half the course. A lot of people had on a lot of clothes. I began to question my shorts and short sleeve shirt decision. I started talking with a guy from the East Coast. He tried to reassure me that I would be fine, but you know those people from the East Coast are beasts. I’ve lived in California for over thirty years. The last thing that you can believe an East Coaster about is when they tell you that it isn’t that cold. He was wearing a tank top and shorts and he looked completely comfortable. I hoped that he was right, but I didn’t really believe that I was going to warm up all that quickly.

Sure enough though, as soon as I started running, I felt fine.

I had to use the very first porta pottie. I think that it was at the 1.5 mile. No tissue was provided, but I had my own. The one piece of advice I give to anyone running any race distance is to pack your own tissue in a sandwich bag. The course was out and back. We pretty much went 6.55 miles down the coast and turned around. Marathoners did the loop twice. There were a lot of beach views, but for two solid miles (four for the marathoners), all you had for a view was a wall of RVs on one side and the highway on the other. The course really wasn’t flat. It was better than flat. Just slight rolling hills that were just enough. There is one real hill. It is about a mile before the turnaround/end of the half marathon.

I ran between 8:30-8:50 for the first 15 miles. I felt good. I could have run faster, but I wanted to run at a long run pace. From miles 15-22, I ran between 9:00-9:45. It was getting hard. I could have run faster, but I was getting tired. From miles 22-26.2, I ran between 10:00-11:00. I had planned to actually walk after mile 20, but my body was hurting. I wanted off the course and walking would have taken too long. I guess if I had really wanted to, I could have run faster, but I was working hard for that 11 minute mile. I was surprised by my mile 22 melt down. I planned to walk, but I thought that I was going to feel a lot better. Clearly, I have to work on my endurance. I have 8 weeks. I hope that is enough.

My nutrition plan was to stop at every aid station for water and to take a Maurten gel every 4 miles. I must have screwed that up somehow, because at the 20 mile mark, I ran out of gels. I must have gotten confused. I didn't have any nausea or GI issues, so it was fine, overall.

I wasn't cold at all while I was running, but as soon as I stopped running, I was cold. My husband and my son met me at the finish. They brought a bag of dry clothes, but I didn't want to change in the porta potties. There were tacos at the finish and the were positively delicious. After I devoured the two free tacos, my husband went and bought me two more.

The only thing disappointing about this race besides the miles of RVs blocking my view was the medals. The finishers medal was by no means medal. It was cheap plastic and not at all worthy of a marathon medal. I got 4th overall and first AG, but the AG awards weren't available. Evidently Corona virus shut down the Chinese factory. My problem isn't with the delay in the AG medal. Unforeseen stuff happens. It is with the cheap plastic crap being passed off as medal. Luckily for me, this wasn't my first and it won't be my last chance at some cool bling.

Mountains 2 the Beach Marathon May 2018

Well, the marathon is said and done. I finished, but it really was agony. I had a great race until about mile ten.

The pain came on me pretty suddenly and just didn’t let up. I started walking around mile 12. I borrowed a phone and called my husband at an aid station to tell him that I was walking and that they could go back to the hotel. The desire to DNF was strong, but I just couldn’t DNF as long as I was capable of propelling myself forward, but the idea of walking for three more hours was overwhelming. I just put one foot in front of the other, but I was so disgusted that I couldn’t listen to music or an audiobook.I tried the run walk approach, but I couldn’t run even 20 feet. I started walking slower and slower.

Luckily another walker passed me and said something to me as he passed. He, too, was injured, and was on the long walk to the finish. We talked briefly, but when we passed a porta pottie, I had to stop. In addition to the pain in my leg, my guts were turning inside out. When I got out, I could see the guy in the distance. I figured that teaming up with this guy was my best hope, so I decided to run to catch up. The pain was immense, and I was practically holding my breath. Just as I was about to catch up, he started running. I figured that was it, but he stopped after about 20 feet. I did catch up, and we walked together the rest of the way. He was very tall with a long stride. I had to struggle to keep up, but left to my own devices I was truly walking a thirty minute mile. Three hours later with a 6:05 finish, it was all over.

I was so happy to be done that I got teary eyed. We went to the official after party restaurant so the kids could eat, but they band was packing up. We were too early for the night festivities and too late for the “after marathon” festivities. I really sort of fell apart at the restaurant. I couldn’t walk anymore. I couldn’t eat. I got dizzy. By the time we left, I was done.

I took an ice bath at the hotel, but after I got in the bed, I couldn’t get out.  I had dinner in bed and just slept off and on till morning.

Hansons Marathon Plan Review 2016

I’ve been keeping track of my miles since 2010.  I told myself that I would not train for a marathon until I had run 1500 miles the previous year.  Year after year I got close (I almost did it in 2012), but I didn’t manage 1500 miles until 2015.  With the mileage goal completed, I signed up for a Spring marathon.

I had a clear goal.  I wanted to qualify for Boston.  I wasn't convinced that I wanted to run Boston, but I definitely wanted to qualify.  I did a lot of research and decided on the Hansons plan, because I bought into the theory of cumulative fatigue.

I think that the actual plan started in February.  However, when I looked at the plan, I concluded that there was no way that I could jump into (12) 400, so I started doing one speed day a week starting with (2) 400s.  I landed on (12) 400s on the day it was called for in the plan.  I made a couple of other changes as well.  I ran the 400s at McMillian’s pace, rather than Hanson’s slower pace, and, at some point, I stopped doing the recovery jog and rested 60 seconds instead.  This worked out perfectly, and I ended up doing all of my speed days at McMillian paces, rather than Hanson paces.  I extended speed work one week in hopes of a sub 22 on a 5K in April, but the sub 22 did not happen.  There was a course change that I didn’t know about that made the course too difficult for me to sub 22.  I held out hope for a sub 22, so my only other purposeful training adjustment was taking an RD before a final 5K sub 22 attempt.  The preceding 200+ mile month must have done the trick because on May 14^th, I did sub 22 which something I have been trying to do again for almost two years.

Upon reflection, I really think that I would have gotten better marathon training by running my speed work at a slower pace.  However, I don’t think that if I could go back, I would have done it differently.  I really wanted to sub 22 in a 5K, and I did sub 22.

Although I didn’t get running injuries, I did get sick a couple of times which impacted my training.  Near the middle of the training cycle, I suffered from some intestinal problem.  My doctor forbid me to run, at all.  I had to take a solid week off.  Also, in the last three weeks, I got strep throat.  I took antibiotics, so I assume the strep throat went away, but the illness lingered until I took another antibiotic.  Hanson calls for a very moderate taper, but, in the last three weeks, I only did my SOS runs, and I tapered dramatically.  I did not sustain any cumulative fatigue in the last few weeks of training.  I was disappointed that I couldn’t finish the plan strong, but I was coughing and having asthma symptoms when I ran.  For the last week, I started taking and asthma pill and a Claritin to combat the symptoms.

Despite the problems that I encountered the three weeks before the race, I have never felt better about training.  I knew that I had given everything I could possibly give of myself during the training.  I ran more than I ever thought possible, even throwing in a 70 mile week.  I had a sense of accomplishment for having stuck it out.  I ran every run that my doctor would allow and some against orders.  I ran in the rain, in the wind, in the cold, in the morning, at night, when I felt like it and when I didn’t feel like it.    I actually felt like I had already won, no matter what happened.  That is really not like me at all.  I felt so good before the race, not because I thought I would qualify, but because it didn’t matter that much if I did or didn’t.  I couldn’t lose.

Maybe my new and improved attitude made a difference.  My first marathon was an amazing experience.  I ran Mountains 2 the Beach from Ojai, CA to Ventura, CA on May 29, 2016. The course consists of a 3 mile elevation climb in the beginning and rolling hills with a general declining grade until the 24 mile mark.  At mile 24, there is a moderate climb for about 1 mile, and it is flat for the last mile.  I felt fantastic for the first 20 miles.  At about mile 20, I felt like it was very difficult.  When I hit the last hill, I hit the wall.  My pace slowed tremendously; I felt a dull pain in every part of my lower body, and my body seemed to refuse to obey my commands.  I had a fantastic race, but my finish was very weak.  My overall time was 3:33, which subs my Boston qualifying time by over 20 minutes.  After the race was over, I was in bad shape.  I could drink, but I couldn’t eat.  I could hardly move.  My entire body was in pain.  I really couldn’t enjoy the after party, because I just had to get back to the hotel.  I was extremely sore for a couple of days, but, on Wednesday, the soreness completely subsided.

I am a first time, middle age marathoner who qualified for Boston with a time that almost guarantees entry.  It is surreal, and I give all the credit to the Hansons plan.  I was remarkably prepared for the first 20 miles of the race.  I was less prepared for the last (6), but had enough training to hold on.  This plan, however, is not for the faint of heart.  You have to run 6 days a week, or there is no cumulative fatigue.  Your SOS runs have to sandwich your day off.  That took a mental toll.  For me, at least, the Hanson brothers had a way of taking the fun out of running.  I enjoyed my easy days, but I dreaded my SOS runs.  Every single one was difficult, and the prospect of having to run two a week was always weighing on me.  I wouldn’t recommend this plan for everyone, but I would definitely recommend it to a runner who is goal oriented.

I’m signed up for a fall half that I want to train seriously for, but I want to enjoy the training more.  I live about an hour away from a community that has weekly 5Ks during the summer.  I am going to race, instead of one of my SOS days for the first month or so.  Also, I have several trail-halfs that I am signing up for to take the place of a few of the long runs.  Hopefully, I will always have something to look forward to. 

I have decided to run Boston in April of 2017, and I intend to use a Hansons plan.  Maybe I'll try coaching, but if I use the advanced, I think that will try to add a little more overall mileage and increase the length of the last two long runs.

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.