Race Report: California International Marathon

Somewhere near the Mile 17 marker, I sat inside a port-a-john, listening to the tireless rain tap-swishing on the roof. I had not ducked in there seeking shelter--unfortunately for the first time in six marathons I was in there because I had to be--but getting out of the rain was a nice side effect.

There were numerous "lakes" and "rivers" to run through on this course. Photo via hmgiraffy.

However, even on a bad weather day, a potty is not a place to linger. Plus, there were other runners waiting in line. So I pulled my soaked shorts up, adjusted them in a fruitless effort to get them to stick to me a little less and opened the door, holding it for the next person. The guy who followed me in there? One of the 4-hour pace group leaders. He looked in good spirits, but the sight of him doused what was left of mine. His presence meant I wasn't going to meet my secondary goal of finishing under 4 hours.

But damnit, I thought grimly, I am going to finish.

The race had been a crazy adventure since Tricia and I climbed off of our warm yellow school bus that morning at 6:30 a.m. It was dark, and the rain cascaded down on us in horizontal sheets. Despite her parka, my garbage bags and our hodgepodge of throwaway clothing, we were both soaked in seconds, including our Vaseline-coated feet inside our shoes. We easily found potties and used them, but in my case (ominously) I couldn't "go". Usually I'm good for at least two pre-race trips. Something about that cold and wind had caused my entire digestive mechanism to halt, I think, and that's what I paid for at Mile 17.

We sought shelter inside an open convenience store that was packed with soggy runners in various stages of undress, but soon it was time to say good-bye to each other and venture out again for good. I found the 3:55 pacer as planned, and my spirits lifted a little. I didn't hear the gun go off. As always in a marathon, it was a relief to start running.

The fast guys line up in the rain.

After the gun (photos borrowed from the Sacramento Bee; hopefully my blog is small enough I won't get in trouble for using them)

Once moving, I warmed up quickly and didn't mind being wet any more. In fact, I felt good. The headwind wasn't pleasant, but the first few miles felt like nothing, the rolling hills felt like nothing and I was hanging easily behind the pacer and felt plenty distracted by the conversation of a large group of Canadians who were also sticking with him. They'd shout enthusiastically when their Garmins beeped a kilometer mark. My own Garmin was staying nicely close to the actual mile markers, a testament to the wise moves of the pacer and the few sharp turns on this course. It's true, my pace was off...it was slow by just a bit less than what I'd been warned the day before (they said 30-40 seconds per mile; I was off by about 20-30 at that point). But I had been expecting that.

Even by the halfway mark, I still felt good. I'd managed to take my Shot Bloks every three miles. That's more often than usual, but the pacers had also warned us the day before that running in a headwind requires more fuel and water. I had carried my bottle through 10 miles and ditched it at an aid stop when it was empty, but since then had had no problems grabbing water from volunteers. I was pleased at how my legs felt and how little the hills had bothered me. I wasn't happy or chatty, but I also wasn't grouchy. The rain kept sheeting down, and the wind kept blowing...but it had just become the way it was.

Mile 1--	9:19
Mile 2--	8:57
Mile 3--	8:39
Mile 4--	8:51
Mile 5--	8:56
Mile 6--	9:00
Mile 7--	9:07
Mile 8--	9:01
Mile 9--	9:00
Mile 10--	8:47
Mile 11	--8:45
Mile 12--	8:59
Mile 13--	8:51

 Mile 14-- 8:53

It was my stomach that did me in. It started speaking at Mile 15 and by the time I rolled up to the port-a-john line at Mile 17 it was urgent. I think Darren was right when he said I need to work on using sport drink of some kind instead of gels and Bloks. But it was too late for this race.

Mile 15-- 9:00
Mile 16-- 9:06
Mile 17-- 11:36 (there's the stop!)

When I started running again, despite wanting to get as much time between me and the 4-hour pacer as I could before he finished in the bathroom, I never got the early paces back. There may have been a bonk involved as well, right on schedule after Mile 18.

Mile 18-- 9:04
Mile 19-- 9:14
Mile 20-- 9:17

The 4-hour pacer caught me in Mile 20. With him was a woman about my height and weight, but much fresher and happier. I followed behind them as best as I could, listening to them talk. She told him how she was feeling great, had started with the 4:10 pace group and now "just knew" that a sub-4 was possible. Her original goal had been 3:50, but she was really happy with how she'd done. He told her she had been smart to start where she had. And I thought, "That's what I should have done, too. I wasn't conservative enough. I went out too fast."

Mile 21-- 9:05

Sometime between Mile 20 and 21, the rain stopped. I first saw blue sky peeking out when we crossed the bridge over the American River and headed toward downtown Sacramento and the finish line. But instead of feeling heartened by this, I kept thinking how the wind was still there, and I started slowing down again.

Mile 22-- 9:12
Mile 23-- 9:18

With three miles to go, I stopped to walk. My legs felt as though they were done, and I was so so sick of that wind in my face. I watched the smart happy girl and the 4-hour pacer with his red sign recede in the distance ahead of me.

Mile 24--11:40

Mid-way through Mile 25, though, with the crowds thick, I started to shuffle-jog again. I just wanted to be finished.

Mile 25-- 11:08

The park around the California state capitol building, where I knew the finish line stood, appeared on my left.

Mile 26-- 9:57

We rounded one corner, then another to the women's finish line.

Final .2--9:02 pace

I crossed the line, barely raising my eyes to the beautiful state building and the towering Christmas tree in front of it. The sun shone brightly, and soggy but mostly happy runners were everywhere. I drank some chocolate milk, but otherwise all I could think of was getting my drop bag and getting into dry clothes. I did wonder how Tricia had weathered the storm (very well, it turns out), but I also knew she'd understand my impulse to change and then get back to the hotel for my shower. When she got back, and after she got her well-deserved shower, we made our way down to the hotel bar. It was only then that I started to feel better. We had just finished a really hard, really wet and windy marathon. She had a beer, burger and fries, and I had a mimosa, a huge plate of nachos and some sweet potato fries. Man, did that ever taste good!

The final result: 4:06:32, a 9:24 average pace. I was 163rd out of 534 in my 35-39 female age group (top 31%) and 2544 out of 6496 total male and female finishers (top 39%). I was 817th among all women, but I don't have the total number of women in the race yet. It was a "personal worst" among the most recent three of my six marathons, but it was still better than my one-time "personal best" of 4:14 set in New York City in 2005. I guess there's something to be said that my standards have changed.

You've now heard all the things that went wrong. Here are some good things I did:

1. I lowered my expectations for a bad-weather day. Turns out I didn't lower them enough, but at least I knew not to expect to qualify for the Boston Marathon in that wind. I listened to the smart veterans around me. This led to much less disappointment than I might have felt (disappointed though I was anyway).

2. I learned the power of Vaseline. The only spot I chafed in all the wetness was on my neck where my headphones hung out until Mile 18. That's the only spot I didn't lube LIBERALLY with good old petroleum jelly. My feet didn't bug me at all during this race, whereas usually they are blistered in some way. Going foward, Vaseline will be part of all my long runs and long races.

3. I recognized the overall goodness of the CIM course. I'd love to go back and do it again next year because even amid the bad weather I can see why people like it.

4. The strength training I did with Colleen....a godsend. My legs are the least sore they've ever been after a marathon. To the extent that they are sore, my quads and hamstrings are feeling it equally, and it's the "good sore." I've had no trouble with going down stairs or going for short walks. I'm eying other runners I see out and about with envy. I'm going to continue to hit the weights hard going forward. It seems I've not done enough of that ever, for any prior race.

I've traded a few messages back and forth with Darren about a spring marathon. It's uncertain whether that will be the plan, or whether we'll tackle some more half-marathons in the spring and go for another big one in the fall. I'm hoping to try again sooner rather than later, but I will leave the ultimate decision up to Darren. He's smarter than I am with this stuff!

Thanks again for all of your buoying comments after the race and all of your encouragement before. Will 2013 be my lucky year? Will marathon number seven (wherever it is) be the One? I don't know, but I'm going to keep trying until some year and some race prove to be the Golden Ticket.

The CIM Suckfest in Brief

It's a race you've lost, not a relative. Nobody's dead.

--Sybil Gordon (in Chariots of Fire, after Abrahams loses to Liddle and sulks about it)

Official results aren't yet in on the California International Marathon site, but according to the Garmin the bad news is:

4:06:38.

I'll have a doozy of a race report for you soon. It features a start line that looked like a refugee camp (if refugees wear trash bags), 26 miles of headwind (I think we had .2 or so where it was more like a sidewind), my first-ever mid-marathon port-a-john stop at Mile 17, 3 1/2 hours of jungle-like rain (nice sun after that, though) and the first race where I had absolutely no desire to hang out at the finish line.

The best parts of the experience were the post-race shower and hanging out with Tricia (now a marathon finisher!!).

I'll close by saying....I'm sorry the BQ by 40 story's last marathon was this one. A lot of you were rooting for me, I know, and I feel like I've let you down. Honestly, I gave it all I had. I can see it's an excellent course on a good day. But today wasn't a good day. Some days, Mom says, are like that.

Revising Expectations

Boys and girls, it's DUMPING outside here in Sacramento. It's supposed to continue to dump, with the worst of the rain and 20-mile-per-hour winds tomorrow between 7:30 and 9 a.m.

Yep, that's right in the middle of the race. And no....it's not going to be a tailwind.

I just went to a meeting with the pace team leaders....and as much as I hate to type it, because I know it makes me look like a quitter.....I have to revise my goal.

Darren said it first. He sent me an email yesterday saying he'd seen the forecast and unfortunately wants me to scale back my goal.

And when I chatted with the very frank and nice 3:45 pace group leader just now, he said the same thing....not just to me, but to everybody. The winds we are looking at tomorrow, he said, will strip us of 38 seconds per mile at minimum. He said he's still going to hit 3:45....but he asked people to help him lead, something he said he doesn't have to do in good years. Those who do run 3:45 in tomorrow's likely weather, he said, are capable of a 3:30.

My training has been good. On a nice day, I'm ready to run a 3:45 and might even be able to do a few minutes faster. But I am not capable of a 3:30, or a 3:30 effort.

I know some of you badasses out there would put all your chips on the table and go for it. But I don't want to end up walking at the end because I went out at the wrong pace for the day. And I don't want to wreck my chances for a better day a couple of months down the road.

Here's what I'm telling myself: Putting on my big-girl panties does not mean deliberately choosing to bonk on the off-chance that everyone around me is wrong about what kind of day it's going to be tomorrow, or wrong about what I am capable of. Putting on my big-girl panties means remembering that I'm lucky to be here at all, remembering what those of you who trained for the New York Marathon this year just dealt with.

So the goal tomorrow is to beat 4 hours. I'm going to run with the 3:55 pace group. If conditions are better than race officials are advising, I will speed up. If I can beat my Houston Marathon personal record from January (3:53:28), it will have been a very good day.

No whining. It's a little over 12 hours until the gun.

CIM Goals & Race Plan

Maybe I should call this post The Art of Racing in the Rain (apologies to Garth Stein, whose book I haven't yet read).

Yes, it's true: "heavy" rain and 18 mile-per-hour winds. If I'm reading the course map right, we'll be running right into those winds for a good chunk of the course. The race is still five days out. I'm hoping that wind forecast will be revised. You can't do anything about wind except maybe draft off of other runners (and when you do that it's only polite to take a turn being the trailblazer yourself)......or revise your finish time expectations.

Rain, however, I can handle. This being high and dry Colorado, I didn't train in it even once, but I used to run in it all the time in Houston and New York City. Here are the tips I plan to follow on race day:

1) Wear a garbage bag while waiting at the start.
2) Wear a baseball cap to keep water from dripping down my face (thanks, Raina, for this one!).
3) Lube up with Body Glide and (on my feet) Vaseline.
4) Have a friend hold dry socks and shoes somewhere on the course. Lucky for me my old friend Angela is coming from the Bay Area to watch, though she may change her mind when she sees that forecast.
5) Change quickly after finishing into dry clothes.

You can't do anything about the weather except try to make the best of it. Those of you who ran the Boston Marathon earlier this year know that all too well.

My taper runs this week have gone well, including the 4x1 mile at race pace workout I had yesterday. I ran it on the treadmill at a 1% incline with each mile at an 8:27 pace. My heart rate cooperated nicely, staying between 155-163 on all four miles.

That positions me nicely to go with the plan Darren and I discussed on Saturday afternoon. Darren, like my husband Dan and like me, said his only concern is whether I've done enough time on my feet (long runs). Due to my back issue and a September cold, we couldn't ramp up to the point where I could get in a really good number of 3-hour-plus length runs. But on the other hand, I did well in my half-marathon in October, I've felt good during the training since then and I'm feeling healthy and rested. Even my twingy hamstring has cooperated for the last three weeks.

So Darren thinks if all comes together, I can get the Boston qualifying time of 3:44:59 or better.

So that's my goal: 3:44:59

Here's how he wants me to execute:

1) Run about an 8:30 pace for the first half. That would put me through the half-marathon mark at 1:51:30. A little slower is OK, but he absolutely does not want to see anything faster.
2) After the halfway point, I'm allowed to pick up the pace if I'm feeling good. He thinks 8:20 to 8:25 miles at this point would be safe, but NOTHING faster than 8:20. I'm to hold these paces through Mile 22 if possible.
3) After Mile 22, if I've been able to hold the pace, I can either speed up more if I'm still feeling good OR slow down a tad if I'm feeling tight or tired. If I do slow down, he thinks I should still try to maintain 8:40s in order to make my time goal.
4) I'm not to worry about my heart rate, though I do plan to have the strap on (liberally lubed with Body Glide) so I can analyze it later.

 Here are some additional things I plan to do:

1) Start with the 3:45 pace group. As long as they are not running faster than 8:30/mile, I'll stick with them through around 15 miles. If they're a little slower (like 8:34 or so), it's probably to my advantage. Slower at the beginning is good.
2) Wear my pace bands from Races2Remember in case the pace group doesn't work out (maybe because they are going too fast). These will save me from trying to do math with an increasingly addled brain.
3) Turn on the tunes at Mile 18. This really helped with "the Wall" in Houston and I hung on to it as as reward for getting through the earlier miles according to plan.
4) Carry a bottle for the first few miles at least so that I don't have to scrum at crowded aid stations. Ditch the bottle when things spread out and it starts to bug me to have it in my hand.
5) Stick to my trusty Shot Bloks with water every 4 miles or so for fuel. (Darren thinks I need to learn to love sports drink, but we agree we'll save that task for the next marathon.)

I'm rooming with Tricia, and am very excited for her to finish her first marathon, which I think she'll do in style. There will also be numerous other bloggers there. I'm excited to meet Amanda, Margot, XLMIC and others.

And I'm VERY excited to see Angela. I've known her since first grade. Her whole family is an inspiration and not just in running (though they excel at that). She's mentioned in my first post on this blog. It would be an honor if I could qualify for Boston with her there.

Getting back to the issue of the wind....I will be unhappy if it doesn't turn out to be the perfect day. I'll be disappointed if I don't meet my goal for this race. But I'm determined that ONLY something like weather, which is totally beyond my control, will keep me from it this time. Damnit, all you can do is try. In marathons, even on perfect days, you NEVER know.

As the author I mentioned at the beginning of this post put it: "There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose."

I'll see you guys on the other side!

Guest Post: Kyria's Tips for CIM!

Many of you know Kyria, author of TravelSpot. I discovered her earlier this year and liked her immediately. Not only is she a fast runner (and a smart one), she is a big fan of libraries and a voracious reader. Over the last few weeks, she's sent me lots of good information about my upcoming race, the California International Marathon. Since I know many others who also are running it, I asked Kyria if she'd share that advice here in a guest post and she agreed! Thank you, Kyria!

As you know, Terzah is training for the CIM, which is not only in my neck of the woods, but was my first marathon ever last year! I had a a great time doing it and Terzah asked me to share with her readers (many of who are doing the CIM as well) some of the things I learned while running this race last year. So here are 10 things I learned about the CIM. I hope that they help!

1. How to Dress: At the beginning, it was about 32 degrees, but it warmed up to about 60 later on. The arm sleeves are going to be your best friends. That and a Goodwill or throwaway sweatshirt!

2. Spectators: Tell them to NOT spectate at Manzanita Ave or Loehmann's Plaza. It is a mess; it is where EVERYONE else is; it is where the relay changes over. Let me reiterate: it is a mess.

Avoid the: Carmichael Relay Exchange (Fair Oaks/Manzanita)

Avoid the: Loehmann's Plaza relay exchange (Fair Oaks / Howe)

3. Hotel: The Sheraton is the host hotel and it is worth it to stay there. They are right downtown, so you can walk around Sacramento really easily, and going to the expo and the race are a breeze! Also, getting back to the hotel after the race will be really easy!

4. Buses: The hotel buses are not only heated, but you can sit in the bus until the race starts!

5. Course: This course DOES have a net downhill, but beware! There are gentle rolling hills along the way; I think the climb is around 200 feet and the decline is around 500 ft, making it a net decline of around 300 feet.

6. Pacers: I did not use the pacers, except at the very end when the 4:10 pacer was about to pass me so I kicked it up a notch! The woman who was doing it was very encouraging. I would recommend using them if you can!

7. Post Race Meal: We had brunch at Bernardos. It was delicious! If you have a group, you can reserve their back room too, which means no wait!

8. Personal Pacers: My dad likes to run the last half mile with me sometimes when he comes to my races. In this one, that may get you disqualified! I don't know what would happen if the person paced you in the middle of the race, but I am not sure I would chance it!

9. Water: I usually carry water with me, but in this race, I really didn't need it. They had 17 aid stations and 3 different Gu stops!

10. Touristy Things & FOOD: This is not race related, but I lived in Sacramento for a few years, so thought I would throw out a few extras for all you visitors! When you are not prepping for the race and relaxing, you should go to: Old Town Sacramento, The American River Bike Trail, Sutter's Fort, Discovery Park. You should eat at: 58 Degrees and Holding (wine bar), Ernestos (Mexican), Frank Fats (Chinese), and Jack's Urban Eats (salads, meat, soup, sandwiches).

Good luck to everyone running and have fun! You can read more about the race in my Pros and Cons post or my CIM Recap! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Physical Therapy Ch. 8: GOOD NEWS!

This morning, I lay on my right side on the exam table at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, my right leg bent on the bottom and my left leg straight on top. Cathy, my physical therapist, asked me to raise the left leg just a bit, then told me to do whatever I could to prevent her from pushing it back down toward the table. She pushed. I resisted. And for the first time since I started this physical therapy odyssey she was unable to push past my resistance.

She then ran me through some other tests. I had to jump up and down on a trampoline, monitoring the pain in my sacrum. So far so good. Then she had me jump onto the trampoline from the floor, landing on one leg and stabilizing myself. I did just fine with those, feeling no pain in my sacro-iliac joint and only a little pain in the left hip.

Then I had to do the same thing on the floor, which means a harder impact. Still no pain! I wobbled a bit when landing on the left leg, but I caught my balance fairly quickly.

Finally, she put me on a leg press sled and had me push with my top leg while swinging the bottom leg in a running motion. This actually felt good. I could feel my glutes working, but without any accompanying hip pain. Too bad there's no leg press machine like this at any of the rec centers I frequent.

After I passed these tests, Cathy took me back in to the exam room for some needling (my piriformis, QL and glute medius on the left were really tight).

And when she finished with that, I got my good news:

I'm now allowed to do two sessions per week on the Alter-G--starting whenever I want!

Of course the sessions are limited. I will warm up for five minutes, run for twenty minutes at an easy pace and at 50% body weight, then cool down for five minutes. If I have any joint issues (as opposed to mere protesting muscle pain), I must stop. So most of my cardio will still be on the recumbent bike and walking on an inclined treadmill. But my first appointment for a real run is Monday morning.

I'm nervous. After all, it was just two weeks ago that Cathy said I was probably in for no running until July. And I know these things have their ups and downs. If my SI joint hurts, I'll need to stop.

But for now I'm letting myself be happy.

California Here I Come!

In other good news, I registered for my winter marathon. It will be the California International Marathon on Dec. 2. I will be rooming with Tricia--this will be her first marathon!--and possibly Kathy (if she decides she's OK with doing a winter marathon). Hopefully we'll all be healthy, relaxed enough for some fun meet-ups with other bloggers--and ready to run fast.

I haven't decided how to work this with the Detroit International Marathon on Oct. 21. I may take a step back and run the half-marathon. But I'm not going to make that change until I see how my back is doing going into June.

Winter Marathon Query

I am queuing up Part Two of my little "Aching Backs" series. This will be the one in which I detail my physical therapy program as it stands right now.

First, however, I need some educated opinions.

Right now, I am signed up for this October 21 race:

I'm not exactly training for it yet, but I guess I'm training to train.

Though I may not be allowed to run at all until mid-July, I'm still planning to run Detroit. But it's probably not realistic to think I can run it fast enough to beat January's Houston Marathon PR of 3:53:28 by at least 10 minutes--which is what I need to do to qualify for the Boston Marathon in 2014.

So I need to sign up for at least one more marathon before I turn 40 on January 21. Given what's going on with my back, BQing before that date (which was the entire premise of this blog) may not work out. But I'm not going to quit trying. (And if I don't make it this winter, I'm STILL not going to quit trying, so don't think that of me!)

My question is this: WHICH winter marathon should I sign up for?

As a sub-4-hour marathoner, I am granted early and guaranteed registration for the Houston race next year on January 13, a week ahead of my birthday. Early registration opens next Tuesday. But a lot of smart runners are signing up for the California International Marathon, a month and a half earlier on December 2. Looking at the course, it's tempting:

Hard to beat that profile....

Here are the pros and cons:

Houston Pros:

1) Six extra weeks to recover from Detroit and train
2) Familiar course--this would be my third time at it
3) Lots of friends in town; the support in January was amazing

Houston Cons:

1) Remember that weather in Boston the other week? Yeah, that's quite possible in Houston, even in January.
2) Not as fast a course
3) I'd have to train over Christmas again; I was hoping not to have to do that this year

CIM Pros:

1) Great course--see that chart again; according to Runners' World, it's in the top five of Boston Qualifiers
2) Good chance of nice weather; average temps are in the 50s
3) No training over Christmas

CIM Cons:

1) Not as much recovery/training time after Detroit
2) I know no one in Sacramento, though I'm sure I'll know some other bloggers running it

Of course, I could sign up for both races. This is also tempting. But it's a lot of money out of my family's till, and I'm not sure I can expect to do three marathons in four months and do any of them well. With my back an unknown variable, I need to do the right thing with this.

What's your opinion?