Marathon Debut

Ran the California International Marathon last Sunday in Sacramento, CA and had a very good experience. Below is a quick recap of the race and how I feel about it!

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CIM Marathon - 8th Place - 2:17:51

5:17, 5:16, 4:58, 5:11, 5:10

I was probably about the 50th person off the line because all of the young guns and masters guys were hot to trot and putting their elbows to use. Started about 4 rows back next to Danny and we agreed to let everyone else do their own dumb thing off the line, stay out of trouble, and then settle in. Got out a bit slower and then eased up past the early sprinters on the shoulder of the road and got into a pack being led by Matt Fecht. Hung in there for about a half mile before it was evident that it was going to be a bit too slow. So I moved to the front and Danny followed suit and we started to bridge the gap to the group ahead. We were running in no man's land until just after two miles, neither gaining or losing ground on the group ahead of us, so I told Danny we should just use the downhill we had in front of us to our advantage and make up the ~40m gap to the group ahead of us, thus the 4:58. A bit fast, but it was definitely aided by the downhill and it made sense to get linked up with that group of Nick Hilton, John Raneri, and Robert Winslow.

5:11, 5:12, 5:11, 5:14, 5:07

Really settled into a great rhythm in this section, despite lots of ups and downs. None of them significant, but there were times were plenty of times where I just focused on maintaining effort on the uphills to keep from overdoing it. The pack of 5 of us (Hilton, Raneri, Winslow, Mercado, and me) worked together very well on this section, trading leads and running in a tight pack.

5:09, 5:18, 5:11, 5:13, 5:15 (HM Split = 68:03)

Hilton started to pull away around the 10th mile from our pack and we dwindled down to 4. I still felt really good, but we were pretty much right on 2:16 pace and I didn't want to move with Hilton since it was still so early in the race. Saw Ian for the first time at mile 11 and gave him a thumbs up and a smile. I was really having a good time out there--thoroughly enjoying the experience. At mile 12, Danny surged a bit and got away from us as we caught Mason Frank and another guy (forget who). Raneri, Winslow and I caught back up to Danny right at mile 13 and then we hit half together. Told the boys the hardest part was over--the rest was more downhill and flat from here. Didn't last long as I maintained pace, I found myself at the front of the group of 4 and it starting to string out. By mile 14 I had a 10m gap on them and it was growing, so I figured I'd just keep my eyes on Hilton, who was about 250m ahead at this point. At this point, I was in 12th place.

5:12, 5:12, 5:15, 5:18, 5:18

I actually had a pretty good section here, despite running it solo. My right hamstring was starting to get a little tight and I had a couple strides where I had a small hitch, which made me worry that I was going to cramp up. I just focused on positive thoughts, slapped my hamstring a few times, said a quick prayer, and luckily it never did. I spent until about mile 17 catching Hilton. About a half a mile earlier, I saw him grab his left hip and his cadence changed a bit, so I figured he'd be coming back, but I didn't know it'd be so fast. When I passed him, I tried to get him to hop on, but he just waved me past. This was a pretty lonely section, so it helped enormously for my mental state to see Ian (who was riding on his bike) at each mile split giving me encouragement. I also handed out a few high fives to some kids for my own mental state. Giving the high fives and seeing those kids smile was a huge mental boost to remind me how much fun this was and to enjoy the experience.

5:18, 5:18, 5:22, 5:24, 5:27, 5:29 (20M = 1:44:18, final 10k = 33:33)

Got to 20 and again found myself surprised that I was still feeling pretty good, minus my quads and hamstrings starting to get a good burn. Luckily by this point, both of my hamstrings were equally sore and it didn't feel like they were going to cramp anymore. I did have trouble getting my last fuel bottle down at 20.4, so I only took a small sip and then chucked it. My stomach was pretty full and not doing well with actually digesting the fluids I was giving it (something to think about). Almost threw up about 3 times, but I just had to slow down for about 20m and keep my gut in check before returning to full speed. Passed Sergio Reyes and another guy (not sure who) at mile 22 across a bridge. They were good incentive for about a mile, but after I passed them, I couldn't see anything except wide open road ahead of me. At this point, I was in 9th place and figured that was probably going to be it, so long as I didn't blow up. Checked my watch, did the math, and realized that 2:16 was definitely out of the picture, 2:18 was likely if I could just hold 5:20ish, but it could easily be 2:19+ if something went wrong. Again, luckily, I found myself in pretty good spirits and giving the occasional wave to the crowd just to try and cheer myself up and get the reciprocal cheering of the crowd (which was great!) to lift my spirits. Hit the numbered streets with 2 miles to go (28th street) and knew the finish was at 8th street, which helped click down the final miles. The last couple miles actually went by faster than I anticipated (good thing) and it was an incredible experience to be the only one on the road within sight and thousands of people/bands/music/gospel choir bringing me through the final stages of the race. With a mile to go, I finally saw a figure far up ahead, but figured there was no way I'd have enough runway. With half a mile to go, a spectator yelled at me that I was going to catch him (ended up being Brenden Gregg) since he was hurting pretty bad. I dug a little deeper, and to my surprise, I caught him with 400 to go to move into 8th. Making that final turn towards the capitol and seeing the finish line was a beautiful sight and it was then I realized I would crack 2:18, which was my original goal from 7 weeks ago. So satisfying. Even though it was a somewhat soft goal (considering my HM PR), considering where I was just 3 months ago, I'm extremely pleased with the result.

It was an exhilarating physical and mental challenge, and I actually really enjoyed just about every part of it. As I reflect upon the race, the sense of camaraderie that is developed between you and your competitors is probably the most rewarding thing. For me, there is so much joy in being able to look at competitors as co-conspirators, striving to conquer a daunting task, each one of us encouraging and lifting up the other to rise to the occasion, rather than as an enemy to be defeated, which happens all so often on the tartan oval. 

This wasn't the hardest effort I've ever given in a race, and there are certainly other races where I've had to dig deeper to finish, but with where I am in my life, I don't regret that. I actually do feel that I gave it my best on the day, it just didn't bring me to vomiting, collapsing, dehydration, or utter exhaustion. Had there been another body next to me for the last half of the race, I may have been able to steal another 30-40 seconds, but the fact is that there wasn't, so I did the best with the cards that I was dealt on that day with the preparation decisions I had made. 

I start a full time job with Thermo Fisher Scientific next week in Eugene, OR, so that looks to be my home for at least a few more years. I'll have to figure out if I still have the passion to train once I start working, but if I do, I'd imagine I'd like to give the marathon another crack.

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Author's Note: I sent this to a faithful friend, adviser, and long time coach of distance runners, Steve Price, and what follows is a short Q&A he had with me back and forth. If you're interested in finding out a bit more, you can read my answers below:

1. After the 4:58, how did the next 2-3 miles feel ?

Actually just fine. I was very conscious of not working too hard to work up to that group and that 4:58 was also the result of a long gradual downhill, which allowed for an easier time to move up to the pack ahead and tuck in for the next couple miles.

2. You were 12 th. at 1/2 way ?

Yes!

3. What was in your fuel bottle ?

I alternated between GU mixed in with 6oz of water and Generation UCAN mixed with 6oz of water.

4. Be specific with your goals and list them all no matter how small. I always felt that the more goals, the better. That way you have more measurements to evaluate post-race. 

1.      Sub-2:18

2.      2:16 on a great day

3.      Top 10

4.      Top 5 on a great day

5.      Enjoy the dang race!!

5. What was your exact finish time ? 

How did I forget to put that in my write up!? Must have not hit the editors desk before publication for review. 2:17:51.

6. What was your milage leading up to the marathon (weekly) ? 

56, 70, 87, 97, 108, 115, 119, 127, 113, 88, 73 (RACE)

7. What was your longest training run ?

22 miles in 2:03:56 (5:37 average)

8. What was your longest race before the 26 miler and when was that ?

US Half Marathon Champs in January of 2015.

9. Tell me more about the job situation.

It's a mechanical engineering position with the life sciences division of Thermo-Fisher Scientific here in Eugene. This location designs flow cytometers, which is really just a fancy machine to count and analyze cells. Pretty fancy table top machines for medicine and research. I'll be helping a team to fit all the fancy instrumentation and lasers into a neat looking box that someone much smarter than me can use.

10. What was temp/weather conditions ? 

41° at the start and perhaps 50° at the finish, still, sunny. Couldn't have asked for better weather other than a gigantic and unfair tailwind, a la Boston from 2011 was it?

11. What did you learn from the race about yourself ? 

I have no clue how I broke 4 for the mile. Running aerobically is so much more enjoyable and much more in my wheelhouse than all that anaerobic mumbo jumbo. That might be overstating it a bit, but it really opened to my eyes to being able to enjoy longer races. I also realized, at least in this race, my mental game gave me a huge advantage over my competitors. I was looking forward to the challenge of the marathon and was able to use that to my advantage, rather than shying away. It was the same sort of feeling that I've had before doing 100 mile bike rides: knowing it would be hard, but excited to get my body to dig deep later on.

12. When/where is your next race ? 

No plans. Not sure. I'm getting kicked off with the new job and then will see how training fits into that.

13. What did you learn from yesterday's race that you can use in your next full or half marathon ? 

Aerobically I felt very well prepared. Quads and hamstrings started getting sore earlier than I would have liked, so if there's another one, I'll incorporate more resistance training and more hilly easy runs/workouts to try and prepare the musculature to match my cardiovascular system. I also had a tough time with digesting my fluids--perhaps more salt is needed to make them more isotonic and easier for my body to absorb? Something to investigate.

14. What type of training will you be doing now ? 

I call it the cake and beer plan and it's exactly what it sounds like. Or at least treat myself to that for a bit before I turn into Jabba the Hutt. I'm not sure....the race drives the training plan. I'm considering US Cross Country Championships since they're in Bend, OR in February, which is a short drive from Eugene. If not those, then Ian suggested running the Eugene marathon. Not sure about that either at the moment.