I was so happy to actually be able to fit a marathon in this year, I hadn't set my goals terribly high for CIM this year. All through my recovery and training, I figured that if I could just finish it, it would be a success. I also figured that I could probably qualify for Boston somewhat handily, but I hadn't pushed too hard at the idea. Mostly I was just hoping that 2018 wouldn't be my first calendar year since 2008 without completing a marathon.
As I got closer to the race, I decided to set my goals as:
1. Finish and be happy with it
2. Qualify for Boston (although they set the standards higher this year, I will be entering a new age group next year, so my 49-year-old qualifying time of 3:55:00 becomes my 50-year-old qualifying time of 3:55:00), and
3. MAYBE pull off something in the 3:40's.
But I felt so good. While we were in Sacramento loading up on french toast the day before the race, Sean suggested that maybe I was setting my sights too low on this one. My training was going so well that he thought I might PR. I thought about it and decided that I was going to maybe not PR, but that I certainly had a shot at a 3:30-something, so I adjusted my goals a bit:
1. 3:54 (enough to buffer that BQ by one minute)
2. 3:40-something
3. 3:30-something.
While it would be great to get a PR at my age, this was not the day to try it, because I've heard too many horror stories about people overrunning the first half of this race and dying in the second half. A PR for me would be 3:33:59 or less, which would mean either a consistent 8:05 or an amazing negative split. I wasn't confident enough to start that fast in either case, so we'll leave that for another race.
The expo was great. Extremely well-organized, and a very helpful and friendly bunch of volunteers. It was also wonderfully medium-sized. There was enough going on that it was fun and engaging (and I found a good deal on a good sports bra - I'd left my favorite in the dryer at home), but not overwhelming in crowd or in offerings.
Race day weather was amazing. We were flanked by rain on Saturday and Monday, but Sunday was clear and cold and sunny. It was very dark at the start, however. The instructions on the website said "buses leave the convention center at 5:00". I wasn't sure if that meant that there was a window or if they all left at once, so I decided to leave the hotel at 4:40, just in case. As it happens, it was a good idea. There was a line most of the way around the block when I arrived at 4:50. It was really cold, and I was enjoying the warmth of my throw-away layers of sweats. The buses showed up exactly on time, and we filed on. Our driver, the lively Cherie, talked us through the evacuation procedures and popped back into the driver's seat. Aaaaaand the bus didn't start. Cherie kept a cool head, although she was undoubtedly getting worried. Her cheerful shout outs went from "It'll be just a minute, we'll get you going" to "They're gonna help me out here, just get comfy, we'll get you there" to "There will be another bus here in TWO minutes, don't worry!" We all filed off the bus back into the cold, and all the other buses had left. Cherie popped out and said "I'm just gonna try ONE MORE THING", and flipped some switch at the outside of the bus, and when she went back in... VROOM! We filed back on and got on the road. That was a little adrenaline spike, but not too bad.
It seemed like a very long ride to Folsom, but we arrived in time for me to cycle through the porta potty lines twice and see a lovely sunrise. We lined up in our self-assigned waves, and one of the members of the band Cake (from Sac'to) played the national anthem for us, and we took off.
I've heard horror stories of people starting this race too fast, so I took my usual approach of staring at my Garmin so as not to overrun the first few miles. I try to "be a stone in a stream" and let all the people who are going out too fast pass me by, taking care to remember what some of them look like so I can see them again in the last 5 miles as I pass them. It's a strategy that works well for me, keeping me slow at first and pushing me in the tough miles.
They bill this race as "fast" and "net downhill", but they don't really tell you quite how hilly it is. It's really quite a lot of rolling hills, especially in the first 16-18 miles. After that it's chill as heck, but there is a lot more uphill than their marketing department would lead you to believe. That said, I like rolling hills, so I was very okay with it, but I wouldn't say it's an easy course!
Thanks to my Garmin, I was able to keep a really consistent pace. When all was said and done, my fastest split was 8:08, and my slowest was 8:17. Remarkably consistent, for me at least. The only part I really hated was mile 25, but I pretty much always hate mile 25. Coming around the State Capitol at the end was really fun, not only for the visual, but the great crowd support. There was a guy dressed like Jesus at mile 26 with a sign that said "The End Is Near", which made me laugh out loud. (That and the person nearer the half holding the sign that said "Toenails are for Pussies" were my favorites). Coming up Capitol Avenue to the finish, I put a little kick on, and was delighted to have finished with a solid 3:36:30. The second-fastest marathon I have run (after Chicago 2014), and a Boston Qualifier by 18.5 minutes.
Overall it was a very positive experience and I would recommend this race highly. I had only two criticisms: One is there was nowhere nearly enough water at the finish line. After I left the finishers area and found my husband, we had to look around for probably 10 minutes to find water, and then it was only a little cup, not sufficient to mix my Recoverite, so I had to get back to the hotel to have my recovery drink. I know CIM is trying to have a low carbon footprint, but maybe they should consider a bottled water sponsor. We're all pretty dehydrated when we come across, and can't reasonably stay in the chute until we've rehydrated. Just my opinion.
Secondly, and I hope someone from CIM gets back to me about this, is the behavior of one of the pace mentors really bothered me. I started out in between the 3:30 and 3:35 pace groups, and spent about half the race with 3:35 right on my heels. I don't like to run with the groups, just because I find the crowding kind of stressful, but I know they are a great offering in big races for people who want the guidance. And I know that a great pace leader can be a game-changer. One of the guys leading 3:35, however, was a little upsetting. He kept smack-talking people wearing the Nike VaporFly shoes, saying things like "look at all these people wearing those ridiculous $400 shoes thinking they are gonna be the ones getting a 2 hour marathon". "Look there goes another guy. He's gonna run a 4 hour marathon." Then around mile 17 or thereabouts he says "Oh great. Here comes the MOST BORING 4 miles of this marathon." I was disappointed for the people running in his group. There's fun banter, and there's taking people down. I hope someone has a conversation with this guy about how to say things in a positive way. At mile 17, for instance, "here's where we need to dig deep as we start to get back into the city" would have a more positive vibe than basically telling them to prepare to be miserable for 30 minutes. We need to remember when we're civilians versus when we are representing someone's business/event/marathon. Anyway, that's my soapbox. Other than that, it was a terrific experience.
Thanks so much to P.A.C.E. physical therapy for getting me back on my knee, and to my amazing sponsor Hammer Nutrition - Tissue Rejuvenator during my recovery, as well as frequent use of Recoverite, Endurolytes, and Fully Charged got me through training. Endurolytes, Race Day Boost, Anti-Fatigue Caps, Fully Charged, BCAA, and Hammer Gels: Mountain Huckleberry, Vanilla, and Peanut Butter on race day helped get me to the finish line.
2018 didn't turn out to be the year I thought it would. Last September I registered for the Boston Marathon, hoping for a re-do of my 2013 race. I actually ran a good race that year, but because of the bombing, I thought it would be nice to do it again and see Boston in celebratory glory rather than crime scene investigation mode. By the time my training started in late December, I decided that for my 16th marathon, I would change up the way I trained and see if I could really surprise myself. I decided that I'd try to get a PR in Boston, just a few weeks shy of my 49th birthday. I added an extra day of running to my usual plan, and held myself to a higher standard for tempo work. It wasn't at random - I read books by smart guys and applied my new-found knowledge carefully. And it was working! By late February and early March, I was running faster and more consistently than ever, and relatively comfortable during and after my workouts.
On March 9, I injured myself teaching a particularly hard strength class. (Rookie mistake - don't demonstrate what not to do while holding a heavy load - insert facepalm here). I had hoped that it wasn't much and that I could just do some deep water running and foam rolling and be fine 5 weeks later in Boston. But it wasn't. Despite the freezing temps, strong headwinds, and driving rain, I was excited to be there. I hadn't made a plan for a potential DNF, because it hadn't occurred to me that I wouldn't finish. Silly, I know, but I thought I could power through. I felt great for 3 miles, okay until the 10k mark, slow but determined to 15k, and then tried walking. It was so cold that when I switched to walking, my muscles locked up and I limped from mile 10-point-something to the medical tent in Natick at mile 11 and faced the inevitable. My first (and hopefully only) DNF. I was devastated, but that's for another day.
When we got back to Portland, I finally got myself to a doctor, and got the diagnosis that I had a small meniscus tear, and that it was rehab-able rather than requiring surgery. So starting in late April, I went to physical therapy every week with the miracle worker Matt Walsh, and by July 4 I was ready to run a 5k. After that, I was released and told to "Be Smart" as I increased my mileage again, and that a half marathon in September and a full marathon in December seemed like achievable goals. So I signed up for the Apple Tree Half on September 16.
I tried to talk to myself as I would a client and remember that increasing speed and increasing distance need to happen sequentially and not simultaneously, and also that progress is never linear. It has been humbling to be slow and out of shape comparatively. But I'm so happy to get to do it again.
I got my long run mileage back up to 16 or 17 miles the week before the Apple Tree, and I had started doing track workouts about a month or so beforehand, so I felt like I had a good chance of staying consistent at around 8:00-8:15 per mile for the race. My basic goal was just to have a good run without stopping. My REAL goal was to come in under 1:50. In general I'm a 1:43-1:45 half marathoner, but there's a lot of variation around that. I thought 1:40-anything would feel great.
The weather report varied like crazy the week leading up to the race. One day it was predicting heat and sun, the next day, cold and rain, and just back and forth all week, so I had no idea what to expect. I felt like it would be nice to have a race that wasn't rainy and windy, but sometimes that's how it is.
Anyway, race day, the half marathon didn't start until 8 a.m., so I missed the early morning rain, and it was actually rather pleasant at the starting line. My biggest concern was not going too fast in the first half. This is usually my biggest concern anyway, but since my endurance is not yet what it was 6 months ago, I was really afraid of crashing and burning. My garmin was my bff, and every time I saw myself popping down to a 7:-something mile, I backed off to somewhere in my goal range.
So I have run a handful of events in Vancouver, and by and large I have found them to be okay. I seem to recall short miles through the pretty part of Fort Vancouver, followed by long out-and-backs with not much to look at, and I definitely remember at least one poorly-timed race where the fastest of the half-marathoners were forced around big groups of the slowest 5k walkers in the last half mile or so.
(Somewhat unrelated rant: Please don't get me wrong - I absolutely LOVE seeing people come out to walk a 5k. I think people who aren't "typical" racers often don't get the appreciation they deserve. However, on a narrow street, when you're trying to get a PR, and you're having to go 10 feet sideways to get around a string of 5 abreast-walking people who are chatting and naturally not looking behind them, it can get a bit frustrating. This seems somewhat preventable by a race director with an eye on the timing of things.)
Anyway, back on track: the Apple Tree Half Marathon was far and away the best race I have run in Vancouver. There were many things I appreciated, and I'll try to get to them all:
First of all, the 5k was the night before, which was a huge win for a lot of people, and big ups to WHY Racing for doing it this way. It gave them the opportunity to have a weekend long event, making the atmosphere more festival-like than just one race time can do. It also gave folks who really like medals the chance to participate in both the 5k and the Half Marathon and even earn a third "Beast" medal in the process. A lovely idea, and the bling-collectors were definitely digging it. It also allowed the course to stay a little less hectic the day of the longer events.
Secondly, Vancouver has made some lovely changes to its waterfront area. The new, modern riverwalk area was nice to look at, and also because there was so much going on, gave a level of crowd support in the often-challenging later miles of the race. WHY racing did a great job of designing the course - there were no multiple-mile stretches with nothing and nobody to look at. The mostly out-and-back course offered good views coming-and-going, and I personally like a course that is at least partially out-and-back, just because you can see who else is on course. The variety of views was great - park, a bit of trail, riverfront, a bridge/overpass that was very scenic, and well-marked turns and crossings made the trip very pleasant.
The only possible drawback that I could see was because it was largely out-and-back, and the marathon was a double loop of the half marathon, it could get a little crowded on some of the narrower pathways. I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a probable PR course for that reason, but that's speculative. I was certainly happy with my time, so perhaps the relatively small fields circumvented that issue.
So, I was feeling pretty good for most of the race. Around mile 8, the wind really picked up, which made it harder than I'd have liked to stay consistent, and at around mile 9 the sky opened up to a downpour for about 20 minutes, which was less than ideal, but I'll take rain at mile 9 a million times over rain at mile 1. By mile 11 I was not smiling anymore, but I just reminded myself that it's okay to be uncomfortable and that I could run for 16-17 more minutes. I knew if I slowed at all, I wouldn't be making my goal of under- 1:50, so I just hunkered down and focused on passing someone who had been about a quarter mile ahead of me for some time. I passed her at mile 12 and got my game face on to push to the finish.
I was thrilled to finish in about 1:48:30 - nowhere near a PR for me, but a very successful return to racing, considering I'd only been running again for 2 months. After crossing the finish, I hobbled over to the results tent (more props to WHY Racing for having *immediate* results available), and found out I won my age group! That was particularly satisfying. I crossed the finish as the 11th woman overall (out of 419), and 1st in my age group (45-49) out of 40.
As always, huge thanks to my amazing sponsor Hammer Nutrition. Fueled for this race with Endurolytes, Apple Oatmeal bar for breakfast, Grape Fizz while I drove to the course, Fully charged and Espresso Hammer Gel at the start line, and of course APPLE PIE gel on course. Recoverite at the finish line. Special mention to Tissue Rejuvenator for helping me get over this meniscus tear and back to running with the rapidity I was able to pull off.
Next up: California International Marathon on 12/2.
