It's been a while since I've written a long race report... so, apologies, but bear with me. It's not every day you run a 4 1/2-minute PR.<br><br><b>Background</b><br><br>
I hadn't originally planned to run CIM. Early this year I planned to try hard to run a PR marathon in the fall, but I wasn't sure which one. I registered for St. George (2,000 ft. elevation drop!) and New York; didn't register in time for Chicago. Then this spring I ran a course that had 1,200 ft. of elevation drop, and it toasted my calves but good. So, I cancelled out of St. George, and decided New York would be the place to try to beat last fall's 3:08:50 (at Portland). I was hoping to up my training, but wound up following my old standby, Pfitzinger's 18-week, max. 55 mpw program.<br><br>
And then... everybody I talked to told me I was nuts to try to PR at New York. Eventually I listened, registered for CIM, and decided NY would just be a training run. After NY (easy 3:1<img alt="cool.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/cool.gif"> I was almost regretting the decision; the course didn't seem that hard to me.<br><br>
And then come December, time for CIM, my weight was still not where I wanted it. Six pounds up over last fall's PR. But a recent half (1:28:10) predicted about a 3:06 marathon. Also, CIM is a fast course, with moderate rolling hills and a net elevation drop of a few hundred feet. I'd been thinking 3:07, but now set my sights a little higher: I'd go out at 7:07 pace, and pick it up to 7:00 pace at the half if I felt up to it. That would put me in at 3:05. If I had to back off I'd still PR... unless 3:07 was just too optimistic. Honestly, going out at 7:07 scared me. I could very easily see calf cramps shutting me down at mile 18 or 20 or so. That's my too-fast failure mode.<br><br>
Also... CIM would be my 12th marathon this year (plus one super-tough 50 miler). Logic says this is not the best way to try to run fast. However, most of those marathons were really just long training runs run with lots of other people. I actually think running that many this year has helped me.<br><br><b>Pre-race</b><br><br>
Race-weekend events were not auspicious. First problem: my connecting flight to Sacramento through SFO, Friday evening, was cancelled due to fog. I had to spend the night in SFO, and get on the first flight in the morning. (Naturally, United won't put me up; weather is not their fault!) Next problem: I follow a one-day carb-loading protocol, which begins with a short, intense workout to stimulate extra carb absorption. I was supposed to get up bright and early in Sacramento on Saturday for this run. So, I was already screwed. Next problem: I get to the airport at 6:15 am, and I couldn't believe it, but this flight was cancelled too! Somebody does not want me to run this marathon. Do I want to go standby for the (full) 10:30 flight? No way. I take my $35 refund for the unused flight leg (gee, thanks!), rent a car, and drive the two hours to Sacramento -- which I should have just done Friday night.<br><br>
Once at my hotel I got my key workout in and began to carb load; then I began to breathe easier. I hit the expo and listened to a few talks, then met up with duckgeek. We were finally able to get seated at a pasta restaurant, and I was back at my hotel in bed by 7:30, carb count where I wanted it.<br><br>
Race morning I had more mishaps. First, I managed to lose my iPhone on the bus to the start. Oops. I'm an iPhone app developer; I need that! Fortunately I was able to eventually track it down, after it played musical race officials for a while. Next, I realized I'd brilliantly left both my garbage bag and my disposable poncho in my hotel room. Oops. It was 38°, and I was planning to race in shorts and singlet. Fortunately, it was possible to dress down and check my gear bag at the last minute, and squeeze in towards the front of the line.<br><br><b>The Race</b><br><br>
Once the race started, things started clicking. It was cold and foggy, but I was comfortable once I was moving -- well, apart from my numb feet. That happened in NY too; then they warmed up by mile 6 or so. So I didn't worry.<br><br>
CIM is a point-to-point course; it starts in Folsom, and ends in downtown Sacramento. It was quite foggy at the start; I strained to see far enough to hit the tangents. From what I remembered of the course profile, the first four miles were net downhill (especially mile 1), with moderate rolling hills through the half.<br><br><b>Mile 1:</b> 7:03<br><b>Mile 2:</b> 7:09<br><b>Mile 3:</b> 7:11<br><b>Mile 4:</b> 6:57<br><br>
I was a bit ahead of 7:07 pace now, not out of control, getting into a good groove. Not too cold. The hills are noticeable but not really a problem. The miles were very well marked, and seemed accurate. They were calling off average split times at each mile, which was nice.<br><br>
I carried a half-liter bottle of Gatorade; I finished and tossed it at the second aid station. And noticed that they were handing out drinks in plastic cups. Plastic?! You can't squeeze the tops of a plastic cup together to suck out of it; it will break.<br><br>
The crowd support was pretty good throughout the race, especially given that this was rural central California, not Boston. Someone mentioned at the race start that CIM had originally been started 25 years earlier in order to promote real-estate development in this area.<br><br><b>Mile 5:</b> 7:12<br><b>Mile 6:</b> 7:05<br><b>Mile 7:</b> 7:04<br><b>Mile 8:</b> 7:07<br><b>Mile 9:</b> 7:10<br><b>Mile 10:</b> 7:05<br><br>
I'm nursing a 10-15 sec. cushion on 7:07 pace now, right where I like it. Here we enter Fair Oaks. This is where the biggest hills on the course are. Two different elevation profiles showed the biggest hill either in mile 11 or mile 12, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But this section is again net downhill.<br><br>
Oh, and most of the later aid stations were using paper cups (though without quite enough Cytomax in them).<br><br><b>Mile 11:</b> 7:09<br><br>
Sure enough, long downhill followed by long uphill, but not too steep.<br><br><b>Mile 12:</b> 7:12<br><br>
And again. This hill wasn't as long, but was a bit steeper, and without the preceding long downhill. From here it's still rolling, net flat, until about mile 16.<br><br><b>Mile 13:</b> 7:02<br><br>
OK! 13 miles done, still feeling pretty good, but a bit trepidatious about picking up the pace to 7:00. Could I really run the rest of the race at that pace? One way to find out!<br><br>
I was almost too warm here. Not really warm, but I was wearing gloves, and they were beginning to feel unnecessary.<br><br><b>Half split: 1:33:17</b><br><b>Mile 14:</b> 6:55<br><b>Mile 15:</b> 6:59<br><br>
Miles 16-20 were again net downhill, which was welcome. Also the second half was not as hilly.<br><br><b>Mile 16:</b> 6:59<br><b>Mile 17:</b> 7:00<br><b>Mile 18:</b> 7:00<br><br>
Around about mile 18 the mental game started. I was feeling the effort, beginning to look for excuses to bag the 3:05 goal, back off, and still run a nice 2-minute PR with 3:07ish. I had known that would be one of the problems of not having a hard goal like 3:00 or 3:10. I made myself take it one mile at a time, and started in with my standard race tricks (usually only used in shorter races and speed workouts): repeatedly focus on something 50 feet ahead or so, the next telephone pole, tree, whatever, and make that my goal. And say to myself, "easy!". And that segment, in and of itself, always is easy. And that's all there is to it! It's always just the next short segment that you have to run. (Or as Janis Joplin would say, "Tomorrow never happens, man. It's all the same f***ing day, man".)<br><br>
When this strategy is working, it's like magic. Races seem to run themselves. It's when I think too much about how much is left that problems arise.<br><br><b>Mile 19:</b> 6:58<br><br>
I was slowly but surely building up my cushion; I gave myself permission to take a little break and use some of it.<br><br><b>Mile 20:</b> 7:04<br><br>
From here on the course is essentially flat, very slight downhill, one small bridge to deal with in mile 22 or so.<br><br><b>Mile 21:</b> 6:59<br><b>Mile 22:</b> 7:01<br><br>
Around here I began to believe I would pull it off. No calf cramps, no twinges. My feet were getting numb again, though. Probably as much from the pounding as from the cold. I was wearing pretty light racing flats, Saucony Type A2.<br><br><b>Mile 23:</b> 7:03<br><br>
Somewhere in here we hit the numbered streets -- the "grid". I saw numbers in the 50s. The final turn was on 8th street. So I now had a finer-grained countdown than the mile markers, which was cool.<br><br><b>Mile 24:</b> 7:00<br><b>Mile 25:</b> 6:58<br><br>
Generally if I'm feeling good in a marathon, even if it's just a training run, I'll pick it up the last couple of miles. This time I couldn't make myself accelerate until the last mile. I was definitely tired and sore and ready to be done.<br><br><b>Mile 26:</b> 6:43<br><b>Mile 26.2:</b> 1:23 (5:49 pace)<br><br>
Finally we turned onto 8th, then one more turn, with the women and the men funneled to separate finishing chutes. Odd.<br><br><b>Finish time: 3:04:24</b><br><br>
I could hardly believe I'd done it. I'm a year older and six pounds heavier than last fall's PR, and I had essentially the same training, yet I ran 4 1/2 minutes faster!<br><br><b>Afterwards</b><br><br>
I got my medal, grabbed some food, got my drop bag, and looked for Jim24315, who'd been planning to run just under 3:00 (and who had posted his picture to Kickrunners). But I didn't see him anywhere. Later I discovered that unfortunately, he'd had to drop out at mile 16, due to an injury that I guess wasn't quite done with him. Which is a real shame; the numbers said he should make it, and it was a perfect course and perfect conditions.<br><br>
I made my way back to the finish to look for duckgeek, who was going for a 3:20 BQ. But I didn't see him until about 3:30. He also was fit for 3:20, I think, but had had a non-optimal pre-race week, and started cramping at 18 and had to walk. But he gutted it out in the end and finished respectably. I've been there... quite possibly could have been there today as well.<br><br>
I shared the van ride to the airport with the 7th-place finisher, a Kenyan who ran 2:21. He thought the cold temps slowed the elites down a couple of minutes. Huh! Worked well for me.<br><br><b>What's Next</b><br><br>
One of the things that kept me going for the 3:05 goal, I think, was that I'd told myself that if I could break 3:05, especially at this weight, then I could really take the goal of breaking 3 hours seriously, possibly as soon as spring. So now the plan is to lose 10 pounds, raise the bar on my training, and go for that sub-3 in 2009 -- maybe at Newport, in May. It's a tangible enough goal now to really motivate me.
I hadn't originally planned to run CIM. Early this year I planned to try hard to run a PR marathon in the fall, but I wasn't sure which one. I registered for St. George (2,000 ft. elevation drop!) and New York; didn't register in time for Chicago. Then this spring I ran a course that had 1,200 ft. of elevation drop, and it toasted my calves but good. So, I cancelled out of St. George, and decided New York would be the place to try to beat last fall's 3:08:50 (at Portland). I was hoping to up my training, but wound up following my old standby, Pfitzinger's 18-week, max. 55 mpw program.<br><br>
And then... everybody I talked to told me I was nuts to try to PR at New York. Eventually I listened, registered for CIM, and decided NY would just be a training run. After NY (easy 3:1<img alt="cool.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/cool.gif"> I was almost regretting the decision; the course didn't seem that hard to me.<br><br>
And then come December, time for CIM, my weight was still not where I wanted it. Six pounds up over last fall's PR. But a recent half (1:28:10) predicted about a 3:06 marathon. Also, CIM is a fast course, with moderate rolling hills and a net elevation drop of a few hundred feet. I'd been thinking 3:07, but now set my sights a little higher: I'd go out at 7:07 pace, and pick it up to 7:00 pace at the half if I felt up to it. That would put me in at 3:05. If I had to back off I'd still PR... unless 3:07 was just too optimistic. Honestly, going out at 7:07 scared me. I could very easily see calf cramps shutting me down at mile 18 or 20 or so. That's my too-fast failure mode.<br><br>
Also... CIM would be my 12th marathon this year (plus one super-tough 50 miler). Logic says this is not the best way to try to run fast. However, most of those marathons were really just long training runs run with lots of other people. I actually think running that many this year has helped me.<br><br><b>Pre-race</b><br><br>
Race-weekend events were not auspicious. First problem: my connecting flight to Sacramento through SFO, Friday evening, was cancelled due to fog. I had to spend the night in SFO, and get on the first flight in the morning. (Naturally, United won't put me up; weather is not their fault!) Next problem: I follow a one-day carb-loading protocol, which begins with a short, intense workout to stimulate extra carb absorption. I was supposed to get up bright and early in Sacramento on Saturday for this run. So, I was already screwed. Next problem: I get to the airport at 6:15 am, and I couldn't believe it, but this flight was cancelled too! Somebody does not want me to run this marathon. Do I want to go standby for the (full) 10:30 flight? No way. I take my $35 refund for the unused flight leg (gee, thanks!), rent a car, and drive the two hours to Sacramento -- which I should have just done Friday night.<br><br>
Once at my hotel I got my key workout in and began to carb load; then I began to breathe easier. I hit the expo and listened to a few talks, then met up with duckgeek. We were finally able to get seated at a pasta restaurant, and I was back at my hotel in bed by 7:30, carb count where I wanted it.<br><br>
Race morning I had more mishaps. First, I managed to lose my iPhone on the bus to the start. Oops. I'm an iPhone app developer; I need that! Fortunately I was able to eventually track it down, after it played musical race officials for a while. Next, I realized I'd brilliantly left both my garbage bag and my disposable poncho in my hotel room. Oops. It was 38°, and I was planning to race in shorts and singlet. Fortunately, it was possible to dress down and check my gear bag at the last minute, and squeeze in towards the front of the line.<br><br><b>The Race</b><br><br>
Once the race started, things started clicking. It was cold and foggy, but I was comfortable once I was moving -- well, apart from my numb feet. That happened in NY too; then they warmed up by mile 6 or so. So I didn't worry.<br><br>
CIM is a point-to-point course; it starts in Folsom, and ends in downtown Sacramento. It was quite foggy at the start; I strained to see far enough to hit the tangents. From what I remembered of the course profile, the first four miles were net downhill (especially mile 1), with moderate rolling hills through the half.<br><br><b>Mile 1:</b> 7:03<br><b>Mile 2:</b> 7:09<br><b>Mile 3:</b> 7:11<br><b>Mile 4:</b> 6:57<br><br>
I was a bit ahead of 7:07 pace now, not out of control, getting into a good groove. Not too cold. The hills are noticeable but not really a problem. The miles were very well marked, and seemed accurate. They were calling off average split times at each mile, which was nice.<br><br>
I carried a half-liter bottle of Gatorade; I finished and tossed it at the second aid station. And noticed that they were handing out drinks in plastic cups. Plastic?! You can't squeeze the tops of a plastic cup together to suck out of it; it will break.<br><br>
The crowd support was pretty good throughout the race, especially given that this was rural central California, not Boston. Someone mentioned at the race start that CIM had originally been started 25 years earlier in order to promote real-estate development in this area.<br><br><b>Mile 5:</b> 7:12<br><b>Mile 6:</b> 7:05<br><b>Mile 7:</b> 7:04<br><b>Mile 8:</b> 7:07<br><b>Mile 9:</b> 7:10<br><b>Mile 10:</b> 7:05<br><br>
I'm nursing a 10-15 sec. cushion on 7:07 pace now, right where I like it. Here we enter Fair Oaks. This is where the biggest hills on the course are. Two different elevation profiles showed the biggest hill either in mile 11 or mile 12, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But this section is again net downhill.<br><br>
Oh, and most of the later aid stations were using paper cups (though without quite enough Cytomax in them).<br><br><b>Mile 11:</b> 7:09<br><br>
Sure enough, long downhill followed by long uphill, but not too steep.<br><br><b>Mile 12:</b> 7:12<br><br>
And again. This hill wasn't as long, but was a bit steeper, and without the preceding long downhill. From here it's still rolling, net flat, until about mile 16.<br><br><b>Mile 13:</b> 7:02<br><br>
OK! 13 miles done, still feeling pretty good, but a bit trepidatious about picking up the pace to 7:00. Could I really run the rest of the race at that pace? One way to find out!<br><br>
I was almost too warm here. Not really warm, but I was wearing gloves, and they were beginning to feel unnecessary.<br><br><b>Half split: 1:33:17</b><br><b>Mile 14:</b> 6:55<br><b>Mile 15:</b> 6:59<br><br>
Miles 16-20 were again net downhill, which was welcome. Also the second half was not as hilly.<br><br><b>Mile 16:</b> 6:59<br><b>Mile 17:</b> 7:00<br><b>Mile 18:</b> 7:00<br><br>
Around about mile 18 the mental game started. I was feeling the effort, beginning to look for excuses to bag the 3:05 goal, back off, and still run a nice 2-minute PR with 3:07ish. I had known that would be one of the problems of not having a hard goal like 3:00 or 3:10. I made myself take it one mile at a time, and started in with my standard race tricks (usually only used in shorter races and speed workouts): repeatedly focus on something 50 feet ahead or so, the next telephone pole, tree, whatever, and make that my goal. And say to myself, "easy!". And that segment, in and of itself, always is easy. And that's all there is to it! It's always just the next short segment that you have to run. (Or as Janis Joplin would say, "Tomorrow never happens, man. It's all the same f***ing day, man".)<br><br>
When this strategy is working, it's like magic. Races seem to run themselves. It's when I think too much about how much is left that problems arise.<br><br><b>Mile 19:</b> 6:58<br><br>
I was slowly but surely building up my cushion; I gave myself permission to take a little break and use some of it.<br><br><b>Mile 20:</b> 7:04<br><br>
From here on the course is essentially flat, very slight downhill, one small bridge to deal with in mile 22 or so.<br><br><b>Mile 21:</b> 6:59<br><b>Mile 22:</b> 7:01<br><br>
Around here I began to believe I would pull it off. No calf cramps, no twinges. My feet were getting numb again, though. Probably as much from the pounding as from the cold. I was wearing pretty light racing flats, Saucony Type A2.<br><br><b>Mile 23:</b> 7:03<br><br>
Somewhere in here we hit the numbered streets -- the "grid". I saw numbers in the 50s. The final turn was on 8th street. So I now had a finer-grained countdown than the mile markers, which was cool.<br><br><b>Mile 24:</b> 7:00<br><b>Mile 25:</b> 6:58<br><br>
Generally if I'm feeling good in a marathon, even if it's just a training run, I'll pick it up the last couple of miles. This time I couldn't make myself accelerate until the last mile. I was definitely tired and sore and ready to be done.<br><br><b>Mile 26:</b> 6:43<br><b>Mile 26.2:</b> 1:23 (5:49 pace)<br><br>
Finally we turned onto 8th, then one more turn, with the women and the men funneled to separate finishing chutes. Odd.<br><br><b>Finish time: 3:04:24</b><br><br>
I could hardly believe I'd done it. I'm a year older and six pounds heavier than last fall's PR, and I had essentially the same training, yet I ran 4 1/2 minutes faster!<br><br><b>Afterwards</b><br><br>
I got my medal, grabbed some food, got my drop bag, and looked for Jim24315, who'd been planning to run just under 3:00 (and who had posted his picture to Kickrunners). But I didn't see him anywhere. Later I discovered that unfortunately, he'd had to drop out at mile 16, due to an injury that I guess wasn't quite done with him. Which is a real shame; the numbers said he should make it, and it was a perfect course and perfect conditions.<br><br>
I made my way back to the finish to look for duckgeek, who was going for a 3:20 BQ. But I didn't see him until about 3:30. He also was fit for 3:20, I think, but had had a non-optimal pre-race week, and started cramping at 18 and had to walk. But he gutted it out in the end and finished respectably. I've been there... quite possibly could have been there today as well.<br><br>
I shared the van ride to the airport with the 7th-place finisher, a Kenyan who ran 2:21. He thought the cold temps slowed the elites down a couple of minutes. Huh! Worked well for me.<br><br><b>What's Next</b><br><br>
One of the things that kept me going for the 3:05 goal, I think, was that I'd told myself that if I could break 3:05, especially at this weight, then I could really take the goal of breaking 3 hours seriously, possibly as soon as spring. So now the plan is to lose 10 pounds, raise the bar on my training, and go for that sub-3 in 2009 -- maybe at Newport, in May. It's a tangible enough goal now to really motivate me.
