TL, DR- 4:58:06, a PW but my most evenly paced marathon so far.  I think I ran the best marathon that I had in me today, so I’m happy.

Background:

This was my 3rd marathon.  I ran my first (Portland) in 2014 and hit the wall early and badly, running a 2:10 first half and a 4:50 total.  I ran my second on a whim in 2015 without training or any long runs, but with a good base.  In that one, I ran a 2:15 first half, 4:45 total.  I was training for a marathon this spring but had to DNS due to nasty shin splints.

This marathon was a chance for me to get in a full during this year, to continue the “one a year” pattern I seem to have started.  When I signed up, I had been in a funk.  Coming back from injury, I had trouble with both controlling my weight and getting consistent training in.  I felt like I was struggling to run 5 milers and needed something to work towards as a goal.  

But this fall, I have been ridiculously busy.  Between my two jobs, six credits that I’m taking, plus getting my daughter off to college, I knew that there wasn’t going to be a lot of time for training, and also it wasn’t where I was going to want to put my mental stress.  Running needed to be a stress reliever and something to break up the other responsibilities I had in my day.  It was not going to be my priority, but I could use it as stress relief and to build consistently.

I used Hanson’s Beginner program, but moved stuff around more liberally than I probably should have.  For example, I work Thursday nights, so I generally ran tempo on Friday.  I substituted trail races for long runs a couple of times, not always for comparable distances.  I also missed too many runs, particularly in November, when I only totaled 155 miles.  Some of that was taper, but honestly Hansons doesn’t have much of a taper.  In general, though, when I was training it went really well, and I easily hit paces for 4:30.

Still, I had been feeling rather flat for the last few weeks, and knew my mileage was low, so I felt like 4:30 was not realistic.  I also got a helpful PM from LRB about avoiding pressures of a specific pace, and really running it more by feel and whatever the day had to bring.  I decided to go ahead and start with the 4:38 pace group, and adjust as needed.  My A goal was 4:30, B was 4:38, C was PR (>4:45), but above all else I wanted to feel like I had run a good race, had given it my all, and hadn’t given up just because I was off pace.  I was also trying for a negative split to get the free shoes.

Pre-race: I flew down Saturday morning, did a 3-mile shakeout, and then headed to the expo, where I met onemile, Mr. onemile, and LRB.  They were super friendly and really comfortable to spend time with even though we had only “met” online before that!  At the expo I also met somebody from another usergroup that I’m a part of.  Then I went back to my hotel where I realized that the heater wasn’t working.  Also, the phone wasn’t working in my room, and since it was a giant California style sprawling place, I had to keep walking to the desk to complain, then back to my room to talk to the maintenance guy, then back to the desk to complain more.  They did eventually move my room, but by then I felt like I had been on my feet all day.  I lost my safety pins either in the room move or at the expo, so I also had to go out and buy some.

Race day: I decided to check out of my hotel before the race, so I wouldn’t feel rushed to make it back afterwards.  That meant that I had to be fast in the morning.  The race is a point-to-point, so I was going to park at the finish line and catch the 5 AM bus to the start.  I ended up with a super chatty seat mate, which was good and bad.  There was no time to freak out, but I had to make small talk the whole way.  The race starts in Folsom, and you run into downtown Sacramento from there.

So many buses!  There were 4 rows like this, with buses as far as you could see.

We're stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps dragging on.

It was SO COLD at the start!  It was maybe 38, and warmed up to the mid-50s during the race.  I was able to toss my throwaway jacket before the actual start.  A few people had glove warmers, and that would have been a good idea.  I used the portapotty only once, which I figured probably meant I’d have a stop on course, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that really.  I’ve always had one stop during a marathon, so I’m willing to live with that.

My fueling plan was to alternate nuun and water at aid stations, and to take gels at miles 5, 10, 15, and 20 if I could stomach them.

Start: I had been planning to go with manual lap, but hadn’t turned off autolap.  My watch hit mile 1 before I passed the sign, so I hit the lap button at the sign.  That’s when I realized that I wasn’t trail running anymore.  On trails, my GPS measures short, so I can manual lap without changing settings.  I realized that if I kept doing this, I’d have something like 52 splits to edit later.  So I went with autolap for the rest.

I started out with the 4:38 pace group, but it became clear really quickly that they were trying to bank some time.  At the expo they had said they’d try to run evenly, but they also said that most of the downhills came in the rolling hills in the first half, and so it was hard not to run the downhills too fast.  What it seemed like they were doing was running the uphills at goal pace, but then speeding up on the downhills.  When I ran mile 3 at 10:20 (close to 4:30 pace) and they were pulling away from me on an uphill, I decided to let them go.  That decision probably saved my race.

I missed having the group around and things to distract me, but I appreciated the chance to adjust my pace based on how I was feeling.  I spent a lot of time taking inventory of my breathing, checking my form while running uphill, and making sure my shoulders were loose.

I had a port-a-potty stop at mile 5.  The line was super long, but I didn’t want to risk skipping it.  

I hit the 10K mat in 1:15:36 (12:10 pace), and knew that the stop would artificially make it look like I was rocking the HM.

The next part was easy, honestly.  There were some little rollers, but nothing long or steep.  I never managed to make the time back up on the downhills, but figured I’d just be that much more ready to drop the hammer once I was past the half.  I worried that I felt like I was working a bit too hard for this part of the race, but that just gave me more reason to not stress about being “on pace” and instead just run what felt right for every section.  Somewhere in here, I passed somebody who was out walking their goat.

I passed the 4:53 pace group around mile 11.  They must have passed me at the mile 5 stop.

HM: 2:29:55 (11:27 pace).  I gave a mental shout-out to anybody who might be watching from home.  My slowest first half by fully 15 minutes, so that shows more restraint than I usually show.

But I didn’t have any hammer to drop after the half.  I’d get these little bursts where I felt like I had a good smooth (and faster) pace, and it seems like every time that happened, I’d hit an aid station and lose my momentum.  The aid stations were short and not very organized, so I’d walk them just to be done with the drink before I passed the garbage can, because I hate to litter if I can avoid it.  But every time, I lost my “flow”.  I guess I didn’t have to drink at every one, since there were a bunch in there, but I was never sure when there would be a longer gap.

By mile 18, I started feeling really crummy.  I always feel really crummy at mile 18, if not much sooner, so I told myself that I usually feel better later on.  I started doing the math on what would happen if I just walked the whole entire way.  But mostly, I just kept running, as fast as I could manage.  I think that’s the point when I started counting down the total miles left instead of trying to run the mile I was in, which probably contributed to the problem.

There were way too many political jokes on the signs.  Can’t we just stick to toenails, poop, and that’s what she said?  Also, there was a guy at mile 18 or 20 on a ladder preaching that we were going to die very soon and need Jesus.  The scientologists were out in another section.

I crossed the mile 20 mat in 3:46:56 (11:21 pace).  I’m not sure if that means I sped up through that section or just that the stop in mile 5 was a smaller percentage of the total.  I certainly didn’t feel faster, but maybe that’s just because I had been hoping that my slower start would lead to me having more in the tank later.  The only problem with that logic is that there’s no amount of slowness that’s going to make the last miles of a marathon “easy” regardless.

After 20 was just ridiculously hard.  I forced myself to swallow another gel at 20 even though it seemed even more unpleasant than running.

I knew I was fading.  I wanted to speed up.  There was no speed left.  But I was determined to not give up.  I kind of leapfrogged folks around me as we all got our bits of motivation at different points. The 4:53 pace group passed me at maybe mile 22 and I couldn’t do anything other than watch them go.  I could probably have kept pace if I’d stayed with them at 11.  

I felt a bit sick, a bit lightheaded, and a little bit weepy.  It’s not that I was sad about my run, not at all, it’s just that all of the emotions for everything were just overwhelming me.  Some girls behind me started talking about people who just drop dead during races without having any warning beforehand.

We came into downtown, and even as the miles were counting down, I couldn’t speed up. Even in the last mile, there was nothing.  Somehow I did have a kick left for the chute.  So there was something left I suppose.

I finished in 4:58:06, an 11:33 pace.  A 7 minute positive split.  No free shoes for me, but I felt like I fought for it.

Post race: I got my medal and space blanket, and choked down half a container of oatmeal.  I didn’t want to dally too long, because I figured that LRB and the onemiles were getting sick of waiting for me for our post-race meal.  I got my bag, which had my phone and car keys in it.  I had been thinking of changing there, just to be fast, and then getting a shower later, but I was so ridiculously icky that I asked if they would mind if I took a shower first.

For me, that meant talking the walk to my car, then driving to the Y for a shower since I had checked out of my room already.  But to get to the Y, I had to get across the marathon route!  I was so aware of how slow I was being at that point.  

Finally, I met LRB and the onemiles for our post-race meal and story sharing.  I hadn’t realized until I saw them how disappointed they were with the race.  I hope that’s not the last time anybody wants to come out west for a race!

Things to consider:

The biggest issue I’m having right now is my weight.  I toed the line today 25 pounds heavier than I was when I ran my PR.  I really think that, especially at the marathon distance, it probably affects how well pacing runs translate into race day paces.  If I want to get faster, I need to focus on that.  The good news is, although I gained the weight over the last year and a half, I did maintain during training, which can be tough.  I think having the race as a focus helped me to get things together and halt the gain.  That was the first step.  But I need to be honest with myself and realize that running faster than a 4:5X isn’t going to happen at this weight.  If I had been at last year’s weight for this one, I think it might have been an A goal day.

Another thing to consider is whether Hansons is a good fit when you know life is likely to get in the way of a training cycle frequently.  The whole program is built on “accumulated fatigue”, so if there are extra days off or lighter days between workouts, then the whole premise falls apart.  It might make sense to do a plan with a longer LR if you’re not running as fatigued, for example.

All in all, though, my goal when I signed up were to add some structure to my running to help me build mileage and consistency, and to try to run a more consistent marathon.  I accomplished both of those.  So, overall, it was a successful day that capped off some positive momentum in my running.  I think I know my next steps, now it’s just continuing to move forward.

Congrats on overcoming the training obstacles to run and finish CIM. And if you don't mind waiting for me to finish, I'll let you know if I ever come out west for a race, though it's more likely to be an ultra or trail run than a marathon.

It was a pleasure meeting you. Sorry about my potty mouth, I know I swear an awful lot. I actually tried to stop once, but that only led to more swearing.

Congrats on your marathon, Zelanie. Probably not the results you wanted but you still did good.

Congrats on your marathon, Zel.

You are at almost 1500 miles for the year.

You have a streak of over 125 days.

You just ran a marathon.

You win.

There were way too many political jokes on the signs.  Can’t we just stick to toenails, poop, and that’s what she said?  Also, there was a guy at mile 18 or 20 on a ladder preaching that we were going to die very soon and need Jesus.  The scientologists were out in another section.

I'm not sure I read a single sign during the entire race!

I don't remember any scientologists, but would have given them a thumbs up for Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation.

I did see/hear the Jesus dude, who looked directly at me and said "You need Jesus!". I gave him a look like you have no idea how right you are right about now. lol

Congrats on the race. As far as the shoes, any other brand, sure, but do you really want a pair of New Balance that you feel like you need a sign to explain they were from Strava & not your political views? At least that's what I told myself.   Sounds like a good call to ditch the pace group early.