Notes
California International Marathon- 2:26:48, 126th place
5k: 17:26, 10k: 34:38 (17:12), 15k: 52:06 (17:28), 20k: 1:09:26 (17:20), 25k: 1:26:31 (17:05), 30k: 1:43:39 (17:08), 35k: 2:01:04 (17:25), 40k: 2:19:00 (17:56), Finish: 2:26:48 (7:48)
Pre-race: Woke up at 3:50 for the 7am race, got down some oatmeal, belvita sandwiches, coffee, and a bottle of pedialyte. Took a warm-ish shower then got my stuff ready and we headed to meet the guys to hop on a bus. I think I have taken down too much liquid the morning of races in the past so after I finished my pedialyte I planned to just sip on a bottle of Maurten 320 the rest of the morning to get a little hydration along with some more calories. We got on the buses at around 5:30 and it was a decently long ride to the start in Folsom. We didn't get off the bus until 6:20 and had about a 10 minute walk to the start and porta potties. We had to hustle to make it into the corral after porta potty stops and gear checks but ended up making it okay.
Start to halfway: Not a whole lot interesting happened in the first half. Will and I got out fine and through the mile in 5:40 which I was cool with given the congestion and wanting to go out conservative. About 2 miles in we found ourselves near the elite women's lead pack and I was content with just chilling behind them for the time being. Will took off around 2 or 3 miles and I let him go, content to run my own race and stay conservative. After a few miles Emma Bates broke away from the lead women and I sort of followed her. She had a small gap on me and was clicking off miles in the mid-5:30s which was exactly where I wanted to be. Around mile 8 I caught up to her and ran with her for less than a mile before continuing forward, just trying to maintain my pace. I was mainly in no-man's land between the lead women and a bunch of guys about 15 seconds ahead of me, which included Will. I was constantly keeping my eye on Will's group and timing the gap they had on me. I wanted to keep them in view but didn't want to start bringing down the gap... at least not yet. I went through halfway in 1:13:05 feeling good, which was exactly where I wanted to be.
Halfway to 20 miles: Shortly after halfway I saw Kaylee, Adam, Sarah, Jason, and Meg, which was a happy sight since I didn't think they were going to make it out on the course. At this point I knew I needed to average under 5:30 the rest of the way to break 2:25. I increased the pace a bit, but made sure it still felt comfortable, which it did. I slowly started reeling in the pack that Will was in, occasionally passing a dying runner. I caught the pack close to 30k and wanted to keep my pace up so I moved through it and went off the front. I was feeling comfortable running solo and didn't want to break my rhythm by trying to integrate into a pack. I was maintaining right around 5:30 per mile and while things were starting to get more difficult, I thought I could make it to the finish at that pace.
Mile 20 to finish: Passing 20 miles right at 1:51 I knew that I probably couldn't run 34:00 the last 10k to break 2:25, but I still thought sub 2:26 was very realistic. Mile 20 was my first indicator that maybe I wasn't going to make that happen. It was a 5:34 but I didn't feel like I had slowed at all. Then I ran a 5:39, while still feeling like I was running the same pace as before. My hamstrings and glutes were starting to burn, and I knew I was entering the grind of the last 10k. Even though I felt like death, I was able to keep it together and maintain my pace in the 5:40s. I was super encouraged by that, given that in past marathons usually I would be reduced to a shuffle at this stage. I was just counting down the miles to the finish, knowing that I could make it there and still break 2:27. I saw Kaylee and the rest of our group with about a half mile to go and almost teared up a little. I don't know why but I just felt really emotional as I was passing them, and it was gone as soon as I was passed them. With 400 to go I just needed to run under 95 seconds to break 2:27. Everything hurt, but I knew I could do that easily so I tried to enjoy the last couple turns. Hit the finish and my legs instantly felt broken, but in a good way.
I took 4 Maurten gels. One at 5 miles, 10.5 miles, 16 miles, and 20 miles. They settled well and I think I could have easily done one more. I took water at probably 80% of the stations. I think my drinking less water before the race plan worked well. Nutrition-wise I think this was about as good as it gets. I will probably plan on 5 Maurten gels + water in my next marathon.
I don't think sub-2:19 is going to happen in the next year, but I think its very realistic in the next 5 years for the 2024 trials. I am just going to keep chipping away at the minutes and someday I will get there. Next up will be Grandma's Marathon in June I think, and I will hopefully manage to dip under 2:25 there