California International Marathon - RunMarathon

The gun went off and it took us about 4 minutes to cross the starting line. I started with the 5:30 pace group and planned to go out slow with them for the first 3-5 miles before starting to pick it up. What I didn't realize was that the 5:30 pace leader works off of gun time she paced the first 5-6 miles at a significantly faster pace than I was planning (around 11 min/mile) in order to make up the difference between the gun time and the time we actually crossed the starting line. A bunch of people who were planning to run with the 5:30 pace groups ended up getting dropped since they couldn't stick with the fast pace at the start.

I hung consistently with the pace group and chatted with the other runners until around mile 4 when I had to stop to use the bathroom. I over hydrated and only went once before the race and I was really mad at myself for needing to stop so soon into the race. This pit stop was real quick and when I was done I focused on catching back up to the pace group. It took me about a mile or two to get back with them.

I was hanging in there and feeling really good until mile 7 when my IT band started bothering me. It's been a bother on and off while training for the race and picked the worst possible time to act up. I told myself to just deal with the pain and push through it.

I hung a bit ahead of the pace group until around mile 10 when I started having GI issues. I ate my normal pre-race breakfast of a banana and pop-tarts but I think in the future I will have toast and PB rather than the pop-tarts. Sometimes the sugar from the pop-tarts bothers my stomach. Stopped at a porta potty at mile 11 and felt much better after that stop. It is what it is, but I think between the two porta potty stops I could have been around 5:15 since I had to wait in a line both times.

Miles 12-17 were a blur. I caught back up with the 5:30 pace group again and chatted with some of the other runners running with the group for a bit, ended up running through the half marathon point with them. My focus at this point was trying to hold as close to a 12:00 mile as possible. My IT was really screaming and my hips were tightening up and I started taking really short walk breaks during which I would lengthen out my stride and stretch out my hips. These helped a lot.

Mile 18 is when it turned into a mental game. My IT was hurting so much and I started to get overwhelmed with emotion. From this point on I rode waves of emotion I've never had to deal with before. One moment I'd feel awful and hopeless and start crying and the next I would feel strong and great and like a rockstar. It was so weird. Anytime I felt bad I checked in and made sure I had been fueling, but I was always topped off in terms of calories and water so it wasn't lack of nutrition that was the culprit.

At mile 20 I thought "oh lord, here we go," since I hadn't run further than 20 miles in training. I knew that in a little more than an hour I would be done and get to stop. Even as my pace was slowing I really pushed myself these last 6 miles. I allowed myself to walk a bit after every mile marker, but other than that I just tried to force myself to run through the pain and the emotions.

Something else happened during these miles that was really strange. I think something happened to my physically that made me feel like I had sensory overload. At this point in the race they were playing loud music along the course and usually I would love it but during the race it physically hurt me to hear it. It was overwhelming and I ended up covering my ears and crying a few times because it hurt my ears. It seemed like all my senses were heightened and I didn't want anyone to talk to me or cheer for me or get near me. It was really strange.

Once I passed the mile 24 marker I said to myself "ok, let's do this." I knew breaking 5:20 would be close so I pushed as hard as I could for the last two miles. There were more tears during this part, I think I probably cried the most of anyone at the race that day. I saw my husband and a friend from GGTC about a mile from the finish and I gave my husband a quick kiss before putting in my final kick. I had complete tunnel vision making the final turn at the Capitol building and as I ran down the chute I heard the announcer say "and here comes someone from the Golden Gate Triathlon Club, go GGTC." I pumped my fists into the air and crossed the line in 5:20:54.

I'm a marathoner!

Not have to use the bathroom two times
More 20+ runs (a must for my next marathon)
Do a better job of dealing with my IT band (ART?) to keep it from becoming an issue on race day
Not cry so damn much
But given my training and my goal time I think I executed pretty well. I know now that the marathon is an ugly beast and I'll be prepared the next time I tackle this distance.

Crossed the line and got my medal and my space blanket. I loved my space blanket, it was so cool. Got my picture taken and found my husband and my friend who had already finished the race and had time to shower and change. He had a great race! Limped over and got my sweats from the sweat check, then I got in line for food while my husband went and got the car. We were trying to hurry back to the hotel so that I could take an ice bath and shower before our late checkout window ended. In the rush we TOTALLY forgot to take any pictures of me at the finish line. I really hope the pro pictures turned out good since this is one time we might actually have to buy them!


Being a marathon newb, IT band, crazy emotions.


This is an awesome race! The Expo was fantastic, there were tons of volunteers at all the aid stations and great spectator support. I would do this race again in a heartbeat.

My ONLY complaint (and this might just be me being a brat) were the relay runners. It was awful at mile 13 and especially mile 20 to have new relay runners join the race and be chatting to each other and being all bouncy and loud while the rest of us were in total and utter misery. I would have rather been running with just the marathoners. But oh well!