Big Sur International Marathon - RunMarathon


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Big Sur, California
United States
Big Sur International Marathon
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 49m 14s
Overall Rank = 620/3218
Age Group = F45-49
Age Group Rank = 19/229
Pre-race routine:

We checked in with Runner's World on Friday, what a great group. Got some info on the course, walked around the expo, got some good samples. Met with Cliff pace group people. They reinforced the party line - expected times would be 20-30 minutes above most people's PRs. We talked about my times, my training and my experience, and they suggested a 4:00 or 4:10 pace group. I'd been planning on a 3:50, so this was a bummer. I knew I was in the best marathon shape I'd been in, but the course was daunting. We had a great dinner - Jack's - and I held myself to one glass of wine! Headed back to the hotel, and watched the Sharks take game 1 of the second round!

Saturday, we drove the course. OOOF. We had convinced ourselves last night that it couldn't be THAT bad.....and now we knew we were wrong. Prettiest course ever, but wild hills, and amazing amounts of wind. Turned into an out-and-back what with Highway 1 falling into the ocean, and this little change added 700 feet to the climbs. Hard to stay calm.

Had a good lunch - I had buffalo carpaccio, and an arugula salad, and it was a great day-before meal - one for the books. Yeah, had me a buffalo and a bit of greens! Walked around Carmel, got a free pair of socks just for being participants, and headed back to rest the legs.

Too windy to lie by the pool, so I napped while Jeff worked. Good book reading time.

We went to the course review with Bart Yasso, got some good info. More scary course reviews and caveats. Good 'mantras': Don't Freak Out, Don't Pass Anyone (in the first 10 miles), Drink Red Wine(in recovery mode)

Headed out for our pre-race sushi dinner. Following CdA's successful trial, I did have sake. WIN!

Headed to the movies....only one we could get into was Fast Five. Total fail. Ah, well. Legs were up. Back to the hotel, final laying out of gear, early to bed. Best night sleep EVER on race night.

Alarm went off at 4:30. Had my pepsi and powerbar (upgrading from poptart, we didn't have a toaster in the room!) Headed down for the bus at 5:00. Damn, it was COLD, DARK, and WINDY.
Event warmup:

Checking into the Runner's World tent. The 'tent' part was critical - nice and sheltered. WIN! Had some more water, a bit of bagel. Sunscreened up, found the (really snazzy, executive-style) porta-potties, and dumped our stuff at bag-check.

Headed to the start. We were in Corral 'A'. Really? This was everyone with an estimated finish of less than 4:00. More intimidation! Nice smack from Jeff, and we were off to our pacers!
Run
  • 3h 49m 14s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 08m 45s  min/mile
Comments:

I've always been told that I start out too fast. This race, I'm going to follow the pacer and see what happens! It's a beautiful day, and I'm not cold anymore. .5 miles in - first hill. I'm feeling pretty good! Another runner (Hi, Julie!) starts chatting with me, and we decide to hang together. She's way faster, with a PR of 3:09, but she ran Boston 2 weeks ago, and we're pacing well together. Keeping the balloons of our pacer within sight!

The miles are ticking off well - keeping right behind the pace all the way through the turnaround at mile 12.2. REALLY amazed at how good I feel, and really afraid to acknowledge it! Didn't walk once - not once. Grabbed water at each station, but really need to work on my drinking skills!! I was carrying a thick concentration of SE, and reminded myself regularly to sip at it. Only got about two-thirds in, but that was 400+ calories. Ate 1/2 of two different GUs, too.

Music all over this course, that was great. Loved the piano at mile 11!

Saw Jeff, going the other way, at about .75 mile before the turn-around. He looked great!

At about mile 15, Julie told me her legs were getting heavy, and to head on. I felt bad, because she really kept me going for the first half. I heard her rooting me on from behind for a while.

At mile 16, I passed the pacer. I never lost him, and he and I switched back a few times. He had a potty stop, but then fell right back into place. Impressive!!

At this point, I started really believing I was going to PR. Starting doing the math with my 'extra' time, and once I realized I could do 10 minute mile and still PR, I started focusing on a realistic 3:50, to give me the 10 minute cushion for Boston. I had ruled it out in the last 2 days, but it was start to look possible!

Strawberries on the course at mile 21....best berry I've ever had. Blew that 'nothing new on race day' rule - but it worked!!

I felt strong, and great, until mile 22 when we turned into Point Lobos park. They had told us this was a flat addition to the course, it had never been part before, and we didn't drive it. 1.75 miles, and the hill by the turnaround was HORRID. I'm sure on paper it wasn't the worse, but I felt betrayed!! I saw Jeff on my wsy in - nice bonus - and figured at that point he was only 10 minutes ahead of me! That helped me over that hill!!

Back onto Highway 1, 2.5 miles to go. My legs are heavy now, and I've lost a bit of my cushion. Talked my way throught the next 2 miles. No matter what, I'm gonna be hurting this afternoon - how am I going to feel if I let go now? There was more climbing than I thought near the end. Ow.

Finaly 500 yards in - downhill!!! PAssed 12 or so people....woohoo!!! I see the clock, I know that I'm at least 20 second in from gun time....but I want the clock overhead to be in the 40's!! Huge push....BIG Steps....3:49:59. YEAHHHHH!!!

Almost went down.....very lightheaded....got helped for a few steps, and there was Jeff!! 8 minutes ahead of me, and he waited at the finish line! Big hug that held me up for a few more critical seconds. OMG. Sub 3:50.
What would you do differently?:

Absolutely NOTHING.
Post race
Warm down:

Lots of pictures, video with Runner's World and Cliff people. met up with other TRIbe runners. Headed into a amazing massage, and the most incredible post-race buffet ever. I can't usually eat after a big race, but that wan't the case today. I think I had 5 hummus and cucumber sandwiches,a dozen strawrberries, a banana, a jamba juice....yum.

Headed for the bus, back to the hotel.....and got McDonald's fries on the way home. Listened to the Sharks take Detroit in game 2....WIN!!

What a day!!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

NOTHING. My nutrition was spot-on. My training seemed to be effective. Small chafing issues, normal RA pain, nothing too horrid. Everything fell into place!!

Event comments:

Big Sur and Runner's World combined to make this a truly memorable race. I'll never forget it!!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2010-11-19 12:00 AM
Running
03:49:14 | 26.2 miles | 08m 45s  min/mile
Age Group: 19/229
Overall: 620/3218
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5