California International Marathon - RunMarathon

This is not an easy course. Today it was not a fast course, either. I was well prepared for the hills (and I love hills, and have run marathons with HILLS), and I still feel like I got run over by a Mack truck. Miles 1-8 I ran on a 1:1 or 2:1 and splits were 12:45 to 13:15. HIGHLIGHT: dog break to pet a lovely reddish Golden Retriever on mile 2. Paced a single amputee running with a barefoot guy for a while. A spectator screamed out, "Barefoot? At least you ain't pregnant, too!"

My friend Walter whom I drove up with was expecting to (easily) BQ, which he's done before, and he barely made it. Our new friend Antti, who runs 20-25 marys/year (often back-to-back; will do Honolulu next week) felt it was a tough course. Not trail tough, not quite Big Sur tough (but almost). I've done a few races with Walter and I've never seen him in this bad shape--can barely walk, also ill.

The temps were perfect, but there was a nasty chilly headwind most of the way which kept me frozen. On the plus side, my legs were numb much of the time. On the minus side, I couldn't gauge how they were doing or adjust, and they felt extremely heavy (ever slept on an arm?). One of the vols said, "Wow--your legs are REALLY red." When they finally thawed, I had the usual pins-and-needles, and also considerable pain. The unfortunate effect is I never felt like I warmed up during this marathon.

The headwind was so brutal miles 11-18 (big chunk!) I had to lean in a bit to stay upright. I think this is why times (including mine) were slow today. Walter drafted off packs, and said no way to BQ had he not done so.

I was not prepared for the mind fnuck of running a marathon by myself. (I had quite a few folks around and chatted a bit, but b/c of funky intervals no way to "pace" someone.) I needed every last "running in spirit" BTer I'd arranged for myself to get through this race. I talked with you, saw you, and you answered.

I battled intense nausea miles 11-18 (maybe headwind, who knows), and it's lingering. I could not hold anything down during that time, and heaved but didn't puke (wish I could have, even now--no relief). I was hungry and nauseated simultaneously :(. It was miserable. Coulda been hyponatremia--fingers were a bit swollen, but not more than usual for long run/mary, and salt made nausea worse, and didn't reduce swelling. Miles 9-11 I did a 2:1 but had to drop back to 1:1 for 12-18. Splits decreased steadily from 12:45 to 14:00. HIGHLIGHTS: guy in a kilt and clown face yelling out names from the bib numbers and cheering. A live turkey wandering around. A girl dressed as Christmas elf dancing in the street handing out candy canes.

It let up around 19, and I pulled out my secret weapon: Froot Loops. The wind died down a bit, I felt better, and I pounded out excellent final miles (finally felt warmed-up, and sun had come out). Unfortunately my whole body was screaming by then ... while my energy and mindset became great, pushing the pace too much resulted in calf cramps. I did the Jeff Galloway special: 90s:30s interval (that's what he trains on). Miles 19-26 were splitting 13:00 to 13:30. Ran the last mile straight through.



Today, nothing. I ran as well as I could according to my ability and circumstances, and that is swell. At first I'd thought something was wrong--how could I have run a sweet, slow, easy 23-miler as last long run at 5:41, then 5:50'ed on a "fast" marathon, with difficulty? That was until I talked to Walter, Antti, and some of the other BQers.

Also, I've never gone into a marathon healthy and strong. I'd like to. This time, intense depression really battered me mind and body before I ever got to the start line. I would have liked to taper differently--keep a bit more volume in running (and biking and swimming) and throw in some acceleration gliders to keep the muscles responsive.

Course notwithstanding, I felt like the pain and tension of the last few weeks all surged out into my body during the race. It was not good.

Walked to the food. Scarfed orange slices hypnotically--musta eaten 5 oranges or so. Got bag, put warm clothes on, sucked down 1/2 bottle Clif recovery drink. YUCK! Shuffled back to hostel. Cramped terribly trying to climb stairs.


Tough hills; brutal, unrelenting headwind (not gusts); nausea.


Race was spectacularly pulled off. EVERYONE from expo door greeter to post-mary bag claim, was super friendly and helpful. Tons of drink stations; Gu, pretzels, oranges, candy canes. Delightful spectators all the way to the finish. I'll probably write more on this later, but this race gets a 10 for fun and organization.

Speaking of fun--it's in my blog, but let's save the story for posterity:
At the expo, I talked the t-shirt dude into giving me a men's shirt ... are they frikin' kidding me about trying to squeeze these puppies into a women's M ... he kept saying there were NO EXCHANGES until 5 o'clock, but I looked very sad and pointed at my boobs and said I'd had a sex change operation and it got botched, they made the boobs way too big, but I was really a man anyway, so could I please have a man's shirt? The t-shirt guy was laughing so hard tears came out of his eyes and he gave me a men's shirt. I like it much better and it fits well.