#1 in 49-54 year olds.
Started off with the pack and realized I was running a bit faster than I "should" so slowed a bit but felt pretty good and just went with how I felt. After the 1/2 marathoners split it was a bit lonely.

Around mile 14 my right ITB was starting to make some noise. I had taped up my left knee and had the strap on it, but nothing on the right.I considered taking it off the left knee and replacing it but opted to leave it all alone. I think my faster pace aggravated it, but I just kept running and it seemed to subside, although it came back after I stopped running at the finish. Around mile 21 we ended up on a dirt trail that was uneven and then a bike trail with not many people at all around. One guy got picked up by a race official on a golf cart. He just said he was "done." An older gentleman. Then a fire truck came up behind me, sirens on, as we were running through a neighborhood near the end. A guy was collapsed in a yard. The paramedics brought their stuff over to him and I looked away and kept running. Those are both very demoralizing and I just had to put them out of my mind.

At one point I remembered a coach once saying that running is easier or you run better when you smile. So, I mustered the best smile I could. It was at a turnaround and the other runners just kind of looked at me like WTF is she smiling about. It was funny.

I could tell I was very close to BQ and I needed to up my pace. I had slowed some between 18-19 and 20 that was just enough to put me a bit behind. I had been on target all race, PRing the 10K, and the 1/2 marathon. My legs did not feel like concrete this time. Yes, it was hard. It's a freaking marathon it's supposed to be hard. I felt like I pulled it out and really kept my pace going and I did PR this, my second marathon, by around 18 minutes. WOW!

I feel like I actually raced myself on this rather than just trying to finish with a smile. I knew what to expect somewhat from doing another marathon, so I knew how much it would be uncomfortable. I was able to push, but to BQ I'll need to push just that much more and give it more specific run training. I was doing this coming off of the 70.3 training and only had one 18 mile run leading up to the marathon. I did a nice week and a half taper that helped as well. Ice bath after works wonders as does

Try and keep my pace consistent at 18-20...have a mental strategy of some kind for this. I can hardly wait to recover and start training for another. I'm strange, I know, but I think I like the marathon. :=) CIM will likely be next.

Walked around a bit, slowly. Ate a banana, drank a couple of bottles of water, ate a salt packet and some popcorn. Sat in a demo "pool" of cold water, 53 degrees to help with inflammation and recovery.


Legs wouldn't turn over as much between 18 and 20 and ITB to some degree.


Only 5 or so minutes late on the start. Not as much crowd support as I saw in Sacramento, but there were people here and there cheering. Lots of water stations and lots of porta potties. They had run out of bananas afterward but my son scrounged one up for me.