Summary
I had such a fun time and this race went surprisingly well! I ran very consistently and had a strong finish and no real problems. It felt a lot like a long coastal run with a friend at home. This was a very small race, with just 62 marathoners and 155 half-marathoners, but I happened to match paces with the first-place woman for 25 miles before pulling ahead of her for the last mile or so. I covered the 26.2 miles in 2 hours 56 minutes 41 seconds which is an average of 6 minutes 45 seconds per mile, which is really good for me. This was my 34th road marathon and my 3rd fastest. This was the first marathon where I ran every mile in faster than 7 minutes. I was only 49 seconds slower than my personal record -- 2:55:52 in the New York City Marathon way back in 2010. My recovery was the quickest ever and I felt completely normal two and a half days later and did a hard hilly 7 miles.
Details
My wife found this race for me, months ago, as part of a planned long-weekend get-away, to hike among coast redwoods in Avenue of the Giants and to go kayaking and to visit the Vichy Hot Springs. This race would be a fun experience but wasn't an important goal race. I didn't train specifically for this, but I did taper, so that I could be ready to run hard. My next big goal was to run the California International Marathon in under 3 hours.
I was traveling with my wife (Jennifer) and my sister (Jess). The day before the race was unusually active -- we kayaked for 2 hours and walked a lot and I did an easy 4 mile run. But I wasn't worried -- I wasn't taking this race too seriously. I slept somewhat poorly the night before, but I think it was muscle restlessness; I wasn't at all stressed about the race.
On race morning, I woke up with my alarm at 5am, ate a quick breakfast of a bagel and BBQ chips. It's easy for me to eat a lot of tasty chips, so I exceeded my 600 calorie goal for sure. I drank about 20 oz of water plus had a decaf coffee. I took a 15 minute nap and then did final preparations. The start area, Madaket Plaza, was just a 10 minute walk away, and Jennifer and I headed out at about 6:30am. That gave me just enough time to do a little warm-up jog and a couple of strides, take an energy gel at 6:45am, drink some more water (10 oz?) and use the porta-potty. The nice thing about a small race is that the logistics are pretty easy! It wasn't hard to line up or to hear instructions and 5 porta-potties were plenty for us 62 marathoners.
The disadvantage of a small casual race is that it's easy for there to be uncertainties or little bits of confusion. For example, the starting line wasn't real clear (there was a short white line on the ground) nor was the direction we were to run in real clear. One of the official pacers walked over to a map with me and pointed out where we were to run once the race started.
Soon, we were off! I had heard that one of the fast-looking guys was aiming for 2:20:00! He was soon pulling away from everyone. There were a couple more guys who were quite a bit faster than my goal pace of 6:51 / mile, and they pulled ahead, too. I found myself in a group of the fastest women. I think there were 5 or 6 of us for a bit.
The course consists of four out-and-backs, but the first out-and-back deviates a bit in order to visit the Carson Mansion. It's cool-looking, for sure, but it felt very artificial to run up to it and then do a quick turn-around. I commented about this, saying that this part of the course felt funky, to the runner behind me. The other women fell behind and from about the one mile mark, I was running with the first-place woman, Kimberly.
My pace was just a tiny bit faster than planned, by just a few seconds per mile, but I felt great and since there were no other runners around, it felt good to be able to chat with someone and to run with someone. Although it's common for runners to chat in marathons and longer races, it's uncommon in my experience to run nearly the whole race with a stranger. But that's what happened! The closest example I can think of was that I think I ran about 18 miles of the Las Vegas Marathon with a guy from Canada, but I ended up running 25 miles with Kimberly!
The weather was cool and the sky was overcast and I felt at ease. I said to Kimberly that I was aiming for a 3 hour finish time and I asked if that was her goal, too. She said she was running for fun and was pacing by feel, and that she didn't have a goal pace or goal time, and that she didn't want to know her pace. For me, I'm pretty sure I would start off too fast if I tried to do that.
She had recovered from some kind of bad accident that left her in a wheelchair for 6 months. She really just seemed to be very happy to be running, as I would, too, if I had gone through all that.
Around mile 6, I was pulling an energy gel out of my pocket and I didn't realize it, but I had accidentally paused my watch (Coros Apex Pro) by pressing a button against my shorts or shirt. This kind of messed up my distances and timing for the rest of the race, since it took me over a tenth of a mile before I discovered that the watch was paused.
The miles seemed to flow by easily. Much of the time we could run side-by-side, but when the paths got narrow, I ran a bit behind her. It really helped to be "pulled along" by her and her pace was very consistent. We didn't talk constantly, but we checked-in with each other that we were both OK with running together.
We discovered a super-cool coincidence. I told her that I was once the course director of the Half Moon Bay International Marathon and she said that was her favorite race! Wow! And then I realized that I recognized her as the first overall finisher one year, who ran the entire course with her then-boyfriend (and now husband). I was thinking that the Half Moon Bay Marathon had a kind of funky course, with lots of turns, various out-and-backs, and a mix of surfaces, and so it felt similar to the Humboldt Bay Marathon, but she said she loved that course! So neat!
One of the benefits of a race course that has loops or multiple out-and-backs is that it is easier for spectators to cheer on the runners. It was great seeing Jennifer every time I came back through the start/finish area. That was super-nice of her to hang out there all morning. My sister Jess joined later and cheered me on. In another location, a guy I happened to meet at our hotel, Craig, cheered me on by name every time I ran by. (He was there to cheer on his wife, Stacy, who was running her first marathon in 12 years.)
The volunteers were great and Kimberly and I made it a point to always thank them. I think that gratitude works for us, too, and that somehow by smiling and being happy, we make our race more enjoyable and the miles go by faster. But funny enough, cursing when in pain also helps relieve pain. Kimberly and I discussed these bits of psychology, along with some theories about nutrition and hydration and the placebo effect. It was really fun to just have the miles flow easily by.
We finished the first half-marathon around 1 hour 28 minutes or so. I felt like I had had a good workout, but I also felt fine and that I seemed to have plenty of energy left. Jennifer! She was taking a video of us. Thank you, my love. "I'm half-way done but more than half-way spent" I think I said.
I ate an energy gel every 35 minutes or so, and drank a cup of water or sports drink every 2 to 4 miles. If I had a little water left in the cup, I dumped it on my head. The temperature was cool, but it still felt good to cool down a bit more.
In the 2nd half, we started passing lots of half-marathoners. This is always a little guilty morale booster for me, but I agreed with Kimberly when she said that what you tell yourself in your head is OK, if it gives you an ego boost, since we're not bringing anyone else down. True!
I was wondering if I might bonk or get cramps after about mile 18 or 20, when I have had problems in so many other marathons, but no, I felt good! We kept up our steady pace. Finally, at mile 25, I decided I could risk going faster and I pulled ahead of Kimberly. She encouraged me to take off and I said I was just going to push slightly harder. I saw the 3rd place guy in front of me. He seemed like he was struggling and I soon caught up to him. As I passed him, I tried to encourage him, "You got this! We're almost done!" I felt small twinges of cramps in my right calf and then left calf. I knew I was on the edge. Mile marker 26 went by. I was getting so close. I pushed harder. I recognized the finish area. I pushed hard to the finish. I heard Jennifer cheering me. Woo hoo! 3rd place! And I was well under 3 hours!
I wasn't sure about my finish time. I was so curious! I hugged Jennifer. Jess came over. Soon, there was lots more cheering. Kimberly finished just 39 seconds behind me.
The first-place guy received his award early, since he had to leave quickly. The awards ceremony would be at noon.
Kimberly asked me if I wanted to join her for a cool-down run. I've never done a cool-down run after any race longer than a 5K, but sure! Why not! I felt good! We were both really happy with how the race went and we thanked each other for the company. She was so happy that she didn't have to stop to use a porta-potty during the race. I joked that I was happy that my company provided an anti-laxative effect. She laughed. I hope we meet-up again after she and her husband move back to the Bay Area. We jogged around for less than a mile and then I walked the half-mile back to the hotel.
After meeting up with Jennifer and Jess, and taking a shower and checking out of our hotel, and getting a lunch to-go, we stopped by the start/finish area at Madaket Plaza again, to attend the award ceremony at noon. Lots of marathoners (and maybe some half-marathoners) were still out on the course. I chatted with some of the other finishers and met up with Kimberly again, too.
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| Chris, myself, and Paul (2nd place male) |
I received my 1st place male masters award. I'm guessing that this is for being the fastest runner over the age of 40. Nice!
Wow! What a day!
- This was my first marathon where I ran every mile in under 7 minutes.
- The race started at 7am. I set my alarm for 5am. That was enough time to eat some breakfast (a bagel and a bunch of BBQ chips; I probably exceeded my 600 calorie goal). During the race, I could taste the BBQ chips a couple of times.
- I ate one energy gel, 15 minutes before the race started. I carried 5 with me from the start of the race. I ate 4 during the race, with one about every 35 minutes.
- I got a cup of water or sports drink maybe every 4 miles.
- Most recent weight: 161.8 lbs.
- Results
- Strava workout
What went well
- Just about everything!
- My shoes, Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next%, felt amazing and gave a bounce to my stride.
- I didn't have any urge to pee or poop during the race.
- No chafing.
- My energy levels seemed consistent and I had a strong finish.
- My training for Western States, plus some recent speed work and shorter faster races (a half-marathon and a 5K) seemed to have prepared me just fine for a marathon.
- I liked wearing this same white Lake Sonoma 50 Mile shirt that I used at Western States. It doesn't chafe but it also seems to stay damp and let me stay cool, more easily.
- No injuries.
- It was so random, but running with an interesting fellow-racer made the experience more enjoyable and probably helped me run faster, too.
Things to improve
- I accidentally paused my watch for about 0.14 miles or so. I love many things about the Coros Apex Pro, but it's too easy to press this big bezel button and pause the workout when you don't want to. There's a lock feature to help prevent this, but then it takes several seconds to stop the workout when you cross the finish line. Maybe for marathons and longer, I'll just have to use the lock screen feature.
