5:07:42 (Bad)

Last weekend, i completed the California International Marathon in 5:07:42.

I am extremely unhappy with my time and feel like a catastrophic failure.  

This being my second running of the CIM, i should have done better.  In fact, i feel that i was better prepared overall: in contrast to all my other races, i was familiar with the course; in terms of training, i hit all my essential workouts and had a decent weekly mileage that topped out at 52 miles.  Everything was going according to plan.  I was completely set up for success... 

...but utterly failed to execute.  

After wallowing in self-pity for a bit, i beat the dead horse to a pulp to try and understand my poor performance.  I've concluded that it was due to dehydration.  

In the days leading up to the race, the weather forecast was unfavorable, with the possibility of precipitation predicted to be somewhere between 50 and 70%.  Not being a fan of running in the rain (i've had a few bad experiences in the past), i planned my attire accordingly, bringing along a rain jacket and waterproof socks.  Although i've never run a significant distance in that getup, it seemed like a good idea.  Even though everyone gets wet from sweat when running, i intensely dislike the clammy feeling of a wet shirt, and abhor running in squishy waterlogged socks. 

Waterproof jacket, check.  Waterproof socks, check.

So the morning of the race comes around, and basically everyone is pleasantly surprised that it's dry.  Then the gun went off and we started running.  After a mile or so, i heard a few people commenting in one way or another that it was great running weather.  In retrospect, that should have immediately tipped me off that i was going to be in trouble, because i personally felt that it was warmer than advertised.

The truth is that my body had already dropped me some clues that i was too dense to notice.  Just a few run-walk-run cycles in, i already felt a little sweaty inside my jacket.  I thought that it wasn't a big deal, that maybe my jacket merely wasn't as "breathable" as it was touted to be.  But it was really a sign that i had overdressed for the occasion.  I only realized this after around 6 miles, which is when i decided to peel my jacket off.  Once the cool air hit my torso, i felt a sense of relief... i had unknowingly been uncomfortably warm and excessively sweating up to that point.  

Looked warm, felt warmer. 

The premature dehydration was only one factor.  I've gotten through a hot and humid race before.  My real point-of-failure was in not keeping up with the fluid losses.  Around 3 miles in, i was already a little thirsty.  A bad sign, since i usually drink enough to keep ahead of the sensation.  Despite this, i obstinately kept to my usual hydration strategy of 1 sip/chug per mile.  Frankly, i probably even sipped a little less than usual, since the moisture in my jacket made me feel clammy and fooled me into thinking i was running cooler than i actually was.  At the end of the race, i finished with a not-insignificant amount of water still left over in my Camelbak, whereas it would normally have been bone-dry by mile 24.  

TL;DR: i sweated too much but didn't drink nearly enough. 

On reflection (and reviewing my splits), i was able to soldier through all of this until the halfway point.  Then my pace dropped by up to 30 seconds per mile despite trying to keep the intensity up.  

At around mile 16, i felt the beginning of a cramp in my left thigh but decided to "trust my training," attempt a negative split, and continue trying to make up for lost time (my target finish was around 4:45).  At around mile 21 (35K mark, on the official splits), it all unraveled as my left leg seized up and i stumbled to the side of the course.  I suddenly felt so lightheaded that i just wanted to sit down, but also realized that if i did that, there would be no standing back up.  So i gutted through the next five miles - running when able and walking when the cramps started again... and slowly jogged across the finish line.    

Trudging slowly to the finish. My expression reflects my self-disgust.

Such a bad race.  It was my tenth marathon, too.  An ignominious showing for what should have been a glorious event.  

Oh well.  

Lesson for the next time: if running with a jacket (which i am definitely not accustomed to), hydrate as if it's a warm race and don't push the pace.  At the minimum - pay closer attention to my body's cues and adjust accordingly. I've been able to do this in the past, but for some reason the weather forecast just spooked me and locked me in to a "cold and wet" mindset.  

No significant race notes, since i've covered the course in detail before.  A side note about the porta-potties - the line gets thinner the farther one goes from the starting line, and they virtually evaporate a minute before the gun goes off.  A slowpoke like me could literally wait until the gun goes off to use one, and still start running with the 4:30 pace group.  

Moseyed on over after using a porta-potty, around 7 minutes after the gun went off.

I am definitely going to run this again for redemption.  

Eating my "free" burrito after the race.

In the shadow of the Capitol building.

Next up, Tokyo.

Japanese food for lunch after the race.  Foreshadowing the next marathon.

2:19:11

A few months ago, i completed the Rock and Roll San Jose Half Marathon in 2:19:11.

I've always had a mild curiosity about the Rock and Roll series.  In particular, i've been wanting to do the Las Vegas race ("run the strip at night!"), or even the San Diego one.  Unfortunately my schedule has never really allowed for either.  

The Rock and Roll series basically bills itself as a "fun" race chock-ful of entertainment and music.  In this, it did not disappoint.  There was entertainment (either a live band or at least some speakers playing music) approximately every 2 miles, kind of alternating with the aid stations.  The song choices were pretty decent, too.   Nothing in particular stood out to me, but they were high-BPM songs that you could sync your pace to.  I'm not one for external sources of "energy," but i thought it was nice and motivational.  

Although this was essentially "just another long run," i was rather hoping to get in under 2:15.  Such was unfortunately not to be.  I knew this from the get-go, since i was already putting in a decent effort to maintain an average 10:40-ish run-walk-run pace.  I didn't want to push too hard during a training run and end up hurting myself.  

Speaking of hurt - even though i took a few weeks off after my last marathon, by the time i started running again, i developed debilitating low back and left leg pain.  I self-diagnosed myself with a lumbar disc herniation and sciatica.  With the help of an excellent PT (and good friend) from the east coast, i am now pain-free.  

Like i said before, even though i'm nine marathons deep, i'm still learning new things.  What i learned from this debacle is that i'm not stretching enough, and i'm not paying enough attention to strengthening my lower back and legs.  I am now actively incorporating both into my regimen.  I'm paying considerably more attention to my pain points; for example, my hamstrings were really sore after race... Therefore, i am doing more hamstring stretches and will be doing more glute/hamstring exercises in the future.  

I feel that the hamstring issue is because i tried to speed up and do a decent finishing "kick" during this race.  I'm not really sore anyplace else, so that's probably a potential trouble spot.  Drawing from my Santa Rosa experience where my legs locked up at the end, i've been trying to insert some speed to the end of my long runs.  

Race notes: 

1.  The expo seemed nice enough.  It was held in a hangar-like part of the San Jose convention center.  It seemed like they were ready for many more vendors, although there really weren't that many.  It was kind of a bummer that they had no option for mailing out the bibs.  

2.  Bay area weather is always good... We started out around 58 degrees and ended at 61.  

3.  The race was REALLY well-organized.  Aside from a late start (around 8:10 instead of the scheduled 8:00), everything seemed well-thought-out.  I didn't really appreciate it at the time, but i now have to admit that the way they "waved" the starts (releasing a certain number of people every few minutes irrespective of corral assignments) ensured adequate spacing between racers and was the right thing to do.  

4.  Since San Jose is only one-and-a-half hours from where we live we didn't have to spend the night.  We just drove in that same morning.  There were plenty of hotels nearby, but i'm not a fan of spending money unnecessarily.  

5.  The course was mostly flat, except for one part when we had to go under the railroad.  It seemed it like were some gentle up- and downhills, but not enough to really notice.  I quite enjoyed the entertainment.  

6.  The post-race experience had a party vibe, with a live band on a good-sized stage.  There were the usual bananas and water bottles.  Although there was a beer tent, they were selling beers for FIVE DOLLARS.  The race descriptions seemed to imply that beer would be free... Well, the non-alcoholic beers were free.  Reuniting with my family was quick and easy.  There was also ample parking all throughout the city.  Since it was Sunday, street parking was free for a limited number of hours as well.  

Free non-alcoholic beer

Not bad.  IMHO the entertainment was the best part.  I could do it again.  

Next, CIM.