5:42:20 (AKA Crash and Burn, But at Least the Views were Good)

This past weekend, i ran the 34th annual Big Sur International Marathon (BSIM) with a time of 5:42:20.

My time was much, much slower than i wanted (somewhere in the vicinity of 5:00), and still significantly slower than i predicted (somewhere between 5:15 and 5:30).   Why did i predict so slow a time when my finishing times have been steadily getting faster?  Well... selfies.  And hills.  As for the reason i came in so far below my already low expectations...  injury.   And hubris.

I knew i was in trouble as early as a month and a half ago.  Two weeks before the Modesto Half Marathon (in the thick of the "monster weeks" of marathon training), i developed a nagging ache in my right heel.  The Armchair Podiatrist would diagnose this as plantar fasciitis.  But due to a variety of factors which i won't go through in detail, i in fact diagnosed it as Not Plantar Fasciitis.  At the onset, it wasn't bad enough to keep me from running Modesto.  After that race however, it became so bad that i had to come to work in Hokas and pause my marathon training for an entire week.  Fortunately, by the end of that rest week, my heel was pain-free.  Unfortunately, the pain immediately came back after a run.  Resting a day between each run would make it feel better...  But of course one needs to do a "shakeout run," so i ran 3 "easy" miles on the day before the big race.

So on that fateful Sunday, prior to crossing the starting line, i could feel a slight twinge in the offending heel.  In spite of that, i thought that doing 26.2 would be no problemo; after all, i RAN Modesto dealing with the exact same issue.  Run-walk-running a full marathon at 3:1 should be no big deal.

Feeling the heel.

Ignoring the pain.

Lining up with the rest of Wave B.

Ready... get set... go!

Soon after the race started, we went into the first downhill, and i could FEEL IT every time my right heel struck the ground.  Boom-boom-boom-BOOM!  Ouch.  The pain let up with each walking interval, but came right back whenever i started running again.  Miraculously, after the second mile or so, it faded into a minor ache.  Relieved, i didn't think to question my good fortune.

Feeling a little better, at this point. 

The next several miles were business as usual, as i settled into a familiar rhythm.  Considering how hilly the course was, i was content to keep a pace of around 12:00 and fantasized about speeding up in the second half.  I even managed to get up to Hurricane Point at a decent clip, passing other runners the way i usually do when using the run-walk-run principle.  Success!

Some trash-talking Kenyans.

The drummers at mile 10-ish, marking the beginning of the ascent to Hurricane Point.

Hurricane Point is at mile 12.

Made it!

On the downhill following Hurricane Point, i felt a little cramp in my left thigh.  Nothing major, but it was a new sensation for me, as i'd NEVER had cramps in any of my previous races.  It went away immediately, so i just pooh-poohed it.

By miles 16 and 17, i was in a LOT of pain.  My quads were tiring out (moreso my left, which i thought was kind of odd) and my right foot felt like it was on fire.  Strangely, the problem heel itself seemed to be behaving... whereas everything else around it was not.  This worried me a bit, since pain in my previous marathons didn't really start setting in until mile 20 or so.  At that point, i formulated a Plan B: since the race cutoff time was 6 hours, i just had to keep running until i reached a spot where i could walk the rest of the way and still officially finish.

Laughing at "The Wall," with only a slight idea of what lay ahead. 

It was at mile 24 that i finally choked - hard.  On one of my running intervals, my left thigh completely cramped up, forcing me to slow down and walk.  I ended up slow-walking most of the way to the finish line, shamefully overtaken by everybody else i'd passed minutes before (including people who were merely walking fast).  I'd try to run for a couple of seconds at a time, but then my thigh would protest and threaten to explode, making me stop.  I wondered if i'd be one of those runners who collapses mere feet from the end and drags themselves over the finish line (which, while dramatic, would ultimately be disappointing, since i didn't have a good backstory).  Through sheer pigheadedness, i managed to run the final 0.1 and cross the finish line upright.  But as soon as i did, both calves seized up and forced me to hobble through the chute.  Done... and done.

Fake it 'til you make it! 

Photo credit: Images by Gia Chong

In the final analysis, i realized that i had favored my right heel for the entire race.  In trying to avoid exposing it to more impact, everything else - my left leg and all the other structures in my right foot that weren't the heel - had been forced to work overtime.  I had modified my foot strike to avoid landing on the painful spot, which changed my stride and made me run in a way that was unnatural for me.  Retrospectively, i wonder if i did this during the Modesto Half as well.  But that was only 13.1, and i was fine up until that point in this race.  The full 26.2 (and beyond, i imagine) keeps you honest.  Any and all training deficiencies, mental weaknesses, and niggling injuries will be laid bare and magnified as the miles pile on.  In my case, i thought i could barrel through my whatever-the-hell-my-heel-problem-was.  I was dead wrong.

I am - in a word - humbled.  For the past year or so, i'd fancied myself some sort of athlete - picking up marathon running again in my 40s, accruing gains as the months went by.  As i continued to work out, the pounds came off, and i looked/felt better than i have in close to a decade.  In the 16 weeks leading up to Big Sur, i felt like i could do anything.  Then reality paid me a visit and reminded me that i was doing something that i was never built to do.  That hurt a lot, body and soul.

Meh.

Notes:

1.  The expo was nothing special.  Although, same as New York and CIM, they had a wall of names, which was cool.

2.  Weather-wise, i've had a string of good luck with all my races.  This one was no exception: temps in the high 40s to low 50s (reportedly milder than previous years) with zero precipitation.  I was actually so concerned about the temperature at the start that i bought a headband just to cover my ears at the expo.  It was much ado about nothing; it seems that my ears do just fine in the high 40s.  The sky was overcast on race day, which was apparently a good thing because it meant that it wasn't going to be as windy as it could have been (i'm not clear on the meteorologic reasoning for this).  On the other hand, i felt that the cloudiness diminished the majesty of the views; it would've been nice to see sunlight dancing off the Pacific Ocean.

3.  The race started at 6:45-ish, but the last buses to the starting line (no drop-offs allowed) were scheduled to leave at 4:15.  Meaning, you had to line up for transportation at 4 o'clock.  In reality, our bus (the first one to leave our station) only got going at 4:30, so being tardy for the buses was probably not a tragedy.  It took about an hour for the bus to get to the starting village from Carmel.  Once there, there was an ample amount of porta-potties (according to the announcers, a "good" ratio of around 1 per 45 runners), and FOOD (!).

We were way more chipper than anyone should have to be at 4 in the morning.

Waiting to get on the bus, around 4:15 AM.

Arrived at the starting village around 5:30 AM. 

Got my pre-race bagel fix.

4.  The first few miles is mostly downhill, through some forested areas.  It's easy to get carried away and run fast, but one should take care not to stress the quads before even getting to the hills.

Running through redwoods.

4,700 runners is not bad at all.

5.  You get out of the forest around mile 4.  The views start getting really spectacular around miles 5-6.

Rolling hills at around mile 4. 

You start to get a glimpse of the ocean at mile 5.  It's there, i promise.

Point Sur State Historic Park in the distance.

6.  Personally, i don't think BSIM is the time to attempt a PR.  The course is gorgeous; one really needs to stop, soak it all in, and take as many pictures as possible.  The views are what you came for; look for faster courses elsewhere.  At the top of Hurricane Point, i had stop and take a photosphere.

Looking north, from Hurricane Point.  The ragged edge of the western world, indeed.

The iconic Bixby Bridge in the distance.  Everybody was taking pictures, and it was impossible not to get photobombed.

Atop Bixby Bridge.

Michael Martinez, the piano man of Bixby Bridge.

Bixby Bridge from the other side.

More photos of the ragged edge.

The bagpipe lady at mile 15.

7.  Even though i feel like i did a halfway decent job of it, climbing up to Hurricane Point is a b!tch.  While boning up on elevation charts prior to the race, i thought it would be a piece of cake.  After all, New York was pretty hilly, too.  What i DIDN'T take into account is that the elevation charts are not drawn to the same scale!  New York's hills are little speedbumps, with the biggest climbs being "only" 100 feet.  Big Sur is... a little more challenging.

Elevation chart from New York, in isolation.  Looks hilly enough, yeah?

Elevation charts compared.  (Cue the Crocodile Dundee voice going, "That's not a hill, THIS is a hill.")
Source: http://www.seerunlove.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/bsim-elevation-titled.png

8.  Another "feature" of the BSIM course is how steeply the roads are banked.  While snaking their way around hills, the running surfaces are essentially diagonal.  This can be torture to the ankles.  In 2017, i paid the price for running along the side of the road too long at B2B.

9.  There's enough hydration, nutrition and porta-potties on the course.  I had to stop to pee twice and didn't even get through my entire Camelbak.

There was a very short line at the mile 3 porta-potties.  Farther down the course, there were no lines whatsoever.

10.  Due to time and weather constraints, the majority of my training is done on a treadmill (dreadmill).  While i wouldn't recommend this to anyone, i personally don't have much of a choice.  I paid special attention to hill training by increasing the incline for "hill days."  Unfortunately, while this may be sufficient for the UPhills, there's no way to sufficiently train for the DOWNhills on a treadmill.

11.  Prior to New York and Big Sur, we went on week-long vacations.  The way i figured it, i should be tapering and carbo-loading on the week of the race anyway.  This is probably a mistake, and i should leave the vacay for AFTER the race.

12.  When i grow up, i want to be like this guy.  It'll probably never happen.

13.  Next time we're in Carmel, we need to try this place:

No relation.

So what comes next?  Redemption?  More disappointment?  Only one way to find out.  On to Chicago!

To date, the hardest i've worked to get a finisher medal.

2:10:38

Last Sunday, i ran the Modesto Half Marathon with a time of 2:10:38.

Although i didn't do it as an "incidental runner," like i did with the Great Aloha Race 2 years ago, it was close.  Not having run a real half marathon this training cycle like i did with last year's Giants Race, i was itching to do a "trial run" to rehearse my marathon strategy for Big Sur.  This was the only one that fit my schedule, so i signed up for it.  It just happened to fall on my birthday.

42!  My age, not the temperature (close, though). 

It looks like i'm getting faster.  If i'm being completely honest, this wasn't exactly "just another training run." Not that i really had anything to prove (after all, i didn't fully prepare: no taper or legitimate carbo-load), but i just wanted to see how far i've come since my last "real" half two years ago (more about that below).  So, after i crossed the starting line, i ran the first two miles exactly the way i plan to run my next marathon: 3:1 run-walk-run ratio with an average pace of 10:30.  So far, so good.

However, i felt so good around four miles in (when my pace dropped to 11:30 because of a bathroom break) that i decided to just run-jog the 3:1 ratio (9:00-9:30 pace run, 12:00 pace jog) the rest of the way.  Incredibly, i felt great!  My breathing and heart rate were well-regulated to the end, i never got close to bonking despite only having one gel the entire race, and had enough gas in the tank for an 8:57 mile heading to the finish line, eventually ending up with a negative split.  In spite of (or because of) all that, i estimate that i ran this with "only" 7/10 intensity.

Progress!  Not as fast as the glory days of 10 years ago, but slowly getting there.  Now, do i really want to run a race at higher than 7/10 intensity?  Probably not, unless i was seriously trying to BQ, or wasn't interested in running until i was 70 years old (which i am).  I know what it's like to go all-out but run out of gas at the end; it's not a good feeling.

By the way, I FORGOT MY CAMELBAK AT HOME.  This is both the most tragic AND the most hilarious thing i've ever done at a race.  Considering that i was planning on running it semi-seriously, this could have been a fatal error.  In the final analysis, i don't know if it hurt or actually helped me - i was more mindful of my effort level (since i couldn't hydrate or fuel up just whenever i wanted), ran 3 pounds lighter than i normally do, and didn't have to deal with the discomfort of the backpack (I don't care how light that sucker is, it's not natural).

Race day notes:

1.  The weather was perfect. starting out at 47 degrees and ending up in the mid 50s.

2.  Between all the races (5K, half and full marathons, and relay), there were about 2600 runners in total.  The starting line was not crowded at all...  In fact, Gianina and Adrian stayed with me almost until the moment i started running.   I would say that there were enough runners to make it interesting, but not enough to have to jockey for position.  Also, there was ample parking close to the start.

At the starting line, sporting my NYC Marathon poncho.

That poncho IS rather nice.

Not much of a crowd.  No one kicking the back of your feet!

3.  The course was essentially flat, except for a short segment about 3 miles in when you had to go over "Mt. Modesto" - an overpass over highway 99, with an alleged elevation gain of a little over 100 feet.  Flat is good, especially when i (eventually/maybe) try to break my PRs.

Around 6 miles in, feeling lighter after a bathroom break. 

4.  Considering how small the race is, the swag is pretty sweet.  The entry fee came with a decent duffel bag, and the medal was pretty hefty.

5.  I enjoyed the overall experience.  There wasn't much of a view (for the half, at least, you run through a neighborhood, then on the frontage road between highway 99 and some orchards, then through a road going across some farmland), but the race organization was superb.  The course was clearly labeled.  The roads were all closed.  There was enough hydration.  The volunteers were very enthusiastic.  I would definitely run it again.

6.  The post-run meal/snack included chicken burritos.

Close to the end.

Almost there.  Note the wet spot on my butt.  Peace!  

Done!  Where 'dem burritos at?!

 Another half in the books.  For comparison, my last "real" half was the San Francisco Half Marathon in 2017 (2:13:34).  I never got around to posting about that.  But for what it's worth, i actually tried to do well on it, had legs of rubber by the end, and was sore for a week afterward.  Meaning, despite being two years older, i can now run 13.1 faster without trying as hard.

I'll take it.

4:51:21 (AKA El Cheapo Runs Marathons, Too)

This past weekend, i ran the California International Marathon with a finishing time of 4:51:21.

Finisher certificate.

Granular results.

The time is almost 9 minutes faster than my most recent marathon at New York.  On one hand i'm pleased, because after three tries - i finally broke 5 hours.  On the other i'm not pleased at all, because i thought/expected that i could come in much faster in "the fastest course in the West," maybe even somewhere in the vicinity of my PR.  Oh well.  I just console myself with the thought that i successfully did "back-to-back" marathons.  After all, it's been less than a month since i ran New York.

As far as running another marathon this close to the previous one, it was probably (most definitely) a bad idea.  But i had already paid over a hundred bucks for the CIM entry in 2017, plus another fifty to defer to 2018, and El Cheapo refused to LOSE money by forfeiting outright, or (God forbid!) fork over even MORE money for another deferral.  So: i asked my friend Dr. Google how to run a marathon just three weeks after finishing one... and did it.  I guess if a non-athlete like me is going to push the envelope like that, i shouldn't complain about my finishing time.  (I realize that - in the grand scheme of things - this isn't even REALLY back-to-back, not in the way the triple 7 quest is.  But i am a mere mortal.)

At the finish, with a view of the California State Capitol Building right behind me.  Nostrils flared.

Some race notes:

1.  The weather was perfect.  I had some concerns about race conditions, given the recent Camp Fire followed by stormy weather, but it was pretty nice on the day of the race itself, starting out at crisp 37 degrees and ending at around 53.

Heading off to the race, with me decked out in my throwaway sweater and sweatpants.

2.  My legs feel a lot better this time around compared to previous races.  Not much trouble climbing up and down stairs on the day after.  Unfortunately, in the first 24 hours post-race, there was the issue of a nagging ache at the top of both feet that i literally had never felt before.  The only thing i did different at the CIM was that i consciously tried to keep my strike rate (cadence) high.  My Garmin says that i successful pulled this off, with a strike rate of around 174-185 spm (target of 180) during my running intervals.  Maybe my feet aren't used to that high of a turnover.  In hindsight, i should NOT have run the race that way, because it wasn't the way i trained.  Something to fix for the next training cycle.

3.  Billing CIM as "the fastest course in the West" with a net elevation loss sets up the expectation that it's all downhill.  IT IS NOT.  In fact, the first half seemed to be composed of a never-ending series of rolling hills.  There is one nice downhill stretch somewhere between miles 9-10, which unfortunately ends up in a fairly steep uphill climb.  It only seemed to (relatively) flatten out around mile 14 or so.

Enjoying one of the downhills.

4.  The expo wasn't really anything to write home about.  However, similar to New York (perhaps others, too), there was a big wall with the runners' names.  I had to squint to find myself with the tiny font that they used, but i was there.

That's me!

5.  A shade under 8000 is a great amount of runners.  Enough people to make it feel like a "real" event, but not enough that you constantly bump into people.

At the start.  That's about half the field ahead of me.  A lot, but not too much.

6.  The race felt highly organized from start to finish.  I was happy that one could just sit in the (relatively) warm bus up until the start of the race, negating the need to pay for a "VIP" (or similar) tent.  Porta-potties were aplenty at the starting line, and it only took me about  10 minutes to use one.  I felt very secure with the AMR bikers and cops on motorcycles constantly going back and forth, watching over the runners.  I actually liked this race so much that i think i'll do it again next year.  Perhaps i'll sign up soon... El Cheapo is definitely tempted by the early sign-up discount.  

7.  I don't know if i just bonked early, but i could not for the life of me muster enough strength to do a negative split.  This is an ongoing issue, and can probably only be fixed by adding some speed to the end of my long runs.  At least 700 people who started out in front of me seemed to slow down as well, based on this chart.  I finished the first 5K in 6826th place, and finished the whole shebang in 6112th. Still an achievement, hahaha. 

Splits data.

8.  I sometimes wonder if the run-walk-run method is holding me back from being a fast runner.  But every time i'm tempted to chuck it and just run continuously, i remind myself how many injuries i picked up in previous years.  Contrast that with my performance this year, when i ran 3 marathons with NO INJURIES and minimal aches and pains.  Pun intended: it's a marathon, not a sprint.  If i can keep running into the next several decades with no injuries, i'll be happy to be a slowpoke.  I'm already too old to go out in a blaze of glory, anyway.  Truthfully though, i feel that if i stay the course and train consistently, i'll continue to get better/faster anyway.  Or so i keep telling myself. 

So that's it, my third and final marathon for 2018 in the books.  Next stop, Big Sur.

Running to the finish.

Went for some Chinese food immediately following the race.  Tastier than the medal, to be sure.