Mountains to Beach Race Report
I drove up from Marina Del Rey to Ventura Saturday afternoon, and the pre-race festivities didn't get off to a great start. Arriving in a pretty hot sun at the expo I saw two long looping lines. Stepping into one I asked if this was the line for the bibs and received an affirmative reply. Ten minutes later someone asked a better question 'is this the full marathon line' to which the response was 'no this the half-marathon line'. OK so back to the end of the now longer line. I did eventually get to the bibs yet somehow '1172' my number was not to be found between '1171' and '1173' ? I was slightly panicked as they couldn't find the person in charge, but it turns out they have back-up bibs with timing chips so I got a new lucky number '493'. Onto the line to get my shirt :). There was also a line to check in at my hotel apparently because it still had vacancies and all the runners that hadn't planned ahead were checking in without reservations. I had reservations but it was about another 40 minutes before I could get my room key :(. At this point I wasn't going back to the expo for the carb loading dinner so I went to the hotel restaurant and loaded up on some pasta.
After dinner I KT-taped up a couple old injury spots (ankle & hip flexor), watched part of an NBA playoff game, and tried to turn in early so I could be up at 3:30 AM to get ready and walk to the 4:15 bus. Other preparations I had made at home included my homemade race nutrition balls (modified corn starch, walnut paste, date, honey & brown rice syrup), and a music mix for the race (about 1/2 jazzy vocal swing, with some grittier stuff like the Clash, Graham Parker plus early Springtseen, the Stones and some Lucinda Williams).
Things started to look up as the I did get some sleep, the walk to the bus was dark & cool yet pleasant and the 25 minute bus ride up to Ojai went without a hitch. I sat on a stoop near the race start shivering for about 45 minutes then I saw some folks I recognized, chatted them up and moved to my pace goup at the start line for the 6 am start. We were supposed to start in waves but the pacers who had set up to close to each other causing a mass of tightly packed runners all took off together at the horn. Despite the tight packing the first mile was only a few seconds slower than planned 8:07 minutes per mile. There was a 3hr 28 minute pacer which was the time I was aiming for, but I was going to run my own race as the pacers are volunteers and don't always gauge things ideally.
At mile 2 the 3:28 pacer started going faster then I had planned so I let him go. A running buddy (Rajesh) had planned to pace with me but followed the official pacer instead. Still I ran miles 2,3,4 and 5 slightly faster than planned yet felt comfortable and my HR was in the range I wanted. By mile 5 I was hoping my average pace to be 7:55 and it was just one second fast (7:54). Mile 5 to 6 is a very gradual up hill climb of about 90 ft. I could see the 3 :28 pacer disappearing from my view on this hill even as I ran it about 15 seconds faster than planned. I tucked in behind Pete (an experienced many time Boston qualifier from my running group). Pete had mentioned he was running despite coming off an injury so he might not quite be at his usual (3:25 range) pace. Mile 6 to 7 also has a small elevation (about 60 ft), and my HR was creeping up into the 150's as I ran it 5 seconds faster than planned so I backed off a tad on the flat mile 7 to settle my HR below 150 as planned. Still I was ahead of my planned pace and the gradual downhill was approaching.
I was still tucked in behind Pete for miles 9 & 10 which are gradual downhills, and mile 11 which is flat. I was also still running slightly ahead of my plan and now my HR was around 146 which was very good news. I was starting to get pretty confident that only an injury would keep me from hitting my goal of 3:28. I had carried water up to mile 7, and had been disciplined to take nutrition every two miles with some water. Miles 12,13, and 14 are the steepest downhills on the generally forgiving course. Pulling up next to Pete at mile 10 I asked him how he was feeling. He said OK, but his response felt a little strained to me so I thought his injury might have interrupted his training. I comfortably ran Miles 12, 13, and 14 at a good clip (about 7:37 pace) passing Pete at mile 12, and the 3:28 pacer at about the midway point (13.1). I hadn't seen Rajesh and was wondering if he was running way ahead of pace or if I somehow I had missed him in the crowd. These miles were pretty close to pure joy. The mountains are gorgeous, and my body was absorbed in the the music and the scenery. I was on pace to finsh faster than 3:27.
At the end of mile 14 a more gradual descent progresses until about mile 21. No marathon is without it's tough spots and somewhere around mile 15 I felt a few warning sign twinges. One in my left hip which for some reason had been a bit stiff during my taper, and another in my left achilles tendon. These were both of concern because I had a hip flexor snap on me a few years earlier preceded by a similar twinge, and neither that type of injury nor a torn achilles would allow continued running if they occurred. I told myself to run with good form and awareness and not to push to hard. At mile 17 I felt the achillies again a few more times, but it would be ok after that. At mile 18 I had an issue trying to swallow some water while running (wrong pipe) and taking some nutrition led to a strong heartburn like pain (not fun when running sub 8 minute miles). By mile 20 the heartburn had subsided which was a relief, but I knew that the last 10 k would be without any more fuel. I was still maintaining a good pace and feeling pretty good for mile 20 of a race.
It wasn't until about mile 22 that my HR consistently started to drift up into the 150's and it was getting warmer and the sun was out as I approached the last 4 mile loop on the beach. This was the HR profile I would have scripted so I knew I was running a smart race. The last 4 miles can be a bit mentally challenging, but I had enough in reserve and just wanted to avoid injury. At mile 24 I caught Rajesh who at this point was being paced by a friend who runs very fast marathons. I was glad to see he had been out in front, but he had gone out a bit to fast and was subsequently laboring some. I urged him on, and he made a push to stay with me but couldn't maintain it. After turning back to the finish line on the beach at mile 25 a sense of accomplishment started to creep in through the cracks in my fatigue, and it seeped through my mode of vigilant monitoring caution to avoid injury. With a 1/2 mile to go I let caution disperse into the breeze and picked up the pace to the finish.
I crossed the line with an official time of 3:26:51 :)
It was a good day :)
Here is a postscript comment I added at my running group page on facebook
I
feel like I should say more here. A big reason I was drawn to marathon
training was the many parodoxes we get to wrestle with in our pursuit of
progressive goals.
I liked the fact that it was in many ways a solitary pursuit in which gradual mastery
of the art of the training leads to a self awareness that is hard to
find in other endeavors. We learn to explore the boundaries of our
limitations, and come to realize that freedom emerges when we approach
those boundaries without over-reaching because then, on the next
approach, those boundaries allow a slightly greater reach.
But
along the way I think we come to realize something even more valuable.
That no accomplishment exists in a vacuum, there is a collective aspect
to every achievement, and getting a PR or a BQ means little without
being able to share it with others who understand the process. When I
crossed the line I will admit a sense of accomplishment, but the first
thing I did was look for other Leggers. I found Bradley who while missing his BQ had finished ahead of me, and is sure to BQ soon (almost surely in Chicago). I found Elias
whose resume is too long to list, and was gracious as ever not
mentioning his new 1/2 marathon PR until I had gone on for a bit about
my race. I found Rajesh who had a massive PR, and then Jaclyn who also BQ'd despite a calf injury in the middle of the training cycle. I also found Wansun who seems to PR with every race, and ran faster then his BQ standard (3:15) as well.
I
think what's most rewarding is not just achieving some static goal but
making progress in an activity that both allows us to better understand
ourselves as well as that which connects us to others.
Here is a link to my splits:
https://www.strava.com/activities/311056200
