California International Marathon-Race Report

The decision for me to run CIM was last minute. We registered just after the registration for Boston closed as we knew with so many people shut out of Boston, CIM would fill up. I knew one thing, after running my first 50K just 4 weeks ago, I had NO idea what to expect. Chris' training had been nothing short of a melting pot with scrap and junk miles as he sacrificed many of his long runs as I was training for Helen Klein. He headed into this race unsure, but confident in his abilities to persevere, given this would be his 3rd marathon.

We had an early morning, driving into Sacramento and meeting Mom and Dad who drove us up to Folsom. Mom would be running in the relay challenge and would run the first 6-miles, so she was there with us as we waited for the starting gun to sound. We met up with Larry and all huddled together with our nervous energy. This year the temperatures were balmy and overcast, nothing like the below freezing start of the year before. We made our HoneyBucket trips and after a few pictures, all got in order to start the race. Chris, Mom and I were around the 4:15 group and knew the start would be slow going. However, this was, in part, a strategy to help slow down in the beginning in hopes of a negative split and not burning out the legs.

All started well, for the first 8 miles I truly felt like I was holding Chris back. I encouraged him to go ahead if he was feeling good as I was really not totally comfortable for some strange reason. I had dressed for warmth and foregone my gloves, headband and any 'cold weather' gear. Boy was I glad......I reminded Chris of his need to GU around mile 5 as the miles were flying by, around mile 6 I started my routine and realized, begrudgingly I had forgotten my EnduroLytes ....GRRRRR! Around mile 8 Chris informed me he needed a bathroom stop and told me to go ahead. I felt slow and tired and said I would go ahead and he would surely catch me. Mile after mile I kept listening for the familiar THUD of Chris' gait (he's a bit of a pounder!) and each time....it wasn't him.

I saw a familiar face as we entered Fair Oaks, it was the Sac Metro Fire fitness coach, I shouted "Hello" desperate for a familiar face and recognition. I told him Chris should be right behind me and felt a little renewed having made a connection. It was strange, this race I battled my mind, THE.ENTIRE.TIME. I felt like I was doing ok, like a Boston Qualifier was a chance, an off chance, but still a chance. I ended up hanging with the 3:45 pace group for quite some time, knowing this was not a BQ time, but still happy to be with a group who would set my pace for me. I noticed Dierdre Fitzpatrick (thanks to her Facebook updates and Twitter pics of her race day outfit!) in the pack and listened/watched as the crowd recognized her, hoping it might help with my energy.

As a whole, the course felt PACKED to me. I don't recall it being so filled with runner's last time. Oh well. I plodded along. Taking on GU every 6 miles, plain water at aid stations and drinking HEED out of my handheld to supplement. The sun was out, temps were high, I was so glad to have liquids on me as dehydration and cramping could be seen everywhere on the course with runners grabbing at their calves and flushed cheeks gasping for air as many were over dressed.

Going through an aid station with a large pace group was insanity. If you have evern run in a race, you know what I mean. The idea is to run THROUGH the station, get off to the side after to walk and drink if need be. Or, if you are like me, grab the water, clench the top into a "V" and drink as you run. Run THROUGH it. It was like a stampede at a watering hole. People making 'rapid lane changes' to dive into the station and then coming to a complete stop once the drink was in hand. It was this situation that put me in front of the 3:45 group. I was not really comfortable with this as you all may have experienced this...runner or not....

So you are walking/running and you hear footsteps behind you.....what do you do? Speed up, right?!?! So just the sound of the group behind me had me pushing my pace, finally around mile 18 they overtook me and I settled back in.

It was somewhere just past mile 20-22 I looked off to my right and spotted....black shorts, white top...is it Larry? Sure enough I had found Larry, I was the bad runner making a 'rapid lane change' this time to get over to him. We chatted a minute or two and I did my best to encourage my good friend with tired legs (did I mention he had BILATERAL foot surgery in February of THIS year!). We were at a point where he spotted his wife Tina, so I plodded along alone. While I ran I wondered if I could have helped any better? I wondered where the heck Chris was? I wondered why am I doing this? I wondered where I really stood, given that I was roughly 8-9 minutes off the gun time? I wondered if I could still pull off a BQ?

Annoyingly my right calf started to speak ever so quietly to me...."hhheeeyyyyy Erin.......", "hhheeeyy Erin.....", "so I'm really not liking this.....I'm going to cramp soon.....any second now..."

I changed my stride a little and kept on. I am not sure at what point I stopped, but I went ahead and walked an aid station. Took on the water and then decided, I had to go, I had to hurry. I felt like the moment in Alice in Wonderland where the rabbit informs, "We're late....we're late...for a very important date". Somehow I completely modified my stride, shortened up big time and I had no felling in my legs. None. Nothing. I managed my last GU at Mile 24 and remembered a little phrase my future SIL Lindsey, who said, "I can do anything for 2 miles", and so I did. It's always during this phase in a race that I start talking to myself, this time not just in my head but out loud. I ran through downtown having a full on converstation with those who I wanted to see at that moment....Mom, Dad, Bubba, Linds, Chris. This race I thought about the police officers in WA who lost their lives a year ago, how they would endure this pain in exchange for their lives. I thought about Bryan Hall and his men and the thousands of other soldiers lost in this war and I figured I could endure anything given the sacrifice others have made for me to be able to do this. It is weird what enters your mind. It is weird how you find strength, for whatever reason it worked. None the less I was thankful and grateful, to be able to run and be free and have amazing people supporting me. Somewhere in my gut I also craved the connection of people I knew the whole race and I just knew Mom and Dad were at the finish line and I had to get to them as fast as I could. I remember running down L street and glancing at my Garmin after I heard Tina shout "GO Erin" as she made her way to the finish line....6:45 pace. I am not sure how that was even physically possible but I decided I better leave it all on the line. In Boston it was all I could do to muster the strength to lift my arms at the end, this race would end in a different way. The shadow/curse of Boston would be left behind me, it had to be, I was running a 6:45 and I knew Boston couldn't catch me at that pace :) I crossed the line in 3 hours 46 minutes, just one minute slower than my first ever marathon and nearly 20 minutes faster than I had run Boston. Although I did not BQ, I was happy with my performance.

As I crossed the finish line it did not take me long to spot Dad and Mom. Once I got to Mom she let me know Chris was behind me and had notified her, he was not having the day he hoped and should be in around 4 hours 15 minutes. We made our way over to the male finisher side and anxiously awaited his arrival. He was in just as he expected, dissapointed in his performance but glad to be done. I managed to jump and wave to catch his eye although my calves seemed to be a little sore already. He spotted my stars and strips arm warmers and headed to us. After meeting up with Mom's relay group and wishing Tina and Larry a good rest of the day, we finished the day with a hearty lunch with Mom and Dad and basked in the post-marathon glow that afternoon, just in time to enjoy a nice bowl of frozen yogurt as our reward :)