Sunday, August 24, 2014
Last December I ended the year with a bang! I completed Ironman Cozumel with a time of 11 hours and 45 minutes. I was elated. It was an extremely long year (starting in January) with many half ironmans leading up to this race. But once the race was over, I was a little sad. What else did I want to accomplish? What would be my goal next year? I thought that my body and mind need a break from the long tri training days. So with a little persuasion from my coach, I decided to have a go at the marathon distance.
The last time that I did a marathon (without the swim and bike prior) was in 2011 at the NYC Marathon. My coach had this silly thought that I could qualify for Boston this year. I didn't let him know that my last marathon time was 4 hours and 23 minutes (almost an hour slower than a Boston Qualifying time for my age group). There was no way that it was possible. As I always do, I like to dream big though. I gave myself a realistic goal of sub-4 hours and a high hopes goal of 3:35 (the bare minimum for qualifying). I spoke with many people as the weeks approached on how they trained for their marathons. Most people said that they did their long runs at a really easy pace. For real?! I thought. How do you get faster then? At the NYC marathon, I kept my mind on keeping a steady pace and to finish strong, which I felt that I did. It wasn't the greatest time around but it was a personal best for me and I was ecstatic with it :) For the non-long distance runner that I am, it was as good as it gets.
The weeks leading up to the Santa Rosa Marathon, I was extremely conflicted. Six weeks before the race, I went on a long run - planned for about 18 miles. I went out running and I could barely get through 5 miles without feeling bad. I ran down the Embarcadero and made an early turn around due to my upset stomach. Fortunately, I was by the ferry building and hoped for an easy recovery from whatever was going on. I dreaded the run back home and felt terrible pains throughout. I decided to take a break and head home at mile 10 with the hopes of at least running an additional 5 miles when I felt better. Sadly, my stomach pains persisted! 10 miles was all my body would let me do.
The following week, I competed in the San Francisco Half Marathon and again, stomach PAINS! Over 2 hours of upset stomach issues post race! I feared that I couldn't do well at Santa Rosa if this kept happening! I was turning 30 in a couple days and I thought my body was just breaking down on me. I was debating switching over to the Santa Rosa half marathon instead, at least I wouldn't die out there attempting 26.2 miles!
The week after, I decided that I really needed to focus on my nutrition. I needed to stop thinking about my wedding weight and start thinking about what my body needs to compete at a high level. Carbs were my friend and they were going to get me through my 22 miler on the weekend. I decided to sign up for a Brazen Race Half Marathon and add on 8.5 miles to the front end. This was such a great decision! I was able to do 22 miles with an average 8:35 pace and felt so good that my last mile I ran a 7:15 pace! I felt GREAT! Maybe an 8:10 pace for the marathon was possible! I rode on that high for the remaining taper weeks before my big race.
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The race!
Patrick and I decided to forgo the high hotel rates for camping the night before the race. We have a fantastic car that allows us to camp easily and we could pick up and leave in the morning really quickly.
After a delicious dinner at Olive Garden :), we headed to the campgrounds and set up camp. Throughout the night, it quickly became clear that camping in the car together before a big race might not be a great thing to do. We tried out a new sleeping configuration in the Honda Element which left us with little space for our legs to stretch out completely. Our air mattress was caved in and we both woke up feeling terrible. My right knee was sore and stiff from the awkward angle I slept in. To add to all the commotion, there was a strong earthquake that hit Napa! I woke up in the middle of the night thinking cows were attacking our car! It was pretty intense!
Anyways, Patrick dropped me off about half a mile from the start and I began my slow calming meditation toward the start line. It was a bit lonely at the start as I didn't know any of the folks around me. But it might have been a good idea since I was able to continue to ease my mind for what I was about to attempt. At the start line, I found the 3:30 pace group and thought well, maybe I can try. If it doesn't workout, I can still find the 3:35 group during the race.
The gun fired and we were off (at 6 in the morning!!). During the first mile, I felt pretty good. I tried my best to stay with my pace group. I had a fear that I would go out too hard and lose it during the second half (as others have mentioned happened to them during their marathon races). I was definitely running a faster pace than I thought that I could hold and was worried when I would begin to slow down.
By mile 2 or 3, we were running on a narrow road and I found myself passing the 3:30 group and saw the 3:25 group ahead. I was feeling good. My feathers were flaring and I just wanted to run with the boys! I was keeping up through mile 6! Then the miles kept coming and I would glance at my watch and see that I was holding a 7:35 - 7:45 pace! Cool... but running 6 miles fast is easy. Running 26.2 miles that fast? Insane!
By mile 10, there as still pep in my legs! So i pushed a little harder and gained a couple yards ahead of the 3:25 pace group. By mile 13.1, I checked my watch and saw that I just PR'd my half marathon time... during a freakin marathon! WHAT?! I couldn't stop a tear from rolling down my face. But 13.1 is only halfway in a marathon haha. I had no idea how my body would hold up!
I continued to keep my kick ass pace through mile 19 but I did start to have to slow down a bit through the aid stations. The prior rolling hills and the pace were starting to get to me. Could I really do this? This is too fast! Only one more hour. I can do this. STOP THINKING NEGATIVELY! YOU CAN DO THIS! It was a huge mental struggle but being a part of a pace group allowed me to stop my self talk and just focus on one step at a time. Unfortunately, by mile 21, the 3:25 group was growing a bigger gap from me. My heart sank a little. I couldn't tell if my legs could hold up. I forced myself to keep a 7:50 pace and stay strong. 4 miles is an easy training day! I could do 4 miles in my sleep! I truly had to focus on completing one mile at a time. By the time I got to mile 25.2, I knew I only had 1 more mile! My spirits lifted and I started to pick up my pace again. I cheered on my fellow competitors and half marathon runners as we made our way towards the finish. As I saw the 26 mile sign, a man on the side line yelled at me "You're a Boston Marathon qualifier!" Really?! I couldn't believe it! More tears, obviously! Those .2 miles were really long! I pushed other marathon runners to kick up our speed as we made our way down the final stretch and it felt great to sprint through the finish line!
The announcer yelled my name on the loud speakers as I crossed the finish line and the first person I saw was my amazing fiancé who couldn't have looked any more proud of me. I cried. I couldn't believe I just ran that race the way that I did. Me. A non-fast long distance runner. I just qualified for Boston! FOR REAL?!? HOW?! I came in at 3 hours and 27 minutes. That's a 56 minute PR from my last marathon. I am still dumbfounded by it. I don't understand it but I won't question it. My coach believed that I could do this. He knew my potential and continually pushed me to be stronger. To never give up and sometimes feel the pain. During training, I stopped questioning myself and just followed my training plan and pushed myself to get stronger. There are 2 reasons why I think I got faster. 1) I trained really hard. I never went easy on myself (unless my training schedule told me to). 2) I stopped telling myself that I couldn't do it. Before, I believed that I wasn't a runner. I didn't have the build of a fast long distance runner. But this year, I said, shut up brain. You are fast. You trained your butt off. You better work!
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As I begin my opportunity to coach cross country this year at Balboa high school, I found myself thinking of how my determination can hopefully inspire other girls to strive for their best. I want them to know that their abilities are only defined by themselves. If they put in the heart and work, they can amaze themselves. They just need someone to believe in them. And I hope that I can be that person.
*Boston registration begins in September and I truly hope that I get the opportunity to sign up for this race. I hope that I can use this opportunity to inspire my high school athletes to work hard and continue to dream big.
At the SR Expo. Free wine tastings, free bottle of "runner's red" wine and some awesome swag! Such a fantastic race!
