Mountains to Beach Marathon 2015: Just 10 seconds away...

After the 2014 CIM debacle, I made the decision to run Mountains to Beach in 2015, since I managed to pull off a good race on that course last year, just a few weeks after a very bad race at Boston. However the recovery from CIM went slower than anticipated. The left thigh issue that plagued me the last few weeks before CIM and during the race became a major issue, with pain on the inside of the leg and elevated heart rate at slow speeds, indicative of deficient mechanics. It turned out that I had developed a left hip weakness, and that my gracilis, one of the long adductor muscles, had compensated for this weakness. The gracilis took a beating during the last training weeks and during the race and finally gave up, leading to pain and flawed running mechanics especially at lower speeds. The end of December and January were spent aggressively rehabbing my left hip, with lateral leg raises, clamshells, and planks 5 times a week, and managing to run 6 days a week, albeit slow and in moderate pain. I made steady progress, and with the consistent hip exercises I felt I was getting healthier every week, with most of the pain gone by early February. I maintained the core/hip routine throughout the training cycle and also lifted weights at least once a week to keep my body from developing weaknesses.

I ran a rust buster 8k at Brea at the end of February in a relatively mediocre time (31:58). This was my only tune up race, but from there most of the training went fine, the highlight being a solo 10 mile hard tempo run at 6:26 pace at the end of March. I hit a difficult week 4 weeks before the race, with general fatigue and difficulties maintaining paces on the later intervals of my workouts, so my coach decided to backoff and reduce the mileage, leading to a 3 weeks taper instead of the usual two. As a result, I felt relatively fresh during the last week before the race, although that week was very stressful at work and home, with too many events that did not contribute to a relaxing environment. In addition I got a sore throat a week before the race; although it never evolved into a full blow head cold, I was still coughing and having minor congestion the day of the race.

I drove to Ventura on Saturday afternoon, and after picking up my bib at the expo, I checked in at the hotel, and ate my last dinner at a sushi restaurant. I slept reasonably well considering the early wake up (3:10AM), drank a bottle of carbo force, ate two toasts and boarded the shuttle at 4AM. The drive to Ojai was quick and we were dropped at 4:30AM. I used the bathroom a couple of times, and met Duck, a forumite of the RW west forum about half an hour before the start. I jogged a few hundred yards about 15 minutes before the start – luxury of a smaller race - but did not feel the need to warm up too much.

At the start, shortly before 6AM

I lined up two rows from the front line, and at 6AM we were off and going. Having run the race last year I knew what to expect and the topography of the course. First, a loop around Ojai with some inclines and declines, then a steady decline from M8 to M18, and then a flat course to the finish.The first two miles were close to average pace with some very minor rollers (6:52; 6:55). At Mile 2, I saw Robert, my taxman who came to support his wife who was running her first marathon. Miles 3 to 5 were fast because of the downhill on the bike path (6:46; 6:43; 6:44). I felt comfortable, and the downhill made these three miles really easy. I did not try to hit a specific pace but rather tried to keep the HR at reasonable value and save my legs by not hammering the downhill.

Elevation profile with corrected elevation values.

The next three miles (6-8) were harder, because we left the bike path to go back towards Ojai and regain the all the elevation lost. I tried not to work too hard on Mile 6 steady incline and the rollers, keep the HR under control even if that meant a few slower miles (7:04; 7:05; 6:59). Once we were done with that loop, we got back on the downhill bike path and I thought things were going to get easier, based on my earlier pace on the downhill segments at M3-4. However the downhill did not feel as easy compared to the first time we ran on the same section. During that second time on the bike path I saw John Loftus, coach at Run Your Potential who yelled at me to get my attention and took the picture on the left:

In that downhill segment I got dropped by a few runners, including one of the rare females in the group, as they accelerated quite a bit. Miles 10-13 were spent trying to take advantage of the downhill (6:48; 6:54; 6:45; 6:43) but trying at the same time not to hammer it to avoid muscle damage and subsequent leg fatigue. I reached the 13.1 mark at 1:29:45, which gave me confidence that I would finish under three hours, since I was able to run last year’s race with about a minute negative split.

However, around Mile 16, I started to feel some early signs of fatigue. It felt difficult to keep the heart rate above 160, and I wasn’t sure where this was coming from. Early leg fatigue due to the downhill segments? I had taken gels regularly every 30 minutes so it was too early to be low in glycogen, but I was clearly starting to work harder. I tried to increase my leg turnover but this was not effective and I could not maintain this higher turnover for very long. By Mile 18, most of the elevation drop felt negligible, and it became a steady grind to keep pace. In addition, we were reaching the Ventura plain, and the temperatures were now warmer (above 60F) with no cloud cover, making the conditions harder. I doused myself with water at every aid station but the cooling effect was unfortunately short lived. I did not slow down dramatically but it was becoming harder and harder to maintain pace (6:48-6:50). I remember passing a few runners there and maybe being passed by one or two, including one guy in a tri jersey who blew past me finished two minutes ahead of me - I ended up chatting with him at the finish. We were also catching up with slow half marathoners and the bike path was getting more congested. I focused on staying on my race one mile at a mile, bargaining with myself to try and get the mile I was running in at 6:52 or less, before thinking about the next one.

Once we got out of the bike path into Ventura things definitely got tougher. Mile 21 was run at 6:47 so I was encouraged that I might be able to finish stronger. At Mile 22 I crossed the train tracks and was relieved because I knew I would not have to wait for a train crossing (the runners information mentioned that due to train schedule, runners running between 2:55 and 3:05 may have to stop for trains….). 

Detailed view of the loop from Mile 22 to the finish, with the cross-training train-crossing shortly after mile 22, and the turn around towards the finish before mile 25.

The next miles between the freeway and the ocean front were progressively slower, around 6:55 pace. The course had more turns with some irregular surface, and it was definitely more congested than before, with the sun directly above. I started to calculate mentally how much cushion I had to go under 3 hours...but with each mile clicking at 6:55 or slightly slower I was getting worried that I might not make it. However I really did not have it in me to close faster, as I felt like if I had pushed harder it would have resulted in a blow up in the next mile.  As someone once said, I knew my goose was cooked, it was just unfortunate that it was already well done way before mile 26….

We passed the finish around mile 23 (6:55). During that section I was seeing slow half marathoners on the other side who were running in the opposite direction towards the finish, and it felt like the turning back point to reach the finish line was never coming. My mind was feeling foggy but I was trying to make it one mile at a mile while also trying to catch up some of the marathon runners who were slowing down to help me keep pace. I finally made it to turnaround, and from there we were back on the bike path towards the finish. It was more tortuous and bumpy than I would have liked, with many slow half-marathoners blocking the way, and I could not muster better than a couple of 6:59 miles. I flew by the female runner who had passed me at ~ M11, as well as a couple of others marathon runners who clearly bonked in these late miles. As my Garmin beeped signaling Mile 26, I realized I needed to cover the final 0.2 or change in less than 1min 30s. I knew I was in trouble but gave it all I had to try and finish under 3hrs. About a swimming pool length away from the finish, my Garmin showed 3:00:00…I still kicked hard and was happy to be finally done, but did no excessive celebration when crossing the line in 3:00:09... 

Less than 0.2 mile from the finish..so close, yet so far.

This finish was surprisingly unemotional. I could have broken up since I was so close, needing only 10s to go under 3 hours. I could have been stoked to finally get a personal best by 45 seconds at the ripe age of 47, after two years without any improvement at the marathon (or any other distance). I just felt a dull sense of relief and satisfaction as the race was over and I managed to run a solid race, even if I fell short of my main goal. I will always wonder where in my splits I could have gained these ridiculous 10 seconds...but at least the template for a successful run was there, and I hope I won’t have to wait another two years before improving.

With Rocky from the West forum who PR'ed but just missed a BQ by ~ 1 minute.

Splits:

Interval	Distance	Time	Pace	Avg HR	Max HR
1	1 mi	06:51.3	06:52	154	172
2	1 mi	06:54.4	06:55	163	171
3	1 mi	06:45.5	06:46	164	169
4	1 mi	06:42.2	06:43	162	165
5	1 mi	06:43.4	06:44	162	165
6	1 mi	07:03.6	07:04	164	167
7	1 mi	07:04.1	07:05	165	168
8	1 mi	06:58.5	06:59	164	166
9	1 mi	06:51.3	06:52	162	164
10	1 mi	06:48.3	06:49	161	164
11	1 mi	06:54.5	06:55	162	164
12	1 mi	06:45.4	06:46	160	163
13	1 mi	06:43.3	06:44	159	161
14	1 mi	06:46.3	06:47	159	161
15	1 mi	06:53	06:53	158	161
16	1 mi	06:50.4	06:51	158	160
17	1 mi	06:48.6	06:49	159	161
18	1 mi	06:48	06:48	161	163
19	1 mi	06:50.0	06:51	162	164
20	1 mi	06:54	06:54	161	164
21	1 mi	06:46.8	06:47	162	164
22	1 mi	06:55.2	06:56	162	164
23	1 mi	06:55.4	06:56	162	164
24	1 mi	06:59.9	07:00	161	164
25	1 mi	06:59.6	07:00	162	164
26	1 mi	06:58.7	06:59	162	168
27	0.27 mi	01:38.6	06:05	166	169

CIM2014: When slaying the dragon is just not good enough

In 2012 and 2013 I signed up for CIM and ended up not being able to start the race because of two different injuries. As a result of these two consecutives DNS, CIM became a psychological roadblock for me, and I told myself after the second injury that I would never sign up for that race EVER  AGAIN! Then this year I decided to run a marathon before the end of the year to try and salvage my racing season. However, no race other than CIM seemed to be working for my schedule. I am not overly superstitious, but it took  some time before I finally hit the registration button, knowing my heavy past with that race. The training cycle became about “slaying the CIM dragon”, as Multi22, one of the sub-3 forumites pointed out, and to stay healthy enough to step the start line. 

My overall training went fine. I ran a 1:26:47 half marathon 5 weeks before the race, which McMillan calculated as an equivalent of 3:02:38, but my workouts put me around 6:48-6:52 pace at marathon pace heart rate, which gave me hope that I had the fitness to go under 3hours. Only issue, I started to feel some left thigh ache the last two weeks before the race. This ache slowly faded in the few days before the race so I wasn't overly concerned about it. I flew to Sacramento on Friday, and hit the expo Friday afternoon. I got to meet Kim Conley, saw the BQ bell and the CIM wall where all the runners names were written.  

With Kim Conley

  The next morning I drove the course and realized then the rolling nature of the course, as there was virtually no flat portion between the start and mile 16-18. This worried me a bit knowing that I did not do my MP runs on hills, just some tempo intervals and hill repeats.

Short uphill at Mile1

Elevation profile, note the absence of continuous flat segments until ~ mile 18

I slept very poorly the night before the race and woke up at 3:30 without the alarm. I drank a bottle of Carboforce, ate two muffins with honey, showered and got ready to board the bus. I saw Dave in the line and we rode the bus together with his buddy from Seattle. Once arrived, I hit the portajohns right away to take care of business, after which I saw John Hill, who ended up running a blazing 2:38 that day. He  complained to me that he forgot his Garmin and was forced to run with a clunky set up with his phone. Had he told me so before hand I could have loaned him one, as I brought three with me being paranoid with technology failure...I then hung around the start area; it was surprisingly empty until maybe 10-15min before the race, at which time people started to congregate.

At the start, keeping warm about 45 minutes before start time

I kept my throwaway clothes until 10 minutes before the start and took care of business one last time in my empty Gatorade bottle, unbeknownst to people around me, thanks to my warm-up pants. I threw away pants, fleece and hat, lined up several rows from the front and at 7am sharp we were off.

Right away it felt difficult to reach sub-3 pace. I found myself surrounded by the 3:05 pace group. This was oppressing as I did not have much running space, and I thought that they had no business running that pace, as I clocked the first mile at 6:55. It was only after the second mile that I was able to detach myself from the group and get some breathing room. At that time I started to realize that the course was relentless. The hills were not bad or steep, but there were very little to no flat segments, once I was done with a short uphill there was a downhill that I needed to be careful not to hammer. This isn’t the type of course I am comfortable with, as I like to get into a rhythm, dial in marathon pace and forget about it. I focused on running the tangents, which sometimes meant that I was all by myself on one side of the road, while the pack of runners around me just followed the curves and the runners in front of them.

In the early Miles, in front of the 3:05 pace group

The first 5-6 miles were a net downhill and I was a few seconds over sub3 pace for these miles. However once we hit more even rolling miles with approximately equal up and downhills, my pace slowed down a bit and I started digging myself into a hole. At that time I was thinking that I should be going faster but the effort felt maximum for a marathon and I was afraid of blowing up in the second half. I had a small 10 oz bottle onto which I had diluted 5 gels and I used it to take “gels” at Mile 4, and Mile 8. I looked at my split crossing the half, and my Garmin showed 1:31:38. I then realized that it would be really difficult to get under 3 hours considering the deficit I had built. I took another “gel” at the half.

Around mile 14, I seriously considered dropping out. I told myself that there was no point in continuing, as I was going to beat up my legs for no reason. I had no interest in another BQ, nor in anything else than a sub-3 hour time, and it made little sense to finish. Then I thought of my kids, and that it would set a terrible example for them, as I always tell them to finish what they started. I also thought that I finally got a chance to start that race after two consecutive DNS, and that I owed it to myself to finish, just to put a closure on my bad history with CIM and finally “slay the CIM dragon”.

Once I made peace with myself and decided to finish, I felt better for another two-three miles. I clicked miles at a regular pace, focused on my effort than on the pace itself and started to catch up with some runners. Around mile 18 the pace began slightly more difficult to sustain. I kept plugging but it felt harder, even if I was still passing other runners. I took my last two “gels” at Mile 17 and 20 and threw away my empty gel bottle, just to feel more comfortable.

In the last miles, grinding towards the finish

At mile 21 we reached a bridge which is considered the last “hill” of the course. It wasn’t much of a hill but I passed several runners who were walking or jogging. Once we entered the city, the course was completely flat – finally – but at this point the legs became fatigued, with some muscle twinges on the left quad - the muscle area that had bothered me the last few days before the race, and on the right foot. My breathing became more labored, and the heart rate went slightly up, which was a clear indication that I was working on fat and that my glycogen was getting low. The last miles went by relatively quickly. I passed lots and lots of runners there and did not get passed. Around mile 23 I felt I still had a bit left in the tank but did not want to push harder because of the muscles twinges in my left leg and also because I felt I did not have much to gain at this point as I wouldn’t PR anyway. I still let it all go after mile 26 to close fast and blew past several other runners in that stretch. I crossed the finish in 3:02:26, with a 1min10 seconds negative split, glad to be finally done with that race.

Crossing the finish

Once I crossed the finish and got my sweat bag back, I looked around briefly to see if there was anyone that I knew, but I really had no desire to talk with anyone. I sat down on the steps of the Capitol and broke down in tears. I felt that I had wasted 5 months of training for nothing in return, and no improvement compared to last year. I was left considering why once again I wasn’t able to reach my long time goal. Maybe I wasn't in sub-3 shape - according to the McMillan calculator I ran at my fitness level. However my runs at MP heart rate indicated otherwise. Did I go out too conservatively in the first half? I don’t think so based on my HR values but I will never know what would have happened had I forced the pace to 6:50s. At any rate I wasn’t prepared for the rollers. I did some speedwork on hilly terrain but most of my MP runs were on a flat loop for logistical reasons. So while I might have been in sub-3 shape on a flat course, the rollers took more out of me than I thought because I wasn’t prepared for them. In addition, I did not do as much weight training as I did before OC in 2013, and I was also heavier for this race than I was before, which all combined to make it a more difficult race. I should be happy with running my second fastest marathon, with a decent negative split, but this isn't what I was looking for, and I will finish this report with this quote from a friend, who summarized well my race: 

“looking at your splits - it looks amazing and well executed. Being objective you must acknowledge that running 26 miles at sub-7 pace is insane. It really is you know. But I also understand the feeling that it's not good enough…”

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Split	Distance	Time	Pace	Average HR	MaxHR
1	1 mi	06:55.7	06:56	160	x-malfunction
2	1 mi	06:59.5	07:00	165	168
3	1 mi	06:52.6	06:53	165	169
4	1 mi	06:56.7	06:57	164	169
5	1 mi	06:58.7	06:59	163	167
6	1 mi	06:56.2	06:57	165	167
7	1 mi	07:00.5	07:01	164	168
8	1 mi	07:04.4	07:05	163	168
9	1 mi	07:07.0	07:07	163	167
10	1 mi	06:53.8	06:54	163	166
11	1 mi	06:54.1	06:55	164	169
12	1 mi	07:00.2	07:01	163	166
13	1 mi	06:57.8	06:58	161	166
14	1 mi	06:53.1	06:54	162	166
15	1 mi	06:55.3	06:56	162	167
16	1 mi	06:51.6	06:52	165	169
17	1 mi	06:51.0	06:52	163	166
18	1 mi	06:59.6	07:00	162	165
19	1 mi	06:57.1	06:58	161	165
20	1 mi	06:56.8	06:57	162	166
21	1 mi	06:59.4	07:00	163	167
22	1 mi	06:54.0	06:54	165	171
23	1 mi	06:56.0	06:56	166	169
24	1 mi	06:56.2	06:57	165	169
25	1 mi	06:52.4	06:53	166	170
26	1 mi	06:49.9	06:50	168	172
27	0.33 mi	01:59.3	06:02	173	180