Surf City Marathon Feb 1, 2015

2014 was the year of the marathon for me. My goals had been to conquer the feared 26.2 and to Boston Qualify. I was so determined to achieve my goal and I put in the work. The tempos, the consistent track intervals, the long runs. Needless to say I ran four full marathons between January and July 2014 (BQ'd 3 of them, set a new PR of 3:22) and then decided to run a 51km with Keith two weeks after Eugene Marathon. 

Following the ultra, I was somewhat tired of long runs. I felt slightly fatigued and was starting to take longer and longer in my recovery. I felt my motivation to run a 20 miler lacking. I decided it was time to take a break from the marathon and started focusing on some shorter distance races. The half marathon as well as some 5km races was my new goal. After several half marathons and bringing my PR down to 1:32:22 at the Jacksonville Bank Marathon at the end of December, I decided I missed running some long runs. Keith and I maintain a very consistent weekly mileage with track, tempos and many double runs so I knew I had not lost fitness but of course not having done a real long run since the previous August I was nervous to tackle the marathon once again. While we were in Jacksonville visiting, Keith said he really wanted to do Surf City Marathon again so he caught me at the right moment and I signed up for the marathon distance as well. 

Knowing it was only one month away I started to get a bit scared. I was struggling to run 15 or 16 milers these days. It felt like my endurance was just not there anymore and I needed to build it up to conquer 26.2 again. I had more speed but less endurance. I made a plan. Surf City would be treated as a long run. I wanted to run 20 miles at sub 8 min pace. I told myself that the other 6.2 was a bonus without any added pressure. I also didn't want to have a long recovery after this race so it was crucial to treat it like any other long run. 

We ran PF Chang's Rock and Roll two weeks prior and frankly I had a lousy race which depleted my confidence. The positive side of that race was I ran the half marathon and then tagged on another 6 miles after my own race to run with my friends to give me a total of 19 miles. That was the longest I had run in a while. The Saturday prior to Surf City, we had a very grueling hill repeat/tempo/interval workout with our Tucson Runners Project Group. What was I thinking doing this workout a week prior to a marathon?? Yup, sounded brilliant at the time and it really was an awesome workout. My glutes were on fire for our Sunday run the next morning. 

I decided to have an easier week leading up to the marathon so I did not do the track workout on Wednesday. The race was coming near and I was very nervous. Keith calmed me down and kept reminding me we're going out to California to have fun and that it would be an awesome weekend. He also wanted to run the race with me which definitely calmed me down further. He is such a motivator and I truly enjoy our runs together. He makes me laugh and just brings positive spirit when I'm struggling. 

We had a wonderful carb dinner with room service in our hotel room and just relaxed that evening. Race morning quickly approached and it was nice being able to park our car about a half mile to the starting line. I had a chance to meet some of Keith's Marathon Maniac friends including Sally, Cade and David Holmen. Such awesome athletes! The gun went off and Keith and I settled in a nice 7:40-7:50 pace. There were some slight inclines in the first stages of the race but nothing too drastic. The temperatures for the beginning parts of the race was great. Definitely humid and dense fog as expected in Southern California along the ocean but still nice and cool. I was worried about my right glute/hip since having some pain the last few days. I had iced the day before and was hoping for no flare up. 

First few miles felt a bit tight but once I warmed up, it seemed to be feeling better and no sharp pain. Mile 9 was a nice long uphill and I just let myself relax. I didn't want to use any extra energy on this portion. Our pace dipped to 8:01 for this mile and I was okay with that since I just told myself to go by feel and not based on my watch. It was a long race and no point straining now. I was feeling pretty good until approximately mile 11. Miles 10 to 13 you're heading out on Pacific Coast Highway and then turn around and head back from miles 13-16 with the high sun in your eyes. 

Miles 11-16 were the most difficult miles for me. At mile 12 I was feeling defeated. I kept telling myself how could this be, even before the half way point? If I start walking now, I have a very long way to go. Every negative thought creeped in. I maintained my 750 pace but it was not an easy time. Keith was waving at his friends, posing for photo ops and I was miserable lol. He said honey do you want a gel? a cliff block? No, I was nauseous. I did not want a gel. I wanted to go home to my bed. This part of the course is not scenic at all. It's surrounded by industrial region and it just really drags on. 

Finally at mile 16, we turned onto the boardwalk and started running along the beach. There are so many crowd supporters along here cheering. I am not sure what happened at this point but I completely got a second wind. I felt a jolt of energy and I went from feeling miserable to feeling refreshed as if I just swam in that ocean. I started fist pumping and thinking oh yaaaa I got this. Our pace had been very consistent for the entire race. I told myself that I had four more miles until mile 20 and that would be such a great long run running my twenty miles sub 8 min pace. That was my motivation to keep me going. I was even slightly speeding up. We passed many runners who were hurting at this point. Runners to the side cramping and runners slowing down or walking. The sun was full force by now as well. We saw Cade and David Holmen at the turnaround point. I felt great. Mile 20 came around and I put my hands in the air and I knew I had a great training run and would be a wonderful start to 2015. 

Then I said well you're doing ok so why not make it to 21. Then it became 22 and 23 and so on. Mile 26 I picked it up and we had passed so many on the final 8 miles, it was feeling great. Keith had a surprised expression on his face when I started sprinting to the finish in the last 400m and fist pumping to get the awesome crowd going. Every fist pump was a YAAAAAA from the crowd. There were so many families and friends and supporters out for the race. It was so helpful and awesome! As we crossed the finish line in 3:28:16, my third fastest marathon and a BQ time, I had tears. I truly love running and I love being able to share my passion with the love of my life. 

The marathon has so many emotional and physical ups and downs. It parallels life completely. To be surrounded by so many awesome friends and athletes is the best feeling in the world. We'll be running the Double Stack race in Phoenix which is a 5km followed by a 10km run next Sunday. Following that we'll be running the Lost Dutchman half marathon as a training run and Phoenix Marathon on Feb 28th. I will have a sub 3:25 goal for that race as a lead up to Toronto Goodlife Marathon in May (shooting for a PR sub 3:22).