CIM - FINALLY Sub 4

A week ago today I ran my 21st race this year, my 4th full marathon this year, my 16th marathon ever, and I finally FINALLY finished in under 4 hours! YAHHHOOOOOOO!!
 

Marathon PRs Cause Spontaneous Ridiculous Faces

Quitting Marathons

I've been trying to break 4 hours for several years, and after a particularly bad marathon #12 in June 2010 (more here) I gave up wanting to run marathons ever again. The hope I had going into each race and the disappointment I had coming out of it was more than I could stand after a certain point. I was almost embarrassed at times when I stated my sub-4 goal and missed  it time and time again. I would train harder and train differently, but almost every time I would lose it mentally towards the end and go from one walk break to several, until my sub-4 goal slipped out of my grasp in the last few miles.

A Lot of Marathons - Many Disappointments

 After bombing my 12th race and deciding to quit marathons all together (more here), I turned to triathlons as a new goal. I did my first tri (a baby sprint) in October 2010 (race recap here) and completed 5 more tris in the next 12 months. I was still running half marathons and did miss marathon training a bit, but it wasn't until I was accepted as a San Francisco Marathon Ambassador last year that I decided to give a full marathon one more try. (more here) For some reason I felt that I should run the full  marathon since I was an ambassador. Not sure why, but it felt like a sign to return to the full. I didn't want my first race back to be on such a hard course though, so I signed up for the OC Marathon to serve as my warm-up race. I ran the OC Marathon in May and finished in 4:09.(race recap here). I succumbed to walking in the end yet again, but I didn't care. At least I was out there with no time pressure, enjoying the course, and appreciating that I was "back" to marathon running.

From NO Marathons to Three

Skipping forward a bit my friend Christina wanted to run the Marine Corps Marathon later in the year, and somehow got David excited about running it again too. (We ran together in 2009.) He suggested that he do the first half of the SF Marathon with me as his training race, and that we'd do the Marine Corps Marathon together several months later. Sold! So wait a minute, I've now gone from NO marathons to THREE marathons in 2011? Yep. Oh well. 

For the SF Marathon I didn't put any time pressure on myself either. I just wanted to go out there and have fun. I ran the first half with David at a slightly slower pace than I would have on my own, but it was great to have him by my side and I don't think I stopped smiling the whole time. I figured we'd take it easy in this race, but crank up our training and go after the sub-4 goal for Marine Corps. Well, as the weeks ticked by and Marine Corps approached, David flat out told me that we weren't going to be running a sub-4 marathon unless I wanted to run alone. I was in denial about this for a bit and actually considered not running with him, but in the end realized that it was more important for us to do the race together than for me to shoot for my own personal goal. Against all of his protests, I stuck by his side and we finished Marine Corps holding hands. Aww... (Race recap here.)

David & I Before the Marine Corps Marathon

From Three Marathons to Four

David ended up telling me that his training wasn't on track for a sub-4 finish about 3 weeks before the race. The first thing I thought of was "What other marathon can I run after Marine Corps to go for my goal?!" I immediately scoured the Internet and realized that the California International Marathon (CIM) was 5 weeks after Marine Corps, was a net-downhill race, was supposedly one of the fastest marathons out there, and registration was still open! BUT .. only for 4 more days! After that you had to qualify as a seeded runner. I wasn't ready to make the commitment for marathon #4 without having run #3 yet in the year, but after consulting with David to see how upset he'd be if I went to Sacramento to run the marathon vs spending his birthday weekend with him (total only child move) and also finding out that my friend Jenny (with a fresh BQ finish) would be running CIM as well and would be willing to pace me ... AND my cousin Donna would be moving from LA up to Sacramento a few weeks before the race and I could stay with her for the night ... I signed up.

California International Marathon Course Map

Click on the map to enlarge

Its a Small World After All

Speaking of my friend Jenny - its crazy how we met. We were dailymile friends for a while and both happened to be running the OC Marathon. I stopped at one point to walk and was walking alone looking down at the ground in moderate defeat when I heard someone say "Monika??" Weird! Jenny recognized me from dailymile! Well, more so because I was wearing a big pink tutu. We ended up walking/running the last few miles together and I found out that we had a real-life connection as well. She worked with my cousin Donna and knew of my other cousin Giselle. Small world!

Finishing OC With Jenny

Race Weekend

As I mentioned in my last post, I ended up going to TEDx San Diego the day before CIM (more here). This was not ideal because I was too distracted to hydrate and eat the way I normally would pre-marathon. I also ended up on a late flight up to Sacramento and my carbo-loading dinner options were limited to airport food. I had a Quiznos sandwich, banana, and Gatorade. It would just have to do!

Mika is Doubtful of My Race Weekend Plan

Airport Dinner Attempt to Carbo Load

Race Morning

On race morning I got up at 4:45am, had coffee and oatmeal, and my cousin's husband dropped me off at the race start 3 miles from their house around 5:45am. (Thanks Jeremy!) I ate a bagel with hummus on the drive over and then a banana right before the start of the race to top off my breakfast total at 800 calories. Jenny was taking the shuttle up from her hotel near the finish line, and we were planning on meeting at bag check. We reluctantly peeled off some layers and checked our bags, donned our Glam Runner tutus (coordinating pink/white and purple/white) and headed to the start line. I have to give it to CIM for having the most porta-potties at the start line that I have ever seen! The line stretched as far as you could see! 

Pre-Race Smiles - Oh Wait, You Can't See Us

This marathon was the first one I've ever run that didn't have corrals and wave starts. We positioned ourselves in the first quarter of the 15,000 person crowd, and at 7am we were off! The race is a point to point that is net downhill with some small rolling hills. I decided to wear the 3:50 pace tattoo that Jenny had picked up for me (instead of the 3:45 or 4:00) and was pleasantly surprised that we were well ahead of those splits for TWENTY miles!

CIM Pace Tattoos

3:50  For the Win!

 Smiling Heading Up One Hill

I knew we were going faster than we needed to for me to hit the 4-hour goal, and I knew that the last time I started out way too fast in a race back in 2009 I ended up succumbing to severe cramping, but I felt so good running the pace that we were at that I just kept to it. (I did take sports drink at just about every aid station though because of my cramping paranoia. Luckily it paid off.)

Jenny - My Personal Cheerleader

As the miles flew by I started thinking hey, I wonder if we're going to finish in 3:45? That would be amazing! At some point on the course Jenny had to stop for a quick bio break and she sent me off running without her .. but she caught up with me several minutes later. I figured I must have slowed down a lot but she said she just jammed to catch back up to me. Amazing! Several miles later I needed to take a break as well, and by then my legs were starting to get fairly fatigued.

Trying To Keep it Together - Praying For Confidence

I think we were only at mile 16 or 17 when my legs really started to burn. Darn that lactic acid! I forgot to mention that I basically took a 5 week taper after Marine Corps, and my only long run had been the Santa Barbara Half Marathon (race recap here). As soon as I felt the burn I thought oh no - this is because I didn't train properly. My legs can't handle this! Why didn't I run further each weekend? WHY?  I'm in the middle of reading Macca's book "I'm Here to Win", and tried to use one of his "Winsights" to beat down my negative talk. I was getting down about not training hard enough, feeling bad for never ever training as hard as I originally planned to, fretting that the extra few pounds I've put on this year were working against me, and starting to feel that familiar defeat where I "knew" sub-4 was out of reach. I tried to channel my inner-Macca though and tried to think of some positive things to combat those negatives thoughts such as the fact that I've done 3 prior marathons this year, I've PRd in several shorter distance races, my half-marathon finishes are right where I want them, and that I knew that my body was physically capable of a sub-4 finish, I just needed to keep my mind together and continue to push. 

Jenny's Personal Cheer Section - More Cowbell!

Video Compliments of Jenny's Husband Jay

My favorite part at the end - Mommy why are you wearing that??

As we approached mile 20 and I looked down at my Garmin and pace tattoo, I was amazed that even with the short walk breaks I kept taking we were still on track for a 3:50 finish, and that we actually just ran the fastest 20 miles I had ever run in my life! I felt so great! But man did my legs burn! At some point around mile 20 a woman came up to me and asked if I was Monika. I said yes and she told me that her husband read my blog, and that I could beat 4 hours! I was amazed that a stranger was rooting for me, and touched that she took a minute to come over and wish me good luck. Thank you!

Over the next few miles my walk breaks became more frequent, and Jenny did her best to keep me going by making deals with me about where we would start and stop our walk breaks. In the final few miles I cranked up my Walkman and tried to source what energy I could from the songs. At the same time Jenny was going from pep-talking to trash-talking me with encouragement .. but I actually missed most of what she said. Sorry Jenny!!

Video Compliments of Jenny's Husband Jay

Jay - Hurry up! You've got 6 minutes!

Although our pace was slowing down and we slipped from a projected 3:50 finish to a projected 3:55 finish, it looked like we still had a shot to beat 4 hours. Although the walk breaks became more frequent in the home stretch they didn't last too long, and by mile 26 we actually picked up the pace, and for that last 26.2 we ran like we did in the first few miles.

The End (of the race) is Near - HAHA

Finally!

In the last half mile stretch of the race I realized we were going to do it! We were going to break 4 hours! I had dreamed about this moment for years, and it had finally come! Although I'm a sap who cries at everything, I've never cried crossing a finish line before. Well this time I did. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. We did it! 

Official Race Stats

Finish Time: 3:57:23

Age Group: 130/393

Females: 693/2484

Overall: 2307/5755

 Crossing the Finish Line - Pure Joy

26.2 Miles - Check!

I Ran Under THIS MANY

 

Jenny and I gave each other a big tearful hug and we collected our medals, took our finishers photos, and went off in search of her family. I know for a fact that I would have missed 4 hours yet AGAIN if it weren't for Jenny. Thank you so much Jenny!!

Posing by the Capital Building

Post Race

After the race I took a quick shower and got ready to head over for the SF Marathon Ambassador lunch. We had lunch at the Tower Cafe where talked about the day's race, talked about the San Francisco Marathon, talked about other races, work, life, and various things. It was great to finally have a chance to spend some time with Laura and to also get to meet Charlie. (Who by the way ran a 2:45 marathon. O M G)

 

San Francisco Marathon Ambassador Lunch

Lunch finished around 4pm and I headed back up to my cousin's house in Folsom .. where soon after I arrived she wanted to go out for dinner and drinks. Two meals 2 hours apart? Hey, why not? I just ran a marathon! Oink.

Cousin Donna & Ruby

Goodbye Hug from Dean

After dinner it was time for me to head back to the airport, and to fly back to San Diego. My 24 hours in  Sacramento were up! Flying home hours after a marathon is exhausting. Working a full day the next day (I couldn't take the day off because I had so many meetings) and then going to the Girls on the Run board meeting for a few hours after that is even more exhausting. By Tuesday I was pooped ... but had to coach GOTR after work and then Thursday I coached again. Friday I attended the Tri Club meeting on behalf of GOTR, Saturday I had to myself, and then today  (Sunday) was the GOTR 5K. It has been an exhausting week, and now it seems like CIM was a month ago, not just a week ago!

CIM Race Medal & Finisher's Shirt

I always thought I would be happier when I finally broke 4 hours. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy - but I'm not as excited as I thought I would be. I'm relieved. I'm extremely relieved. I feel like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders, and I also feel like a nightmare has ended. The years of disappointment can finally be washed away. I am so grateful, but tired from hoping and trying for so many years.

Next Up

I am officially done racing for 2011, and my race lineup for 2012 so far is:

• January 8th  - Resolution Run 15K (registered)
• February 11th - Mermaid Run Half Marathon
• March 25th - Oakland Half Marathon (registered)
• April 1st - Carlsbad 5000 (registered)
• April 7th - Hollywood Half Marathon (registered)
• April 15th - HITS Triathlon (???)
• May - Vancouver Half Marathon (I'll be there for work! whoo hoo!)
• July - San Francisco Marathon

I swore I wouldn't race as much next year - but with all of these great registration discounts flying around I keep finding myself singing up for more races! I am trying to limit the first half of the year to the list shown above because my next big endurance goal is to complete a 70.3 half-Ironman distance race. The HITS Triathlon in April in Napa would be that next big race for me, and I want to make sure I give myself time on the weekends to train properly. I've sent Santa my wish list of triathlon goodies this year ... we'll see what I end up getting. Maybe that will help determine if I do this April race or not. I would need to start training in January. We'll see!

2011 Full Marathon Medals