CIM 2022 Race Recap- 2:53
Shot for the moon and landed amongst the stars type of day.
I think every marathoner that shows up to the start line has story to tell and the journey is usually more impressive than the result itself. This year, I was originally signed up for Berlin Marathon in September and CIM in December. I knew I had to be as fit and healthy as possible to conquer both.
On August 1st, I had my first injury in awhile after a high volume track session. I felt the sharp pull in my foot in the last 100m of the final rep. I knew I had injured my left posterior tibialis tendon and that this wasn’t an injury that would go away in a few days (new post coming later for that). I tried training on it, but eventually had to shut it down for a full week. Once the injury was under control and I was able to do workouts, but got covid shortly after. The timing was the worst possible: 3 weeks before Berlin. An injury AND covid made it a no brainer to scratch out of Berlin. While some will argue I could have ran this for fun and cross it off the "bucket list", I don't believe there's such thing as an easy marathon. My goal was to run a 2:50 marathon this season and I felt that running Berlin (even if easy) would require more time off and impact my recovery.
Training for CIM officially started on September 12th (less than 12 weeks out from CIM). Not ideal in anyway. Other changes that happened this year was I started working with Coach Mario Fraioli. I wanted a fresh perspective on how to train for my marathon goals (not just for this season, but years from now) and I knew he would be the right person to help me pursue those goals. I adjusted my work schedule around training so I could fit in my double runs. I focused on recovery and went to bed at 9:30pm everyday. I wanted to go all in and see what I could get out of myself this season to hopefully, finish the year on a good note.
Training, for the most part, had gone really well. I was traveling in Italy 12 weeks out from CIM so it was certainly a challenge to wake up at 6:00am everyday on vacation to squeeze my training runs in. It ended up not being that bad since I got to explore so much of the every city, including the dolomites. My first workout was a short ladder work 1’/2’/3’ @ marathon pace (6:30 effort). I could hardly run it for 2 minutes. How was I supposed to run 26.2 miles at this pace, in less than 12 weeks? Every week of training, I journaled what I thought went well and what could be going better. I had to focus on the little pieces of my fitness that were slowly coming back. I’m really grateful for the coaching from Mario and company of my training partners that reeled me back to fitness with every workout. I can only credit my success in this short build to the power of running with a community. A reminder that “marathon pace is not supposed to feel easy or comfortable” was the reminder that I needed to chase this big goal.
Why do so many of us sign up for CIM, year after year? CIM has gained its well earned popularity in the last couple of years. I always get asked why people travel from across the country to come to Sacramento for this marathon. Most of the race is in Folsom. It's not a scenic course and you're mostly running through suburban neighborhoods & shops. Only 10,000 runners. Small. But within these 10,000 runners are athletes dreaming for an OTQ standard, a BQ, a PR... and if all stars align, you can strike gold.
The weekend started out with pouring rain on Saturday. The Sacramento capital is usually flooded with runners meeting up for a pre-race shakeout and instead it was flooded with puddles. This year, it was mostly empty with most runners returning to their hotels immediately after their shakeout run instead of mingling outside. We got to do our shakeout run with the legendary Joan Benoit Samuelson, who really paved the way for women in distance running. The constant rain on Saturday actually helped me relax in my hotel room pretty all day as I chug Maurten 320.
Sunday arrived. 3:30AM wake up (the worst part of race day, IMO). I'm a big sleeper so I'm usually cranky waking up that early. I usually give myself an hour to get ready. Coffee, chug the Maurten 160. Eat the oatmeal for breakfast. Gather all my belongings.
I was prepared for a downpour. Mario told me to pretend like it was going to be Boston 2018 weather, but not quite as bad. This meant a rain jacket, extra socks, and extra throw away shoes for the start. The goal was to stay dry/warm for as long as possible. We got to the capital at 4:45AM expecting to board buses right away. Instead, we stood in the rain for 30 minutes in a line that wrapped around the capital. Our bus got lost and took an hour to get to Folsom. The buses at CIM are usually very efficient, so I'm not sure what happened this year. We were dropped off at 6:30 am and immediately rushed to the restrooms and straight to the start line. We had friends that were dropped off at 6:45am. The race starts at 7am. This was my first marathon in the seeded field so it was nice to not be squished at the start line. My feelings at the startline was pure GRATITUDE. I poured everything into the last 12 weeks and it was a good feeling to know that I gave everything into every workout and there was nothing for me to do differently. I trusted my training.
And like a miracle, the rain stopped 10 minutes before the race and never rained again. Either way, rain or shine, I was ready to roll. The cloudiness actually raised the temperature of the day so it was roughly 45-50 degrees at the start, very little wind. I rolled with our pacer and group of 10-15 women going for sub 2:50. The ground was very wet and slippery and we really had to be careful with our footing on potholes. Mile 1, made sure to stay relaxed, we ran 6:37 (below goal pace). Made the sharp right hand turn up a fat hill that makes you question what people meant by CIM being a fast course? Miles 4-8 were below 6:30 pace so we made up time there. Found Kenny at mi 10 for my first bottle. I seemed to be more unsuccessful at the water stations this year. Not sure if it's just the crowdedness or running at faster speeds, but was so thankful for Kenny and Victor with my bottles along the course.
Our pacer got me across the half in 1:24.40. Funny enough, this is the 4th time I've ran 1:24 in the half. The first 2 times this year, I was actually racing a half marathon. 1:24 is also my current PR. The 3rd time was during marathon season and the 4th time was during this marathon. I couldn't help but think "damn, 1:24 actually feels good". I had some thoughts that maybe I had gone out a little spicy. By mile 14, it was me and the 2 davids (my training buddy David Lam and our pacer David Clarke). A tale of 2 davids perhaps? I felt like I was working by mile 16-17 and knew this was going to be a hard day and that I was going to have to work for it, possibly pay for it. My body felt the beating from the first half of the course.
Mile 20, my pacer had to drop out. It was his 3rd marathon in 3 months so he was either going to have to drop at 20 or run the whole race. Believe me, I practically begged him to stay! Even though I was falling off pace, he was reeling me back in. "Trust your training. Stay IN the race." is what I had to tell myself. I knew it was going to be one of the most painful races I've ever run, but I wasn't giving up yet. My legs were fatiguing and ankles didn't feel springy.
The last 10K is always the hardest, no matter what. I was falling off pace. When you go from 6:30 to 6:40's and then 6:50's, you start to make negotiations with yourself. OK, the A goal is gone. Lets see what I can salvage. Spent some time in no man's land, which wasn't fun. But slowly, you can start to pass one person at a time to stay engaged. At mile 24, "you can run 2.2 miles in your sleep. Keep going." I started to have pain underneath my toenails. I knew blisters were developing when each step becomes painful. I honestly thought I was going to end up running 2:55 or 2:56 at that point, which would still be a PR.
When I saw 2:53 on the clock, I was SHOCKED. That's a 5 minute PR for me in one year. Last year, I was working really hard to break 3 hours. In fact, I failed at breaking 3 hours 3x so it was great to know I could be well under this year.
The finish line at CIM is always special. My friends and training partners embraced me with hugs and high 5's. I got to cheer on my athletes who were trying to Boston Qualify. For a quick second, you start to forget how much pain you were just in. There's so much heartfelt joy in finishing a marathon and there's also joy in being part of others' success. I hobbled back to the hotel with about 50 text messages on my phone. It took me about an hour to respond to the texts and get myself into the shower before brunch.
All in all, I'm super happy about this race. To me, it was a preview of what I am capable of in the next few years. i do think there's an adaptation and adjustment period when switching to a new coach and program so I think the next training block and work we do in the off season will make an even bigger impact.
