* Life Cartography: Big Sur International Marathon // FIRST MARATHON COMPLETE!

People always say finishing a marathon is a big accomplishment. I am so so happy that my first marathon was Big Sur and that I finished strong, under four hours.

I don't feel that I can do a proper race report so I'm just going to spill out a summary of all my thoughts here.

Official chip time - 3:56:57
Pace - 9:02/mi
Elevation gain - 1,461ft (Garmin's GPS tracking is getting better year to year!)

The Race Strategies and Execution:

Strategy #1: Run withe Pacer. The week before, I was dead set on running with a pacer, just because I was dealing with all sorts of misfortune in the three weeks leading up to the race (bruised ribs, getting sick with a nasty cough, pain and difficulty breathing from said cough+bruised rib combo, and a skin infection). Also, I wanted a group of people to enjoy the race with (and draft off of in the headwinds :P). I flip flopped between a decision to run with the 3:45 pacer or the 4:00 pacer, since that's all that was available (I wish they had had 3:55!!!!). In the end, since I had dealt with so much and didn't taper as well as I'd hoped, I chose to run with the 4:00 Clif Bar Pace Team Pacer (George). Per George's suggestion, I planned to keep with him until around mile 22 then push until the end if I was feeling good.

I ended up learning quite a lot from the pacer. It turns out his favorite way to race marathons is via heart rate, which I personally think might be the way I race future marathons as well. He was also very good about making sure we took the early downhills in a very relaxed manner. He reminded us to keep our shoulders rolled back and relaxed with chin up, and had us mind our form several times throughout the race. This was very new to me but I found this was the perfect way to keep me focused on my goals. I will be implementing this technique in future races!
I ended up gradually building up speed starting at mile 21. The last 5 miles was completely uncharted territory for me, with my biggest distance being a 21-mile trail race 6 1weeks out. But given I felt fine after Folsom, and that during the Big Sur marathon, I ran at only a slightly higher intensity in the precursor 21-miles, I felt like I was at liberty to push the pace.
It's said that the last 10K of the marathon is where the marathon truly starts. And where your several weeks of training shine through. When I first started to pick up speed away from the pace group, I began by thinking about how much I didn't want them to catch me. I could still hear George's voice behind me for about a half a mile or so. It was an interesting feeling - being chased - but it helped me pick up my paces! Then, when I couldn't hear George anymore, I started focusing inward again and remembered that I had to eat. I was worried because I had run out of Gu at this point. Fortunately, the aid stations were plentiful with food options. I was able to scarf down a banana and forge ahead.
With four miles left to go, I kept telling myself that I'd done four miles easy-peasy SO MANY TIMES on friggin' tired legs, in the middle of 50-mile training weeks. This was nothing short of a tempo run in the middle of that. I kept telling myself that there was no such thing as the wall. "WALL? WHAT WALL? THERE IS NO WALL." NOT WITH THE TRAINING YOU DID. And certainly not with the conservative start you had.
At two miles, I was still not sure whether or not I could keep this effort. I told myself: I'd done 2 mile runs at a bare minimum every day for 128 days straight. I CAN DO TWO MILES. It wasn't just the thought of that which carried me: it was the fact that I actually did the training. The fact that I consistently ran on tired legs no matter what. My training gave me the mental confidence I needed to carry me through.

Strategy #2. Stay Inspired & Run With Your Heart. Think of my friends and the people who inspire me during the last few miles of the race.

At the last hill at mile 25, I heard the voices tempting me to walk like a few other people I saw going up the hill. "If I walk, I can finish strong at the end." It was during those few hundred meters that I thought of my friends and my family and my boyfriend who were waiting for me at the finish line. I wanted to make them proud. Proud of who I am. And happy that they inspired me to get to the finish line strong. So I didn't walk. I pushed through and passed several other runners (of various race distances). I knew the rest was downhill or flat so I ran strong at the end!

Goals:

Smile and have fun! [check!]
B Goal: Under 4 hr [check!]
A Goal: Under 9:00/mi pace [so close, maybe could have left the pacer earlier but was unsure of myself]

Nutrition:

Pre-Race @ BSIM starting line

Coffee (~45min before)
1/2 banana (provided)
3/4 cup Toasted Shredded Wheats (TJs)
Gu Energy Gel: Vanilla Bean (~5min before)

During Race

4 x Gu Energy Gels --> 1@45min, 1@right before Hurricane Point, then as needed, approx 45min between
1/2 banana (aid station)
3 x 1/2 strawberries (aid station)

Aid Stations:

1 porta potty break: dashed to a porta potty that someone was just exiting so avoided a wait time! (score one for Andrea!)
several water refills at BYOB stations (5?) due to it being a hot day

Finish:

The best part of finishing was hearing my boyfriend and parents call my name as I ran through the chute towards the finish. I even heard the MC say my name! (Ok, I let ONE girl pass me - I probably wasn't sprinting the hardest I could have. I don't know what race she was running but maybe if I had known she was sneaking up on me, I would have sprinted harder huehue - next time I'll look behind me before I make the final sprint :P)

When I got to the end, I didn't care what my time was. I knew I didn't reach my A goal but I was still THRILLED to reach my B goal, which I knew I crushed by several minutes. (Side note: I learned that I should set tiered goals from the Berkeley Half last November).

Then, after chatting with my family and appeasing their need to take photos, Marvin looked up my finish time and read out 3:56:57. Woah! I broke 3:57! Imagine if I had walked any part of that last hill.... dang. That was certainly the icing on the cake for me.

It's true that I might have been able to break off from the pacer earlier for an A goal finish. But given the circumstances, I got so much more enjoyment/fun out of the experience than if I had tried to run a minute+ faster. The A goal pace was only 2-3 seconds per mile faster but I imagine that running with the pace group for most of the way made it much more fun than if I had ran alone. In addition, I took away a great lesson in focus and control from the Clif team pacer which I will apply in future races.

Post-race pains:

Any race is going to do a number on you. But add hills and road camber? The hills definitely beat my body up significantly. Road camber from the Big Sur was not as bad as I thought it would be. However, I think over time it was significant enough for my knees and feet to feel it afterwards. Same-day pain shifted between achey shins, painful extensor tendons on my feet, tweaked knees, hip soreness, and general soreness/tightness of my leg muscles (quads, glutes). I felt like a penguin afterwards!!

All in all, an amazing first marathon! I'm not sure I'll ever do a challenging course like this with a specific performance goal in mind again. My plan is to return to Big Sur one day as a Boston 2 Big Sur finisher, though. :)