Finally!!! Not only did I run a sub three hour marathon, I
took a wrecking ball to the wall that has been impassible for the past three
years, running a 2:54:11! I have been floating on cloud nine and have yet to
come down. Not only did I run faster than my goal of a 2:55, the Napa Valley
Marathon was one of my best marathon race experiences as well.
Friday before the race, my husband, Kevin, and I flew
Southwest (Awesome airline! We both got to bring a checked bag for free, so
there was no issue making sure all our marathon weather scenarios were covered)
down to Sacramento and then rented a car and drove to our friends' house in
Napa. We went to bed as soon as we arrived and slept in Saturday morning,
making sure we got a solid eight hours of sleep. After an easy shake-out run on
a beautiful trail lined with eucalyptus trees, we went to the marathon expo,
got our race packet, and attended a panel with Dick Beardsley, Joe Henderson,
Don Kardong, John Keston, Bill Rogers, and Frank Shorter (via phone). Then Liisa
took us to the running store, Athletic Feat, that she works at. They were in
mist of their anniversary sale, and I found a pair of my favorite New Balance
shorts on sale for 50% off in an extra small and a purple/blue color that
matched my singlet and shoes perfectly, so I snatched them up. This training
cycle I had lost quite a bit of weight. I was actually about ten pounds lighter
than I was for 2014 Newport Marathon and five pounds lighter than I was for
2013 Tri Cities Marathon. All of my other racing shorts were way too baggy and
after putting gels in the pockets, they felt like they were going to fall down
unless I tied the drawstring tight. I also found a cute New Balance running
jacket and a pair of 890's v3 for $50!
Race day morning, Kevin and I woke up at 4:00 AM to catch
the shuttles leaving Vintage High School at 5:15 sharp. I had been dreading
this super early wake up call, but when the alarm went off, I felt refreshed. I
had gotten a solid 7 hours of sleep that night, and enough sleep the nights
leading up to the race, that 4:00 AM felt just like 7:00 AM does sometimes.
This was a good sign of things to come.
I got out of bed almost immediately and began getting
dressed for the race. I wanted to walk around awhile in the new shorts and my
Adidas Adios racing shoes so I knew they were as loose as possible so they
didn't irritate the top of my right foot, but also not so loose that they would
fall off when I was running. On our last long hard workout four weeks out from
the marathon (23 miles with a six mile warm up, 8 miles at marathon pace plus
ten seconds, 8 miles at marathon pace, and a 1 mile cool down), it felt like my
shoe was too tight at mile 11. I was too stubborn (a.k.a. egotistical) to stop
and re-lace my shoe because the workout was going so well. I ended up with
something between a bruise and tendinitis across the top of my foot, which had
made running pretty painful ever since.
After putting in my contacts, I went upstairs and made
myself a slice of Udi's Millet Chia toast with honey, half a scoop of AdvoCare
Spark and water, and a banana. Then I used the bathroom... again...and Kevin
and I were ready to go. I had no idea that at the time that Kevin had been
doing math to calculate what a 6:45 pace worked out to in a marathon. He
panicked a bit when he realized it was not the 2:55 he had hoped to run, but
rather closer to a 2:57. Yes, you'd think we would have figured this all out
ahead of time, but going into the race my sole goal was to run 6:40 pace, no
matter what that came out to. I actually didn't want to know how much under a
3:00 marathon it was, because I knew it would freak me out to consider I would
be attempting a full six minute PR.
As we drove to Vintage High School, I had a mini panic
attack that were were going to be late and miss the shuttles. Parking was a bit
crazy and after we finally found a spot, we ran to where the buses were
loading. Of course this unnecessary, because there were tons of empty buses
still loading runners. The drive to Calistoga was dark and there wasn't much to
look at, so I was left alone with my thoughts. After we got off the bus, we
planned to hide our bags and head out for an easy ten minute warm up. Then we
met our friend, Lonn, and he said he could put them in his car and bring them to
the finish for us. He asked if we needed anything out of them, because we
probably wouldn't see him again until the start, and I said no. Then on the
warm up, Kevin reminded me that I didn't have my sunglasses on. I panicked and
we ran back looking for Lonn. I had to use the bathroom one last time, so I got
in the back of a long line while Kevin went looking for Lonn. Suddenly, I
noticed Lonn jogging towards me with my bag. I flagged him down and was able to
grab my glasses. Despite being a chilly 40 degrees and cloudy at the start, the
forecast called for sun and mid 50's by the end.
I did a few quick form drills and then met Kevin at the
starting line. We weaved our way towards the front and found Lonn again, who
was generous enough to hold our warm up clothes as we stripped them off with
five minutes to go. The gun went off and we were underway. There were a lot of
people around and I felt a little cramped and jostled, but it spread out quick
and Kevin and I were able to settle into 6:45 pace. It felt comfortable, and I
knew it was going to be a good day.
There were a few hills early on in the race that surprised
me, and I felt a side-stitch coming on. I knew from history it was just nerves
and I needed to keep my breathing under control. Around mile 5 or 6, we saw a
guy ahead run off to the side of the road and pee and then hopped back on in
tow with us. Kevin jokingly asked if he felt better now and he happily said
yes, the pee was starting to give him a side-stitch. Oh great! I began to get
concerned that maybe I needed to pee now. The man told me that it wasn't too
long ago that he was one of the runners behind the lead bike. Wow, I thought,
it's pretty cool I'm running with such a fast guy. I told him I had just missed
breaking three hours twice before, and today I was going for 2:55. I found
myself naturally keeping pace with the new guy and drifting away from Kevin.
"Anna, what are you doing," Kevin asked trying to reel me back.
"You're going like 6:25 pace." I slowed down for another mile or so
and then I began to pull away again. Honestly Kevin's concern of our pace being
too quick was adding to my anxiety. I thought the pace felt too easy and I knew
I could go faster. At mile 8, I left Kevin and never saw him again (sorry,
hubby!). For about two miles I ran solo and felt my side-stitch completely disappear.
Soon I caught up to a group of men, including the guy I had chatted with
earlier and fell into pace with them.
I broke miles 8-20 up into "exciting" chucks to
pass the time. At mile 10, I knew I was going to see Ryan and Liisa. I was
beginning to warm up and planned to drop my arm warmers with them. They weren't
at mile 10, so then it was just a fun guessing game of when I would see them.
Finally, I spotted them at mile 11, gave them a big smile, and tossed my arm
warmers. Next, I looked forward to eating my first Roctane GU at mile 12.
Roctane is like a legal illegal drug in my book. It gets me super energized and
makes any fatigue, soreness, or rotten attitude I have just disappear. Sometime
around this period, I missed a water stop due to it being set up on the outside
of a curve. I didn't want to run out of my way to get water and then regretted
the decision soon after. Luckily I was used to running long runs with minimal
water.
Then came the half-way point, and I was excited to see my
first half split of 1:27:20. Back in April of 2013, my half marathon PR was
only 1:26:30. After that, it was a waiting game for the big hill at mile 20. I
knew we would start the climb around mile 19, and I was again looking forward
to taking another Roctane at mile 18. At this point I was still running with
the pack of guys. Sometimes I would be in the back of the pack drafting, other
times I would be in the lead. I wanted to talk with them to help pass the time,
but they all seemed so focused. I didn't want to be that chatty runner that
annoys everyone by trying to get them to talk, so I kept my mouth shut and
tried to distract myself with the breathtaking views of vineyards surrounding
us. As we approached mile 19 and began our climb, I found myself getting frustrated
by the slowing pace. I watched my Garmin go from 6:40 down to 6:47. That was
it, I was not going to run any miles slower than 6:45 pace in this race, so I
charged to the front and led the pack up the hill. Two guys came with me as we
crowned the hill.
After mile 20, I knew it was downhill to the finish. There
were no more big hills to climb and I could coast comfortably. There was a
slight headwind at this point and I wished I had someone to shield me, but the
guys around me were either right at my side or behind me and I didn't feel like
slowing down. I chose to focus on the positive rather than the negative of
having a headwind, and told myself that it felt refreshing, because it was
beginning to get pretty warm out. Miles 21-22 were a long boring stretch where
you could see a whole mile ahead of you and felt like you were never getting
any closer. I planned to save something for four miles to go and just tried to
keep my pace even at this point. With less than three miles to go, we would
make a series of turns and lose sight of many of the runners ahead. Before the
first right turn, I was told that the third place woman was only a quarter mile
ahead of me. I told the guy I was running next to that a quarter mile was a lot
of distance to make up. He told me I was running strong. At mile 24, I saw a
pony tail bobbing back and forth on the runner ahead of me. I had caught the
third place girl. I picked up the pace, and made a statement with my speed as I
passed her.
We were back on a long stretch of road and before I knew it,
a race official on a bike was pacing alongside me. I'm thinking she had been
with the third place girl making sure she didn't cut any corners and now she
was monitoring me. The last of the guys of the pack that I had been running with
dropped back and now it was just me and the race official. Suddenly, Liisa came
up behind me on her bike and started snapping pictures. I waved and joked that
I really needed a foot massage. Because I had my shoes laced loose to prevent
them from hurting the top of my foot, I had been sliding around in them quite a
bit and now the bottoms of my feet felt raw. It also may have just been the
fact that I was running a marathon in a pair of racing flats with close to 300
miles on them.
In the last mile, the course made a left turn and then
another left turn into a residential area. I saw a runner from Eugene that I
knew ahead of me, and ran up to catch him. "Let's go, Steve! Come with
me." I couldn't really understand what Steve said in response, but he
didn't join me. Then I saw the parking lot for the high school and I kicked it
in. I looked down at my watch one last time to see if I would break 2:54. I
wouldn't, but I was going to finish well under my goal of 2:55.
It was amazing running down the final stretch that was lined
with cheering spectators. I heard the race timer announce me as the third place
female. As soon as I got done, they ripped the tag off my bib and put a medal
around my neck. A very kind lady handed me a water bottle and told me she was my
official escort. Because I finished third, I would be taken to a press room for
interviews with the local papers. As I walked there, photographers asked to
grab my picture. It's almost like the experience gave me a second wind, and I
didn't feel any fatigue at all. I went inside a building and into the press
room. The first and second place women were in the middle of their interviews
already. Others in the room came over to congratulate me and ask me about my
experience. My escort told me she would leave me now and asked if I needed
anything. I told her to check on my husband and let him know where I was at.
Before she left, she asked to have her picture taken with me. Her daughter had
asked her to get a picture with the runner she got to escort. It was pretty
flattering!
After my interviews, I went back out to the finish area and
had my picture taken two more times by Marathon Foto. They took a serious one,
and then asked me to do something fun like flex my arms. I was up for anything
and had fun with it. I found Kevin and our other running friends and we all
congratulated each other. "So what did you run," they asked. When I
told them, they were very impressed. I did what I said I was going to do and
didn't fall apart. I was just as surprised with myself as they were. I still
cannot believe I ran under 2:55 and it felt good. Never in my wildest dreams
(especially when I started out as a marathon runner who could not break 3:30
after four tries) did I think that I would be a 2:54 marathoner.
After a long search for Lonn, we got our stuff back and
drove back to Ryan and Liisa's to shower. I ate a Clif bar and drank UCAN
recovery drink on the way, while babbling about my race to Kevin. I honestly
don't remember anything I said or even the drive home. Once we were at the
house, we showered and put on our compression tights. Then we returned to the
school to watch the awards ceremony where the overall winners won their weight
in wine.
Two more totally awesome things from the marathon weekend: I
had the best burger of my life at Gott's Roadside. It was a 1/3 pound patty on
a gluten free bun with grilled mushrooms and barbecue sauce. I also had a side
of chili spiced sweet potato fries. The morning after the race, Kevin and I got
gluten free donuts at Cate and Co. This was my first donut in about three years
and it was a fresh baked chocolate ring donut that melted in my mouth.
Amazing!!!!
This was one of the best marathon race experiences I have
ever had. At no point during the race, after the initial creeping up of a
side-stitch, did I have any pain or fatigue that caused me to slow my pace. I
did have some quad fatigue in the last few miles, but I still managed 6:35-41.
I gave 100% of the effort I could in the moment for each mile. I managed a very
even overall pace and negative split the second half by two seconds per mile.
People have been asking me what's next? I joke that I have no goals. Honestly
though, this sub-3 marathon was a huge monkey on my back that I'm so glad I've
tossed.... or shall I say hurled aside. I thank God for giving me the grace of
a healthy training cycle. So many times I worried I would not be ready race
day, but then remembered my fate was in His hands, and if I was meant to run a
sub-3 this time, God would guide me. I'm also grateful to have my friend,
running buddy, and coach Steve. Steve wrote, rewrote, and re-rewrote our
training program, and his laborious fine tuning helped all of us reach our
goals. His last words of advice to me the night before the marathon were to
"trust the training." I went into this race confident that I could
run a 6:40-45 pace for 26.2 miles because of the training I had done in the
months leading up. I am excited to set new goals going forward and carry this
confidence with me into my future races.
Race Stats:
Overall Race: 19th/1874. Overall Female: 3rd/896. Overall
Age 30-34: 2nd/148.
Mile: Split:
1 6:52.64
2 6:38.77
3 6:47.83
4 6:40.85
5 6:40.25
6 6:38.65
7 6:38.37
8 6:43.45
9 6:34.57
10 6:35.25
11 6:36.28
12 6:41.35
13 6:29.10
13.1 Split:
1:27:20
14 6:36.51
15 6:35.64
16 6:42.00
17 6:43.28
18 6:31.34
19 6:36.88
20 6:40.47
21 6:33.01
22 6:37.22
23 6:37.28
24 6:41.56
25 6:35.81
26 6:39.20
0.2 6:03.30
26.2 2:54:11
Second half split: 1:26:51
