My Favorite Race of 2022
“Come to California with me and do California International Marathon!” exclaimed Jennifer Newman after co- teaching one of our Sip, Snack and Stretch events at Peebles Island. “OK, twist my arm, I’m in!”
Admittedly, I had consumed two glasses of wine making this decision a little easier than it would’ve been. My arm, however gets twisted into races pretty readily so this was a no- brainer. The next morning I ran with my friend Gabby Rao who explained she had just signed up for CIM so I thought “OMG it’s meant to be!” Two weeks later at a girls night at my house I had the same conversation with Amy Weissman who replied the same way I did. So, off to Sacramento we went!
Having decided to train without a coach after having a few amazing coaches over my running career, I boarded the plane on December 1st at 6 am, nervous I hadn’t done enough. My initial decision to train on my own stemmed from anxiety issues leading to gastrointestinal issues and subsequent failed workout attempts. This inevitably led to being nutritionally depleted. A running friend/ sports psychologist advised me to remove some pressure and train on my own. The result was not necessarily less stress during workouts, rather I just avoided them completely. Marathon effort during long runs? Also non- existent. Observing my race partners numerous long runs on strava, I started to question my approach. I had done exactly one 12 miler, then a 16 miler coerced by Amy, followed by a 14 because I felt so “amazing- not, after the 16 miler, one 18 miler, one 20 miler and a few hill repeats. “This might be a disaster” I thought.
Although I hadn’t done the workouts I usually do in preparation for a marathon, my nutrition was dialed in. Five hundred grams of carbs per day for the week prior? Check. Nitric Oxide enhancing foods? Check. Quercetin foods? Check. Citrulline? Check. Fluid and electrolytes? Check, check, check.
Race morning I ate my quintessential bagel with peanut butter, banana, and honey and ventured out with Amy in the rain to board the shuttle bus. As we traveled to the starting line I decided I was going to relax and run as well as possible with out stressing. However it turned out was however it turned out.
I toed the line with the 3:45 pacer. I started my watch to ensure that I was able to get GPS by the time the gun went off. The process of everyone starting took longer than expected and my watch actually turned off by the time I crossed the starting line. I quickly attempted to restart it and realized two miles in that it was set to treadmill mode. I kept looking down at it and seeing 10- 11 minute miles and thought “there is no way!” I continued over the undulating course, pulling away from the pacer and feeling great but having no idea what my pace was. I asked someone who had been running near me for quite some time what time she was aiming for “3:30- 3:40, she told me we were running 8:10 pace. Knowing I finished my last marathon at an 8:38 pace with a time of 3:47, I knew slowing down was probably the wise thing to do, however, I felt good and was not successful in doing so. As I always do, I made several friends along the way, rocked out to the live music on the course and re- affirmed my love for the marathon distance. Still not aware of my pace, I heard the 3:45 pacer came up behind me as I approached the 22 mile marker (despite the fact that my watch said I was barely over 20 miles). I thought if I just kept her behind me this would be a huge PR and a BQ. I took my last gel and set my mind to finishing strong. I rounded the corner towards the finish line and crossed with an almost 4 minute PR and 2024 Boston Qualifying time. Woohoo! Marathons are my favorite distance by far to race, despite saying I would never do one 7 years ago when I started running.