Goal Met...and Redefined

So enough about elites at CIM...here's a human perspective on the race.

Saturday was my last run for my taper. A simple 5 mile run, involving laps around the Kezar track. It was finished off with 6x100m strides. That afternoon, I went to a friend's place in Sausalito to carpool to the race expo in Sacramento. I drank Costco's generic version VitaminWater the entire day. By the time we met up with the other Dolphin South End (DSE) running group, we went to the expo to get our bibs, chips, and goodie bags. It was followed by a big lunch at Paesano's at 3, a sub-par Mexican restaurant in Old Sac for dinner at 7, and my own tub of homemade sundried tomato/feta cheese pasta around 8:30pm. Yeah, I ate a lot that day, but I was hungry. I didn't force myself to eat anything.
The next day I was getting concerned about not clearing the bowels, but with time it came and went. Good thing! I decided on adidas singlet, adidas race shorts, and "throwaway" tube suck arm warmers (which I ended up wearing for the entire race), and adidas Supernova Light 6. A slight change in plans came when my "lucky" socks were still wet from the wash; I used another pair of Powerbar socks. I also planned on bringing Gatorade in an ergo Poland Springs water bottle for the first 6 miles. I ended up bringing that with me for 26 miles until I saw Jodi and Annamarie cheer me on, where I decided to toss it to the side of the street and sprint the last .2 miles.
We arrived at the bus pickup Sunday morning to the start at 5:45am. We saw elites walk in front of me by the hotel headquarters of Sheraton to an SUV. The bus ride was quaint, but not warm because the heater wasn't turned on. We arrived at the Folsom start with less than 30 minutes before the 7am start. That meant a mad dash to change and get ready, drop off our sweat bags, and get to the right starting area. But it all went well. It was around 40 degrees with almost no wind. We also had time to meet up with the rest of the DSE group where I had my ibroprofen before the start, thanks to Matt. I met some people at the start that I met at Clarksburg as I poked my head around to search for the 3:15 pacer. That's where I saw Gordy Ainsleigh (founder of Western States 100) and said hi to him. We were off promptly at 7am after two girls sang the national anthem a little out of tune, but very cute for their age (not cute if it were William Hung of American Idol fame). Then the mayor of Folsom sent us off after hoping to welcome everyone back to Folsom after everyone made their mass-exodus out of it! But he promised to run CIM next year, so that's great. Again, the many communities along the CIM route very much are into this race, and that's a wonderful feeling to a small-town event that reels in money for their economy.
Right from the get-go, our 3:15 pacer was going gung-ho, and we were ahead of the 3:10 group. But we set ourselves straight by aligning ourselves behind the 3:10 group...but not by much. We were right behind their asses! So two seperate big masses were engulfed as one for the first 5-6 miles.
Good thing I brought my Gatorade Endurance in a water bottle. That Gu2o water available at the race was shitty, the aid stations were sloppy, the cups were in small ass Dixie cups with small drops left, and it was confusing if they were handing out water or electrolytes since the cups were practically the same. However, I didn't have to break my rhythm or stride charging for the water stops as I passed almost all of them. When I tried to grab them two or three times later during the race, I dropped them because they were hard to grasp. When Jeremy saw this mid-race, I knew he was laughing at me. It was a good thing to not get water in the beginning because it slowed people down and they surged back to keep up with their pace or pace leader...not a good strategy. On the other hand, it was extremely risky because I should top off my glycogen stores and at that time, I felt that I was with my Gatorade Endurance. I didn't take an gels for the entire marathon...another first. The first 8 miles of our splits were way off but I think our pacer may have anticipated this for later on, when we would be slowing down. Regardless, it was a bad strategy because our average splits announced on course would be anywhere around 7:07-7:24. Remember that is gun time, so we should be going even slower for the 7:27 average splits, but we were probably going at 3:10 pace. That meant the 3:10 group was doing well under 3:10. I got to run with Brent from K-Stars for a good number of miles. He is so strong that he is capable of 3:10 pace. He does his LT training at 6:50 pace, so he is ready. Regardless, he is headed for Boston, which he achieved with a 3:11. Brent had planned 7:30 first half and 7:20 second half. Obviously, that didn't happen as he took off from me by mile 9.
I also happened to pace with Jeremy from DSE for much of the race. He really helped me pass the time with his shits and giggles. We would communicate to each other to keep consistent pace or slow up on the hills. I even gave him Gu they were passing out at mile 10.
At mile 11, there was this gradual, yet long hill around mile 11. I told this to Jeremy outloud, which he replied "ok". An Asian woman heard this and said something to the effect of CIM being really easy compared to the Nike Women's Marathon. Obviously....but were still at mile 11 and she was aiming for 3:20-3:30. I relayed the information that she was way ahead of schedule since me and Jeremy were running ahead of the 3:15 group, and somewhere between 3:12-3:14 at that time. Instead of slowing down, which she should have done to keep her in her rightful place, she sped up. I probably just took it the wrong way, but I was hoping for her to suffer and die like the rest of us. I later learned that I passed her with a lot of time to spare. Too bad I didn't get to see the catch. (Addendum: I beat her by 20 seconds at the finish!)
Also at this point, the wind had picked up a lot! But I didn't think it was drastic, perhaps later it would get worse. I was headed into a a tailwind with little or no one to draft off of.
Unfortunately, Jeremy had to slow down around mile 18 and go his own pace. Along the way we chatted with a woman who was doing the relay and we talked much during my bad patches. That helped the dead miles between 16-20 tick by. But once her relay leg was over, I was alone and the feeling of being isolated hit me hard. It affected me with a mental wall beginning at mile 23. I had to keep reminding myself NEVER to walk in this marathon. Walking would mean succumbing to failure. It would also mean that if I remained strong, it would be the first time I have never walked a lick in a marathon.
After mile 23, the 3:15 pace group came by me at a good clip. But this time, there was another pace leader! What the fuck? It had now shrunk to 5-8 runners, which would continue to dwindle. Big change from the 30-40+ that started out. I later heard from a female in that group say that she wanted to throw up as she slowed down. A guy running with her kept saying that she wouldn't. I didn't want to risk it and have her throw up on my shoes so I ran a bit faster.
By mile 24, I was in agony. I already pictured the perfect finish in my head at this point. I would muster whatever strength I had to the point of energy defecit. Then at the chute I would stagger and noodle before a volunteer would catch me and help me walk upright for a bit.
Mile 25 and 26 took forever. A couple turns here and there, but where is the friggin capitol? Then I heard Eduardo and some guy (Oliver) call out my name and tried to move faster. I don't know if I did, but I was later told that I rolled my eyes back when that happened. Then after mile 26, I heard Annamarie and Jodi cheer me on and went full gas as the crowd got thick. What a moment!! I passed a bunch of people and came in at 3:14:19 chip time. Not bad. Now I only have to cut off 4 minutes at Eugene Marathon in May to get to Boston 2009! It will require much hard work beginning January 2008 with the 18 week Pfitzinger plan, but what a trip...two years and counting through this marathon journey. I almost cut off an hour off of my 4:12 finish at NYC in 2005.

Oh yeah, it was the finish I had dreamed of during my dazed state. Someone did catch me at the finish and walk me through the chute. Dreams can come true.

Notable CIM finishes from the DSE group:

Grant J: expected goal: 2:45
chip time: 2:44 FIRST MARATHON!!
Eduardo V.: expected goal: 2:52
chip time: 2:49 PR!!
Jerry F: expected goal:
chip time: 3:10:02 PR!!
Kennet D. : expected goal ~3:00
chip time: 3:10:50 PR!!
Me: expected time: 3:15
chip time: 3:14:19 8 minute PR!!
Jeremy C: expected time: 3:15
chip time: 3:19 PR!!
Matt F.: expected time: 3:30 with injury
chip time: 3:34 PR!!

EVERYONE PRs!!!

Final note: Oliver making the trip up to Sac that morning just to see us, DSEers, finish was a really nice gesture. At the 20 mile mark, I was only one minute slower than my best time at Clarksburg 20 mile a few weeks back. Michelle and Brooke qualified for the Olympic women's trials in about 2:42 and 2:43 respecitvely in their first marathon!!! They need to come to the adidas Urban Run SF...we need superstars.

Now it's time to recover for January when the training will begin once again. To celebrate my birthday on Tuesday, I will do 26 laps (10K plus 400m) on the Kezar track at whatever-is-suffering pace.