They dub the California International Marathon as a one of the fastest marathons of the country.
Indeed, with only about 5,500 participants and over 10% of the field running sub 3:10 races, it is pretty fast. (Though I would claim that it's competitive instead of fast). This year, the field was especially stacked as a number of men and women flooded the race in hopes of getting an Olympic Trails Qualifier for next month's Houston Trials. ...Sorry, I'm faaaar too old and late in life to consider even comprehending such an option, but it still makes for an exciting event!
As fast as they say, CIM isn't entirely easy. Many runners go out way too aggressively on the countless rolling and early net-down hills. Pretty much through about the first 13 miles, it's rolling down offset with lots of ups. Through 18 it rolls more but is net flat, then calms down 20 through the finish. Unfortunately, most runners are spent by the time they're supposed to gun it. Of the top 100 racers last year, only 7 runners had negative splits! About 15 wound up negative this year, but arguably because the field had more experienced elites.
CIM Course Map
Long story short: having that 7 out of 100 stat in the back of my mind certainly didn't help as I toed the line.
The weather was hairy the days before the race, but miraculously cleaned up by the time it started: 40's, sun, and very minimal winds.
I went to the starting line with plenty of sleep from the nights before, plenty of hydration. I wasn't feeling horribly nervous. Things were lined up for a decent run. All I needed was the confidence to execute.
Track and Trough Athletic Union fielded a team of 5 marathoners consisting of myself, Dan McDowell, Jason Ream, Michael Martineau, and Verdo Gregory. Carolyn Martineau ran the relay event.
Jason and I decided to run together for what we could. We targeted a 1:19:15ish goal for our split, and then planned to drop whatever we could in the second half. Ideally, we both wanted to go for the seemingly impossible: negatively split races. For me, anything under 2:38:46 would've been a PR.
The first five miles had a decent loss of elevation to them (nearly half of what the whole course would eventually give). We started conservative, and after a some early jockeying and loosening up, Jason and I were hitting low-6's. We weren't working with anyone else early on, but slowly reeled in a nice pack of a about 6 or 7 runners by the 4th mile.
Jason's voice of reason had us stick with the group for a while. It was a wise move because it was either this, or go it alone. Jason hung off my shoulder or in the middle of the pack, while I was happy up front. (I had the burning desire to make sure we stuck to my plan and hence I became a pace setter).
It was really pretty cool, as this pack clung together until about 15 miles deep. We gradually consumed and reeled in runners one by one. Some joined us, some fell off. Nobody dropped us. At almost any point over a 10 mile stretch, we easily had a solid mass of 10-15 guys... all plugging about a 6:00-6:05 pace.
In spite of being in a pack, guys were running completely different races. I found myself pushing up the hills, then cruising down them. Others fell off the back on the way up, then hammered on the way down. In general though, I remained on the front of the pack as much as I could to ensure that I kept with my pace.
We breezed through the 1/2 split at 1:19:16.... 1 whole second from goal pace. Insane!!
As the race unfolded, our conservative start and teamwork proved to be incredibly wise. Steady efforts as we rolled through those hills. It wasn't easy, but also not overly taxing. We had put in a solid number of 6-flats by about 15-16 miles. Our numbers had dwindled. I felt strong. I could sense that some of the other runners didn't want to step it up. I started to pull away from Jason and the pack.
I knew the course was gradually leveling off. It was now me and 1 other guy from Sacramento's Fleet Feet that came along. I was in charge though. I plugged a couple of 5:55's and he retreated. It then became a game of steady leap-frog from road kill to road kill. I didn't have many, but one by one I passed what was left in front of me as the miles started falling off. Nobody had anything to hang with my pace. 4 mile in a row in the mid 5:50's, followed by a bridge and a 6:01, then another mid-5:50.
There were no clocks on the course. I had no idea what time I was running. I was inside of an 8K now and starting thinking, "Hang in there, anyone can run a damn 8K!"
I stumbled through some tiny rolling hills to a 6:01 in 22. A bridge at mile 23 took some of the wind from my sails... 6:09. Ugh. I wasn't done yet. I had a couple more runners in front of me to keep me motivated. There was no going out in flames. I knew it. I was still strong. Only 5K to go now... I kept saying, "Any asshole can run a 5K! Get moving!!"
I bit down for a 6:03 in 24 and passed 2 final runners, one of which tried to hang on to me. I used a 6:05 in the 25th mile to put some distance on the leach. He didn't realize who he was fucking with.
After 25 though, I couldn't even see the next guy in front of me. No more road kills. Nothing to motivate me. Just me and the clock... which I hadn't seen all day. I still had no idea what time I was running.
My mind wondered. My feet became heavy. I became painfully bored. I started doing math in my head. I knew I was on PR pace, but was I under 2:38?? It's not that it hurt so much as it was heavy. Why didn't I just look down at my watch to see what time I was running??
This 26th mile took forever. I felt like I was absolutely all in, as fast as I could. I smiled as I passed Jesus. I liked his style, but I didn't believe what he was telling me.
I had been nailing the redline so hard and so long. I buried those last 10 miles. I could feel myself ever so slightly letting go as I increasingly lost focus with that mile. Ugh! It took forever!!!
Then I thought, was I really all in???
I slapped my wrist. 6:13. FUCK!! That was an expensive mile. I immediately woke up. I knew I wasn't all in. It was too late to make that back though. I gunned it for what I could.
I rounded a turn and saw a clock way up ahead. It was ticking 2:37:45. Ticking 2:37:50. Ticking. Ticking. 2:38:00. It was just too far away. I just fucking wrecked something insanely beautiful in that last mile. No sub-2:38 today. I was immediately pissed.
I rounded the final turn and went as fast as I could to make sure I didn't hose my PR opportunity.
I came across at 2:38:14. I immediately saw that I negative split the course.... I hit the goal perfectly on the head.
I was happy, but had that bitter 15 second taste in my mouth. I knew instantly that I could've probably squeezed a little harder during that 26th mile... A sub-2:38 would've required me to actually even pick it up slightly from the couple miles before, but I can't say that it would've been impossible.
Anyway, that was 32 seconds faster than my Rotterdam Marathon, 8 long months ago.
I did it on fewer weeks of training, and had less confidence going into CIM.
With the exception of that minor 15-second hiccup in the 26th mile, I was a fucking surgeon out there. I cut that thing up with pristine accuracy. By far, my best marathon to date... both by time and execution given the course complexity.
Split Recap:
1- 6:09.7
2- 6:04.7
3- 6:01.8
4- 5:53.5
5- 6:00.5
6- 6:01.5
7- 6:04.9
8- 6:10.9
9- 6:06.1
10- 6:00.7
11- 6:00.7
12- 6:08.4
13- 6:00.0
1st Half Split - 1:19:16
14- 5:59.8
15- 6:01.6
16- 5:58.0
17- 5:55.4
18- 5:54.8
19- 5:53.7
20- 6:01.8
21- 5:54.9
22- 6:01.9
23- 6:09.5
24- 6:03.5
25- 6:05.2
26- 6:13.0 (WTF?)
.22- 1:18.0
2nd Half - 1:18:58 (neg 0:18)
Total: 2:38:14 / Avg Pace: 6:02
Indeed, with only about 5,500 participants and over 10% of the field running sub 3:10 races, it is pretty fast. (Though I would claim that it's competitive instead of fast). This year, the field was especially stacked as a number of men and women flooded the race in hopes of getting an Olympic Trails Qualifier for next month's Houston Trials. ...Sorry, I'm faaaar too old and late in life to consider even comprehending such an option, but it still makes for an exciting event!
As fast as they say, CIM isn't entirely easy. Many runners go out way too aggressively on the countless rolling and early net-down hills. Pretty much through about the first 13 miles, it's rolling down offset with lots of ups. Through 18 it rolls more but is net flat, then calms down 20 through the finish. Unfortunately, most runners are spent by the time they're supposed to gun it. Of the top 100 racers last year, only 7 runners had negative splits! About 15 wound up negative this year, but arguably because the field had more experienced elites.
CIM Course Map
Long story short: having that 7 out of 100 stat in the back of my mind certainly didn't help as I toed the line.
The weather was hairy the days before the race, but miraculously cleaned up by the time it started: 40's, sun, and very minimal winds.
I went to the starting line with plenty of sleep from the nights before, plenty of hydration. I wasn't feeling horribly nervous. Things were lined up for a decent run. All I needed was the confidence to execute.
Track and Trough Athletic Union fielded a team of 5 marathoners consisting of myself, Dan McDowell, Jason Ream, Michael Martineau, and Verdo Gregory. Carolyn Martineau ran the relay event.
Jason and I decided to run together for what we could. We targeted a 1:19:15ish goal for our split, and then planned to drop whatever we could in the second half. Ideally, we both wanted to go for the seemingly impossible: negatively split races. For me, anything under 2:38:46 would've been a PR.
The first five miles had a decent loss of elevation to them (nearly half of what the whole course would eventually give). We started conservative, and after a some early jockeying and loosening up, Jason and I were hitting low-6's. We weren't working with anyone else early on, but slowly reeled in a nice pack of a about 6 or 7 runners by the 4th mile.
Jason's voice of reason had us stick with the group for a while. It was a wise move because it was either this, or go it alone. Jason hung off my shoulder or in the middle of the pack, while I was happy up front. (I had the burning desire to make sure we stuck to my plan and hence I became a pace setter).
It was really pretty cool, as this pack clung together until about 15 miles deep. We gradually consumed and reeled in runners one by one. Some joined us, some fell off. Nobody dropped us. At almost any point over a 10 mile stretch, we easily had a solid mass of 10-15 guys... all plugging about a 6:00-6:05 pace.
In spite of being in a pack, guys were running completely different races. I found myself pushing up the hills, then cruising down them. Others fell off the back on the way up, then hammered on the way down. In general though, I remained on the front of the pack as much as I could to ensure that I kept with my pace.
We breezed through the 1/2 split at 1:19:16.... 1 whole second from goal pace. Insane!!
As the race unfolded, our conservative start and teamwork proved to be incredibly wise. Steady efforts as we rolled through those hills. It wasn't easy, but also not overly taxing. We had put in a solid number of 6-flats by about 15-16 miles. Our numbers had dwindled. I felt strong. I could sense that some of the other runners didn't want to step it up. I started to pull away from Jason and the pack.
I knew the course was gradually leveling off. It was now me and 1 other guy from Sacramento's Fleet Feet that came along. I was in charge though. I plugged a couple of 5:55's and he retreated. It then became a game of steady leap-frog from road kill to road kill. I didn't have many, but one by one I passed what was left in front of me as the miles started falling off. Nobody had anything to hang with my pace. 4 mile in a row in the mid 5:50's, followed by a bridge and a 6:01, then another mid-5:50.
There were no clocks on the course. I had no idea what time I was running. I was inside of an 8K now and starting thinking, "Hang in there, anyone can run a damn 8K!"I stumbled through some tiny rolling hills to a 6:01 in 22. A bridge at mile 23 took some of the wind from my sails... 6:09. Ugh. I wasn't done yet. I had a couple more runners in front of me to keep me motivated. There was no going out in flames. I knew it. I was still strong. Only 5K to go now... I kept saying, "Any asshole can run a 5K! Get moving!!"
I bit down for a 6:03 in 24 and passed 2 final runners, one of which tried to hang on to me. I used a 6:05 in the 25th mile to put some distance on the leach. He didn't realize who he was fucking with.
After 25 though, I couldn't even see the next guy in front of me. No more road kills. Nothing to motivate me. Just me and the clock... which I hadn't seen all day. I still had no idea what time I was running.
My mind wondered. My feet became heavy. I became painfully bored. I started doing math in my head. I knew I was on PR pace, but was I under 2:38?? It's not that it hurt so much as it was heavy. Why didn't I just look down at my watch to see what time I was running??
This 26th mile took forever. I felt like I was absolutely all in, as fast as I could. I smiled as I passed Jesus. I liked his style, but I didn't believe what he was telling me.I had been nailing the redline so hard and so long. I buried those last 10 miles. I could feel myself ever so slightly letting go as I increasingly lost focus with that mile. Ugh! It took forever!!!
Then I thought, was I really all in???
I slapped my wrist. 6:13. FUCK!! That was an expensive mile. I immediately woke up. I knew I wasn't all in. It was too late to make that back though. I gunned it for what I could.
I rounded a turn and saw a clock way up ahead. It was ticking 2:37:45. Ticking 2:37:50. Ticking. Ticking. 2:38:00. It was just too far away. I just fucking wrecked something insanely beautiful in that last mile. No sub-2:38 today. I was immediately pissed.
I rounded the final turn and went as fast as I could to make sure I didn't hose my PR opportunity.
I came across at 2:38:14. I immediately saw that I negative split the course.... I hit the goal perfectly on the head.
I was happy, but had that bitter 15 second taste in my mouth. I knew instantly that I could've probably squeezed a little harder during that 26th mile... A sub-2:38 would've required me to actually even pick it up slightly from the couple miles before, but I can't say that it would've been impossible.
Anyway, that was 32 seconds faster than my Rotterdam Marathon, 8 long months ago.
I did it on fewer weeks of training, and had less confidence going into CIM.
With the exception of that minor 15-second hiccup in the 26th mile, I was a fucking surgeon out there. I cut that thing up with pristine accuracy. By far, my best marathon to date... both by time and execution given the course complexity.
Split Recap:
1- 6:09.7
2- 6:04.7
3- 6:01.8
4- 5:53.5
5- 6:00.5
6- 6:01.5
7- 6:04.9
8- 6:10.9
9- 6:06.1
10- 6:00.7
11- 6:00.7
12- 6:08.4
13- 6:00.0
1st Half Split - 1:19:16
14- 5:59.8
15- 6:01.6
16- 5:58.0
17- 5:55.4
18- 5:54.8
19- 5:53.7
20- 6:01.8
21- 5:54.9
22- 6:01.9
23- 6:09.5
24- 6:03.5
25- 6:05.2
26- 6:13.0 (WTF?)
.22- 1:18.0
2nd Half - 1:18:58 (neg 0:18)
Total: 2:38:14 / Avg Pace: 6:02
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