Pure joy in hindsight! The process wasn’t joyful this time around.
For the first time in three years, I didn’t PR.
The fitness was there - I should’ve been able to match my personal best of 2.43 from three months ago or exceed it. I had very few disruptions to my training in the last two months. I was fast in many of my workouts.
But something went wrong.
There were two non-running warning signs before the race.
First, I was frustrated to find out that once again there’d be strong wind in the morning of the race. During my last race, the headwind slowed me down in the final miles. It’s unfortunate because Southern California is as predictable as it gets - the weather is almost always perfect. Just twenty-four hours ago, it was a perfectly calm morning. Today I drove to the event through pouring rain. The rain then stopped, but the wind was strong throughout most of the race.
The second red flag was my entire family being sick with some virus the week before the race. My son had a fever, and my parents, who live with me, were sick with a sore throat. How unfortunate is that?! No one was sick for months, and then a virus hits just when I’m about to race.
I didn’t get sick, but I spent the day before the race with a headache, which doesn’t happen to me often. Ibuprofen didn’t help much. Was my immune system battling some light version of the virus? I don’t know. Before racing, you’re always listening to your body extra carefully, and even minor discomfort can be worrisome.
But I don’t want to complain or find excuses. Overall, my training went well. The only issue I encountered was slower-than-usual recovery after some of my runs. I suspect I had shin splints in my right leg. On some recovery runs, I had to start really, really slow due to the discomfort. A day of rest would usually resolve the problem.
Now the race.
There were subtle warning signs already at the start. I usually don’t mind running the first mile fast before settling into a more steady pace. Today, I ran fast, my legs felt good, but I was surprised to see that I only clocked a 6:11 mile. I was sure I was running at a 6-minute-per-mile pace or even faster. This repeated again and again in the first half. It was a strange feeling - my legs felt good, but the actual pace was 5-10 seconds slower than I felt it was.
I crossed the HM mark in 1.21.24. With the exception of the strong wind, the race was going fine overall but I could tell by my splits that PRing would be difficult. I’d have to run a very strong second half. In the past I never managed to run a negative split so I had no cushion.
I also struggled with the hills - and there were several - more than in the previous three times that I ran this race. Coming off them, I was out of breath, losing my composure and rhythm.
Then at mile sixteen, I started to melt down. I never felt this bad early in the race. Running at the target of 6.10 minutes per mile was impossible. For a couple of miles I was managing to run in the 6.20s but it felt as bad as it feels in the final miles of the marathon. And I had ten miles to go!
Not only did achieving a personal record seem impossible, but I also entertained thoughts of not finishing the race at all. I mean, sure, I could have somehow dragged myself across the finish line, but was it worth it? The idea of quitting was genuine, but then the inconvenience of traveling to my car at the finish line crossed my mind. Mile 21 came in at 6:43. In the last two years, I couldn’t imagine running a single mile in a race this slowly.
In the end, I hung on, running the final miles in 6.30s and even speeding up to 6.23 in the final mile. Strangely, I was starting to feel slightly better towards the end of the race.
I never cramped in my recent races but it came close. Today I had no issues at all. I didn’t have any specific pain and not once felt my calves wanting to contract but my entire body and legs just felt heavy and lacking composure. What should’ve happened in the final miles happened to me at mile sixteen.
I never glanced at my Garmin for the total elapsed time, but I couldn't help but wonder subtly how poorly my result would rank among my recent marathons. Here's how my previous marathons went:
OC Marathon: 2:49 two years ago
Just under 2:47 in February 2023
OC Marathon again: 2:44 a year ago
Just under 2:44 three months ago
I crossed the finish line at 2:46:49, so it was my third-best marathon. This felt like a consolation, considering how badly I ran the second half. During the final mile, I could hear the steps of a runner getting closer to me, clearly trying to overtake me. I wasn’t having it! I already had a handful of guys overtake me in the second half of the race. I raced as hard as I could and that made the difference: if I went just ten seconds slower in the final mile, this wouldn’t have become my third-best marathon.
After the race, I wasn’t tired at all. No soreness, no pain. This was yet another strange aspect of today’s race. I felt less soreness than I often do after many of my long runs. I guess I never reached the intensity required to generate lasting discomfort. It’s not that I didn’t try. I just couldn’t. I was stuck in a lower gear, and I couldn’t have done any better this morning.
The best part is that I didn’t feel any disappointment. I hung on, and that's what truly mattered. While I may have fallen extremely short of my target, I still felt like I showed up. And that's something I always do when it comes to running. In the hours after this rough race, I feel nothing but joy and love for running.
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Overall sounds like a great accomplishment! How many people can finish a marathon and say they don't feel tired or sore?