Peter's 2014 CIM Race Report
Peter's CIM 2014 Race Report
The Race:
The race is the CIM (Calfornia International Marathon) and is one of the top Boston Qualifiers. It is a net downhill race from Folsom to Sacramento with a finish right in front of the state capitol!
The Goal:
The real goal was to qualify for Boston, and secondarily I really wanted to crack 3:00. I ended up with 3:00:57 so I qualified for Boston by 4:03 which is well within the safety margin! My goal for Boston will be to crack the elusive 3:00.
Training:
I finished my last triathlon on October 10th and then immediately jumped into the advanced balanaced marathon plan and did the last 8 weeks of it. The typical week was around 40 miles and I peaked with one week at 52. My long runs were 16, 16, 18, 14, 20, 16, and 8 miles. Throughout the training I battled some IT-Band problems in my right knee but managed to fight through it. I took a lot of tumeric pills, stretched, iced, did foam rolling, and had 3 massages during the training period. This was my first open marathon so there was a big unknown going into the race, but I felt prepared.
My vdot going into the race is 56 which predicts a 2:53:XX marathon, so I definitely felt like my goals were within reach. I treated this as an 'A' race and came in at a race weight of somewhere between 130 and 132 pounds which is where I was at IMCDA. I am pretty sure my 5k vdot is even higher right now, because I managed a 17:56 in a botched very hilly 5K Turkey Trot. I think I just need more base durability to be able to extend my vdot to hold up at longer distances.
The Event:
The original plan to was to stay with my sister about 45 minutes from the race, but at the last minute one of her kids got hand, foot, and mouth disease so we found a hotel last minute right by the event. Our hotel is a suite with a kitchen and was 189$ a night! I am not used to such reasonably priced race accommodations! I am actually pleased we ended up near the event, it made the logistics much simpler. I was joined by my wife and son who go to all my races and are my biggest fans!
I woke up at 4:00 AM and had my breakfast of Oatmeal, Banana, Peanut Butter, Honey, and some Beet Juice. I tried to use the restroom with no luck. I grabbed a coffee from the hotel and headed to meet the buses which were to leave at 5:00 AM. The buses worked out great, they dropped us off right at the start and we were allowed to stay aboard as long as we wanted. Once we arrived I was finally above to have some movement in a porta potty and felt much better about the race. I did a quick warm up, dropped off my bag, and lined up right at the front.
Once the race started everyone shot out like a canon. The 3:00 pace group started out at a very aggressive pace so I let them go. I stayed in my box and fell into a groove of around 6:45 (according to my Garmin). I caught the pace group at around mile 8. I cruised to the half way point and had a first half split of just over 1:29. I thought I was actually going faster than I was, my Garmin lagged the race markers by 1/10th of a mile or so. I stayed in front of the pace group until they caught me at mile 16. After the half way point it definitely started to feel like work to hold onto my groove pace. Once I was caught I stayed right in front of the pace group and just did my best to hold on. Thankfully miles 16-20 were downhill and I was able to recover somewhat and still stay ahead of the group. At mile 20 the course levelled out and instead of running in front, I ran with. The pacer did a good job of motivating us to run so I was grateful to be with them, even though my original plan was to stay in front of them at all cost!
At this point I started to have to dig deep. Miles 20-23 were dark. I was already thinking about one things and just trying to hold on. I had a a bit of a 2nd wind at mile 23, I think that knowing it was just 5k remaining helped fuel me. I stuck with the pacer until there were 1.2 miles left. The last part of the race is uphill and the pace group started to pull away from me. I tried to run faster and the additional effort just wasn't doing anything. I figured I probably had 400 yards of kick if I really wanted to catch them, but I didn't have 1.2 miles. We were about 10 seconds ahead of the 3:00 finish assuming we could hold a 7:00 pace for the remainder of the race. It looked to me like I had already lost those 10 seconds and I was feeling terrible. I started to get tunnel vision and some twinkles in my vision so I dropped to a much slower pace and jogged in the last mile or so. Even this jog required a high effort. I didn't want to jeopardize my BQ by doing something stupid and collapsing just shy of the finish line.
Once I finished my whole lower half cramped up. I walked to a curb and laid down and started to see even more stars. I regrouped a bit and managed to walk to just outside the finish area so I could see my family. They had me lay down again because my legs were in agony and I was afraid I was going to pass out. My wife called over the medics and they loaded me up in a wheelchair and into the medical tent I went. They gave me Gatorade, banana, and pretzels to try and solve my cramping but it didn't seem to do much. Once they took my vitals they realized a was a little cold. My temperature was 97.1. After a few minutes I started shaking and they said my lips were purple. They covered me in blankets and worked on stretching my legs. I stayed there for 30-40 minutes and finally they let me go. There were people coming in much worse off than myself. I was relieved to finally be with my family. I took a quick picture with the Boston Bell and then spent well over 30 minutes walking 0.2 miles back to the hotel. My legs are shot.
I analysed the data and realize that I pretty much did leave it all out there. My heart rate averaged 171 which is 88% of my max, quite a feat to do for 3 hours! For my next marathon I plan to add more mileage well before the race. I think that with a significant number of weeks of 50-60 miles I could easily break 3:00.
I am very happy to qualify for Boston! Too bad it is 16 months out!
I am now off to build up the courage to do some DIY surgery on my big toe.
Thanks for reading!
The Race:
The race is the CIM (Calfornia International Marathon) and is one of the top Boston Qualifiers. It is a net downhill race from Folsom to Sacramento with a finish right in front of the state capitol!
The Goal:
The real goal was to qualify for Boston, and secondarily I really wanted to crack 3:00. I ended up with 3:00:57 so I qualified for Boston by 4:03 which is well within the safety margin! My goal for Boston will be to crack the elusive 3:00.
Training:
I finished my last triathlon on October 10th and then immediately jumped into the advanced balanaced marathon plan and did the last 8 weeks of it. The typical week was around 40 miles and I peaked with one week at 52. My long runs were 16, 16, 18, 14, 20, 16, and 8 miles. Throughout the training I battled some IT-Band problems in my right knee but managed to fight through it. I took a lot of tumeric pills, stretched, iced, did foam rolling, and had 3 massages during the training period. This was my first open marathon so there was a big unknown going into the race, but I felt prepared.
My vdot going into the race is 56 which predicts a 2:53:XX marathon, so I definitely felt like my goals were within reach. I treated this as an 'A' race and came in at a race weight of somewhere between 130 and 132 pounds which is where I was at IMCDA. I am pretty sure my 5k vdot is even higher right now, because I managed a 17:56 in a botched very hilly 5K Turkey Trot. I think I just need more base durability to be able to extend my vdot to hold up at longer distances.
The Event:
The original plan to was to stay with my sister about 45 minutes from the race, but at the last minute one of her kids got hand, foot, and mouth disease so we found a hotel last minute right by the event. Our hotel is a suite with a kitchen and was 189$ a night! I am not used to such reasonably priced race accommodations! I am actually pleased we ended up near the event, it made the logistics much simpler. I was joined by my wife and son who go to all my races and are my biggest fans!
I woke up at 4:00 AM and had my breakfast of Oatmeal, Banana, Peanut Butter, Honey, and some Beet Juice. I tried to use the restroom with no luck. I grabbed a coffee from the hotel and headed to meet the buses which were to leave at 5:00 AM. The buses worked out great, they dropped us off right at the start and we were allowed to stay aboard as long as we wanted. Once we arrived I was finally above to have some movement in a porta potty and felt much better about the race. I did a quick warm up, dropped off my bag, and lined up right at the front.
Once the race started everyone shot out like a canon. The 3:00 pace group started out at a very aggressive pace so I let them go. I stayed in my box and fell into a groove of around 6:45 (according to my Garmin). I caught the pace group at around mile 8. I cruised to the half way point and had a first half split of just over 1:29. I thought I was actually going faster than I was, my Garmin lagged the race markers by 1/10th of a mile or so. I stayed in front of the pace group until they caught me at mile 16. After the half way point it definitely started to feel like work to hold onto my groove pace. Once I was caught I stayed right in front of the pace group and just did my best to hold on. Thankfully miles 16-20 were downhill and I was able to recover somewhat and still stay ahead of the group. At mile 20 the course levelled out and instead of running in front, I ran with. The pacer did a good job of motivating us to run so I was grateful to be with them, even though my original plan was to stay in front of them at all cost!
At this point I started to have to dig deep. Miles 20-23 were dark. I was already thinking about one things and just trying to hold on. I had a a bit of a 2nd wind at mile 23, I think that knowing it was just 5k remaining helped fuel me. I stuck with the pacer until there were 1.2 miles left. The last part of the race is uphill and the pace group started to pull away from me. I tried to run faster and the additional effort just wasn't doing anything. I figured I probably had 400 yards of kick if I really wanted to catch them, but I didn't have 1.2 miles. We were about 10 seconds ahead of the 3:00 finish assuming we could hold a 7:00 pace for the remainder of the race. It looked to me like I had already lost those 10 seconds and I was feeling terrible. I started to get tunnel vision and some twinkles in my vision so I dropped to a much slower pace and jogged in the last mile or so. Even this jog required a high effort. I didn't want to jeopardize my BQ by doing something stupid and collapsing just shy of the finish line.
Once I finished my whole lower half cramped up. I walked to a curb and laid down and started to see even more stars. I regrouped a bit and managed to walk to just outside the finish area so I could see my family. They had me lay down again because my legs were in agony and I was afraid I was going to pass out. My wife called over the medics and they loaded me up in a wheelchair and into the medical tent I went. They gave me Gatorade, banana, and pretzels to try and solve my cramping but it didn't seem to do much. Once they took my vitals they realized a was a little cold. My temperature was 97.1. After a few minutes I started shaking and they said my lips were purple. They covered me in blankets and worked on stretching my legs. I stayed there for 30-40 minutes and finally they let me go. There were people coming in much worse off than myself. I was relieved to finally be with my family. I took a quick picture with the Boston Bell and then spent well over 30 minutes walking 0.2 miles back to the hotel. My legs are shot.
I analysed the data and realize that I pretty much did leave it all out there. My heart rate averaged 171 which is 88% of my max, quite a feat to do for 3 hours! For my next marathon I plan to add more mileage well before the race. I think that with a significant number of weeks of 50-60 miles I could easily break 3:00.
I am very happy to qualify for Boston! Too bad it is 16 months out!
I am now off to build up the courage to do some DIY surgery on my big toe.
Thanks for reading!
0
Comments
A few questions:
Was this your first open marathon? If so, then 3:00 is even more impressive.
What did you think of the EN marathon plan? I ask because I plan to tackle the open marathon again next year, although I'll be shooting for breaking 4:00.
I may have missed it in your race report -- what did you do for nutrition on the run? Did you walk the aid stations like an IM run? Did you carry anything with you?
The plan was effective. I ignored some advice to do a run only plan and add in some more run days which may have gotten me sub 3:00. Live and learn! However, I was able to BQ on low mileage which says a lot for triathlon base fitness! I read race reports from people with similar a similar marathon time who run 100 miles a week. If you really want to make a marathon your A race I suggest longer than 8 weeks and running only.
I carried 4 double latte gels and ate them at miles 6,13,19, and 23. I drank the on course nuun and water. I did not walk the aid stations. I have the nuun in my eyes to prove it!
In terms of the last mile, hey, you were leaving it all out there. You might have taken some hits in the last mile but overall you pretty much got the bear in terms of the race overall. Your positive split was under 3' and it sounds like a minute of that was in the last mile when it started to unravel. So I think that was a pretty damn fine result.
In terms of your training I honestly believe you didn't do enough mileage. Although for my first marathon I did a run-only approach, for my marathon this year I did incorporate 2 pretty intense bike workouts per week totaling 2.25 hours. HOWEVER, even with the biking my run mileage for an 8-week plan was over 50mpw every week until the taper and my peak week was 60 mi. Even with that I ended up positive splitting the race compared to the year before when I did essentially the same weekly mileage but for 18 weeks. I'm pretty convinced that for optimal marathon performance there really is no substitute for getting a lot of miles in your legs. Of course that kind of training puts a real dent in your tri training so for Boston 2016 you have some choices to make about your approach as you chase that 3-hour goal (esp since Boston is in April so it has implications for triathlon races in the early to mid summer...another idea is to try to get the 3-hour monkey off your back after tri season 2015).
In any case, a hearty congratulations!! You are now a marathoner with a KICK ASS finishing time!!
p.s. make sure to update us as to the aftermath...I suspect by tomorrow night you'll be hurting a lot more from the delayed-onset muscle soreness...
I agree about the mileage, I actually felt pretty good that week I did 52 and I think I could have carried that on for a while. My current thinking is to make 2016 the year of the run. 2015 will be all about triathlon and see what I can do in Wisconsin and then I want to focus on Boston as a super 'A' race. After that perhaps try my luck at an ultra in the summer.
I will update you all with how sore I am tomorrow, I am pretty sure I will feel horrible.
Ah, that sounds wonderful. Reminds me of when I did CIM exactly 10 years ago for my first BQ. Nostalgia trip for me. The way I felt @ the finish: if someone put a gun to my head and said, "Run!", I would not have been able to. Sounds like you put yourself out there.
If you want to become a marathon machine, you'll probably have to commit to 55-75 miles/week for a 12-16 week period, coming off a good base. Short of that, you'll be left wondering what your limit is. Question is, do you like running that much, or is triathlon more fun - can't really try to test your limits in both simultaneously. There's no harm in bouncing back and forth in consecutive seasons, though.
Peter,
Congrats on a great first marathon. 3hrs + BQ on #1 is quite impressive. It was fun watching you build up on Strava, and reading your RR was a reminder of how fun and painful a mary can be, at the same time. I suspect that with another 16 months of work in your legs, you'll have a really good shot of breaking 3hrs at Boston (although that rolling downhill start, the mean-spirited Newton Hills, and the screaming downhill right after Newton create a sneaky-tough course for which you'll need to plan). In the meantime, looking forward to the Year of Tri in '15. Congrats again.
Mike
Getting to your full potential will likely require run only and more miles. Another possibility to finding your potential is more years of running. After 10 years and 22 marathons I set another PR by over 3 minutes in Oct 2013. Running economy does take years to build.
Was fun following you on your journey thru the boards here and on Strava. Thanks for sharing
Here is the day two update. As Matt predicted the delayed onset muscle soreness is off the charts. Driving is difficult because I can't easily move my foot from the gas pedal to the brakes. I just got back home and my wife and I did surgery on my toe and drained all the blood out from under the nail and it feels much better.
I have no idea why I cramped so bad other than just pushing really hard. I was well hydrated and took in a lot of electrolytes both the before and during the race. They took my blood sugar in the tend and it was 117, not sure if that means anything.
Anyway, good thing I don't have to go on a business trip tomorrow... oh wait. Doh!
Blood sugar of 117 is normal range.
I think 55-60 is a good number for peak weeks, especially if it's quality as in the EN marathon plans. One easy swim and an unstructured ride as you feel is a nice complement as well. But concentrated Tri training is not conducive to Mary PBs.
I know everyone says you needed more miles but I respectfully disagree. Completely. More miles come at a HUGE COST. Huge risk. Maybe you can tolerate big miles but many cannot. I cannot. Maybe the lower miles are why you could run the 3:00 race?? You were fresh and not injured. More miles might have blown up your ITB completely. I personally had a huge PR and exact even splits at CIM in 2000 on 40-50 miles a week. I continued doing tri training like you. So good for you on keeping that up. That likely helped you. The bump for me I believe came from doing many marathons 2 years before ( 4 in one year for fun- all 10-20 min slower than the PR race). and by doing Ironman and one 50K the year of. I think if you just keep training like you are and do a few more 20 mile runs, maybe even 22 miles sometime in the year to bulletproof yourself. You can even jump into a marathon for fun. Run a 3:15 and just enjoy the run. It gives you that confidence to run the distance and not be freaked out by it :-). I also did lots of very fast tempo runs. Long runs faster than race pace - I only know that because I would run with guys faster than me and get dropped. I would chase them for 20 mile runs. Whooped. Race day felt comfortable. It was weird. My fitness was off the charts I guess and I did not even know it. No Garmins back then. I had no idea what I was capable of and just ran by feel. On that race day I ran 2 exact even 1:34's for a 3:08. Nobody thought I had a time like that in me. I had never even dreamed of it. We did not know of these vdot tests. Looking back my Vdot was likely a 52 so a 3:05 per the chart. I would say I killed it on race day. JUST LIKE YOU!!!! I am so impressed with your marathon. Your first freaking race. Mine was my 10th.
Also I think your pacer was my friend Kevin. He was the last guy to finish under 3:00. Lean ultra runner guy?
Like some other CIM was also where I got my BQ, ran almost dead even splits, and that day and race has a special place in my heart.
I think I spotted you at mile 17, I was going off the pic on here, which makes it hard, if it wasn't you then some stranger got a really enthusiastic cheer.
Congrats on the BQ and the race.