Not My Race

February 3, 2013

Not Running My Race and Future Events

This last Sunday, on February 3, I ran in the Surf City Marathon, held in Huntington Beach, California.  Going into it I had high hopes.  My goal was to be the first female across the finish line, as well as, break 3 hours.  This would be my first time at attempting to be atop the podium in a marathon.  I gave myself two months to train.  Yes, I’m sure many of you may wonder why I only had two months of training… I had to take almost a month off for myself after the ultra marathon.  I felt my body and mind needed a break for a moment.  After about a month of contemplating if I should try the Surf City Marathon, I decided that I should give it a try.  This was the race I wanted to win.  Two months of training, from hills to speed, I was getting my body out of long distance mode, and into running 7-minute miles.

I try not to let things get in the way of my goals, so of course like usual I jumped in.

I arrived to the start line 30 minutes early.  My mind was racing, one minute I was thinking about how MY race was going to go, the next minute I was worrying about how fast everyone was going to fly off the start line.  The announcer shot the gun, and I was off.  I was running at a 6:22 pace.  What the heck?  I did not train this way.  I trained for a 7:00 pace.  Still maintaining this pace, at about mile 4 I started to have stomach issues.  This may have been caused by what I had for breakfast, as well as the Hammer, Perpetuem.  I swear by the Perpetuem, but my stomach still did not want to have it.  During my ultra, I used Perpetuem religiously. During that race, my stomach went through a lot of pain, mainly towards the end just due to the amount of strenuous activity and lack of “real food” that an average human would eat instead of high tech supplements. Today, the taste of Perpetuem brought me right back to that place, both my mind and tummy said ‘no way!’  At about mile 6, my legs were cramping and my feet were falling asleep.  This just was not my race.  Just like in my Ultra several months back, today I had a great support crew that helped push me through the pain of my muscles and stomach.  I was able to finish with a time of 3:16:42.  Thankful I finished the Marathon, I was still disappointed in myself that I did not run my race.  Trying to stay positive, I talked to Ryan about it afterwards.  Something he told me, that I believe everyone should take with them is, “always be happy, but never be satisfied.”

Everyone has his or her day.  Every athlete has his or her race.  This was just not mine.  I have to remind myself that we are all human.  It’s ok to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them.  I have learned so much from this race; I will never make those mistakes again. 

Recovery from Race

The day after the race, I rode my bike for about 20 miles, trying to loosen up my muscles.  I rode at a leisurely pace, with no hills or sprints so my heart rate stayed low and I could work the lactic acid out of my muscles.  Riding felt so good on my legs, it was just what they needed.

Free time

One thing I am really looking forward to is enjoying running again.  As an athlete, there is usually one key reason why you compete in whichever sport you are a part of.  You have a passion for it.  This is especially true for an ultra-runner, you need to have a passion for running.  I felt like over these past two months I lost my passion for it.  I felt I was only running because I had to, not because I wanted to. I had a marathon to train for, that’s it, no deviating from the schedule.  I felt I did not give myself enough time off in between races.  Mentally I was drained.  When training for my ultra I would jump out of bed ready to rock my day, and look forward to my runs.  I would sit there and think all day about which run I wanted to do, and which songs I would listen to.  Now, I look forward to choosing to run instead of HAVING to.  I want to work more on my cycling, in hopes to get back into the Ironman scene again.

Do not get me wrong, I AM a runner.  That is my first passion.  I am ready to run because I want to, not because I have to.

Future Races

This upcoming Saturday Feb 9^th, I am going to ride the Tour of Palm Springs.  I am riding the century on a tandem with a friend of mine who will be racing in Race Across America later this June.  I am really looking forward to this race.  We are taking it easy, doing it for the experience, as well as getting him ready for his big race this summer.


On March 8th-9th I will be racing with the same friend as a relay team in the Vegas Challenge.  Day #1 will be a 215 mile bike with 12,500 ft of climbling, followed by a 3.1 mile run.  Day #2 will be a 56 mile bike with 1,400ft of climbing, followed by a 13.1 mile run.  I of course will be doing the running, while Phil will be doing the cycling. 

I do not have any other big races planned yet.  My next BIG race is in May of 2014.  I will be racing in the Bryce 100, located in Utah that is at 8,000 to 9,000 feet of elevation, which has a total elevation gain of over 14,000 feet.  For this I will need to be ready physically and mentally.  This will be the biggest race I have done so far.  I have never raced in high altitude before, so this will be my NEXT big challenge.  I look forward to conquering it just like I did in the Javelina Jundred.  Only this time, I know what its like to run 100 miles.