The OC Marathon. Sunday May 1st,
2016 New Port Beach, California
I had been reading
a book on the mental side of racing called “How Bad Do You Want it?” by Matt
Fitzgerald that has really gotten me thinking not only about the intensity that
I race with but in how I train. There are a number of lessons I’ve picked up
with the main theme being that most often runners don’t miss their goals during
races because of fitness but due to mental mistakes and the wrong attitudes.
Anyway, this race
was one that I signed up for last year when I found out that I was going to be
attending a conference in Palm Springs, CA for one of my company’s vendors. The
conference was this past Tuesday-Thursday about two hours from the marathon. I
flew into Orange County airport on Saturday to run the OC Marathon and then
drive over to Palm Springs on Monday. My training leading up to this race was
decent considering I had just run the Ocean Drive Marathon in New Jersey a little
over a month prior. I logged 300 miles even in the month of April including two
weeks of 84 and 88 miles respectively. I did have pain in my heal in the days
leading up to the race that was starting to fade but not entirely gone by the
time I hopped on the flight to CA.
The OC Marathon
provided an option to have my race bib mailed in advance of the run. Because of
this I did not have to attend the Expo and could take a later flight out on
Saturday than I would normally have been able to. This option allowed me to
pick up my shirt after the marathon which worked just fine as well since I had
nowhere to be on Sunday after the race was done.
My flights
(connected in Dallas on the way out) went smoothly and one I checked into the
hotel I found a store to pick up provisions including Diet Pepsi, Kind Bars,
and a 4 pack of Apple Fritters. I also purchased a sleeve that would hold my
phone, ID, and a credit card on my arm during the run since I was by myself.
Race Morning
The shuttle to the
starting line left our hotel at 4:25 AM. I probably had it easier than the
local runners since my body thought it was 6:25 which wasn’t so bad a time to
be getting on the road. We got over to the starting area in the dark and I
paced around waiting for the festivities to begin. I did all of my normal
pre-race routines but I must have not lubricated my right heal well enough as I
would develop a pretty bad blister pretty early on in the run. I have been
aiming for a 3:30 marathon time for what seems like an eternity and this time
was on my mind but I figured that it would be an unlikely target considering I
hadn’t done anything to improve my fitness over the last few months since
running a 3:38 in Houston- I had only been able to maintain. My plan was to run
the first mile based on feel and then adjust my goal accordingly. The other
major thing on my mind was that as happy as I was to be running, and to knock
off another state, I was a little weary of marathons having run one about every
other month since the previous Labor Day weekend.
My travel Buddy Norf was ready to take on the OC....
My travel Buddy Norf was ready to take on the OC....
The Race
As the marathon
got underway I realized that I had not looked at an elevation profile of the
race. I figured there would be some hills since we were on the Pacific coast
but I had no idea where they would be or how bad they were going to be. My
first mile was the slowest that I would run until late in the race. The 3:30
pacers went by effortlessly and then the 3:40 pacers which was when I decided
to catch the 3:40 group and run with them for as long as I could. I didn’t feel
great but I didn’t feel bad either. I did figure that if I could hang with this
group until the very end I might be able steal a PR at the very end of the
race.
I don’t have the
exact splits but I do know that after a first mile 8:33 that I settled in to
running in the low 8’s with the 3:40 group. The scenery in Costa Mesa, Newport
Beach and any other towns we might have run through was stunning. I recall
seeing an Electric Bike shop in a small downtown and thinking about how
“Southern California” that was. There were some stunning views of the Coast as
well. I hung with the 3:40 group occasionally falling back and having to sprint
to catch up and then tuck in again. It wasn’t an easy effort by any stretch of
the imagination- I was laboring but fighting my way back to where I wanted to
be each time I fell back a little.
I remember a large
hill right near the 13 mile mark of the course and the hand cycle winner
passing us on the hill. Each time I fit a hill I attacked it and then tried to
get my heart rate back under control after cresting.
I actually got a
little ahead of the 3:40 group for no more than a mile or two after the midway
point of the race. One thing I didn’t like was that it felt like there were a
lot of turns on the course. My knee didn’t really like those and the blister
that popped up on mile 9 increasingly didn’t like it either.
Mile 22- Each time
the 3:40 group had gotten ahead of me earlier in the race I had bit my lip and
charged after them until I could tuck back in with the group. It was a more
aggressive style of racing than I usually do as I generally don’t surge once I
fall back but I again and again I fought to keep a chance at a PR alive, even
mounting one charge of short steep hill that left me short of breathe for a
bit. This time was different. I started talking myself up to making the charge
one more time and my legs just couldn’t do it. It was then that I unplugged and
let the 3:40 group go so that I could at least make sure I would finish
respectably. The mile 22 split I didn’t look to bad, but the mile 23 split was
10:34 and then I rebounded somewhat the rest of the race but still lost time
each mile until the finish.
After all of the
gorgeous scenery that the OC Marathon Course provides the marathon actually
finishes up in the Orange County Fairgrounds. I sped up a little bit faster
than my low point when music and louder cheers were heard. I starting
high-fiving people that stuck their hand out and kept looking for the last run
that finally came and was followed by a straightaway that seemed to go forever.
I saw the clock pass 3:45 and then I hit the finishing matt shortly after for a
finish of 3:45:06
A zombie walk was
followed by a call home to Beth, Tasha, and Mitch once I found a spot on the
ground to sit and then I wrapped myself in a space blanket and tried not to get
too cold. The temperature was supposed to be close to 80 and may have hit that
during the run but either it got colder after I finished or I was just feeling
extreme chills. Either way, I eventually found some food, a Diet Pepsi, picked
up my race shirt and got to the hotel shuttle to go back and lay in bed the
rest of the day.
Final Stats (
Time: 3:45:06
Overall: 247 out of 1998
Men: 195/1209
35-39: 35/157
The Area
As I mentioned the
parts of Southern California that I saw were beautiful. First, the ocean views
during the run followed the by the hills on the drive from Costa Mesa to Palm
Springs and eventually mountains. The road turned to twisty mountain roads and
then a valley nearing Palm Springs near Joshua Tree national forest that was so
windy that it was home to the biggest wind farm I have ever seen- that was
somewhat surreal to drive through. The resort for the conference was a pretty
typical resort- pool, meeting, rooms, beautiful views, etc.. One night we did
have an offsite dinner at a Boutique Hotel designed by Frank Lautner (who I had
never heard of before) that was very cool.
The pics I took don't do justice to what I saw but I pulled off the highway once to take pictures of the scenery in between the coast and Palm Springs and didn't take many at all in Palm Springs.
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