26 miles for my 26th birthday
I run my age on my birthday. This has been happening ever since I graduated, and while I haven’t raced these in the past, this was my 26th birthday so a marathon seemed appropriate. It would also give me another opportunity to understand my cramping issues better.
I chose the Humboldt Redwoods Marathon, a quiet race north of Mendocino that traces the same route as the Avenue of the Giants, a destination marathon. This would be a chance to determine whether I still experience cramps when running slowly (about 15 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace).
My friend Patrick agreed to pace me for the second half of the race. Patrick has run my birthday run every year I have, and I’m very grateful that he has his girlfriend spent their weekend helping me with this run.
The race started at 9am. For the first few miles, all I could think of was how beautiful the course was. It runs on a single road through a continuous redwood forest. While the temperatures would reach the low 70s during the course of the run, the shade of these massive trees kept us cool the entire time. In the first mile, my foot actually went numb due to the cold — this hasn’t happened since my Pittsburgh winter runs!
The pack of leaders took off at around 6 minute pace. It was very tempting to try to keep up with them, given that my projected marathon pace is around this. But I forced myself to fall back, knowing that this wasn’t a competitive race for me. It was a test. And so I spent most of the first 13 miles alone, making me even more grateful when I met Patrick at the halfway mark.
In such a primordial place as a redwood forest, technology shuts down. For the first time during a marathon, I didn’t bring any music. And neither did most of the other competitors. It seemed out of place in such a serene setting, and the cheers of other runners gave me the adrenaline boost I normally get from music. My GPS watch also went bonkers, alternating between sub-6 instantaneous pace and 7:xx. I gave up on it, and tried not to let the crazy numbers get to my head.
Patrick and I talked from miles 13 to 20, a welcome distraction. We were quiet on the way back, as I needed to focus at that point in the race. At mile 22, I felt a familiar tweak in my calf that is the first sign of cramping. I slowed down by about 30 seconds per mile at this point, determined to avoid cramping. After 2 miles at this conservative pace, I tried to loosen up and speed up. Soon afterwards I felt signs of cramping in both of my hamstrings, and once again had to slow down. I was on the verge of cramps, and because of it I averaged 6:45 in my last 4 miles, rather than the 6:20s I was shooting for. The cramps never struck though, which saved me a lot of time — in the San Francisco Marathon, I slowed down to nearly 8 minute pace due to debilitating cramps.
I finished in 2:46:56, averaging a pace of 6:24 mins/mile (for anyone finding this math doesn’t check out: The course was 42k, rather than the official 42.195k of a marathon). This landed me in 3rd place overall. Here’s the Strava link.
Although the pace I set out at was 15 seconds slower than marathon pace, I still broke my personal best by over 3 minutes. The reason is because my legs didn’t cramp up.
This race leaves me with some additional information. I know that I get close to cramping when running at 6:20 pace but, as I found out during a training run, I don’t cramp at 7 minute pace with breaks. So the issue is either triggered by running faster, or by running continuously.
With the California International Marathon now only 7 weeks away, I need to come up with a plan for the race. I’m going to be out of commission for at least one week for recovery, and will be spending 3 weeks on a hiking trip. So I suppose my plan will need to focus on race strategy and nutrition, rather than training.
