Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Napa Valley Marathon 2012

There are probably many reasons to run the Napa Valley Marathon, but two especially stand out to me. One: The weather. Sundress and flip flops the first week of March are highly appreciated. Second: The wine. It’s everywhere.

I picked up my bib number at the Marriott on Saturday and walked into the expansive courtyard to enjoy the sunshine when I spotted the wine tasting area. Shouldn’t all races have wine tasting at registration? It wasn’t until I was sitting on a sofa with a glass of Clos Du Val Cabernet in my hand, face tilted up toward the sun, soaking up rays on my shoulders, that I remembered I’d given up alcohol for lent. Aw crap!
 
I immediately decided this minor transgression didn’t count because,
 
A) I had actually forgotten, so it was completely innocent. (Besides, it was just a taste!) And

B)I’m pretty sure it’s a sin to go to Napa without drinking wine.

My conscience safely cleared, I thoroughly enjoyed the weather, the wine, and chatting with the other runners relaxing in the courtyard with me. 

The idea of actually running the race was less appealing, and this idea occurred to me Saturday night when I crashed at a hotel in Fairfield and wondered what the hell I was doing there. The Napa Valley Marathon was to be my first “real” race of the season. If you read my season preview, you know I’d originally had high hopes for this race. (I was thinking 3:15, which would have been an 11-minute PR.) You’ll also recall that my health, and as a result, my training, fell apart in February. I now had fairly dismal expectations for Napa.
 
The icing on the pity party cake came when I started my period. It brought with it painful cramping, an aching back, and a flood of negative thoughts. Thoughts like What the hell is the point of a road marathon anyway if you can’t even run fast? And I won’t bother with my camera because I don’t even want to write a race report about this dumb race. Also, How am I going to make it 4 hours without changing my f**king tampon? And with that brilliant mindset, I set the alarm for 4:00 A.M. and went to bed.

I knew things would all be fine once I started running. Running fixes nearly every bad mood. I only wished I had a clue how to pace myself. Two weeks earlier, near the end of my illness, I’d run a 5K in 23:00 and it had hurt. That kind of pace should not hurt for 3 miles, so I was a little worried. I wasn’t sick anymore, but I knew the illness had taken a toll. I promised myself I wouldn’t run faster than 8:00 pace for the first ten miles.
 
So of course I went out at 7:40 pace.

I wasn’t sure if I was being stupid, but it felt pretty decent.  We ran through mist covered vineyards as the sun rose gently, and although there were a couple of small rollers, the terrain was basically flat. I smiled at a few familiar faces and gloried in the freedom of running in just shorts and a tank top.
 
I hit the half marathon in exactly 1:40. I briefly wondered if I had it in me to run even splits. I would be extremely happy with 3:20. That seemed ridiculous though. Merely a dream.

The advantage of being an ultrarunner in a marathon is that you nearly always feel like you don’t have far to go. With only 13 miles left, I decided it was time to pick up the pace. The average pace on my Garmin said 7:39. I wasn’t tracking splits, but I did work on making that “average pace” number gradually shrink.
 
The miles seemed to fly by. Every time I came to another mile marker I’d think, Really? Already? They were just coming so fast.
 
Now I was steadily passing people who’d passed me in the first five miles. By the time I hit mile 19, I’d dropped my average pace to 7:30. This was good, I knew, and I smiled. I wanted to shrink that number even more.
 
By mile 21 though, I was still holding 7:30, and I could see I would have to fight for it. By mile 22 I started doing the math on the last 4 miles at 8:00 pace. I was getting tight, and with tightness comes worry.
 
A wonderful thing happened then. A woman passed me who was running strong, and I tucked in behind her. I held on for dear life. We ran the next mile in 7:15 and it killed me to stay with her. She was one of those tough-cheerleader types, which was exactly what I needed right then. I knew I had a chance at going under 3:20, and I wanted it, I really did. I also hurt like hell and wanted to stop.

Cheerleader woman was awesome and kept encouraging me to stay strong. I love it when people work together like that and help each other at the end of a race. It’s just so cool.
 
I worked desperately to stay with her for another half mile, knowing once I let her go that I could fade badly. She moved ahead, but miraculously, I never fully lost sight of her. My form fell apart and I felt like I was running nine or ten minute pace, but my average pace only dropped to 7:31.
 
It was one of those big smile finishes – the kind where you are so stoked you just start laughing. That was me, grinning and laughing and falling across the line in 3:19:08.
 
I could not have asked for anything more from this race. I can’t figure out how I pulled off a 7-minute PR with such a disastrous February behind me. Truthfully though, I don’t really care. I’m sore as can be and completely stoked. Racing season has begun!






27 comments:

  1. Great job Gretchen. I just love races like that. You go in with such low expectations (a bad mood even) and then you have the race of your life. That's what keeps us coming back.

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    1. That is definitely part of what keeps me coming back, Catherine!

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  2. Sometimes rest is all you need. And a relaxed mode. Great race, Gretchen, it's a fine season ahead, and lots of things will be happening! As for marathons, they aren't so bad, and you're right, every time you look at the marker, another mile passed, and it seems like a short training run. A very fast-paced gut-out training run:)

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    1. Olga - It makes me smile to hear you say marathons aren't so bad. :) I'm in total agreement, but not all ultrarunners are. It really is just a short, fast training run. A great way to start the season!

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  3. WOW!! You are amazing! Congratulations on that stellar PR!

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  4. Congrats Gretchen, awesome PB!!

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  5. Congrats on the PR! After reading a "had to settle for a sub-2:40" report, it's refreshing to hear someone enjoying the race half an hour longer.

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    1. Well, it's all relative, Steve. PR's are awesome no matter what your pace! (But I was clearly more than "half an hour" behind Devon. No shame in that though - She's awesome!)

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  6. Congratulations on the excellent PR and thanks for sharing the great report. Makes me excited to go out and run a marathon :)

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  7. Fantastic. Hard to beat a late winter PR. Nice work.

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  8. Congratulations on a shiny new marathon PR!

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  9. PR's always come when you least expect it. And you're slightly hungover. ;-)

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    1. Yeah - A new CR from Devon who also had wine the night before, and Jen B. mentioned drinks in Hollywood the night before Ray Miller where she took first. Perhaps there's really something to this pre-race plan. I think my only mistake was not having a full glass!

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  10. Thanks for all the awesome congrats everyone. Your support is truly appreciated!

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  11. I stand in awe. Incredible, Gretchen! Onward and upward.....

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  12. Gretchen, great job! BTW you lucked out w/ the weather; I have run Napa four times, twice in pouring rain & howling wind. I'm so glad you had a strong time out there in spite of all the less-than-optimal things leading up to it.

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    1. Thanks, Sarah! Wow, I guess I did luck out on the weather! I think I would have cried if it had rained. :)

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  13. So the moral of the story is that a relaxed pre-race (sometimes due to alcohol, Cheers!) might really lead to a great run the next day! I have certainly had better races when the lead up is nonchalant... Congrats on a very nice PR... Sounds like the season is just gonna get better and better!

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    1. Yup, I think that's the moral. :) See you at Cool this weekend?

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  14. Gretchen - I'm glad you got a PR so that we there was a race report to read! When I read about "cheerleader" runner it made me smile as I recalled all the wonderful strangers who have helped me finish races. Great PR - your are such a versatile runner! XOX - Helen

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    1. Helen - Funny, right? Once I had a good race I changed my mind about no race report. Hee hee. Still no pictures though!

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  15. Such an inspiration, from going too fast out the gate, to rallying behind a rabbit. I wish every race were like this!

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  16. Way to stay tough and pull off the PR!

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  17. Congrats! Sometimes PR's happen when we least expect them.

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  18. Wow, this was really great to read since my goal is exactly what yours was..well, to PR And to go under 3:20. Oh, and I'm on track to start my period on race day. Lovely. :)

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