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!

2012 Season Preview

2011 Highlight: The Placer High Track with Jamie

After last year, I promised myself I would do two things this year: race less and not run a 100-miler.

Um, … yeah.

My reasoning was that I needed a break from the stress of running a 100-miler. I know some people run these things all the time – multiple 100-milers in a year.  For me, that kind of training takes a huge amount of mental focus, not to mention time. I thought I was ready to be a bit more of a well-rounded athlete for a while – get back to some rock climbing and some mountain biking.

My motivation for racing less stemmed primarily from the fact that I completely went over my racing budget last year.

And then I got into Hardrock.

So, I figured with the “no hundo” promise out the window, I may as well give up on “less racing,” too. Sometimes you just have to celebrate reality and roll with it. The thing is, I really like racing. And, I’m aware that I typically perform better when I race more. Well, I thought Western States was a big deal, so I let myself go a little overboard on the racing last year regardless of expense. In case you’re wondering, I think Hardrock is a way bigger deal. I’m not concerned about performance like I was at States, just, you know, totally petrified about the whole thing.

So, with all that in mind, buckle your seatbelts. Here’s my 2012 racing schedule:

3/4/12 – Napa Valley Marathon

Every now and then I go through this little fantasy about how I’m going to break my marathon PR (3:26) set at Grandma’s way back in 1998, and that was the thought behind signing up for Napa. A lot of experiences have indicated that a PR is totally possible, even likely. Back in ’09 I was way into running those damn Yasso 800 workouts, and I could knock 10 of them off at 3:00 pace. Last year, in the midst of early season high mileage, I ran RiverCity as a training run in 3:27 with ease. I know it’s possible. Unfortunately, Napa is not going to be it. I am on week #2 of illness and virtually no running right now. I was in great shape at the New Year, but in recent weeks I simply haven’t put in the necessary work for a PR. Still, it’s a new course for me so it should be fun, and hopefully it will provide a good early-season workout.

3/10/12 – Way Too Cool 50K

Only six days after Napa, I’m not expecting huge things from myself at this race. Still, it’s a classic. I love the course, and I will be sharing the day with many friends. It’s going to be exactly what I need to get me excited about the upcoming ultra season.

4/14/12 – Lake Sonoma 50M

This one looked like a good course due to its 10,000’ of elevation gain. (In honor of Hardrock, this year’s training is all about vertical gain and loss.) I have a pretty serious adventure run planned for the week leading up to this, so once again, I am not expecting huge things from myself in terms of performance.Just good, solid training and fun times.

4/29/12 – Big Sur Marathon

When I was in high school and dreamed of one day running a marathon, I had three races on my dream list: L.A., Boston, and Big Sur. I ran Boston in ’96, but never made it to the others. They both fell unceremoniously off my dream list when I became a trail and ultra runner. That is, until my friend Charlie decided that, to celebrate her 40^th birthday, she wanted to run a marathon with me. I think the last time we toed the line together was that day in Hopkinton.  (Expect for that time in Seattle, which sucked, and CIM in 2001, which sucked even worse. Neither of those count.) We’re definitely due for an awesome run together, and I’m pretty stoked for this weekend.

5/5/12 – Miwok 100K

After last year’s race at Miwok, I wasn’t going to sign up for this one because I can’t imagine having a better race. Pretty lame, huh? But after I got into Hardrock, I decided I needed a 100K on the schedule to get the mileage up. Plus, this is such an awesome course! All downhill, as I recall.

6/2/12 – Pocatello 50M

This is supposed to be a gnarly course, but beautiful, and people seem to love it. Sounds like a perfect Hardrock trainer to me! I’d like to have a good day here because I think it would be a real confidence booster. I can’t take an actual taper for it, but I’ll take a couple extra rest days the week before. I’m road-tripping to this one with Jamie, and a few other cool ultra chicks will be out there as well. Ladies’ day in Idaho! Woot!

7/13/12 – 7/15/12 – Hardrock 100

I won’t bother you with a big essay on this one. (There will be plenty of time for that later!) I’ll just give you a quote about the race description from the website: “100-miles which includes 33,992 feet of climb and 33,992 feet of descent for a total elevation change of 67,984 feet with an average elevation of 11,186 feet - low point 7,680 feet (Ouray) and high point 14,048 feet (Handies Peak).”

I have a number of pacing and volunteering gigs, and big adventure runs planned as well, so the calendar is looking pretty full at the moment. Let the season begin!

Will I see any of you out there on the trails?