Half Moon Bay International Marathon

Half Moon Bay International Marathon
9.23.12




I decided to use Pfitzinger’s 55/18 plan however I modified it leaving out all speedwork since I had really lost my base after only being able to run minimally, or not at all, during parts of the winter and spring. 6 weeks before the race I had
extreme knee pain and was forced to walk home over a mile, cutting a 16 mile run down to 14. I began physical therapy the next week and although I don’t have a meniscus tear, both knees have wear and tear and found out I inwardly rotate my hips and also have tight hamstrings. The PT and more rest really helped me in this marathon and I hope for the rest of my running life.

Race day was about 48 degrees, 100% humidity (it was misting) and foggy. The race starts at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. For someone who lives in a land-locked state, it was quite breathtaking. The course description said there would be about 9 miles on dirt trail but what I imagined was quite different. They had narrow deep ruts that made it fairly
difficult to figure out where my next foot should strike and the trail was pretty narrow in parts. A trail runner told me it was difficult even for trail and I knew I’d be running a slow marathon. It was beautiful running along the ocean and hearing it and seeing the waves and sea gulls. They called the race 26.2 miles of running heaven and it really was a beautiful course, although quite challenging.

I told myself to really hold back the first 9 miles because that was where most of the elevation gain was. I do believe I paced really well although my splits don’t entirely look like it, but that is also quite a bit to do with switching from paved surface to trail throughout the race. Brian and Jocelyn (our 3 yr old) saw me around mile 4.5 and I pulled off to give Jocelyn a hug. I felt like I was doing pretty well, I was very aware that my knee could start hurting at any time and I wasn’t worried about running a slow marathon as much as I was about a knee injury and not being able to finish. They had a 6 hr time limit so limping it in wouldn’t really work if the injury showed early on.

Mile 11 we were back at the start, having run an out and back portion and then continued south as the half marathons and faster full marathoners were finishing. There were also people walking and biking and riding horses on the trail. Mile 15 my knee started hurting, not badly, but some. I told myself I’ve run 11 milers plenty of time, I can do another 11. Within a mile I didn’t even feel it any more.

The teen miles are usually not my favorite because it’s too far to really be happy about how few are left yet it’s far enough I’m not fresh. However, this time they really clicked along. I would look down at my watch, see 10 or 11 minutes had passed, look ahead and see the next mile marker sign. I didn’t start feeling too badly until about mile 21 or so and then it began to feel difficult to get a deep breath and also started feeling nauseated. I was really careful with my fueling and ate tootsie rolls and drank powerade or water at each stop but for some reason I really struggle with nausea the last few miles of most marathons. I really want to work on that for the future.

The last 2 miles I walked quite a bit just because of the nausea. I knew I’d finish over 5 hrs even if I pushed hard and really did feel like I was putting forth my best effort the entire time. I was very happy to finish and then saw Brian and Jocelyn (who unfortunately didn’t see my finish since Jocelyn had been napping in the car). We waited about an hour for a free massage but they were pretty understaffed and really taking a long time with each runner so we just went back to our motel. It ended up being a very nice short family vacation. The run was beautiful, I spent 2 days with my friend, Jocelyn saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time and we had a safe trip so while I just ran a personal worst time by about 20 minutes, I’m pretty satisfied. Also this was my first run with any trail elements in it, too, and I’m confident that contributed to my slower time. This was marathon #14, state # 12.

Splits
1 11:06
2 10:14
3 12:32
4 10:53
5 10:12
6 11:01
7 12:05
8 11:12
9 11:19
10 10:37
11 10:29
12 10:49
13 10:39
14 11:04
15 11:07
16 11:50
17 12:29
18 12:31
19 14:08
20 12:18
21 12:39
22 12:21
23 11:12
24 13:02
25 12:28
26 12:40
.2 2-something (forgot to hit watch right away)
5:05:22 chip time



Mile 4.5 hug break



After the finish (of course J had to wear my medal)


Jocelyn's first time at the Ocean

Way to go Julie. I wouldn't worry about the time. The trail marathons can't really be compared to other races. The only thing you can do is to revisit the same race and PR the course. I'm glad to hear that the knees didn't keep you from finishing. Congrats!

Doing a marathon with a trail element sounds too tough for me. 12 states! Wow, you are well on your way....

Congrats on an excellent job, Julie! I'm glad that the knees didn't hold you back, and I hope you can figure out the nausea thing. Not having experienced that, I cannot help, but I bet others have some suggestions. Half Moon Bay is one of the most beautiful places that I have been on the Cali coast. I remember seeing all the cool rock formations and the place where some very difficult waves exist and they have extreme surfing competitions. I also remember thinking the water was colder than off the coast of Maine when I went there and it was the first week in June. Glad you had a great time and congrats on state 12! I have 23 states, so we will have to figure out how to meet up and do a state that neither of us have. (Of course, I do not have Nebraska and I've never been there - so that is a possibility).

Thanks Tim and Chris and Michele!

Michele - when you get to NE please let me know, honestly you'd be welcome to stay in our guest bedroom, too. I need to put the pin in my map this morning and take a picture but if it's not in the midwest/plains, I haven't run it ,except FL and CA. We did run right by the surfing where the Mavericks competition is (I'd never heard of it but I guess it's pretty famous). It was fun to see surfers. Of course a few stops had spectators playing Beach Boys.

I'm with the others, good run and don't worry about the time. I too sometimes get nauseated toward the end of a marathon. I think I can take only so much GU, so I mix in a lot of gatorade, which I can take OK but which doesn't quite fuel me enough to use by itself. I haven't really found a cure other than to just put up with it unfortunately. I tried other things like chomps etc, and I got the same thing. As soon as I eat something after the race the nausea goes away.

I have been thinking about coming back to Lincoln and running that marathon in 2014 (I already decided on Missoula, MT for next year). I ran Lincoln once before, in 1992 (soooo long ago!)

Congrats Julie - glad to see you back to marathons and I imagine that felt really really good!

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:so we will have to figure out how to meet up and do a state that neither of us have. (Of course, I do not have Nebraska and I've never been there - so that is a possibility).

Remember Julie is doing the 50K or 50 miler in Chicago some time so that is also a possibility.

Julie, congratulations on another marathon. You had a great attitude right from the beginning about it, and good expectations about time. I'm really glad you were able to run it, I was worried about your knees but hopefully you and the PT have that figured out. Thanks for posting the pictures too.

JohnP wrote:

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:so we will have to figure out how to meet up and do a state that neither of us have. (Of course, I do not have Nebraska and I've never been there - so that is a possibility).

Remember Julie is doing the 50K or 50 miler in Chicago some time so that is also a possibility.

I know, but it is about more states, and well, Illinois is one that I have already (although I love the city, so it would be fun to visit again.)

Great job Julie with the limited training from your knee. As everyone is mentioning once you leave the road for the trail a time comparison to road PR's goes out the window. Congrats.

carleenp wrote:I'm with the others, good run and don't worry about the time. I too sometimes get nauseated toward the end of a marathon. I think I can take only so much GU, so I mix in a lot of gatorade, which I can take OK but which doesn't quite fuel me enough to use by itself. I haven't really found a cure other than to just put up with it unfortunately. I tried other things like chomps etc, and I got the same thing. As soon as I eat something after the race the nausea goes away.

I have been thinking about coming back to Lincoln and running that marathon in 2014 (I already decided on Missoula, MT for next year). I ran Lincoln once before, in 1992 (soooo long ago!)

I'm thinking the nausea might be related to low blood sugar since I have hypoglycemia symptoms pretty regularly. I'll cheer for you in 2014 if you come! I do like Lincoln Marathon. I haven't had any GU since 2007 because I thought it was causing GI problems but who knows....I should give it another try or maybe go back to pretzels or something.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Congrats Julie - glad to see you back to marathons and I imagine that felt really really good!

Thanks John! It was great.

JohnP wrote:Julie, congratulations on another marathon. You had a great attitude right from the beginning about it, and good expectations about time. I'm really glad you were able to run it, I was worried about your knees but hopefully you and the PT have that figured out. Thanks for posting the pictures too.

Thanks John! I'm glad my knees are doing well, they felt pretty good for my 6 miler this a.m., too. It was good just to be able to run.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:
I know, but it is about more states, and well, Illinois is one that I have already (although I love the city, so it would be fun to visit again.)

I have so many states I need I know we'll find something. I also need Oklahoma and that one is on my near-future list right now (probably OKC end of May).

Alex Kubacki wrote:Great job Julie with the limited training from your knee. As everyone is mentioning once you leave the road for the trail a time comparison to road PR's goes out the window. Congrats.

Thanks Alex!