I don’t even know where to start so I guess I’ll just start with this picture the day before CIM.
Finish time 3:52:01- a PR
As I sit here I still don’t really know what I think of yesterday. I did PR but I was way off my goal at least by ten minutes. I feel jipped. Totally jipped. The weather sucked ass. My shoes were soaked before I even made it to the start line. I think the weather man said 5 inches of rain fell between 4:30am and 10:30 am.(I need to fact check that one-seem more like 2inches) It was windy and literally running through streams at times. It wasn’t fun at all. There was a point when I told myself, “Becca your such a bad ass.” Then I was like…”I’m an idiot! Who does this?”
My husband and brother and sister in law were awesome cheerleaders!!! And I can’t believe they came out to watch I’m so thankful.
At the start line I put myself in the 3:45 group because 3:40 in this weather I was afraid to get trampled. The first 5 miles I was actually doing great. On pace for 3:40 but I don’t know where I slowed down probably mile 14-19 sucked. 8:55 pace was a struggle. I was miserable and pissed off. It was still pissing down rain. Some how at mile 19 I told myself only 7 miles. Get. This. Shit. Over. I picked up the pace… barely I think. I decided not to look at my Garmin because I probably wouldn’t like what I saw anyway so just run and get dry clothes on. My math was all messed up I thought I was in 3:4x range to finish but no. My legs were getting so tight and I thought they were going to buckle and I was going down but thankfully I didn’t. The woman in front of me puked and people were all over attempting to stretch out their cramps. Mile 24 the sun came out and I was over it and mad for the sun coming out at that point. Like a slap in the face if you ask me. I crossed the finish line and couldn’t stop to get my chip off. I glanced at the med tent but just tried to keep walking. Finally I got the chip off and just started to fall apart. Thankfully it was only a few minutes and I saw John and the gang and I totally broke down. Disappointed. Relief. Happy? Sore. Sick.
I don’t know how much the weather hurt my goal time but being the bean counter I am I asked almost every runner in the hotel lobby their thoughts. The consensus was an average of about 13 min off their goal. Then I checked the elites times from previous years and compared to this year and maybe figured about 8% for men and 11% for women. Something like that. *disclaimer* I’m horrible at math and a touch dramaticNow I don’t want to place blame and not take responsibly for my race but the weather had some role for sure. Just bad timing.
I tried I really did.
Who else did CIM? Thoughts on how the weather effected (affected) your race?
Fueled by Spite 
I was supposed to run CIM but opted out in October when I wasn’t getting a full training cycle in because of injury. After reading the stories -maybe it was for the better! I am super stoked that you nailed a PR despite the soggy conditions! Way to rock it 🙂
Thanks! Yeah I remember when you pulled out of CIM and lucky you…now you can heal up for Boston and weather gods will def be in your side!!
Let’s hope it’s not a repeat of last year.
You did an awesome time in those horrible conditions. And a PR! That is fantastic!. I would say the rains made everyone’s race a little slower. I too felt like miles 14-19 were sucky. But we did it and have a good story to go with it. Congrats on your finish.
PS. I still have my chip on my shoe… never saw anyone who wanted to get it back. I thought they wanted them too. Oh well.
Yeah 14-19 was no mans land. No one spoke to one another at all, everyone had their heads down ans slummped shoukders, felt like a death march fo sho. The finish chute was strange, I had to grab my own space blanket and some of chip cutters def had blank in the eye. Thanks about PR, looks like still another marathon in my future. How about you?
Yes yes, my spelling sucks…
Agree completely…this race was hard and sucked through to the finish! I think that the weather had an effect on my performance even if it was the mental aspect of it. I was off my goal time by at least 20 minutes and others I know were in that range, too. I’d run CIM again (in dry conditions only) though… how about you? Congrats on your PR!
I would love to do CIM again! I love the point to point aspect. We are from Sacramento, so it was really cool to run through history. I used to work at Paragarys and Esquire (partially owned by Sparto) that’s where I met my husband and dear friends. Maybe see you there in 2014:)?
I was off my goal by a whopping 25 minutes–I was too ambitious at the beginning and should have scaled back even more. It was just a bad day, and while my legs feel good three days later (consequence of the slower pace, I guess), I have a raging chest cold. Not fun! But hopefully it will make the next one seem fun, right?
Congratulations on the PR! That’s pretty amazing given the kind of day it was!
I love your blog’s name!
Terzah so great to “meet” you! Can’t wait to follow your journey! Sorry about your cold, yuck!! My legs can finally go up and down stairs, brutal pain. I love it!
I also ran CIM. I was 13 minutes and 7 seconds off my goal, so I’m right on with your estimate. The problem I had was with heavy shoes. By mile 16, I had horrible cramping in both of my calves (never had an issue before). Of course, 10 min after I finish, the sun comes out and all is beautiful. Grr!!
Congrats! A PR is a PR! And it will be easier to PR next time around 😉
The rain totally added like 16 lbs to the shoes. I wonder why you cramped? I cramped in PDX at mile 24 and I think it was because not enough electrolytes. I’ve since switched GUs and to powerbar with sodium (I think that’s the brand) they are way less viscous and I swear it helped me. Good luck!