I am going to talk in depth about marathon #25 here, but you may be asking yourself, what about marathons #23 and #24? Well, let me tell you where to find those two marvelous adventures if you find yourself wanting… #23 was covered as the very first entry of this blog within my Ironman Louisville post, so if you toggle back a few pages, you will find it there. Then, #24 was my 2nd time out at the Santa Clarita Marathon, which can be found in my Santa Clarita love-fest I wrote a few months ago, once again, just a few clicks away from your heart’s desire. This brings us to marathon #25, my 2nd dalliance at the Carlsbad marathon in January of 2013.
I decided to race Carlsbad again because it hit two very important criteria: 1.) Free accommodations, I could stay with Mary and Jim. 2.) Geographically desirable, ‘twas only two hours down the coast. When race weekend approached, it turned out to be fairly hectic for all of us because Hannah had two large events going on, testing for high school, and a club volleyball tournament. Luckily, the tournament was in Anaheim, CA which is in between my home in LA, and Carlsbad, yay. I was able to watch one of her matches, but still needed to hustle afterward to check in before the race expo closed its curtains for the night. The upside to my drive down south was that once again I would be bunking with my big sis Mary, and her husband, Jim. However, little did we know it was not just the three of us that night, but there was a newly sprouted soul who was waiting to surprise us all just a few weeks later, Mary was unknowingly pregnant with my niece, Darby.
I was excited about the race as always, but I was also curious to know if my newfound speed I discovered at the Santa Clarita marathon was just a fluke, or if it would pop up again for me on race day. I told Mary that she and Jim should enjoy their day off together, and not to worry about going out to cheer me on this time around. I was just happy to have spent another special night with my sister, and it turned out to be one for the history books, as just a couple of weeks later she found out about Darby, “Taryn, I’m pregnant!” That was by far my favorite phone call of all time.
I woke up on race morning to a drizzle in the air that I was not too psyched about, but I figured I had never run a marathon in the rain before, so I guess it was my turn. The race organizers handed out plastic trash bags for us to protect us from the ever surprising precipitation that always seems to surprise SoCal residents, rain?? I peeled off my trash bag while walking to the start because I did not need any drag pulling me down, I wanted to run as fast as I could, for as long as I could, to just see what would happen.
I always appreciate running a course for the second or third time, I think that familiarity is priceless. We started early again, 6AM, I felt great, and cruised along the first 10k of the race passing most of my competitors until I found my groove with the 3:15 pace group. Yep, that happened. The weather was perfect. The rain had stopped, which left the air cool, but not cold. I wanted to keep my pace around 7:00min. miles for as long as I could hang on, then I would try to keep it below 8:00min. miles for the rest of the race.
I met a few nice fellows around mile 7 or so who were on running quests of their own, so it was fun to share my 35 by 35 story and be cheered on and respected by my peers, and then I dropped them. I cranked through the first half marathon in 1:37hrs., beating my personal best for a stand-alone half marathon, so I knew today would be something special, maybe my speediness was not a fluke?
I ran through some uncomfortable miles between 15-18, always my toughest spot on this course. They have us run out on a coarsely paved highway for a 4 mile or so out and back that tends to play games with your psyche more than anything else, but I just took each step with measured pace and kept my eyes up and ahead. Soon enough I was screaming down the hill just after mile 18 and meeting up with all of the half marathoners that careen in to the course at that point of the course. I looked down at my watch around mile 21 and tried to do the math in my head of what my finish time would be if I fell to a 10min. pace for the last few miles, 3:25… what? I was stunned because I am terrible at math, but I think I had that figure right, and I wasn’t even running that slow, so if I maintained my current pace I could go under 3:25… WHAT!!?? I smiled and laughed out loud to myself as I was in my own little world among thousands, and then picked up the pace.
The last mile or so was a series of twists and turns, ups and then a marvelous downhill that lead us through a path of cheering fans on toward the finish line. I stormed down the hill like the large legged lady I am, and leapt across the line with a huge grin and looked down at my watch, 3:23hrs.!! I was literally beside myself with glee, I couldn’t believe it, but there it was in its honest to goodness Garmin gleamed glory; I cracked 3:25, wow.
I had never enjoyed a drive on the 5 freeway more than I did that day on my way home, as I reveled in my fast time, and plotted to go even faster next time. Then it hit me, I had just finished my 25th marathon, only 10 more to go…
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