Race Recap: Liz Shea at CIM 2021
The weeks leading up to CIM I started to have my doubts. Another marathon?! What are you, crazy?! I questioned everything. Why does race pace not feel easy enough during my speed sessions? Do I have enough endurance? 20 miles feels like a million! How am I supposed to run so long at this sustained pace? I also started to feel numb, like I didn’t care anymore.
I knew this negativity slash ambivalence could be a dangerous combo, potentially sabotaging the past 14 weeks of training I put in. Anyone who has run a marathon knows how important it is to be mentally as well as physically ready. So with the same diligence I put into my workouts and long runs, I worked on my mental game. I made a concerted effort to get excited. I watched CIM YouTube vids, got inspired cheering for my friends running their marathons, talked myself out of negative thinking patterns. I can’t say in the end I was 100% jazzed and amped. It was more of a calm surrender and a trust. “Liz, this ain’t your first rodeo. You know how race day magic works.” I had to convince myself that I was better trained for a race than I ever have been in my life and that the “hay is in the barn.” Two speed workouts with an emphasis on marathon pace a week and plenty of LSD (long slow distance) runs made up my plan. The night before the race I wrote down all the long runs I had done during my training. It made me feel a bit better, convincing myself I was ready.
Besides, I should be confident. I was coming off a huge year of growth. In 2021 I achieved large personal records in the half marathon, 10 mile, 10K, 5K, and the mile. I was taking this sport more seriously, I began working with a coach and participating in more competitive events, regularly leaving my comfort zone. Looking at where is was at with my fitness I landed on a goal of 3:30 which I felt was challenging but attainable and would give me a large buffer to a Boston Qualifier.
This marathon was also to be a redemption race of sorts. I had a similar goal back in 2019 for the Chicago Marathon but my training was too ambitious for where my fitness was at and I wound up getting injured. I was still able to walk away with a baby PR of 18 seconds but inside I felt gutted, like a failure. Later, in early 2020 I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism which had been unknowingly contributing to many of my issues. I got the treatment I needed and all of a sudden I felt so much better and was able to attack training with a new energy and vigor I had been lacking for so long. I started an almost daily yoga practice during quarantine. I did this along with weekly strength training. Things I had neglected when I had first starting increasing my mileage, causing me to get injured. This time will be different.
After failing to get into Berlin via lottery I landed on CIM as my 4th marathon. It’s marketed as this net downhill BQ factory so I had this romantic vision of running downhill into the finish line which was pretty enticing. I later learned from talking to people who had run it before that this is actually not the case. This is an extremely hilly course, albeit rolling hills, but still hills. Learning this, I made sure to include plenty of hill training into the mix. I also did course research. CIM put a really great little video together that broke down the course mile by mile, making specific tactical recommendations for each portion of the race. I watched this the night before again so it would be fresh in my mind.
The morning of the race:
I stayed at a hotel in downtown Sacramento, close to the finish. Sara Cohen, Paul Donnelly, and I walked over to catch the bus to Folsom. Yes, that Folsom, of Johnny Cash fame. In my research CIM’s route from Folsom to Sacramento pays homage to the Gold Rush, which is a huge part of Sacramento’s history. It’s a point-to-point race. They made us check our bags at the finish line. I checked a change of clothes and my phone. Psychologically this set me up with a “can’t quit mentality.” There’s only one way to get back and that is to finish this race.
The bus ride felt long. Too long. It was a psychological mind fuck knowing that we would have to run this all the way back. I tried to make light of it by nervously joking around with my fellow bus mates.
When we got to the start area there was a thick fog in the air and it was still dark. According to the weather app that morning it was 100% humidity and I started to get concerned. I compromised with, at least the temperature is cool. It was in the low 40’s when we started. So with that, I took a gel, did some dynamic warmups, and made my way to the start which was self corralled.
As per my plan I located the 3:30 pace group and started behind them. I wanted my first 5k to be a little bit slower than goal MP so I let the group go out ahead of me. Checking in with myself physically, the first few miles didn’t feel great. Maybe it was the humidity but my breathing felt more labored than it should be. Also my stomach felt like it might threaten to cause me some grief but I kept reminding myself to stay relaxed. “Ease into this thing and you’ll be fine.” I kept my pace around 8mm. As my body warmed up, I started to feel a bit better and allowed myself to settle into my goal marathon pace in the 7:50s. Still no sign of the 3:30 pacers, but I told myself not to worry, that “this is your race, you are on pace, and have totally got this.” I saw Becca cheering around mile 4 (I think). I turned to the dude I was running next to and said excitedly, “my one friend!” I wasn’t expecting much in terms of crowd support for this small race through rural streets on the opposite coast of home so it was nice to hear my name being called.
Around mile 6 or 7 I finally caught up to the 3:30 pace group. Little by little I crept forward until I ended up in the front of the pack. I started chatting with the pacer and this other woman who was around the same age as me. Those miles felt great. I’d say miles 6-21 felt damn near amazing. I was full of energy, the pace felt easy (just like my coach reminded me it would), I was even smiling. But still that voice inside reminded me that there were many more miles to go and to hold on to this feeling for as long as possible. So I played it conservative. I attempted to pick the pacer’s brain for course info. I knew the biggest hill was coming up around mile 11 so I was bracing myself. When we got to it I had this moment of, “is this it? Is this the big bad hill I was meant to save myself for?” Compared to my normal hills I was used to (Central Park, Queensboro Bridge, Prospect Park, K bridge), this was nothing. But even still I was telling myself not to get cocky. We weren’t even halfway yet, and the hills kept coming and going so I stayed steady with the pace group.
When I got to mile 16 was when i decided I could let myself “make moves.” I felt like I could comfortably run faster than the 8mm the 3:30 group was averaging so I naturally and gradually let myself pick up the pace into the 7:40s range. I remember feeling a little unsure about my decision. I missed the safety of my little bird nest and feeding off the group’s energy but I convinced myself this was the right decision. “Almost there. Just keep on moving, you got this.”
Around mile 21 was when I felt my first pang of fatigue. I told myself not to worry. “This is normal. The length of the race is catching up and it’s going to feel harder to maintain the same pace. Stay strong.” This is when the mental portion takes over and you repeat to yourself how much of a strong badass you are. Miles 21-22 were tougher but still manageable. During the last 5k my legs really started to feel heavy and tighten up. I tried some baby strides and took a late gel at around mile 24 to keep it going. I looked down at my watch, did some mental math and realized that even if I did 9 + min miles for the last 2 I would still hit my 3:30 goal. “Just keep going Liz. It’s almost over and you are crushing it!” So I kept on plodding along. I did slow down a little bit but kept on fighting and feeding off the two ladies running next to me. When we finally separated into men and woman finish areas (why tho?) I saw on my watch 3:28 and managed a last little kick to get to my 3:28:18 finish! I was so overjoyed. I realized that I had achieved my goal of Boston Qualifying with a 22 minute buffer and shattered my last marathon PR by 13 minutes and 1 second! Not a big race crier, but I started doing the dry heaving of crying where I felt so overwhelmed with emotion that I was pantomiming the act but with no tears actually coming out. I think if the end of the race was less crowded and chaotic I would’ve actually surrendered to tears. After my verklempt moment, I felt pure elation. I had achieved something that I worked very hard for. A culmination of years of consistent training. Finally reaching a long term goal like that is just a staggering, weird, but amazing feeling. When I got my phone back from bag check I read through all the congratulatory texts from friends that were flooding in. I felt so grateful, warm inside, and full of love.
After a recovery period that consisted of me laying on the floor of my hotel room shoveling food in my mouth and a long hot shower, I went out to meet up with the other NBR teammates to celebrate our achievements. We all collectively kicked so much ass so everyone was in a great mood. We stayed out as late as our bodies would let us before passing out by 8pm.
In closing, CIM was a nice little race. If you are looking for a fast marathon and are okay with something more low-key in terms of fanfare and scenery this might be the race for you. There is literally nothing “cool” about CIM. There was a total absence of slick gear (the race’s lettering looks like a bad corporate logo from the 80s) so that saved my wallet some damage, but they did give us a pretty awesome water bottle at the finish line. I totally enjoyed the whole experience and would recommend it overall.
