We left on a Thursday, hopped on a plane, surprised with switched seats to first class and boxed water, into the sun of California. We rented a car for a few days and spent way too much time on the freeway headed to San Bernardino. The traffic was nuts!!! Once we got to our hotel we felt like we should have just driven from home we had been sitting in a vehicle for so long.
The next morning we slept in, took our time getting up and going, then headed to the marathon runners' expo to pick up my race bib and packet.
Afterward we learned that Redlands had a fun historic downtown district to explore so we headed there and enjoyed some fun stores and lunch at a yummy pizza place.
After Redlands we headed to the Kimberly Crest House and Gardens to look around.
The mansion was once owned by the owners of Kimberly-Clark company (which then we noticed these products everywhere we went). The grounds were beautiful and the house was in a great location for the owners to have a great view of the valley. One of my favorites was all of the orange trees surrounding the property.
After the mansion our next place to visit (based on internet searches) was the alleged first ever McDonalds, located on historic route 66. As we made our way to this landmark we questioned the area of town we were headed into. Once we got there we decided it was in our best interest we just take a picture and head out. A sketchy neighborhood was an understatement. Getting out of the car and leaving it made us super nervous and decided getting a quick view and picture through the window would suffice. Maybe we didn't read the reviews of the sites that suggested this must see. Anyhow we had a good laugh.
After we head back toward the hotel, ordered some dinner to go and watched the Boise State game.
MARATHON DAY
I had a 3 am wakeup call the next morning to head to the bus for the race. Through strategic planning our hotel was in easy walking distance to the bus pick up area. So I got up, got ready, and headed to the bus. The pacific time change was helpful for this early morning.
I was impressed with the bussing and organization of this race. The buses were not the usual uncomfortable school bus but rather a nice comfy chartered bus. I sat with a nice man who said he was normally a trail runner but was wanting to qualify for Boston Marathon with this race. I hate that I don't get names or if I do I don't remember them to look them up and see if they make their goals.
The weather in San Bernardino was currently above average temps, but the forecasted temperature at the start, which was up in the mountains was forecasted to be in the 30s. I was prepared with all the warm gear including a bath robe and maybe having trained in such cold weather already it did not seem that cold.
I enjoyed the fun quotes and sayings in the porta-potties and the pleasant sunrise of the early morning.
It has been a minute since I last lined up for 26.2 miles. In fact, this race was almost 2 and half years since my last full marathon and 2 years since I had surgery on my foot. I was a little nervous wondering if I could still do it and finish.
My goal training for this race went from train to finish, to train to qualify for Boston, to train to cover the distance in any way possible, to prove to myself I can still finish this distance. I trained conservatively and took the taper pretty serious with a 3 week taper. I tried to throw in some speed work, but life happened and hard core training just didn't happen. I think I only got two 20 milers in so I was counting on my muscle memory, smart tapering and putting the base distance in to get me to the end. I knew that the beginning of the course included some hilly sections so I was mentally prepared to start out conservatively and then when the real downhill came I went with how I felt. And after miles 10 I was feeling pretty good. I was running well under 8 minute miles from mile 10 - close to 20 and was still feeling good around miles 22-23 which I was pleasantly surprised. Then it happened, the last couple miles my leg started going out on me and I kept thinking I was going to be one of those people who collapse before the finish. I would walk and still have the leg going out feeling. I couldn't believe how good I felt for so long and now with only 1-2 miles I didn't know if I could make it. I received a positive text from a friend at miles 25 which I just happened to look at and it gave me a little nudge. The last stretch I could see the finish, but it looked so far away. I knew I was really close to that Boston Qualifying time, but also knew I could not keep a good pace and didn't know if I could even walk it. At some point I saw Ethan on the side of the road and it brought me to tears. The end of the marathon is always emotional, but even more so when in so much pain. He ran with me for a bit and then I saw Kelly and Ellie and more tears, but also more motivation. When getting to the finishing shoot, Ethan left me and encouraged me on (he was so cute "it's all you mom, you got this!"). I finished and it felt so good (and hurt so bad). I felt pretty nauseous at this point and I never really felt this bad after marathons before. I am blaming it on age.
When Ethan was with me I said, I'm not going to make it under 3:40. After finishing he came up to me and said did you want under 3:40? I said yes and he showed me the text notice he received that I finished in 3:39:58. I made it by 2 seconds. The registration for the 2022 Boston actually closed the day before this marathon so the next Boston I can register for is 2023, which at that point I'll be 45 and my qualifying time will be under 3:50 so for that standard I made it by 10 minutes and 2 seconds. Getting old does have some benefits when it comes to racing.
Will I run Boston 2023, who knows, but the fact that I can if I choose makes me happy.
Also, this was the perfect downhill course. The uphills at the beginning and truly a downhill the rest of the way. I'd love to race it again and train for an awesome time. I think the downhill helped me get the qualifying time, I also think I could get a really good time now that I know the course and what to expect.
After the race it was time to head to the big D!!!
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