California International Marathon Recap (3:19.57)

I was excited to run the California International Marathon. It was my first marathon that wasn’t the Los Angeles Marathon or New York City Marathon in nine years. I love the Los Angeles Marathon, but it’s a hot and hilly race and often isn’t the fastest. I was looking for a faster marathon course.

As I mentioned in my training log, I felt pretty fit. Training had gone well, and on a good day, I felt like I could run a 3:15. Sadly, the Friday we were driving up to the marathon, I began getting really congested. Now, several days after running, I definitely felt worse and more congested. It was never “super bad,” but it was some sort of cold. ETA: A week later and I’m still recovering from what we now know was a chest infection. That, among other things, played a role in the race.

Before the California International Marathon

We drove up to Sacramento the Friday before. It was an easy drive and uneventful, minus when I started to become very congested. I had never experienced congestion like that and hoped it was just because of the change in weather. I picked up my packet, ate a low-key dinner, and went to bed early.

My goal for Saturday was to relax. Before the Los Angeles Marathon in March, I did way too much, and my body felt tired on race day. So my goal for the California International Marathon was to do as little as possible. And I did! I ran 4 miles at Folsom Lake, one of my favorite places to run up that way, had IHOP pancakes (I cannot remember the last time I had IHOP), and then just relaxed in the hotel the rest of the day. I went to bed early, and even then, the California International Marathon race day came early.

We stayed in a hotel close to the buses, so I just walked over. I got on the bus and rode about 15 minutes to the California International Marathon start line in Folsom. At the start line, there were plenty of bathrooms, and we just relaxed. It’s kind of interesting how many runners were warming up for the marathon. Friends had advised me to get into the California International Marathon start line corral early, and I did. I recommend probably 15-20 minutes early at least, especially if you are running a faster time. Otherwise, you may not be able to get into the corral you want.

California International Marathon Race

I started around the 3:10-3:15 pacers since that is where I hoped to be. The 3:2o pacer was actually in corral 2. Even then, we were about 2 minutes after the start gun. People were jogging up to the California International Marathon start line. I was like, “I don’t want to jog any more than I need to.” LOL. When we started running, I could tell I didn’t feel amazing. I hoped I would warm up and just feel better. I did realize, since the last time I had used the bathrooms was 40 minutes before the California International Marathon, that I really had to pee. Rookie mistake but honestly I don’t think there were a ton of options since you needed to be in your CIM corral early.

The first two miles I ran 7:26 and 7:37. The California International Marathon elevation profile is rolling hills. While it’s technically downhill, it has about 700 feet of elevation gain. I think people are surprised when they learn how hilly CIM is. I don’t necessarily think California International Marathon is the fastest marathon course, but I do think they recruit fast people to run (similar to the Carlsbad 5000). They have pace leaders to reach very fast goals (like 2:35), so it’s a race that many elite and fast runners come to.

The next couple of miles went without much note, and I finally found a bathroom around mile 4. For all of the bathrooms CIM had at the start line, I didn’t have during the race. I also was somewhat sensitive to that.

When I popped out of the bathroom, I joined the 3:15 pacer. There was a large group, and the 7:26 pace didn’t feel crazy. I didn’t feel great, but it felt manageable. Because of all my congestion, breathing felt harder than it should, and my heart rate was higher than it should be for the pace I was running.

I started to get weird waves of feeling nauseous. I don’t know why. There was some mild wildfire smoke, which I’ve realized I’m sensitive to. (In Northern California, it triggered some migraines.) Or was it just from being sick? Who knows. But it would come and go. I thought when I consumed my Maurten 160 at mile 5, it was because of that, but it would come and go at other times too. At mile 8, I saw another bathroom and pulled in to try and vomit. It never happened, so I got flustered and gave up.

That mile was an 8-minute mile, which I was pleased with, considering I was in there for about 35 seconds. I was not pleased I had to stop, and the 3:15 pacer was gone. From there, I was just running my own race. At mile 8, I told myself, “Just 18 to go. You’ve done plenty of 18-mile runs.”

I was plugging away, and I ran a 7:28 and 7:30 next mile. At 10, I was like, “You’re almost halfway there.” I remembered reading there was a large hill at miles 10.5 and 11. I decided to wait to take a gel until after them at 11. I decided to try a UCAN instead, and it was a bit more gentle on my stomach. The race felt like it was just a grind the entire time. I ran another 7:28 and 7:30.

The cheer section of the California International Marathon halfway point is pretty large, so it fueled me to run a bit faster. After crossing the halfway point in 1:39.40, I ran a 7:23 mile followed by 7:27. By mile 15, I felt like I might vomit again, so I decided to find the next restroom. It felt like there were no bathrooms forever, and it ended up being around mile 16. I logged an 8:03 mile that time. Then I told myself, “Just 10 miles to go. Maybe about an hour and twenty minutes of work”

I saw my husband on the opposite side of the road around mile 17, and that fueled me to keep going. I ran a 7:28 and 7:31, just plugging along. I felt an intense wave to vomit again at 19, so I stopped. I told myself: “Hopefully, this would be your last time. Why is it getting worse?” For some reason, that time really defeated me. I felt like I was working so hard and ran a 7:37 and 7:35. I told myself honestly, “Hanging onto that pace wouldn’t be terrible.” Like that’s fairly close to the pace you started at the beginning of the race.

Then between mile 21 and 22, I felt the worst and really tried to puke, but nothing came out. It was my slowest mile, 8:14, but after I popped out, I didn’t feel too bad. During that time, I forced my body to take another gel. Maybe it was the gel, but from there, the waves of nausea stopped, and the last 4 miles ended up being the most enjoyable.

I started to tell I felt better than a lot of people around me, and I began pushing the pace. I told myself: “Just 30 minutes of running to go.” It was looking close if I could break 3:20, and I hadn’t run the tangents especially well, so I knew I would run extra.

I ran a 7:39, 7:31, and 7:27, and by the time I knew it, it was one mile to go. My last mile was my fastest at 7:17 (faster than I’ve closed some halves lately). I crossed the California International Marathon finish line in 3:19.57. I was surprised to have broken 3:20.

California International Marathon Thoughts

Am I happy with a 3:19.57? It’s my fastest time since 2018, but I also know I trained for faster. It was a rough day for me. It feels guilty to say, “I’m sad for my fastest time in six years,” but when you’ve trained for faster, and you know you can do it…

I also feel like I’ve had a rough few months of racing and gotten sicker than usual lately. It feels like it’s “always something.” I’ve been sick a few times, I got locked in a bathroom, it was windy… I’ve just had a lot of weird issues this fall. Despite all of that, I haven’t run terribly, but I also haven’t run what I’m capable of.

If you’re looking to run CIM, you should consider it. It’s a fast course, but it’s not an easy course. the race day weather is usually pretty good (which feels like half the battle of the marathon). It doesn’t have unlimited spectators like a major marathon, but there are a lot of spectators especially in the later parts of the race.

You can see Strava here and see more race recaps here.

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