I don’t think I have quite as much to say about the CIM as Curt did. Having grown up in Sactown, it feels like a very generic 26 miles. The only thing that justifies the expense is that I know it costs a lot to have the roads closed. The shirt and the medal were both very nice this year too.
I finished in 5:12. That should be exciting since it is the “fastest” marathon I have done yet. However, I am not really excited by it. I ran with two friends from work who had never done a marathon before. At the 1/2 way point we were perfectly on pace for a 5 hour run. And we were leaving all the rolling hills behind us. I started to really focus on the idea of finally having a marathon finish time with a “4″ in front of it instead of a “5″! But we just couldn’t pull it off. The rolling hills had already taken a small toll, and so we consequently ran the second half a little slower than the first… another factor may have been the temperature change. The first few hours were under 50 degrees. But it got considerably warmer running in the sun along Fair Oaks Boulevard. It was so much warmer that I ditched my Camelback, handing it off to a friend along the course.
I like knowing what I will feel like at the finish. The first two marathons, I had alot of angst about how bad I would feel at the finish. This time I had a benchmark in my mind and so it wasn’t such a big deal. I felt worse than I felt at the end of the Marine Corps and much better than I felt at the end of last year’s CIM. Last year I thought I would die walking to the car. This year, I embraced that walk as a chance to cool down and stretch a little.
The day after…. I don’t remember feeling anything except horrible after the CIM last year. Conversely, I can say that I felt euphoric the day after the MCM and this years CIM. Full on endorphin burn. Unfortunately, I have a perfect record of getting sick about the third day after every one of them. Last year’s CIM, I caught a cold. After the MCM, I got a really bad stomach flu. This year’s CIM, another cold. I think it may be a matter of catching whatever I get exposed to during a time when my immune system is hammered. Erin had a cold this year. And about two nights after the CIM, I was sleeping like a friggin rock, when I woke up and found my face about six inches from hers, getting the full blast of her cold for who knows how long. By the time I went to bed the next night, I was fully engulfed with the cold. So that is definitely something that I would like to figure out- how to get through the period of reduced immunity without catching anything. Maybe I need to wear a surgical mask!
