Race Report: 2025 Shoreline Marathon

Sometimes, I choose a race because of its proximity to a destination that Deb and I have been meaning to visit.  That was the case with the Shoreline Marathon.  This race is held on the Pacific Coast Highway, near Ventura, CA.  We used this as a hopping off point for a trip to Solvang.

We originally planned this trip for May, and I was going to run the Seaside Marathon, but that race was rescheduled.  The Palisades Fire caused a large cycling event to be rescheduled.  The new date they chose conflicted with the Seaside Marathon.  That forced the Seaside Marathon to be rescheduled for two weeks later.  The new date, unfortunately, conflicted with the FANS 24-Hour Race.

I had the option of doing another race sponsored by the same organizers.  The Shoreline Marathon was the only one I could fit into my schedule this year.  The timing wasn’t ideal.  Solvang is more crowded in July, and it’s hotter now than it would’ve been in May.

Saturday, July 12

We flew to Los Angeles Friday morning and drove to Oxnard.  Traffic was heavy, so the drive took longer than we expected.  When we got to Oxnard, we went straight to packet pickup, which was in a gym in a shopping mall.  The race packet included both a T-shirt and a jacket.  It’s always nice to get a jacket.

Since we were already at a mall, we had a fast-food lunch after packet pickup.

After lunch, we went to our hotel to check in.   There weren’t any rooms ready, so we went shopping while we waited.  Deb likes shopping at thrift stores, and we found three goods ones in Oxnard.

After checking into our room, we each did a workout.  Then we went out for an early dinner.

I was able to get to sleep shortly after dinner, in part because my body was still on central time.  I slept for eight hours, which may be a personal best for the night before a marathon.

Sunday, July 13

The race started at Solimar Beach.  There wasn’t enough parking at the start for 900 runners, so we had to park at a school in Ventura and take a shuttle from there.  The race didn’t start until 7:00, but I got to the start area by 6:15.  They had a gear check, but I didn’t want to bother with that.  To stay warm in the start area, I wore a jacket and gloves, and I wrapped a heat sheet around my legs.

The temperature at the start was about 60 degrees.  All of my recent training has been in summer heat.  When you get used to 90s, 60 feels really nice.  Before the race, I felt some light drizzle.  Two minutes before the race, I tied my jacket around my waist.  I kept my gloves on.

The course was three laps of an out-and-back route along the PCH.  This is the sort of race that’s ideal for running a fast time.  I haven’t done any recent training at a fast pace, so I didn’t know how fast I could run.  I also didn’t know how my lower back would feel.  For the last two weeks, I’ve been going at a slow pace, taking short strides, and trying to stay low to the ground to minimize impact.  To run at a faster pace, I would need to open up my stride.

On Thursday, my doctor gave me the green light to run harder, if it felt OK.  Later that day, I tested the waters by gradually picking up the pace during a training run.  By the last mile of my run, I was going faster than my race pace.  That felt OK, but I still didn’t know how it would feel to run that hard for a distance as long as a marathon.  I just had to test the waters and see how I felt.

Before the race, I was talking to a runner who has done this race before.  He said it was fairly flat, but there was one small rise and fall.

Another runner asked me what my goal was.  At first, I said, “Ideally, 3:50, but I don’t know if I’m up to it.”  Then, I said, “Maybe four hours.”  Finally, I added, “Maybe more than four hours.”  I really wasn’t all that confident.

In the first mile, I accelerated until I reached a pace that felt fast, but not too tiring.  I didn’t know how fast I was going until I finished the first mile.  It was 8:19.  To run a Boston qualifier (3:50), I needed to average 8:45, so I was starting too fast.  I was surprised how easy that pace felt.

Looking across the highway, I could see that the hills were shrouded in fog.  The fog wasn’t as apparent at ground level, but it was there.  I always felt a fine mist, but I don’t think it was rain.  It felt like light drizzle, but it was probably just the fog.

In the next mile, I eased up a bit, but before long, I was going fast again.  That mile was only a few seconds slower than the first one.  I felt OK, but experience told me my pace wouldn’t be sustainable.

Besides the marathon, there was also a half marathon, a 10K, and a 5K.  Each race had a different start time and a different turnaround point.  There were four aid stations along the route, but they weren’t evenly spaced.  Three of the four were at different turnaround points.

There were tall banners marking each of the four turnaround points.  The banners were color-coded to match the colors of our race bibs.  I saw an aid station at the 5K turnaround, but I decided to skip that one.  There were enough aid stations that drinking at all of them would be excessive.  I skipped this aid station and waited for the one at the 10K turnaround.

As I started the third mile, I could see that the road ahead of me was slightly uphill.  It was a long hill, but it was gradual enough that it didn’t force me to slow down.  Mile three was only two seconds slower than mile two.  I was still going about 20 seconds faster than the pace I needed for a BQ.

This was a cupless race.  There weren’t any cups at the aid stations.  If you carried a cup or bottle with you, you could fill it at an aid station.  The aid stations had dispensers for water or Gatorade.  We were asked not to touch the nozzles.  To fill your cup, you hold it under the nozzle and then step on a pedal at ground level.  We were advised before the race that the flow rate was 10 oz. per second, so you had to be careful not to overfill your cup.

I had a reusable cup that was clipped to one of the zippers on my fanny pack.  When I saw the aid station at the 10K turnaround, I started getting ready.  First, I took off my gloves and stuffed them in my fanny pack.  I had warmed up enough that I no longer needed them.  Next, I unclipped my cup and held it in my hand.

When I reached the aid station, I saw several water dispensers and two Gatorade dispensers.  I held my cup under the nozzle of one of the Gatorade dispensers, and I stepped on the pedal.  Only a few drops came out.  I tried again with the same result.  Apparently, that one was already empty.  I went to the other Gatorade dispenser, and that one worked as expected.

I had to pause long enough to drink my Gatorade before I could clip it to my fanny pack again.  As I resumed running, I knew that stop cost me a lot of time.  I realized at this point I would need to minimize my stops.  Conditions were cool enough that I could easily go three or four miles between stops.

The runner who said there was only one rise and fall was wrong.  There were two.  He was doing the half marathon, and the second small rise was just past the half marathon turnaround point.

Because of my long pause at the aid station, mile four was much slower than the first three.  It was still four seconds faster than my target pace, however.

As I reached the top of the second small rise, I could see the turnaround point.  I ran around a pair of cones and started to head back.

Coastal races always have the potential to be windy.  Now that I was on my way back, it was obvious that wind wasn’t going to be an obstacle.  There was a light breeze coming in off the coast.  It kept me cool, but I never had to run into the wind.

For the next two miles, my average pace was about 8:30.  That’s not as fast as my first few miles, but it was still faster than my target pace of 8:45.

The half marathon started 15 minutes after the marathon.  By the time I made it back to the half marathon turnaround, many those runners had reached the turn.  We were all running on the shoulder of the highway.  It was a wide shoulder, but now there was two-way traffic, and the runners from the two races were going at different speeds.

I decided to skip the aid station at the 10K turnaround and press on until I reached the 5K turnaround.  I was worried that mile would be slow, so I picked up my effort.

Shortly after passing the 10K turnaround, I saw a group of five fast runners wearing green race bibs.  This was the lead pack of the 10K race.  Before long, they had made the turn.  Then that same group of five raced past me.  Now, there were runners from three races, all going at different speeds.

I stopped to drink when I got to the aid station at the 5K turnaround.  That stop went smoothly, but it still took several seconds.  I worked hard enough in that mile that I kept my pace under 8:45, despite stopping at the aid station.

Now the course was getting crowded.  The 5K race was also in progress, so there was two-way traffic from four different races.  Thankfully, that didn’t last for too long.

I was able to pick up my pace again as I neared the end of my first lap.  Our route was S-shaped, so you could never see very far as you went around a bend.  I had to get within about a quarter mile before I could see the finish line.  Runners doing the 5K or 10K ran under an arch and across the line.  Those of doing the marathon or half marathon turned around right in front of the finish line to head out for the next lap.

At I finished my first lap, I was on pace to finish in about 3:45.  I knew I would probably slow down, but I tried hard to keep up the same pace as I started my second lap.

I still saw 5K and 10K runners finishing their laps, but the only runners heading back out were the marathon and half marathon runners.  I couldn’t tell which runners were in which race.  The half marathon started later, but they had a shorter lap.  I wasn’t sure if their average pace was faster or slower.  The runners ahead of me weren’t all going at the same pace, but their pace was similar enough that it wasn’t obvious who was who.  To stay on a consistent pace, I had to ignore them all and just run at my own pace.

In my second lap, I once again skipped the aid station at the 5K turnaround.  When I reached the aid station at the 10K turnaround, I saw that there was only one Gatorade dispenser.  They had removed the one that was empty.

By now, I had established a consistent pattern.  I was only going to stop to drink twice per lap.  Going out, I stopped at the 10K turnaround.  Coming back, I would stop at the 5K turnaround.

I kept up a reasonably consistent pace in the first half of my second lap.  When I reached the turnaround, I was still on pace to finish in 3:45.

Coming back, I began to slow down.  For the first time, I had a mile that was slower than 8:45.  I could afford that.  My goal was still 3:50.  After running faster in the first half, I could afford to slow down a little in the second half.  I didn’t want to slow down, but I really only needed to average 8:55 per mile now.

My left hamstring started to feel a little sore.  Then it occurred to me that it actually felt tight more than it felt sore.  The fog and the cool breeze combined to keep my legs cold, so my muscles were more prone to getting tight.  I had to be careful not to pull a hamstring.  I wouldn’t deliberately slow down, but I had to be mindful not to have any strong accelerations.  I had to keep my effort steady.

The next mile was slightly downhill.  That allowed me to pick up my pace, in spite of stopping to drink at an aid station.  Overall, however, I wasn’t quite keeping up the pace I had in the first half of the race.  My second lap was slower than my first lap, but it was still faster than the pace I needed for a BQ.

The half marathon was only two laps.  As I started my third lap, the only runners in front of me were runners starting their last lap of the marathon.  Now, I could compare my pace to theirs.  That helped.

Our route took us by a couple of beaches.  People walking to and from the beaches sometimes tracked sand onto the road.  Over time, a few grains of sand made their way into my shoes.  I could feel them under my big toe.  That made every step painful, but I had to tune that out.

For the rest of the race, I was constantly recomputing the average pace I needed the rest of the way to break 3:50.  With two laps to go, I needed to average about 9:05 per mile.  My slowest mile so far was 8:51.  I was pretty confident I would break 3:50.  I just didn’t know if I would do it by a comfortable margin.

I saw a runner in front of me who was wearing black shorts.  I tried to see if I could reel him in.  It took a long time, but I started to close the gap.  I passed him before the 19-mile sign.  Then I looked ahead to see who else I could chase.  I could see runners coming toward me, but I couldn’t see the next runner ahead of me.  They were far enough in front that they had disappeared around the next bend.

When I got to the aid station at the 10K turnaround, they no longer had any Gatorade.  I had to settle for water.  When I finished that mile, my pace for that mile was 8:52.  That was my slowest mile so far.  I reminded myself that it was slightly uphill, and it included a stop at an aid station.  In spite of that, I was disappointed.

I was halfway through the next mile before it occurred to me that I had run my last mile 20 seconds faster than the pace I needed at this point.  I was still disappointed.  Then it occurred to me that beating my revised target time by 20 seconds meant that the pace I needed over the final five miles was now 9:16.

I reached the turnaround for the last time.  There was an aid station at the turnaround, and I passed a runner who stopped to drink.  Then I passed two runners who were starting to walk.

I had expected the fog to eventually lift, but it was still there.  It may have warmed up by two or three degrees, but the conditions were remarkable similar to when we started.

In my second lap, my left hamstring felt tight.  Now, my right hamstring also felt tight.  If anything, it felt tighter.  I didn’t want to pull a hamstring, and that may have caused me to subconsciously hold back in the late miles.   I sped up slightly in mile 22, but I slowed down in miles 23 and 24.  Mile 24 was the first one that was slower than nine minutes.

Knowing that the aid station at the 5K turnaround was out of Gatorade, I decided to drink at the 10K turnaround instead.  Now, this aid station was also out of Gatorade.  For the second time, I had to settle for water.  With only 5K to go, it probably didn’t make that much difference.

During mile 25, I caught up to a runner who was still in her second lap.  She was walking, and she still had about 10 miles to go.  I felt bad for her.

When I reached the 25-mile sign, I did a time check.  To break 3:50, I needed to run the last 1.2 miles in 12:49 or better.  When I saw the “1” sign, I realized it now effectively meant one mile to go, so I did another time check.  With a strong enough finish, I could break 3:48.  I made that my goal in the final mile.

In the last mile, a runner sped past me.  It was the same runner I had passed at the turnaround.  I told him to finish strong.  He said, “Yes, sir.  You too.”  I tried to finish strong, but I couldn’t come close to matching his speed.  I lost sight of him long before I could see the finish line.

There were mile markers for every mile.  The mile markers we reached in other laps were no longer relevant, but they were still useful.  When I saw the 18-mile sign, I knew I had about half a mile to go.  The finish line was still around a bend, so I couldn’t see it yet.

I finished the race in 3:47:45.  I ran positive splits by about three minutes, but I expected that.  I knew my early pace wasn’t sustainable.  The important thing is that I didn’t blow up.  I slowed down some, but I was able to limit the damage.

My time was four and a half hours faster than my time in the Native Jackal Trail Marathon.  How often do you improve by that much from one race to the next?  Obviously cooler weather and an easier course make a big difference.

After crossing the line, I received my finisher medal.  Then I started looking for the post-race food.

Post-race food included tacos and beer from a local brewery.  In the distance, I could see a school bus.  I wanted to board the next bus, but I needed to finish my tacos first.  By the time I was done eating, that bus had left.  I needed to wait for the next one.  While I waited, I made a bathroom stop.

I was getting cold, so I put on my jacket.  Between the moisture in the air and my own sweat, my jacket felt like a wet rag.  I needed something to keep warm, so I put it on anyway.  Then I waited for the next bus.

I heard an announcement that they were about to start the awards ceremony.  It occurred to me that I might have placed in my age group, but I didn’t want to wait any longer.  I was cold, and I wanted to be on the next bus.  Later in the day, I learned that I placed second in the 60-69 age group.  There are awards for the top three.  I won something, but I’m not sure what.  I don’t know if they’ll mail it to me.  I don’t regret my decision to leave when I did.

I felt comfortable enough on the bus, but when I got off the bus, I felt some soreness in my lower back.  It never bothered me during the race, but 15 minutes sitting in a school bus was too much.

I had learned at packet pickup that we could go back to that same gym after the race to use their recovery facilities.  Among other things, they had cryo chambers and compression sleeves.  I chose to go straight to the hotel instead.  We had a tub with whirlpool jets.

Just taking a hot bath worked wonders for the tight muscles in my legs.  The jets didn’t do anything more for my legs, but I was able to position myself to use one of the jets to massage my lower back.  That helped.

While I was running the race, Deb was able to enjoy the breakfast at the hotel.  When I got back, I found that she had saved a chocolate muffin and some watermelon for me.  Having already had post-race tacos, that was all I needed for lunch.  Deb’s lunch consisted of leftovers from our dinner the night before.  It was a huge meal.

When I was sufficiently recovered, we went shopping to get some food for Deb’s dinner.  We loved the restaurant we went to on Saturday, and we had been planning to go back.  Unfortunately, Deb had an upset stomach.  We went to Whole Foods to get something that wouldn’t upset her stomach.  I ended up going to dinner by myself.  I celebrated my BQ with a BBQ chicken pizza.

Monday, July 14

On Sunday, we drove to Solvang.  Along the way, we stopped at Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara.

We arrived in Solvang before noon, but we couldn’t check into our hotel until 2:45.  In the meantime, we started exploring the town.

Solvang is a town that was settled by Danish immigrants.  In 1949, they rebuilt the business district in a Danish architectural style.  Today, it’s a tourist destination, featuring Danish food, gift shops, and museums.  I have some Danish ancestry, and Deb and I have previously enjoyed visits to towns that resemble German or Dutch villages.

We had lunch in a Danish restaurant that was recommended by our hotel.  Then we explored the shops until it started getting too hot to be walking up and down the street.  To get out of the sun, we visited the Hans Christian Andersen Museum.  Then we took a trolley tour of the town.

After our tour, we were able to check into our room.  Then we explored more of the shops.  The shops all close at 5:00, so we shopped as long as we could and then had an early dinner.

Tuesday, July 15

We were up before anything is open.  We had picked up some pastries the day before so we could have something to tide us over until restaurants were open for breakfast.

The buildings in the business district and the trees in the park get lit up at night.  We were up early enough to see them before there was too much ambient light.

Before breakfast, we strolled down Mission Street.  At one end of the business district, there’s a fountain with a half size replica of the Little Mermaid statue.  The original is in Copenhagen.

At the other end of Mission Street, there’s a large wooden troll inside the California Nature Art Museum.

Most of the shops weren’t open yet, so after breakfast we drove to a farm called Ostrichland.  They have ostriches and emus, and you can feed them.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the rest of the shops in Solvang.  As usual, we had an early dinner and went to bed early.

Wednesday, July 16

For most of this trip, I slept well.  The last night was the exception.  I woke up at midnight and never got back to sleep.  That made a long travel day even longer.

As soon as there was light, we left for the long drive back to LA.  We didn’t know what the traffic would be like, so we wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible.  Our flight wasn’t until 1:30, but we had to return our rental car by 10:00.  That gave us time to have lunch at the airport before flying home.

We were originally scheduled to get home at 7:00 PM.  After we got to the airport, we found out our flight was going to be delayed.  We ended up getting home closer to 8:00.  I leave tomorrow for a series of races in St. Cloud, MN, so I’ll only have half a day to unpack from this trip and pack for the next one.

I'm glad I was able to run a fast time in this race, because all of my other summer marathons will be slow.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:47:45

Average Pace:  8:41 per mile

First Half:  1:52:30

Second Half:  1:55:15

Place in age group:  2nd

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  17

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  552

Boston Qualifiers:  179

Race Report: 2025 Mesa Marathon and Grand Canyon

On February 8, I ran the Mesa Marathon.  Deb and I built a vacation around this race, so we could go to the Grand Canyon afterwards.

Friday, February 7

We flew to Phoenix on Friday, arriving around noon.  Before going to our hotel, we stopped for lunch at a diner near the airport.  Then we went to our hotel, which was in Tempe.  Our hotel was about six miles from where the race finishes.  There were closer hotels, but they were already booked.

After dropping Deb off at the hotel, I went to the expo, which was at the Mesa Convention Center.  It was a larger expo than I thought, with vendors both inside and outside the building.  While I was there, I bumped into two friends.

Deb and I were both tired from waking up too early, and I needed to be up early again on Saturday.  Instead of going out for dinner, we had an early dinner at the hotel and got to sleep as early as we could.

Saturday, February 8

Saturday was race day.  The course was point-to-point, so I needed to park near the finish area and take a bus to the start.  We could catch a bus any time from 4:00 to 5:15 AM.  I got there at 3:45, because I didn’t know how quickly the parking lots would fill up.

When I arrived, the parking lot was almost empty, so I got one of the closest spots.  Fifteen minutes later, the lot was full.

I waited in my car until 4:00.  Then I made a bathroom stop before getting in line to board a bus.

It took about 45 minutes to get to the start area, which was up in the hills to the northeast of the city.  When we arrived, we still had an hour and a half before the race.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the buses would stay there, so we didn’t have to wait outside.

As it turns out, waiting outside wouldn’t be too bad.  It wasn’t as cold as I was expecting, and there were rows of space heaters set up in the start area, near the port-o-potties.

Several members of the 50sub4 Marathon Club were at this race, and we were planning on having a group photo near the bag check at 5:45.  I went there and waited for about 10 minutes, but I didn’t see any other members of the club.  I think the others were on later buses and didn’t arrive in time for the photo.  I eventually checked my gear bag and then got into a port-o-potty line.  By now, the lines were getting long.

I was expecting it to be colder in the start area, so I started the race wearing tights.  I was willing to risk getting too hot in the late miles of the race.  As it turns out, I probably would’ve been OK in shorts.

My last race gave me a lot of confidence that I’m ready to pick up where I left off last fall, when I was consistently running times in the 3:40s.  In Marrakech, I had multiple reasons to have low expectations, but I ran 3:48:24 on a flat course.  This course descends almost 1,000 feet, so I expected to be faster.

They had pace groups.  At first, I lined up in front of the 3:50 group.  Then I noticed a 3:45 group, so I moved forward to line up next to them.  That seemed like a reasonable goal for me, but I wasn’t actually planning to run with the group.  The early miles are downhill, and when I’m running downhill, I need to go at whatever pace feels natural.

When the race started, I followed the 3:45 group for about a minute.  That was enough time to get a sense of the pace.  Then I went ahead on my own.

The sun was still below the horizon, but there was enough light to see the road.  Looking ahead, I could see the lights of the city in the distance.

The first mile was noticeably downhill.  It was the easiest mile on the course, and I ran that mile in 8:02.  My target pace was 8:35, but I wasn’t surprised that I started fast.  I was OK with that as long as it didn’t feel like I was putting too much effort into it.

The first time we turned onto a different road, I immediately noticed reflectors where there were lines separating the lanes.  After that, I was careful to stay away from the lane lines.  Last year, I tripped on a reflector and had a hard fall.

The next three miles were also downhill, with the exception of one very brief uphill tick at the end of the second mile.  Those three miles weren’t as fast as the first mile, but they were still much faster than my target pace.

Right at the four-mile mark, the road turned uphill.  The first half of the course is mostly downhill, but it’s slightly uphill from four to six miles.

On the uphill section, I paid careful attention to how hard I weas working.  I allowed myself to slow down enough that my effort still felt sustainable.  Even at a slower pace, I started to warm up.  I had been wearing gloves, but I took them off during this section.

Most of the other runners were passing me now.  I didn’t worry about that.  My only concern on this section was to get through it without wearing myself out.

The next time I reached an aid station, I had trouble getting through all the other runners to get over to the table to get a cup of Gatorade.  As I was delayed at the aid station, I saw a pace group go by.  It was the 3:45 group.  I had started much faster than their target pace, so I was surprised to see that they had been right behind me all along.

If I had been on a flat or downhill section, I probably would’ve picked up my pace to stay with the group.  After all, their target time was also my goal.  I didn’t want to expend too much energy running uphill, so I let them go.  By the time we reached the end of this uphill section, I could barely see them in the distance.

Mile five was my slowest mile of the race, but it was also the only mile that was entirely uphill.  By the end of mile six, the road had already turned downhill again.  That mile was slower than the pace I wanted to average, but it wasn’t as slow as the previous mile.

After that, I picked up my pace again.  Mile seven was all downhill, and it was almost as fast as mile one.

Around eight miles, we made a sharp right turn, and the road leveled off for a while.  After that, the trend was still downhill, but some miles were more level than others.  Through these miles, my pace varied, but it never got slower than my target pace of 8:35.

The course was well-marked.  I especially liked that they had signs letting us know when we were approaching a turn.  About a quarter mile before the turn, there would be a sign saying “Turn Right” or “Turn Left.”  Knowing when a turn was coming up made it easy to pick the most direct line.

My neck was feeling stiff.  I’m not sure if running downhill affected my posture, but I couldn’t seem to move my head and neck in any way to alleviate the stiffness.  I had to live with that discomfort for the rest of the race.

At about nine miles, we reached the suburbs of Phoenix.  Then we started to see spectators and motivational signs.

By now, I was feeling the sun for first time.  We didn’t have any direct sunlight until the sun was high enough in the sky to be shining over the mountains.  After that, there wasn’t much shade.

I occasionally asked myself how I felt, in comparison to my last race, which was two weeks ago.  After 10 miles, I no longer felt fresh.  I was starting to feel like I was working.  I didn’t feel like I was working as hard as I was two weeks ago.  That was reassuring.

I reached the halfway mark in 1:51:29.  I knew the second half would be slower.  The first half was the easy half, as it was mostly downhill.  The second half was much more level.  There was still a slight downhill trend, but the second half of the course looked and felt flat.

Again, I asked myself how I felt, in comparison to my last race.  In that race, it seemed like it took more and more effort to run the same pace from about 14 miles on.  This time, I still felt like I was doing OK.

I started to pick out the runners who looked the strongest.  I challenged myself to keep up with two runners who were starting to pass everyone else.  It took a little extra effort, but I could do it.  In miles 14 and 15, I sped up to a pace in the low 8:20s.  At this point, I would’ve been happy just to keep my pace in the 8:30s for the rest of the race.

In the next mile, I spotted the 3:45 group ahead of me.  I picked up my effort to see if I could catch up with them.  Once I caught up, I could just run with them for the rest of the race.  I ran with them for a minute or two, but then I got ahead of them.  That was probably a mistake.

As I went ahead on my own, I reached the 16-mile mark.  I ran that mile in 8:11.  I knew I would probably regret that later.

In the next mile, I eased up a bit.  I was no longer trying to keep up with the fastest runners near me.  Now, I was just keeping up with a majority of the runners around me.  I slowed to 8:28, but my effort now seemed like it would be sustainable for the rest of the race.

Earlier, when I was catching up to the 3:45 group, I moved ahead of the two runners I had been trying to keep up with.  By the end of the 17th mile, one of them had moved ahead of me again.  Against my better judgement, I picked up my effort enough to keep pace.  That mile was only a few seconds faster than the previous one, but my effort no longer felt like it was sustainable.  I had to back off again.

In mile 19, I slowed to 8:37.  That was slower than my target pace, but it was close enough.  If I could keep up that pace for the rest of the race, I would have a fast time.

In the next mile, we turned, and I suddenly noticed a nice cool breeze.  The temperature had warmed into the 60s, and it was sunny.  I had dressed for cold temperatures at the start, so I was now overdressed.  Until now, I didn’t even realize that I was getting hot.  The breeze would keep me cool until the next turn.

My pace in mile 20 was similar to mile 19.  Then the 3:45 group passed me again.  I tried to pick up my pace to keep up with them, but I could only do it for a few minutes.  Then I had to let them go.

At first, that was discouraging.  I couldn’t help but wonder if I would’ve been able to stay with the group if I hadn’t gone ahead of them four miles earlier.  Then I did the math and realized they must be at least two minutes ahead of their target pace.  On the previous 20 miles, I had been faster than their target pace in 16 miles and slower in only four.  Of those, two were only a few seconds slower.  I knew my average pace was much faster than their target pace.  They had to be going too fast.  If I could keep up my current pace, I would still break 3:45.  I didn’t have to keep up with the group.

I kept up the same pace for one more mile, but it seemed to take more effort.  I asked myself how I felt in comparison to my last race.  In that race, I was struggling badly by this point.  Although I was getting tired, I didn’t feel like I was coming completely unglued.  Also, my average pace was much faster in this race.  I liked the comparison.

In mile 22, I slowed to 8:45.  I no longer felt like I could keep up the same effort.  Even if I could, the same effort no longer translated to the same pace.

Even at this pace, I would still break 3:45, but I expected to keep slowing down.  Sure enough, in mile 23, I slowed to 9:01.

Now, I was no longer sure that I was still going fast enough to break 3:45.  It seemed like I was giving up too much time.  That last mile was 26 seconds slower than my target pace, and I still had 3.2 miles to go.

Again, I thought back to how I felt at the same point in the race two weeks ago.  In that race, I felt much worse, yet I managed to keep my pace under nine minutes per mile in those last three miles.

I tried to pick up my pace, but the next mile was five seconds slower.  I had trouble motivating myself to dig deep and fight for it.  I didn’t realize it yet, but I was suffering from the rising temperature.  I was overdressed, and I was paying for that.

There was a half marathon that followed the second half of the marathon route.  With two miles to go, I started to pass people who were near the back of the pack of the half marathon.  I heard a familiar voice ask. “Is that David Holmen?”  I yelled, “Yes!”  It was my friend Natalie, who was doing the half marathon.

My pace stabilized in mile 25, but I had no idea how I would finish.  I had been paying attention to my splits, but I never remembered to look at my total time.

In addition to the mile markers for the marathon, I was also seeing mile markers for the half marathon.  When I got to their “12” sign, I checked my time.  It was 3:35:01.  If I could run the last 1.1 miles in 9:58, I would still beat 3:45.  At the pace of my most recent two miles, I would do it, but it would be close.

That gave me the motivation I needed.  I finally summoned up the strength to pick up my pace.  I ran harder the rest of the way.

In the last mile, I saw that the road was going to turn downhill, but only briefly.  That last little downhill started as we crossed a street called “Longmore.”  I didn’t like that name.  I didn’t want the rest of the race to be long, and I didn’t want more.

As I got closer to the finish, I saw that I was catching up to the 3:45 group again.  At this point, it was just the 3:45 pace leader.  The rest of his group had gone ahead.  My previous assessment was correct.  He was going too fast for most of the race.  Then he slowed down in the last mile.

In mile 26, I did indeed speed up.  I ran it in 8:46.  There was still one more turn, but looking to my right, I could see the finish line arch.

On the final approach to the line, I was chasing the 3:45 pacer.  I didn’t catch him, but I did break 3:45.  I finished in 3:44:40.

Moments after crossing the line, I suddenly realized how hot I was.  I was sweating profusely.  I felt sweaty in spite of the dry desert air.

Volunteers were handing out large cans of water in the finish area.  I don’t normally drink more water right after finishing, but this time I really needed it.

The finisher medal was in the shape of Arizona.  There’s a small spinner in the center.  The other side of the spinner depicts a cactus.

I stopped for a while to talk to friends just a short distance from the finish line.  Eventually, I continued moving through the finish area.

At the results tent, I found out that anyone who qualified for Boston in this race got a luggage tag.  It’s always nice to get extras like that.

I went over to the gear retrieval area with my friend, Eliot.  The volunteers found my bag easily, but they couldn’t find Eliot’s bag.  It wasn’t where it was supposed to be.  Eliot spent more than an hour looking for his bag, without getting much help from the volunteers.  He eventually got his bag, but he wasn’t too happy with the volunteers.

That was the only blemish on what was otherwise a well-organized race.  In all the other areas, the volunteers were great.

Finish line food included an ice cream bar, a banana, a protein bar, and beer.  I ate most of the food and had my free post-race beer.  I saved the protein bar for later.

While I was in the finish area, I saw at least 10 friends.  Some had finished before me.  Others finished while I was still in the beer garden. When Eliot joined us, we took a 50sub4 post-race pic with the club members who were in the beer garden.

I ended up staying in the finish area for almost two hours before finally driving back to the hotel.  Deb had a nice breakfast at the hotel, but she was hungry for lunch by the time I got back.  I took a quick shower, and then we went to lunch.

My race packet included a coupon for a free doughnut at Voodoo Doughnuts.  We stopped there on our way back from lunch.  I saved my doughnut for later.  We also stopped at Wal-Mart to get some nasal spray to help cope with the dry air.

Neither of us had the energy to go back out again.  We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel.  Our dinner was a combination of happy hour snacks and other foods that we already had.

Sunday, February 9

We checked out of our hotel in Tempe and drove up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  It’s a four-hour drive, so we didn’t get there until the afternoon.

After a brief stop at the visitor center, we walked out to Mather Point for our first view of the canyon.

We stayed at a lodge in Grand Canyon Village.  When we checked in, Deb mentioned that this was her first visit to the Grand Canyon, and they gave us a free upgrade to a room with a canyon view.

After we unpacked, Deb checked out one of the shops while I went for a short run.

The elevation at south rim is 7,000 feet, so I expected my run to be more tiring than usual.  I was still surprised to be intensely out of breath in the first mile.  I forced myself to keep running for two miles before turning around to head back to the lodge.  As soon as I turned around, it got easier.  It turns out that the first half of my run was uphill.

We had dinner at a restaurant in the adjacent building.  After dinner, we went outside to see the evening view of the canyon from behind the lodge.

Monday, February 10

We did most of our sightseeing on Monday.  After breakfast, we drove to several viewpoints to the west of the village.  Deb has a fear of heights, so at most of the viewpoints, Deb stayed near the car, while I hiked out to the farthest viewing point.  In the morning, the sun was shining from the east, so I could only get good pictures looking west through the canyon.

Here’s the view from Trail View Overlook:

This is the view from Powell Point:

Hopi Point:

Mohave Point:

Pima Point:

Out last stop going west was Hermit’s Rest.

There’s a curio shop at Hermit’s Rest, and we got there just before it opened, so we looked around the shop before heading back.

After driving back to the village, we headed east.  Again, we stopped at all the scenic overlooks that are accessible by car.  By now, the sun was higher in the sky.

Here’s the view from Pipe Creek Vista:

This is Duck on a Rock.

Grandview Point:

Moran Point:

Lipan Point:

Navajo Point:

Our last stop was Desert View, where there’s a market, a gift shop, the eastern visitor center, and a lookout tower.

The ground floor of the tower has floor to ceiling windows, so you can be indoors, yet get great views of the canyon.  This was a good viewing point for Deb.  She felt perfectly comfortable viewing the canyon through the windows.

There are stairs leading up to four higher levels.  Inside the next few levels there are examples of Native American artwork:

On the top level, there are more large windows.  Here are two of the views:

When we got back to Grand Canyon Village, Deb visited some of the shops, while I went for another run.  I ran the same out-and-back route, so I knew what to expect.  In the uphill direction, I was gasping for air.  Coming back, it felt more manageable.

When Deb was done at the shops, and I was cleaned up from my run, we walked over to the Lookout Studio behind the Bright Angel Lodge.  While Deb was looking around in the studio, I went out on the viewing platform.

Next, we drove to the Yavapai Geology Museum.  Here, you can see a relief map of the canyon and learn about the geology of the canyon.  It’s also another building with floor-to-ceiling windows where you can get good canyon views from indoors.

Our last stop of the afternoon was the park store, which is near the visitor center.  After that, we went back to the lodge to relax until dinner.

Tuesday, February 11

We weren’t flying home until Wednesday, but it was a morning flight, so we drove back to Phoenix on Tuesday.  We took a different route, so we got to see some different views as we drove through the mountains.

Neither of us slept well Monday night, so we were looking forward to getting a good night’s sleep Tuesday night.  When we checked into our hotel, our room was uncomfortably warm and the AC didn’t seem to be working.  When we called about it, we found out that the AC for the whole building had gone out that day.  We were assured it would be working in a few hours.

In the meantime, I found some trails near our hotel where I could go for a run.  Running in Phoenix was much easier than running in Grand Canyon Village.

Despite the promises of the hotel manager, the AC still wasn’t working after we ate dinner.  By then it was cool enough outside that we could start cooling the room down by opening the door to our balcony.  The room cooled down a few degrees, but it was still warmer than ideal when we went to bed.

We shut the balcony door before going to bed, so lights from outside wouldn’t keep us awake.  We assumed the AC would come on when it was fixed, but it never got fixed.  I slept for a few hours, but then I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep again.  The room had warmed up again.

Wednesday, February 12

After spending most of the night lying awake in bed, I was a train wreck.  What had been a nice vacation ended on a sour note.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  3:44:40

Average Pace:  8:34 per mile

First Half:  1:51:29

Second Half:  1:53:11

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  538

Boston Qualifiers:  175