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Location:

SLC,UT,

Member Since:

Apr 28, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PR Table and Notable Races

Marathon:
2:21:12 (Chicago); 2:20:41 (CIM)

Half Marathon: 1:05:45 (Long Beach)
10K: 30:03 (Portland)

All race results:
2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016

Personal:

   

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Race: California International Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:20:41, Place overall: 13
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
26.000.000.00

2:20:41 (PR). 13th Place. Top 50 Results.

First mile started off easy (after a starting gun that caught everyone by surprise) and the pack was huge (50-70 runners?). During the second mile it started to get rolling and strung out a bit. By the third mile there were three distinct groups formed - the lead pack, the chasers (which seemed to be the guys going for sub-2:18), and then the slower chasers (Fritz, Nate, me, and about 5-6 more guys aiming for ~2:20). I like to think of our group as the wolfpack. The first 10 miles went by quickly. A couple of the guys in our group fell back, but we had 6 guys working together for most of this time. As we hit the 10 mile mark I heard a guy counting out places and I was in 26th or 27th. Aerobically I was feeling great, but the combination of the cold temperatures and rolling hills was making my hamstrings feel tight - I started to notice it by mile 7 and I was actually a little worried about them until the halfway mark. From 10-13 miles we lost the two Kenyan guys in the group - it was down to the 3 Utah guys and a runner from Mexico (Castillo). We came through the half-marathon in 1:09:32, which was surprising - it felt like it was going to be closer to 1:10, but my math skills and sense of pace were apparently a little off. I'll blame the lack of precision on numb feet (due to the cold, not from the shoes - the A6s were awesome!).

First half splits: 5:32, 5:19, 5:15, 5:10, 5:19, 5:19, 5:18, 5:23, 5:23, 5:13, 5:15, 5:19, 5:16 = 1:09:29

Castillo started picking it up right as we crossed the timing mat and I went with him. That was the last I would see of Fritz and Nate, but it was really awesome to run with them for the first 13.1. Racing alongside your friends and training partners makes the effort feel more comfortable - more like a workout, and that can make a big difference, especially with rationing mental energy during a long race.

I got into a really good rhythm for the next six miles and started to loosen up. It was still cold but the sun was now on us. Castillo pulled away from me (he ran 2:19:30), but during this stretch I caught a few other guys. Andrea was on the course at 16.5 and then again at 19.5 (after already seeing me at 6 and 11.5 - she is really good at this spectating thing). I got another surprise when my friends Nate and Nora were jumping up and down just before the 20 mile mark (Nate and I were roommates in college and they drove over from San Francisco to come and watch). Came through 20 miles in 1:46:17 and sub-2:20 was still in play...

Then life started to get pretty hard after 20, as it typically does. There was a little bit of a wind blowing as we started moving into downtown. It wasn't much, and it wasn't the reason I slowed down, but it was definitely something that I noticed. I think the main reason I even noticed it is because it flashed me back to just over two years ago in Philadelphia. After almost identical 13.1 and 20 mile splits (see the bottom of this entry), I had a flat, straight 10K to go... and was hurting a bit. My hamstrings were starting to feel shot, and just like in Philly, I could feel some wind in my face. But this time I was NOT going to fall apart. No way, not an option! I faded to ~5:30 pace, but didn't bleed any worse than that (what we call a "Paul Petersen crash"). The day before, Andrea and I talked about how important "backup" goals are... that if I wasn't going to break 2:20, I needed to make breaking 2:21 JUST AS IMPORTANT. So that's what I did... I fought hard to break 2:21. I caught Matt Dewald, then went after the last guy in front of me (Stephen Shay) and passed him with about 3/4th of a mile left. I tried my best to sprint from 26 to the finish (I'm sure it didn't look smooth, and it hurt!). My legs were wrecked and it was hard to even walk after crossing the line. But I was happy... to run a PR, to finally see some improvement in the marathon, and to finish knowing I gave it everything I had.

Second half splits: 5:14, 5:18, 5:16, 5:16, 5:22, 5:22, 5:29, 5:32, 5:31, 5:32, 5:32, 5:32, 5:34, 1:09 = 1:11:12

I knew that realistically I was in shape to run 2:20 +/- a minute, so I consider this within the range of a good performance. A Top 10 finish was another goal, and I ended up 13th in a strong field. I don't like the positive split, but I can live with it.

Other thoughts (and then pictures):

Weather - Cold. 27 degrees at the start, actually dropped down to 24 during the race, and it never got above 30 degrees. Cold is definitely much better than hot, but the combination of rolling hills and cold temps is not great for my hamstrings. I actually came into this race a few pounds heavier than I would have liked to be, but that might have actually played to my advantage a bit, because with a little extra insulation I wasn't totally freezing.

Course - Fast (drops 300 feet from start to finish), but could be deceptive. I was mentally prepared for the rolling hills in the first half (because I heard so many people tell me not to underestimate them) but if I run CIM again, I'll do a lot more training on routes that specifially simulate this course. I want to run a Chicago-type course next year, because I think that's what I'm best suited for.

Competition - CIM doesn't draw an "A" list field, but the depth in the 2:15-2:30 range is as good as you'll find anywhere.

Organization - First class all the way. Major kudos to the Sacramento Running Association (especially Danielle Domenichelli) for taking care of everything. There was nothing to worry about... we even knew thing like specifically where our bottles would be ahead of time (For me - table #1, 4th bottle on the right). That kind of attention to detail is awesome.

Nutrition - I'm making progress here, and feel like I have it figured out pretty well now. Gels don't bother me anymore, and I actually take them. I've also have my pre-race / breakfast dialed in. I didn't drink more than 3-4 ounces total during the race, but also didn't really need to in those temperatures.

Post Race Activities - Fancy brunch with a jazz band, hot tub, then flew home.

Training Analysis - I'll save that for another blog post. I'm taking a week off so I'll have nothing better to do. I enjoyed this training cycle and did a lot of smart things. I also learned some things that will affect how I want to approach my running in 2014. Things I am excited about.

Thank You! - Everyone here... and in Ireland and Saucony-land as well. I've said this before, but I realize how lucky I am to have such a great network of friends and family (especially my parents... I know they get nervous waiting for the tracking updates to come in). Fritz and Nate, for the camaraderie of training and racing together... let's make this a habit. Andrea, for not being afraid to battle against me when we disagree, and then for 100% support when we go to war... together.

The three packs. Thanks to ViZiPRO, you can see the wolfpack in the back

3/4 of a mile left...

Just close your eyes and it will all be over soon...

Our friends Nate and Nora

And here's CIM vs Philly... I like the final outcome better this time. Now I just need to nail that last 10K.

PHL 2011  1:09:33 - 1:46:05 - 2:25:57
CIM 2013   1:09:29 - 1:46:17 - 2:20:41

-----------------------------------------------------------

All splits - 5:32, 5:19, 5:15, 5:10, 5:19, 5:19, 5:18, 5:23, 5:23, 5:13, 5:15, 5:19, 5:16, 5:14, 5:18, 5:16, 5:16, 5:22, 5:22, 5:29, 5:32, 5:31, 5:32, 5:32, 5:32, 5:34, 1:09 [1:09:32 / 1:11:12 = 2:20:41]

Comments
From mike⇒nelson on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 15:06:39 from 76.27.101.179

Solid race Jake. Congrats on the PR.

From Brandon Dase on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 15:46:52 from 160.7.242.251

Congrats on the pr and a great race!

From Rob Murphy on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 15:53:10 from 24.10.249.165

Nice work Jake. You'll be in the teens soon.

Enjoy the rest and recovery. If you need any help growing a gut, let me know.

From SlowJoe on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 16:01:07 from 66.69.93.8

You're a 2:20 guy now! Congrats on the PR and the 13th place, wow. Looking forward to the details.

From Amiee on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 16:08:19 from 166.70.240.95

Yay for the PR! Nicely done :)

From Bret on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 16:23:27 from 70.209.14.69

Great race Jake - congrats on the PR and the finish. Gotta be happy with all of that!

From Ben VanBeekum on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 16:26:04 from 216.206.44.14

Jake awesome race! 2:20 is awesome, that OTQ is on the horizon. Congrats again!

From kevin212 on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 17:02:17 from 96.43.246.18

Great race Jake! From the splits it looks like you executed your plan pretty well. Nice job battling the elements at the end and holding on for a PR. Looking forward to seeing what 2014 brings for you!

From Dave Olson on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 17:12:45 from 98.202.58.72

Nice race. Riley and I were texting back and forth as the splits updated. Great PR.

From Kendall on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 17:18:29 from 70.208.7.10

Way to battle! Congrats on a new PR and great race.

From Josh E on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 17:51:27 from 75.162.220.79

Very tough showing. You held it together remarkably well. Solid forward progress.

From josse on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 19:13:31 from 70.208.1.192

Congrats on a great solid marathon. Glad things went well.

From Jackie82 on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 19:16:46 from 67.186.135.246

Great PR on less than ideal conditions!! You're gonna snatch that OTQ soon! You are so fun to track on the blog, such consistent progress. :)

From Superfly on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 19:22:41 from 74.211.21.81

Great race man. Way to give it all you had. I was on the edge of my seat watching the live feed. I knew it was going to be close coming down the stretch. Way to keep it together in the end. Rest up now.

From Jon on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 21:05:54 from 107.203.52.135

Jake keeps moving up with another PR. Very nice.

From allie on Sun, Dec 08, 2013 at 21:59:20 from 174.23.137.233

5100

From jtshad on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 07:57:39 from 141.221.191.225

Congrats on a strong race and new PR!

From Rob on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 08:01:00 from 63.235.131.194

Great way to end the year. Nicely done!

From Tom K on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 09:32:31 from 174.58.4.250

Congrats on the PR! My brother lives near the finish line out there, and I told him to cheer you on, but he doesn't know what you look like, so he just yelled "Go Jake!" at everyone he saw. He said it was really cold. 2:20! Wow!

From JulieC on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 15:17:10 from 70.211.10.161

Congrats on the pr! Glad u are soaking it all in though now...no pun intended. Lucky 13..place :-)

From Rachelle on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 17:09:25 from 159.212.71.69

Congratulations Jake! The anticipation to read the deatails is killing me....get the report up already. :-)

From Matt Poulsen on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 19:31:11 from 174.52.216.185

Excellent race, Jake! You are an animal. Congrats on the PR! OTQ will be yours soon enough.

From Jason D on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 20:12:26 from 24.1.80.94

Great race! A nice "little" minute+ PR, yes? 13th place in a strong field is excellent as well. Enjoy your rest period.

From Jake K on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 21:53:21 from 67.177.11.154

Alright, I wrote the report. Took me as long as the actual race! :-)

Thank you everyone. I'm taking this in small steps. Next one - sub 2:20. But first up... laying around and doing nothing for a week!

From Fritz on Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 21:57:48 from 98.202.9.237

Great race Jake! You really held up well and 13th in that field is pretty impressive. It was fun running with you and Nate for that first half and I wish I had it in me to at least get to 20 with you. You are well on your way to that sub 2:20 and beyond. We will have to run some peppy sub 8 miles this month.

From RileyCook on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 08:19:42 from 64.134.162.74

Very nice race Jake. Congrats on the PR. 2014 is going to be a great year for you.

From scottkeate on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 10:40:58 from 192.150.9.200

Awesome report as usual. Congrats on the PR! Thanks for inspiring me to keep at it. Happy recovery.

From seeaprilrun on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 14:58:05 from 68.102.189.33

The wolfpack rocks!! Great job, and way to be tenacious for the PR. Enjoy the laying around(it's fun)!

From JulieC on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 15:05:11 from 63.224.113.9

Loved the full report jake. I always feel like i am right there with you even though i could only run a 5:18 mile if the vertical drop was 10 percent :-) and only one before i fell on my face. Also i had to laugh about the wolf pack...as my oldest 15 year old daughter's nickname is wolf pack for center defense in soccer....named that because she hunts players down and doesnt let them get by. Your pack held together well for a while and way to go to reel some guys in.

From Christie on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 18:19:54 from 66.111.126.9

I was waiting for the full race report! Congrats on the PR Jake. You are such an inspiration to many of us. Enjoy some MUCH deserved recovery time. :)

From Paul on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 20:05:00 from 97.122.188.183

Congrats on the PR, very solid. It's good to get excited about "B" goals...it's what keeps us in the game for a long time. See you in Houston.

From Kass on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 20:35:08 from 155.97.240.30

Very good work Jake! Impressive pacing! I'd say your last 10k wasn't too shabby.

From Jake K on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 20:40:07 from 67.177.11.154

Tom - there was a guy yelling my name very emphatically in the last mile. I was very confused... I wasn't sure how anyone knew who I was. If that was your brother, tell him thanks!

Paul - I hope you weren't offended by the "Petersen crash" comment. I meant it as a high compliment!

Everyone else - thanks for not telling me that I suck :-)

From Paul on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 20:44:03 from 97.122.188.183

I took it as such.

From Matt Poulsen on Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 22:05:30 from 174.52.216.185

Great write-up, Jake! Congrats again! Excellent race.

From Rachelle on Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 11:38:08 from 199.190.170.28

Really enjoyed the full write up and all the details Jake. Very impressed as usual with your determination and strength.

For the record....you most definitely do not suck!

From Tara on Wed, Dec 11, 2013 at 14:24:01 from 75.169.136.204

Congratulations Jake! you've well earned this PR! Great pictures and recap, I enjoyed it all!

From Russ on Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 09:27:33 from 74.114.3.253

Congratulations on a great race and PR, and an excellent write up. I could picture myself with you, so job well done. Exciting for the hard work and the lessons learned in past races to pay off. Thanks for being a mentor to so many of us on the blog.

From Cam on Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 13:38:29 from 69.169.153.209

did'nt the guy who won have a really gnarly positive split? maybe goes to show that sometimes its not a big of a deal as people think.

Stoked for you! The cim tracking system was amazing.

From Jake K on Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 13:42:54 from 159.212.71.25

The top 2 guys ran 1:08:00 for the 1st half and 1:06:30 for the second half

From Cam on Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 13:44:39 from 69.169.153.209

oh i was looking at the wrong guy. Wish i could have just liked your response... haha. Great race jake

From Tom Slick on Fri, Dec 13, 2013 at 08:57:13 from 69.171.160.189

Great race Jake...Now it appears to me that you are a solid World Class Runner. Now while the irons hot, it's time to take First Place at The Boston!

From Steve on Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 14:52:57 from 66.87.77.54

Smart race Jake. There were so many incredible runners in that marathon. 13 is amazing!

From Clay on Sat, Dec 14, 2013 at 20:07:22 from 50.186.88.130

Very smart race and great attitude! Congrats!

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