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| Design by local artist who was at expo |
Well here I am writing up another marathon race report! I was pretty sure the marathon I ran in December of 2020 was going to be my last, due to the back pain I was dealing with. It's been a long road of recovery, which warrants its own blog whenever I get around to it. As my back started improving I started thinking about running marathons again, dammit! A friend of mine said she was finally done with marathons and was so happy to say that the one she just ran was indeed her last! I was jealous. I wanted that feeling for myself. Maybe I'll just run one more marathon and this time if I decide it's my last it will be on my own terms. I went into the training, a) to see if my back would tolerate it, and b) to see if I could live with the fact that my finishing time AT BEST would be 4:30, but realistically could be as slow as 4:45. This is all me and my ego and my reluctance to accept that being in my 60's has anything to do with it...anyhow, on to the race report itself!
First of all, the Ventura marathon is not the marathon that runs entirely in Ventura along the coastline. That would be the Seaside marathon. This race starts in Ojai, and finishes in Ventura. Not to be confused with the Mountains 2 Beach marathon, which does the same thing, but actually finishes on the beach. This one sticks around Ojai a little longer, "normally" finishing in downtown Ventura. I say normally, because this year the city of Ventura didn't permit the race to finish downtown, forcing it to finish on the outskirts of town instead. This change forced the race director to add the lost miles on the front end, in Ojai, resulting in not one, not two, but THREE loops back across the starting line. Also, no finish line beer festival, which cut me deep! The added loops/miles in Ojai increased the elevation to close to 500 feet before heading mostly downhill to Ventura. No, this was not the race I had signed up for, but hey, maybe it would seal the deal on that final marathon decision...
My marathon running buddies would be Laura (LSP), and Toby, his first marathon since his accident in 2020. Tom Patterson would be our heroic sherpa and traveling spectator for the day. It was a beautiful crisp cold morning in Ojai for the race start! LSP and I got choked up when they played the National Anthem. I had a lot of gratitude in that moment for many things in my life.
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| Forecast was mostly cloudy... |
At one point on the course a man with a bullhorn said, "If this is your first pass, turn right". Ojai was pretty so I was enjoying the scenery, but I knew what he was going to say next time around...before we got to that point though, the top runners came screaming by. There were SO MANY sub 3 hour runners, including the top 2 females! This is not the crowd they have had in the past! Anyhow, I came across the bullhorn guy: "If this is your second pass, turn right". UGH. This was truly the lowest point in the race. These loops were hilly and taking their toll. Not to mention passing through the start line yet again. As we encountered the bullhorn guy one last time we were finally told, "If this is your third pass go straight". Whoo hoo we were finally heading west! This was just shy of 11 miles.
We ran through downtown Ojai before hitting the bike trail, which we stayed on all the way to the finish, so it was a nice, short little lively stretch. It was about here that the 4:30 pace group came along, so I tacked onto them for a bit, but when I hit the trail I could tell my legs were already feeling a bit beat up, so I mentally braced myself for what was to come, let the pace group gap, and settle into whatever pace my legs would allow. The bike trail was gorgeous! It was mostly shaded by pine, eucalyptus, and palm trees! At some points we would be parallel to the road to Ventura, which allowed spectators to repeatedly see their runners. I was staying pretty close to two young girls who had a huge group following them along the way. It broke up the quietness of the trail, but the quietness was quite nice, to be honest. I didn't play much music!
It was somewhere around mile 21 where the unraveling began. My left calf was ever so slightly starting to cramp. I had been diligent about my electrolyte pills and water, so I felt like it was the terrain getting to me. No, I don't care for downhill, indeed, when the trail turned upwards my calves were relieved. Still, the sun was out in full force, as our shade was now gone, so I started walking the water stops, drinking 2 cups each time. The girls were starting to struggle too-as I passed them I came across their caravan and told them this is when they need you the most! I never saw them again, but I'm sure they finished! As badly as my legs felt, my back was fine! Was never an issue-so grateful for that!
The scenery on the outskirts of Ventura was dreadful; a water treatment facility, oil rigs, a yard of abandoned trailers, but I don't think it mattered much. I was taking way too many walk breaks. My legs were just giving me fits. I was doing the math....looking like a 4:40 finish...what say you? Are we still having fun? On the last mile before we rounded the corner to the finish my right hamstring cramped up and I was like holy hell I'm going to be hobbling down the barricaded finish, what a sight! Once I turned and heard people cheering I got really choked up and realized that I was finishing yet another marathon and it felt just as exciting and meaningful as the first one. Marathon, I can't quit you!
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| Never gets old |
The finish area, although not in Ventura with a beer festival, was in a nice grassy soccer field, which I thought was fine enough. But we did eventually have to go to where the beer was, of course.
Stats:
Toby ran a 3:16, which is nothing short of amazing, given where he has come from. He texted his surgeon his results, saying, "You gave me hope the moment I arrived in the ER". He was blown away.
Laura ran a 4:02!
I ran a 4::41. It's a new era. Time to embrace it.
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