Avenue Race Report

You take the good, you take the bad,

you take them both and there you have

The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life.

A fact of running is that you take the good AND you take the bad.

I did not PR at the Avenue of the Giants, but that doesn't mean it was bad, either! I could share several theories for why I didn't PR (e.g., not adequately rested vs. peaked early & over-tapered, or some kind of intestinal and/or electrolyte issue), but I'd rather embrace what was good---or even great---about the race. The trees were beautiful. It was a new experience to run such a TINY marathon. I liked seeing other runners on the out and backs. I didn't go out too fast. I enjoyed listening to my playlist. The roadtrip to and from the Humboldt area was fun & chill.

Here's how the race played out.....

Miles 1-6 (Surprised by the lack 'o' flatness)

The start was uneventful, and I found my appropriate starting pace quite easily (8:56-9:05). Then I noticed hills, and more hills. Very few sections of this marathon were flat. Plus, potholes and more potholes. I really had to concentrate on my footing and found myself dodging around a bunch on the course (which helps explain why I ran an EXTRA 1/2 mile in this race).

A couple stretches of the course were very exposed and sunny, and I felt really hot. So, I dumped water on my head and hoped for the best...

Miles 7-13 (Attempting to stick to my plan and follow Garmlade's orders)

I tried taking advantage of the downhills, but--dang--there were still uphills. It was fun seeing Jenica after I turned around. The trees continued to amaze me, and I got a chance to do some moving meditation on this segment of the course. In this part of the race, I ran several miles in the low 8:50s but a couple miles around 9:20, which led me to believe that 3:54 wasn't gonna happen at the Avenue. But at the half, I thought sub-4 was possible if the card aligned on the second half of the course.

Miles 14-20 (Yes, more trees)

I was feeling decent when starting the second out-and-back. I tried talking myself into believing that this segment would be flat. But I think the ups and downs from the first out and back had already done me in, and I was working very, very hard to eek out 9:10-9:20 miles. I ran and chatted for awhile with a woman who was running this race with her niece. She helped me pick up the pace for a couple miles, and I think it was a good strategy to stick with her while I could. But after miles 17-18, I just didn't have any poof in my leggies.

Miles 21-26.7 (Aargh for running over 26.2!)

I definitely hit the wall, and my legs paid zero respect to orders from my brain to move. Specifically, I ran 11+ minute miles and needed walk breaks. I saw some giant, grody slugs (perhaps banana slugs?!?!) on the course. A couple were smooshed---aka slugkill. I felt a little slugkill-like myself :( At an aid station, I grabbed a few orange segments and hoped that the sugar would kick in. I had a tiny kick at the end of the race, finishing in 4:17:59!!