2023 California International Marathon Recap

Race Information

• Name: California International Marathon
• Date: December 3, 2023
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Sacramento, CA
• Strava Link
• Time: 2:54:28 (6:40/mile | 4:07/km)

Goals

Summarized “TL;DR” Recap

The race went surprisingly well despite getting a bib transferred late. The goal was to pace Dan to a sub 2:50 or a low 2:50 but neither was accomplished. CIM is a tricky course and very glad I got to experience it firsthand.

Training

A rest week after the NYC marathon was a much-needed down week to recover (a weekend in Baton Rouge, LA for an LSU game slowed the running down a bit). Quickly ramped up into a 46-mile week and then a 55-mile week. Both weeks I had a workout to keep the legs moving but nothing specific – just tagged along on group workouts. At this point, my current fitness was going to carry me through CIM haha.

Pre-Race

A very early start with a 3:30 am wake-up call to pack and make the 4:30 am shuttle to the start line. I got to the hotel where Dan and Drew were staying. I grabbed a few things from the hotel for breakfast. We secured a nice coach shuttle with a bathroom (of course the line was too long and I didn’t use it). Got to the start area with plenty of time to spare, which was okay. Tried to ignore the race anxiety by talking to everyone. Race start was delayed by 10 minutes but we are on our way to Sacramento at 7:10 am!

Race

Miles 1-7 (6:42, 6:37, 6:28, 6:30, 6:34, 6:29, 6:32)

The race plan was to start with Dan and aim to run the first half between 1:25:30-1:26:00 and run the 2nd half slightly faster for a 2:50 finish time. We eased into goal pace after the first 2 miles and of course, I needed to use the toilet. Drew was running with us through 5K and took off. Everything felt like clockwork through 7 miles and I saw Liz, another familiar face from 2021 Chicago, on the course.

Miles 8-14 (6:36, 6:38, 6:29, 6:29, 6:35, 6:34, 6:27)

Mitch, who was pacing his friend Roger to a sub at 2:55, caught Dan and me around mile 11. They were well ahead of their goal and tracking for a sub 2:53. It was nice to have company and Mitch kept the positive vibes rolling. We split the first half at 1:26:22, which was considerably behind pace. Dan and I weren’t too worried but I could feel the pace slipping so I decided to keep going with Mitch and Roger.

Miles 15-22 (6:31, 6:33, 6:34, 6:32, 6:31, 6:47, 7:00, 7:04)

Everything felt fine until it wasn’t. The humidity was starting to hit me hard (85% – unusually high for Sacramento). I did my best to keep up with Mitch and Roger but the pace was feeling very pushed. I didn’t want to lay it all out on the course with the Houston half in 5-6 weeks. I saw Drew at mile 19 and dropped the pace to join him. Drew and I were working together and I did my best to keep him motivated – he was still on PR pace despite hitting the wall.

Miles 23-Finish (6:56, 7:06, 6:42, 6:25, 2:09/6:06 per mile)

Dan made his way back to the group just before mile 23. I thought all 3 of us would finish together but Dan unfortunately hit the wall too and fell back. I was still pulling Drew. I saw Liz around mile 24 as she pushed the pace to the finish. I kicked up the pace to join her and kept dropping the pace. I couldn’t quite close out the pace to under 6:00/mile but I was closing out strong – I passed 51 people in the last 1.25-1.3 miles.

Post-Race

Wow, what a race! The usual celebration was in order: food, friends, and beer! I spent the afternoon with the Dallas crew and migrated to a brewery to meet with the Purple Dragons/Austin crew. It was a fun day celebrating everyone’s races.

CIM was very challenging due to the rolling hills. I don’t remember every hill or the mile marker because it was constantly up and down throughout the course. I was warned about this but it is very different to see in person. CIM isn’t a fast race because the course is fast, it’s a fast race because the people are fast. I can see myself returning to CIM. Maybe next year?