My Modesto Misfortune

Everyone has good and bad runs. Most of us talk about our good runs, and kind of brush the bad ones under the rug. Not today!

Modesto was a bad one. Really embarrassing actually; kind of devastating. So, my friends, here is my race report for your amusement. If you have had any awful races, feel free to share in the comments section so we can all have a little laugh...

I was really anxious for this race. I had trained really hard for it, and wanted to finally get back under 4 hours and possibly sneak under 3:50. Everything in training had gone really well, my legs were feeling strong (for once uninjured), and in a way it made me more nervous since I wanted it to go well.

Jon and I left on Saturday afternoon on the long drive to Modesto. Traffic was light; I got to see a lot of open fields and wind farms, and my entire right side started to roast under the sun.

We arrived in Modesto, and it was hot. I was immediately worried about the race temps since I was not prepared for this kind of heat. Good thing the race started at 7am.

The expo was downtown and we meandered through the aisles after grabbing our bibs, shirts and fancy arm sleeves. The arm sleeves are really cool but even their smallest size were pretty large on me, and I would consider my arms to be borderline beefy for a girl (good luck squeezing them into a Hollister shirt). The shirt was great and had a drawn on cape on the back so it looked like everyone was walking around with capes. I ordered an XS and it fit really well.

There wasn't much to write home about at the expo, but they did have a lot of cheap Modesto Marathon branded items for sale. I was tempted to get a black Forever 21 jacket with the marathon logo embroidered in the back corner.

We walked away empty handed and made a bee line to grab our free bottles of wine (a red blend). So many perks with this race!

Jon and I drove around the block only to re-park in the same exact spot since we realized our hotel was visible from the expo. We stayed at the Doubletree Inn. It was a little bit pricey but worth it considering it's proximity to the start line. And free warm cookies!

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant that I found on Open Table, Verona's Cucina Italiana. It was surprisingly good but the Spaghetti Bolognese was pretty creamy so I ended up leaving a lot of it on the plate since I'm lactose intolerant.

Staying true to my typical pre-marathon behavior, we went to the Sprouts grocery store adjacent to the restaurant and loaded up on an absurd number of snacks and Odwalla's to nurse anxiously before bed. A box of berries, cookies, 4 Odwallas...it's safe to say I'm not doing the whole low carb thing anymore. We headed back to the hotel and I neatly arranged my running gear for the next morning.

I was up at 5:30 to brew some coffee, get dressed and be sure to hit the bathroom about three times to make sure I had nothing in my bladder (or intestines haha). I ate a couple pieces of bread that I had packed, and filled my pack bottles with some Tailwind. I was super mad at the Platypus hydration bladder I had just bought. Not only did it barely fit in my pack, but something was wrong with the straw and it was like trying to drink a thick milkshake through a coffee straw just to get anything out. Reading through the reviews, it looks like this is a common issue. I decided to ditch it, and just carry the bottles. I'll be returning the bladder this week.

It took us about five minutes to walk to the race starting line. I was shocked at how few people there were, I was expecting the turnout to be in the thousands. I settled somewhere between the 3:42 pacer and the 3:52. I was disappointed that there wasn't a 3:45 pacer, but the times were very specific to Boston Qualifying times, since this race prides itself in its fast and flat course. Incredibly, I turned around and immediately spotted a friend that I had only ever talked to on FB. It was great to finally meet her!

Photo courtesy of Jenny Iskander

I was off and as usual had a fast start. I was averaging somewhere between 8:15 and 8:25, focusing more on running the tangents since there were a lot of turns in the first bit, and then we settled on a more flat and straight road cutting through almond tree fields. Despite peeing about 3 times before the race, I still had to go and ended up going around mile five. Such a bummer to lose that extra thirty seconds!

Around mile 8 I noticed a fork where the half marathoners go one way and the marathoners go the other. I was trying to keep my eye on the 3:42 pacer but with this turn he kind of vanished. I continued...focusing on consistently hitting around an 8:30 pace.

one of the free race photos

There was this chick that was being unusually competitive with me and I didn't understand why since it was so early in the race. She was constantly yo-yoing from falling behind me to running ahead. I can't stand these types of people! I just wanted her to go away and was annoyed by her labored breathing and competitive glares.

And then came the point when I overheard some spectators shout "You're almost there! Only a half mile to go!". I panicked and spun around to look at other peoples bibs. I realized I was in a pool of orange bibbed half marathoners and dread started to sink in. I had taken the wrong turn in the fork.

I pulled over to talk to the volunteers. They all kind of stared at me in horror when they realized my mistake, and we all tried to brainstorm how I could get back on track. There was no way. I was way too far at this point, and there was no going back. I accepted my fate to be a half marathon finisher and stormed angrily to the finish.

saddest finish photo ever...

"Ooh's" and "wow's" were audible as I crossed the finish line at a 6 min mile. I was ushered in, and didn't really understand why until I realized everyone thought I had actually WON the marathon. The horror. That is when I looked into their awe-inspired eyes and then burst into tears. I'm sorry, you poor volunteers. But seriously, a sub 2 hour marathon? lol...

I finished in just over 1:56. I think I spent at least 5 minutes in the last mile trying to talk to the volunteers into driving me back to mile 8.

They still handed me a marathon medal even though I was close to just tossing it into the trash or throwing it on the train tracks. I spent a good couple of minutes weeping in a corner before forcing myself to do a couple extra miles around Modesto. I did manage to find the famous "arch" which was listed under Modesto's "Things to do".

I made it back in time to dry my eyes and watch Jon finish his marathon. He finished around 3:35 which was chopping over 25 minutes off his marathon time. It was incredible!

It turns out that my friend at the marathon made the same exact mistake but realized the mistake much earlier than me and still had hope to turn around and only tack on an extra mile. I can only blame myself for what I did, but some things that I think could help for the future would be to have separate colored signs (both were orange and in the same exact font), and volunteers at the forks kind of separating the runners, and potentially a different race start time so that not everyone is going at the same time. The entire way to that point were the same large orange signs telling traffic to stay on right and marathoners to stay on the left. So when the fork came, the marathoners actually were supposed to go right but my brain was kind of in autopilot to stay on the left.

Oh well, water under the bridge. I was really embarrassed and I still don't want to hang my medal. It's a race I'd rather just forget about. I signed up for the Pony Express Marathon in Sacramento on May 1st to hopefully redeem myself.

In other news, I also forgot that I had signed up for the SF Rock N Roll half marathon next weekend, so I'll be doing that. I am not sure how hard I want to go. It's a pretty hilly course and my legs aren't used to that anymore.

I also got the new Hoka One One Claytons! I'm super excited about them, and actually am going to write a post about them but will keep it separate so we don't take the spotlight away from my crappy race.