It’s been over two years since I ran the Death Valley Marathon, which is a lovely race on a spectacular course but was a very difficult race for me. I later discovered I had low levels of iron, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. Once those levels got back to normal, I finally felt like I wasn’t running into a constant headwind. I managed to train up for the Yosemite Half Marathon in May 2018, and climbed Mt. Whitney in August 2018. Then that fall got swallowed up by life outside of running, which included helping my oldest daughter, who decided to skip her junior year of high school and homeschool for a year while she applied early to college. I continued to run and exercise five days a week, but didn’t have the energy or desire to put a race on my calendar. I’m happy to report that my daughter got into UC Berkeley and will be heading off in August to study biology there! And now that that’s settled I finally feel ready to get another race on my calendar for the fall of 2019. In fact, I feel more than ready. I love having a race on the horizon to motivate me and give me a goal to focus on.
How did I choose which race to run for marathon #9, you ask? I ran my half marathon PR (1:41:58, for the curious) at the 2014 REVEL Canyon City Half Marathon. I liked that course so much I ran the REVEL Canyon City Full Marathon in 2015 (in 3:39:08). That was a tougher race with all of the downhill running in the first half (but I learned a lot in that race and feel better prepared to train for a downhill course). Shortly after I ran that race though, REVEL discontinued Canyon City for its Southern California race and switched to REVEL Big Bear instead! I heard great things about that race from another runner, and all the reviews I read online said it’s a gorgeous course, so that will be marathon #9 for me! I have driven the marathon route on CA-38 in a car and am really looking forward to the privilege of running it on Saturday, November 9, 2019!
Of course, on the day I hit “Register” on my computer, the temperature in Southern California jumped from the low 70s to the high 90s! Training through the summer in SoCal for a fall marathon can be a challenge. But it’s what works for my schedule and it keeps me on track (no pun intended!) during the summer heat.
Which do you enjoy more: training for a race or running the race? I’m one of the oddballs that actually enjoys the training more than the race itself. But as I said, I do like the motivation and focus that having a race on the calendar gives me.
What’s your favorite marathon course? I liked the Phoenix Marathon and Santa Rosa Marathon quite a bit. Of course the Boston Marathon is amazing for its history and spectator support, but it wasn’t my favorite course (I’m a fan of smaller races in less urban places). Death Valley Marathon (link to the 2020 race information) was the most spectacular, and I wouldn’t mind running it again someday to redeem myself on that course.
Fit Fun Mom 