2015 Big Sur Marathon

Date: Sunday, April 26th

Distance completed: 26.2 miles. They also offer a relay, a 21-miler, a 10.6-miler and a 5K
Start: Big Sur Station.  Finish: Carmel
Course Map and Elevation:

Saturday,  April 25th - Expo

After a short flight from San Diego, I arrived in San Jose at 8:40 am. I met the rest of the running crew at the airport. We rented a car, grabbed something quick to eat and drove down to Carmel Valley. First stop, Gilroy, "The Garlic Capital of the World". My friends had garlic ice cream while I chose some delicious and fresh strawberries.

The trip from San Jose to Carmel was approximately one hour long.  We arrived at the expo around 2 pm. I was told it was a very small exhibit ( half the size of the San Diego Half Marathon) when in fact it was quite large. I guess they expanded it this year. I purchased a couple of race souvenirs including a tank top with a matching hat, a pair of sunglasses for my husband and a beautiful Big Sur 26.2 necklace that I am yet to receive in the mail since they ran out of them at the expo.

At one of the tables,  they were giving samples of Manitoba Harvest's Hemp Hearts. I love this product so much. When I told them about my delicious Raw Zucchini Pasta with Hemp Seed Oil Pesto made with their brand, they gifted me a whole box. Scored! I think I have enough to last for a year! Maybe 'll turn into "la masa verde" aka the Hulk in Spanish.

We were about to leave the expo when I heard that Dean Karnazes was going to be signing books. Whaaaaat? I couldn't believe it. One of my running idols was there, a few feet away from me. Of course, I stopped by the Runner's World's booth to met the legend!

We ended up talking for ten minutes. I basically told him that every time I run in San Francisco and cross the Golden Gate bridge, I imagine him running naked in front of me. hahaha ok, this might sounds weird out of context. Let me explain! In one of Dean's book ( I think it was 50/50), he tells the story of an awesome run he had with one of his closest friend and how they jumped some sort of fence and ran the Golden Gate bridge with hardly any clothes on in the middle of the night.

I continued telling Dean that in 2013 he passed me on the Golden Gate bridge, clothes included, and I started screaming "Karno!" You can read more about it   here . Dean laughed and told me that I was pretty funny and wished me good luck at the race. He mentioned he would be running too but that he had some injuries so it wasn't going to be pretty for him. I just checked his finishing time. It was 3:49: 20.

After the expo, we had an early dinner at Yafad, a Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern restaurant in downtown. I highly recommend it as it has a lot of vegetarian options. I had some eggplant delight dish with spicy rice and pitta. I don't usually eat grains but I was starving and this was the perfect time to carb-load. We went to bed early, around 9 pm since we had to wake up at 2:45 am.

Sunday,  April 26th - Race Day

We left our hotels around 3:20 am. We walked for 15-20 minutes to a nearby high school where a bus picked us up and drove us to the race's starting line.  The ride took about 40 minutes. Enough time to take a really quick nap!

When we arrived at the Big Sur campgrounds, it was freezing cold. We grabbed some hot tea ( they also had hot chocolate for the runners) and bundled up with blankets for over an hour.

As we walked towards the startling line, Rudy Novotny, the race announcer, recognized me and shouted "And there goes my friend Ciry!".  What can I say?  He is awesome! :-)

The race started at 6:45 am. The first 5 miles were all downhill. We were surrounded by majestic tall trees. Birds were chirping and nature was slowly waking up to the sound of thousands of running shoes softly hitting the pavement. I tried pacing myself to conserve energy for the rest of the race but the adrenaline kicked in and I accelerated instead. When will I learn? We soon reached the start of the 21-miler race ( this is another option for runners that don't want to do a full marathon).

At mile 6, we were greeted by a couple of cows and a cute mile marker:
Cow 1 - Elsie ... I don't think I can make it
Cow 2 - You can do it midge ... Just put one hoof in front of the other

We could see beautiful greenery to our right and the deepest blue ocean to our left. It was truly heaven on earth!

I can't recall much between mile 6 -9 except for the breathtaking oceanic views and the hills. It was hill after hill after hill. We then came across this funny mile marker.

Around mile 10, we started ascending to the notorious Hurricane Point, a 550 feet climb over 2 miles.

Miles 11 and 12 were painful but I was able to conquer the hills. As we descended from Hurricane Point, we could see the majestic Bixby Bridge at mile 13.

We could also hear Michael Martinez playing the piano from the 13.1 mile point. This is one of the most spectacular views of the race. It's a picture perfect moment, the one all runners look forward to. Unfortunately, my iPhone ran out of juice. Nooooo! Til next time, Michael Martinez!

At mile 14, I had a nice laugh as I passed this mile marker of two Kenyan runners saying "In my country, we call that walking".  "They are right!". I thought.  "Who am I kidding?"

At mile 16, my legs started cramping from over exertion.  I walked for a quarter mile and found myself in a dark place, crying and thinking about quitting the race. Now, at Big Sur there is no place to hide - if you don't run, you either jump to the ocean and swim to the finish line ( hoping you'd be fast like Michael Phelps or Nemo)  or you walk at a maximum of 13 min/mile pace. Otherwise, you are not eligible for a finisher's medal. Keeping this in mind, I started calculating how much time I have left and whether I could make it on time.  I had kept a pace of 10 - 10:30 min/mile on the first half but now I was literally walking. On top of that, my iPhone was dead so I couldn't check the time. "It is the end of the world!", I thought.  Hitting a wall this early on a hilly race is something I never anticipated.

I had many negative feelings going through my mind at this point when I heard   *beep beep* and then 15 seconds later *beep beep*. It was Jeff Galloway, the Olympian runner approaching me. I mentioned to him something along the lines "I am done for today! I don't think I have what it takes to finish this race". He then asked me if I could run for just 15 seconds. "15 seconds? Of course!" He promised me that if I stick to his plan, he will take me to the finish line in time.

I ran with Jeff for 10 miles, side by side, accelerating every 15 - 30 seconds and stopping for 15 seconds. At first I thought, "This is crazy! I am not going to be able to keep up! I am going to die today!". It took me perhaps  10 iterations to get used to this acceleration / deceleration. But soon, to my surprise, I noticed that I was feeling better. My legs were no longer hurting and my mood was lifted. I was still worried about making it to the finish line on time but Jeff Galloway kept distracting me, purposely, with personal stories and giving tips to take it easy and really enjoy the experience.

I don't remember much about the rest of the course except for the short steep hills at around mile 22-25 and some delicious strawberry stations at mile 23.5. At mile 25, I decided to take off and sprinted the last mile. I finished the race feeling very strong and happy (who would have told me at mile 16?). Of course, I waited for Jeff and his wife Barbara at the finish line to give them a BIG hug!

I was still in disbelief. Today, I ran side by side with American Olympian JEFF GALLOWAY for 2 full hours in the most beautiful place in the world AND I got my medal. What else could I ask for? Ok, a good finishing time in the near future.

With Jeff Galloway at the finish line ( not my best pic but it's ok)

l am super proud of myself, considering that I have not ran consistently in the last 2 months. My longest run was the SD Half ( March 8). Big Sur was breathtaking and I learned a few things about myself during the race. First, life can be beautiful IF you let it be. Don't be hard on yourself. Second, don't think too much. Get out of your head. And finally, you get what you put in. There is no substitute for training, unless you are injured, you must train ( especially if you sign up for Big Sur or any race with extreme hills)

A BIG thanks to Jeff and Barbara Galloway. I couldn't have done it without you!  A BIG thanks to my family for their support! Congratulations to all my friends that participated in this race!

Peace. Love. Run Big Sur.