June 4, 2006

Trip to San Diego was fantastic. The marathon was a perfect excuse to organize a few days of sunny vacations for the whole family.  Weather, beaches, natural environment, city of San Diego with all the attractions, and the marathon course was top quality. 

The race by itself was an "early bird" event.  It started at 6:30 in the morning!  Gosia was done much  before 10 o'clock, at the same time when the sun started to show up behind the dense morning fog.

It was another great race for Gosia.  She completed the run in 3 minutes shorter than her previous best result from Boston. 

Raceday Weather Conditions:

68°-70°F / 20°-21°C sunny (fog in the morning)

Finisher Statistics:

Participants:  21,159
Finishers total:  15,437
Male finishers:  7,061
Female finishers:  8,376
Female 40+ finishers:   718

Gosia's Results:

Time:  3:19:07
Pace:  7:36 / mile (12.7 km/h)
Time 1st half:  1:36:11

Overall place:   334  (2%)
Women place:  38  (0.5%)
Women 40+ place:  2 

Overall Results:

Top Men

Place  Name Home Age Time
1 Ambesse Tolossa ETH 27 2:10:08
2 Simon Bor KEN 37 2:10:37
3 Stephen Kiogora KEN 31 2:11:45

Top Women

Place  Name Home Age Time
1 Alice Chelangat KEN 29 2:28:21
2 Hellen Kimutai KEN 28 2:28:44
3 Lyubov Morgunova  RUS 35 2:29:39

Top Women 40+

Place  Name Home Age Time
1 Christa Koot CA 47 3:18:30
2 Malgorzata Mirkowicz TX 46 3:19:07

Official marathon web site: www.rnrmarathon.com

Race Map and Elevations:

 

Gosia's first impressions from the race:

Anyone who has ever run the New York marathon knows how difficult it is to choose the location of the next race. I too had this dilemma, until I checked the weather and the race track for San Diego, California. My decision to run San Diego was made in November, and therefore I knew I had loads of time to prepare for it and plan my vacation with my family in San Diego too. Also, due to the fact that I have marathon and running experience already up my sleeve, I changed my training a bit. I shortened my weekly running mileage from 70 miles to 50-60 miles, but I added 7 slow pace runs and 4 runs consisting of 20 miles, and 3 23-mile runs.

A month before the San Diego marathon, at the beginning of May, I felt very prepared for the run and had lots of confidence. I visualized my time at the finish line- 3:15:59. When one wants something so badly and puts forth huge amounts of effort, one’s appetite to succeed is tremendous. Unfortunately, the month of May in Plano, Texas is extremely hot. The temperature in the morning never dipped below 70F, and during the day 90F. My self-confidence sank from “Hey, I’m only a little slower than those Ethiopians” to “how am I even going to manage to finish this race?” Fortunately, my daughter Agata came back from UT in Austin with thousands of her own dilemmas dealing with her academics, fighting with friends, moving into a new house, and the trip to Poland, so my marathon anxieties were put on the back burner. Come to find out later, this was very good, because on the starting line of the Rock’n’Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 4th I stood there completely relaxed.

The race began in one of the prettiest parks in America Balboa Park on 6th Avenue and Palm Street. Within this park’s terrain there are 15 museums, 8 botanical gardens, 58 species of trees, the world famous Old Globe theater, and of course the beautiful San Diego Zoo with the gigantic black and white Panda and her cubs. The marathon started at 6:30 am, with temperatures of 67F, and an eerie fog. I was in the first 1000-runner group behind the elites. As an experienced marathon runner, I came in with a plan of my run: not to get caught up in the euphoria of the beginning of the race and run the first few miles too quickly, but to keep a constant pace and to drink water every 2 miles.

The first four miles of running were a large loop around the fantastic San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park, and on mile 5 we passed the PETCO Park with a wonderful view of the harbor and the very modern Convention Center that is right next to the San Diego bay. The weather was perfect. The cement on the roads was slightly holey and uneven, but I ran smoothly. I knew that my pace was very good. I gazed around and admired the abundant palm trees, exotic plants, and the unbelievably beautiful and interestingly colorful bushes. All of this nature was all around: along the sides of houses, lawns, bus stops, and everywhere. From mile 4 to 7 we ran along the streets of downtown, and next to a group of 19 ancient-looking Victorian style buildings, then some contemporary hotels, and a variety of clubs and restaurants. Mile 5 until mile 10 was a stretch that was completely uphill; this was no hike up the Himalayas or up the Verrazano-Narrows bridge in New York, but needless to say a lot of the topnotch, ideally fir guys slowed their pace. So I stopped admiring San Diego’s sites for a while, and began to focus on proper breathing. I began to wonder if those in charge of mapping out the marathon ever considered or attempted to run 5 miles uphill..doubt it. I slowed down up to the point at which I saw a guy from Kansas, at least his shirt said he was from Kansas, begin to walk. Good thing I had trained in Texas and not Kansas, because at least I had a few good hills to practice on. Seeing him stop gave me energy. My goal was to finish the race in under 3:20 so I got to work. A few miles later, however, the trail itself helped me, because the 11th mile on Mission Hills was hardcore downhill. From mile 11 to mile 14 there was nothing too special besides San Diego’s usual pretty little views, along a long road called Friars Rd and Napa Rd. The first half (up to the 13th mile) flew by without a problem. San Diego’s natural beauty, its exotic wildlife and ocean air gave me wings. My thoughts were centered on not getting too eager and excited and not running too fast too soon, because then I risk getting fatigued and not finishing the race. So I ran the first half of the race in 1:36. From the 13th mile on, I started getting physically tired. Finally, in the 14th up to the 20th mile began the loop around Mission Bay, along with its little sailboats and Bay Park with its throngs of bicyclers and roller bladders. I could feel the strong, ocean wind and it cooled me down and gave me energy. It was so beautiful, as written in a Tourist’s Guide, no exaggerations with its light blue water, Spanish style hotels, and huge chunky Palm trees. Therefore the 14th and 15th mile went by rather quickly.

Suddenly, on the 16th mile I felt a small cramp in my left foot and thigh, and I panicked for a moment. I didn’t know if it would get better or worse, and I asked myself, should I stop and stretch a bit or just slow my pace drastically and try to gradually soothe the pain by jogging? I changed my thoughts, and I thought about the weekend before, after church, me asking one of our adorable priests for a blessing for my marathon. He replied, “Here is you blessing, but don’t embarrass me by not finishing, because you’ll be the last marathon runner I bless before the big day. ”This memory eased my thoughts and the cramps right out of my muscles, and I ran on smoothly. Up to my 20th mile my pace was to be around 7:30 a mile, and at that point my time according to my stopwatch was 2:28:40, which was music to my ears and like ice on my achy legs, and meant that I had kept my desired pace well. The official time read 2:37, but that was inaccurate. I tried to get my mind off of just running, and zoom in on the fun of Sea World that was vaguely visible up ahead, in the distance. I attempted to imagine all of the wonderful water rides and shows that they have to offer, but the fact that my pace was gradually decreasing kept creeping into my thoughts more and more intensely. This was a sad feeling. I kept coaching myself and telling myself: come on, 7:30 a mile, make longer strides, keep going, keep going, you’re doing fine, move faster, but the other half of me was saying: I’ve had enough, do I really have to finish before 3:20, and how will finishing this race impact mine or anyone else’s life at all? I tried to keep the planned pace, but it was getting slower.

With each step, negative thoughts attacked my mind, because every move I made was an additional depletion of the energy that I already lacked. On top of that, more and more young athletes from the small group around me were giving up. I saw the enormous pain in their eyes, as they kept wobbling forward on one leg with the other dangling behind them. I had a major question in my mind: how can I help myself? I slowly lost faith that I could reach my goal of 3:20, and the finish line was still nearly 6 long miles away.

I had another change of heart. I remembered that in the Marathon Program packet that I received the day before the race, there was a list of last minute tips for the marathon runners, and one of those tips stuck with me. It said, “Enjoy the marathon to the fullest, because you may never experience anything like it again in your life.” At this point, a new chapter of my run began for me, and although I was physically exhausted, I began to see San Diego’s beauty again and the huge, careful effort of so many people in order to make it all happen: the people passing out water, sun block, and salt, the soldiers standing in place for hours at a time and cheering each runner on, the 20 bands playing Rock music on the sidelines and the 6 bands still to come, and the enthusiasm and energy of little cheerleaders. I felt as though it was all a movie, and that I was playing the lead role. All of my pain, efforts, and negative thoughts disappeared. I began to wave to everyone, clap, and smile at them all to show appreciation for all of the hard work of those cheering, helping, and volunteering.

Mile 23 to 25, we ran along a very wide and beautiful road Pacific Highway and onto the region Old Town, where towards the end of the 18th century, Spanish settlers began to settle California. The world seemed to move so quickly. The marathon ended on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot terrain, which lies next to the San Diego International Airport. Finally, I saw the finish line. I finished the race in 3:19:07, making me 38th place out of all women in the race and 2nd within my age group of women above 40. I just want to add, as motivation in the future for myself, that I needed 37 seconds in order to win a $1000 prize for the 1st place women above 40…hmmm..had I only known that I had a huge chance for 1st place….

I passed the finish line, got my picture taken and someone took the chip off my running shoe. A young, smiling soldier put a medal on me, gave me water, and put a blanket over me. I came up to runners, and with a cracked voice due to all the emotions I congratulated them on finishing the race. I was so proud of everyone’s huge accomplishment. I went up to the volunteers who gave so much of their time to me and all of the other runners, and I thanked them with all of my heart.

I finished the marathon with tears in my eyes, not because of the pain or effort, but out of joy, that I got to experience such paradise and such a truly unforgettable experience.

I won against my very self and made a new record for myself, 3:19:07.

My thoughts already began to circle around the next marathon Chicago or maybe in Washington DC, at the end of October. I know that all of you are waiting on quick improvements and a great finishing time. The only thing I can promise, is that I will do everything to first of all, finish the race, give it my all, and to have as much joy as I had in completing the New York and the San Diego marathons.

P.S. To my entire family, especially to my husband, and to all my friends American and Polish, thank you so much for all of your support and undying faith in me and your understanding and enthusiasm in each race that I run. Without all of your support I would just now be finishing mile 22.