Big Sur Recap

This guest post was submitted by Sara. She is super sweet, I got to meet her at Disney Princess. She is so busy with family and work but still manages to be an awesome runner!

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a running mother to 5 awesome kids who is also a full time lawyer. At some point, I’d love to write about training with a big family and a job, but for this post I thought you all might enjoy hearing about this past weekend’s Big Sur Marathon! Thanks so much to Running with Sass for letting me guest post.

Last Friday, I headed out to Monterey, CA from Birmingham, AL. We traveled with an awesome group – myself, my husband, fellow Village Runner (my running group) Darnell and her husband, and my running coach Danny Haralson and his wife Micki.

I knew the course was going to be hilly and hard, but I also knew that we trained for hills and that I was going into this marathon stronger than my last. That all being said, nothing could have prepared me for what lie ahead. Hills? YES. Wind? YES. Road camber that was killer? Double YES. This was a hard, hard run.

In order to get to the start line for the 6:45 start, we had to be on a bus in Carmel by 3:45. The start area was really chilly. Thankfully, we brought lots of tossers and there was free coffee and food. After waiting in the cold for a few hours, we finally made our way to the start line. Darnell and I headed to the start with the 4:30 pace group led by Kathleen with the Cliff Bar Pace Team.

As the race began, I quickly realized that Kathleen was going to be my new BFF. The race started out easy, but by about mile 9 both Darnell and I became painfully aware of why Big Sur is listed as one of the toughest marathons. As we crested Hurricane Point (a two mile incline at miles 10-12), I thought we had accomplished it all. Sadly, the race only got hillier, windier, and harder from there!

We were so tough and hung with the 4:30 group until about mile 22 where my IT band completely gave out. No matter how much I willed myself to keep running, the pain in my knee simply would not allow it. Major kudos to Kathleen my pace leader for getting us through the worst of it all and for waiting for me at the end. I did get some great pictures once I had to start walking (it was very beautiful)!

I still came in around 4:46, not as well as I would have liked, but I felt great about how the first 22 went and I am convinced that my next (much flatter) marathon time will be sub 4:30. Micki was running her 65th marathon and said this was the hardest she had ever run! Darnell, my running buddy extraordinaire, got a PR by 2 seconds at 4:31! My amazing husband was able to pull out a 4:07.

After the race, I even ran into Jeff Galloway and was able to get my third picture with him this year! (I’m a huge RunDisney fan).

Will I ever run Big Sur again? Probably so, I want to master this beast before its all said and done. Score: Big Sur – 1, Sara – 0, but just wait until next time!

Thanks so much Sara! Great job on the race! You can find Sara on twitter at: @5littleindians

QOTD: Have any of you ever been disappointed with a mid-race injury that prevented you from performing at your best?