Race started in Folsom (North East of Sacramento) and the point-to-point route takes you to downtown Sacramento with the finish at the capital building. Drove to the marathon hotel at 4:30am; a 20mi or so ride from Davis. It was dark and foggy with very little visibility and I was not entirely sure when and where the exit (Business 80) would come about (missed it on Saturday). Made it to the hotel in one piece which was a triumph in itself. Took a bus from there to Folsom dam at around 5:30am. Weather was great (early 40's all the way and very foggy). Race started at 7am. After the first mile (9:50; took 25 seconds to get to the start), I somehow was not sure if this marathon was a good idea and if I c'd do it. Legs did not feel loose. Period. Well, I decided to take it mile-by-mile. It's a rolling course (upto the half-way point), so I just took it easy on the uphills and pushed a bit on the downhill. As luck may have it, I was clocking 9:22-9:26 for all the miles upto the mid-way point by sticking to my plan. Had Gu at miles 5, 10, 15 and 20; had couple of cups of All Sport early-on but stayed-away from it (am gatorade-inclined) after mile 10. Got to mile 10 in 1:33:45 and to the half-way point in 2:02:53. The half marathon was a landmark of sorts. Managed to stay on-pace till mile 18 or so (9:25 or so), and then the pace tended to slow down (10-10:30). Miles 18-21 were a tad hard for I was beginning to eagerly look forward to the next mile marker. No major problems (like cramps); aching feet and a blister or two seemed to be all I had to deal with. Got to mile 20 in 3:11:05 and I wanted to shoot for a sub-4:15 which w'd be a PR too. After mile 22, I suddenly felt a lot better--never felt this good in even past marathons! Got to mile 23 in 3:42:29 and felt a sub-4:15 was on the cards as long as I did not start hitting 11min miles. Made it to mile 25 in 4:03:19 without doing anything foolish, and then hit on the gas! Tried picking off folks over the last 1.2miles and did pass many a runners: felt as though I was running a 7min pace but it was just 9:30! With the finish in sight and about 50m to go, I saw 4:14:20 and knew I w'd make it. Finished the race in 4:14:42 which was a PR too (ran 4:16:25 in Philly two weeks ago), and did achieve my ``goal during the race.'' I was one happy dude! My knees and feet (one blister too) were hurting when going down stairs (no calf/quad problems at all) but I could at least walk without any problems which was great in itself.
Took some after-race snaps, changed, had some refreshments, and took the bus back to the hotel. Had lunch at Olive Garden, before heading to the airport at 3pm. Dropped off the car, and took a 6pm flight to SF and then one at 10pm from SF to Newark. Managed to get 2-3 hours sleep on the flight (had three seats to myself); got into Newark at 6:30am and made it to work at around 10am this morning. Barring my sore knees and aching feet, I am surprised that I feel this good today. A pretty-good weekend I would say. However, two marathons two weeks apart, after running Chicago a month before the first, is not something I wan't to repeat anytime soon. For that matter, I'll stay away from running a marathon for awhile, for I'd like to run one after being well-rested and doing the requisite 3-4 months training for the same. W'd like to get faster at shorter distances: a sub-1:45 half-marathon is one of my goals for 2001. Couple of runners I met suggested the half-marathon in SF in Jan 2001; might consider it for I'll be in that area.