It has been exactly a month since the 2018 Revel Big Bear Marathon (Oct 14, 2018) and some of you reading this know that I not only ran my personal best marathon time, but also qualified for Boston 2020 (as well as Chicago 2019) in the process. Now that I have come down from the emotional high of this accomplishment, I want to share my experience with you all and hopefully inspire you to run a Revel race one day, or even go chase that coveted BQ. Also, the California International Marathon (CIM) is coming up soon so take this as a motivational read for those of you preparing for this other awesome race! Enjoy the read….

I was intrigued a few years ago with the Revel Marathon series when a few people I knew ran these races in the Los Angeles area (Canyon City, now replaced by Big Bear) and Las Vegas (Mt Charleston) locations. The Revel races are unique in the sense that you are running predominantly downhill through the canyons. The race organizers describe their courses as “fast and beautiful”. Adding to my interest was the fact that all their courses are USATF certified which makes them Boston qualifier races. I decided to give the chase for the BQ a try, although I thought this was a long shot for me prior to training because my previous PR was 3:28 at the 2017 CIM and I needed to shave off at least 15 min to have a chance to enter Boston (more on this requirement later). To top off the motivational drive, my cousin Vince from San Diego joined me in the BQ chase and we promised each other that we will try our best and dedicate this run to our family members who have died, especially several who have passed in recent years, which has hit hard for our family.

Training: Now, you may think this course profile gives you a pretty big advantage since you are running downhill, and that is true, IF you put in the right training. The stress your body takes by pounding out 26.2 miles on pavement continuously on a downhill slope is no joke and can derail your race quick if you don’t have the right training plan and strategy. That said, everyone’s body responds differently to various types of training, and we all know that training specifically for a marathon in general takes a lot of time and effort to log the high mileage required for training (eventually working up to 50-60+ weekly miles). I followed a routine track+tempo+long run+easy/recovery plan (thank you Razor Ray for the guidance!), which included downhill simulation training runs down Mt. Hamilton road in San Jose and the Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos. However, when I looked back at my weekly Strava stats, I was mainly logging only an average of ~35 miles (peaked at 46 miles). I took a “less is more” approach, which worked for me because although I cut some of the prescribed mileage down (mainly in the recovery/easy run days), it allowed me to supplement with more strength training in the gym to prepare my body for the beating I was going to take with this downhill course. I hit the gym 2-3 days a week utilizing a full body circuit routine with emphasis on core and leg work and of course included a lot of stretching, foam rolling, sports massage, and cryotherapy after my runs and weight sessions (see my prior blog post about recovery). The next thing that I needed to plan was my race day nutrition strategy. I estimated that I will burn around 2800-3000 calories during this race and that my body will top off at around 2000 calories after carb loading so that means I need at least ~800 calories during the race for fuel to prevent “hitting the wall”. I will do my heaviest carb load during the race week two nights before the event (I eat tons of spaghetti, light on the sauce), and have a normal meal with a little bit more carbs to top off the night before. During race day, I depend on gels. I tried a new brand going into this race called eGel by Crank Sports because it packs 150 calories in one packet. I used to run with GU Roctane but one packet only provides 100 calories so I only took that prior to the start of the race for the added caffeine boost. Although eGel’s don’t have caffeine, testing them out during a trial run went down easier and settled better with my stomach vs Roctane and provided more fuel as I mentioned already. So I essentially carried six eGel packs on me during the race and took one every 4 miles with mainly water (with the last one a bit earlier at mile 23 to get me through the last 5k).

Final prep+Race Expo: I gambled a bit with my body during taper when I ran hard the week prior to this at the San Jose Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon, achieving a milestone PR of sub 1:30 at this race (6:52 min/mile pace). I actually think this boosted my confidence going into the Revel Marathon that following week because I still felt strong after crossing the finish line. I also tested out for the first time running in the Nike Vaporfly 4% flyknit during this race (thanks Coach B for securing my race day kicks!), which felt so good on my feet that it confirmed my choice of race day shoe for the marathon. I will definitely review the Nike Vaporfly 4% in a future blog post! In addition, I made sure to hit the cryo chamber the following day and got my sports massage as well for max recovery. From there it was just getting myself mentally prepared. Oh by the way, one hurdle thrown in the mix a few weeks prior to race day was the announcement by the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) now requiring all 2019 and 2020 BQ standards to be ran 5 minutes faster for each age group!!! My 15 min time to shave off that I alluded to was now 20 min, meaning that my new goal time was 3:07 at a 7:08 min/mile pace (to account for buffer of my 3:10 BQ requirement). At that point, I just kept a positive attitude, especially coming off a good race at the SJ Rock n Roll and feeling confident in my training, telling myself that I will at least PR my marathon time if not BQ. At the race expo, I studied the course and was pleased to hear from the Revel coach Paul Carmona, who broke down the course and advised us how to run each segment. He also recommended using the “smart” pace bands that was being handed out to let us know the recommended splits per mile (see picture below). I liked this course especially because the first half, although still fast, allows you to hold back and run more conservative (especially with a few rolling hills early on) vs the second half, where the downhill portion really opens up. Coach Paul also stressed to not be tempted to “brake” (a common mistake) during the downhills but rather take shorter strides (don’t over-stride), hold your posture forward, and let the momentum carry your body down the hills. This is where the core training comes in handy.

Race Day: It was an early bus ride to the start line departing around 05:00 (similar to CIM) for a scheduled 06:30 start. The Revel Big Bear course actually starts a bit south of Big Bear Mountain at over 6600’ elevation and ends after dropping to around 1550’ in Redlands, CA. It had rained the couple days prior and race day was perfect weather as the skies were clear and the air was fresh. Start line temps were around 37 degrees F (COLD AF!) but I had my arm sleeves and my own throw-away in addition to the provided Revel race caps and thermal foil blankets to keep us warm prior to take off. It took me a good mile or two to start warming up, elevation didn’t seem like a factor as we were descending the hill but as soon as I got into a comfort zone, boom, an annoying uphill climb at mile 3 (which sucked) kind of put me behind goal pace at first but I just followed the pace band as best as I could knowing that I will make it up on the downhills. Holding back as best as I could for the first 9 miles, I started to let it rip from miles 10-20 but trying my best not to go too fast (tried to keep it no faster than 6:55 pace per mile on the downhill). I think I over-did it though as you’ll see in my splits for mile 14-15 because I tried to make up time from the prior mile (I think i stopped once here to take a quick breather at the aid station). I started to slow down a bit at mile 19 because the long downhill got to me a bit and I started to feel the fatigue in the legs and thought the BQ would soon be out of reach but when I looked at my stats I told myself if I sustain around a 7 min pace the for last 10k with still a favorable descent, i’d be ok. I just kept the mental note remembering that the “the downhill in the closing 6.2 miles is less severe than the earlier segments, which is easier on tired legs” so I just grinded through the fatigue and remembered to let momentum and the power of the matrix (aka the Vaporfly 4% lol) carry me through to the finish.

The Finish: This was almost a disaster (see my last mile 26 and 0.2 mile split below). Being so close to the finish line, my worst enemy, the leg cramps, started kicking in at the start of mile 26 but I kept trotting along the best I could, but had to eventually stop to stretch out my hamstring and calf for maybe 15-20 sec. Then I as I finished that mile I could see the home stretch and finish line straight ahead with the last 0.2 miles to go, then BAM, froze up completely with another bad left hamstring cramp and must have stopped for a good 30-40 sec to stretch out, almost on the verge of tears, cursing to myself, as I knew I needed an adequate buffer time for the BQ. I hobbled along running through intense pain crossing the finish line at a 3:07:54 chip time at 7:10 min/mile pace, a 20 minute PR, (with a bit over 2 min buffer from the 3:10 required BQ) and as medical gave me ice for my leg cramp as soon as I limped through the finish, I knew I had done it, despite stopping maybe a total of 2-3 times during this race for likely over a minute combined. I was overcome with so much emotion and started to uncontrollably cry tears of joy. It took me a good 5 minutes to get myself back together and by that point, all the pain was secondary. My cousin Vince shortly crossed as well at 3:22:43 at 7:44 min/mile pace, securing his BQ time over 2 minutes as well! I highly recommend any of the Revel marathon courses. Although this is my first Revel race, I really believe the new Big Bear course has some pretty good advantages over the others as there are no sharp drops here making it easier on the legs. This was only my 7th marathon ever. My first one was back in 2013 at the SD Rock and Roll with a 4:33 finish running with a shin splint injury but here I am 5 years later with ”lucky #7” and a bucket list item crossed off sooner than I could have ever wished for!

Mission accomplished! Overcome the odds and believe in yourself. Decide. Commit. Succeed. Be About It. THIS IS WHY WE RUN!

-Ben Balagot 11/14/18