2023 California International Marathon Training summary

Prior to the start of lockdowns and the world changing in 2020, I had signed up for my 5th full marathon (California International Marathon) along with one of my good friends. However due to circumstances surrounding the pandemic, that year’s marathon was cancelled. The race organizers were extremely gracious and provided all registrants with a voucher for entry into a subsequent year’s race for 3 additional years. This was the last year to use the voucher so my friend and I agreed to sign up early in the year. I have only done one in-person race since 2019 (my first 30K – here).

I’ve never truly followed a training plan fully in any of my previous marathons – either due to injury, travel, or just lack of focus. This time I wanted to create a plan and try sticking to it in an attempt to break 5 hours (my previous best time was 5:00:03). I created (more like cobbled and frankensteined) a 16 week training plan from a few different plans I reviewed online. I created monthly calendars with goal miles and some idea of how to run them (tempo, race pace, intervals, easy, etc). I tailored it off my work schedule.

Prior to starting my training cycle, I had been running consistently the last few years of COVID. A few years back I had set a goal of running at least 1000 miles a year, which I hit in 2021 and 2022 as well as this year. Before I embarked on this training cycle, I had been heavily relying on treadmill runs. Once I started marathon training I forced myself to do more runs outside (to get my body used to the pounding of outdoor running). I did want to incorporate more strength training into my marathon training plan but failed to do so at a level that I think benefited me. I had been doing some body weight exercises in the first maybe 4-5 weeks but then somewhere along the way that fell off.

2023 California International Marathon Race Recap

2023 California International Marathon Race Recap

I originally signed up for this race in early 2020 before COVID and then when it was cancelled that year the race organizers provided us registrants with a free voucher to run in one of the next 3 years (2021-2023). This was the last year of the voucher so I signed up. I then followed a 16 week training plan (see here for my training).

Expo

The race expo was held at the Sacramento convention center on Friday and Saturday before the race. My friend and I arrived shortly after they opened on Friday (after I picked him up from the airport). Overall it was well organized. Instead of assigning race numbers prior to the expo, they would scan your barcode (on your phone) and then a barcode on the race bib to match you with your number. I thought this was smart as they could just pick up numbers as they went instead of having to have them alphabetized and such. I gearchecked my stuff for after the race (just a light jacket with a breakfast bar in case I needed it) as there was no gear check on race morning. We checked out some of the merchandise and I picked up a few CIM branded t shirts. Something I hadn’t seen before was they had multiple “picture stations” that you could take pictures in front of for the ‘gram.

Everyday sourdough sandwich loaf

Everyday sourdough sandwich loaf

Ingredients:

  • 100-130 grams well-fed sourdough starter
  • 325-350 grams water
  • 500 grams of flour (can you various ratios of bread flour to whole wheat to etc)
  • 15-20 grams oil (can use neutral oil (Avocado, vegetable) or could use olive oil)
  • 15-20 grams of honey
  • 10 grams fine sea salt

I’ve been making a weekly loaf for the past year or so. With this recipe, you definitely have some leeway on adjusting the types of flours along with some of the enrichments (oil and honey). It is also a fairly forgiving recipe I feel (or maybe I just do it regularly enough that I’ve grown accustomed to it). The above recipe makes 1 loaf (in a 8.5 inch x 4.5 inch loaf pan). This is also a no-knead recipe. The loaf can be made ahead of time and then stored to continue to ferment and develop in the fridge for 24-48 hours. Typically I will bake it ~24-36 hours after forming the loaf.

  1. Combine the water, well-fed starter, 500 grams of flour (my current combination is 350 grams bread flour, 50 grams of semolina flour and 100 grams of whole wheat flour), oil and honey in a mixing bowl. I use a spatula and stir and make sure everything is well incorporated together (about 2-4 minutes of mixing usually).
  2. Let sit (auto-lyse) for anywhere from 30-90 minutes covered.
  3. Slowly incorporate the salt – I usually add a little bit at a time and using a wet hand knead the salt until well incorporated.
  4. Cover and let rest 45-60 minutes
  5. Perform a stretch and fold (using a moist hand, grab dough at 12 o’clock position and pull upwards toward ceiling. Without allowing the dough to rip, pull it down towards 6 o’clock. Turn bowl 1/4 counter-clockwise and repeat above and continue until back to original position. Can continue to do this to tighten dough (another full rotation). Optional would to flip dough over at end (should have smooth ball). Cover
  6. Wait another 45-60 minutes (dependent on room temp)
  7. Repeat stretch and fold an additional 3 times (total of 4). Sometimes the dough will look mature and ready after 3 stretch and folds and that is fine as well.
  8. Dump dough out on well floured surface. Using bench scraper, gather the dough (bringing each corner to center) and then flip dough to have a nice ball. Cover with tea towel and let sit for 20 minutes.
  9. Stretch and flatten dough out into a large rectangle. Bring the left side of the dough and fold to the center line along the vertical axis. Then fold from the right edge to the center overlapping – envelope fold. Then grasp dough closest to you and roll it away from you creating a cylinder. Tuck the ends of the dough underneath to create a smooth surface for each end.
  10. Using a bench scrapper lift the dough into a well oiled loaf pan (in my case a 8.5 inch x 4.5 inch loaf pan)
  11. Place this in a bag (can also add some oil to top of dough and cover with saran wrap) and let rise for ~1.5 hours (depending on temperature in kitchen).
  12. Place in refrigerator (~12-48 hours).
  13. Turn oven on to 400 F. Place pan with water in lower rack of oven
  14. Remove dough from fridge. Sprinkle flour on top of bread and smooth. Using sharp knife, score the bread.
  15. Bake for 20 minutes at 400F
  16. Remove the water container (be careful not to splash hot water onto glass of oven door as it may crack – I use a tea towel to cover the glass while removing the water container).
  17. Bake additional 30-35 minutes until golden brown (bread temp ~200 F). I usually just bake an additional 33 or 34 minutes as it seems to work for my oven.
  18. Turn bread out on cooling rack and let cool fully before slicing.

Visual instructions:

2022 Clarksburg Country Run – 30K Race Recap

2022 Clarksburg Country Run – 30K Race Recap

On a cold and windy day a few weeks back I did my first in person race in a little over 3 years. Prior to COVID I had planned on running my 5th full marathon in 2020. The world had other ideas and that race was moved virtually with the option to postpone it for the next few years. I had initially planned on running CIM 2022 but missed the deadline to use my voucher. Instead I thought I’d tackle a new race distance and challenge. Previously I had looked into the Clarksburg Country Run back when they had a 20 mile option. I looked and saw this year they had a 30K which is 18.6 miles. I figured this would still be a good distance to challenge myself (after having done tons of half marathons and knowing that distance).

Much of this year’s running has been done on the treadmill, a combination of not wanting to run in the heat but also just me not wanting to get outside like I used to. Nevertheless I created my own training guide and tried to follow it as closely as possible.

Packet pickup at the Fleet Feet Store was no frills and I picked up my bib and shirt the day before (no swag bag or other goodies and I didn’t feel like browsing the store). I was in and out in under a minute.

Race morning turned out to be quite cold but super windy. Temperature when I arrived was around 42F. I don’t particularly mind the cold but the wind is what turned out to be something to reckon with. Parking was about half a mile away at The Old Sugar Mill – which houses multiple wineries in one area. I had actually visited this many years back with my MIL and did wine tastings.

After the chilly walk to the start/finish area (a local high school), I visited the portapotties and then dropped off my sweatshirt/pants at the sweat check and waited for the start. I feel like at most races I’ve run, people start getting into the start area well before the start. This one seemed a little less urgent. The 30K was the first to kick off at 8 am and people were just milling about until about 5 minutes before race start. Finally we all gathered behind the timing mats but again people didn’t seem all that keen to be up near the front. There were only 148 of us doing the longest distance (other race distances were half marathon, 10K, and 5K) so I ended up pretty close to the start line (even though I knew I would probably be one of the slower participants).

Lasagna

Lasagna

I’ve done lasagna a handful of times now and everytime I do things a little bit differently. I’ve tried it with my homemade dough, traditional dried pasta as well as the oven ready (no boil) noodles. Overall I think I still like the traditional pasta that you boil first. This time I decided to jazz up the recipe a bit with some sauteed mushrooms along with italian sausage and I have enjoyed this one the best.

Ingredients for sauce

  • 28 ounce Cento San Marzano peeled tomatoes
  • Tomato Paste
  • Dried oregano / Dried Basil
  • Rind of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
  • Bay leaf
  • Salt
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil

Directions for sauce

  1. Sauté dieced garlic in the olive oil in a pot
  2. Add in the tomatoes (crush whole tomatoes with hands), tomato paste, oregano, basil, rind of parmigiano, bay leaf, salt.
  3. Simmer for at least 30 minutes and up to a few hours.

Ingredients for lasagna

  • Sauce from above
  • 1 box of traditional dried lasagna noodles
  • Whole milk mozzarella cheese
  • Ricotta cheese
  • Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (put in a food processor to make into crumbles for spreading – easier than trying to grate or slice).
  • Cremini mushrooms
  • Mild italian sausage (can also use ground beef, pork, chicken, etc)

Directions for lasagna

  1. Sauté slice mushrooms until soft and tender, add salt for flavoring
  2. Cook sausage (remove from casing and crumble) in some olive oil
  3. Cook pasta (follow directions) and then lay out on a oiled cookie pan to prevent from sticking to one another
  4. Add a layer of sauce to bottom of casserole dish to help prevent sticking
  5. Add layer of pasta
  6. Can create layers as desired – I did mushrooms with sauce and cheese (mozz/parmigiano/ricotta as dollops), then another layer of noodle, then a layer with sausage and sauce/cheese.
  7. Repeat a few more times (depends on amount of pasta and sauce you have)
  8. Top layer: Add sauce and then cheese layer
  9. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 F for 30-40 minutes, then uncover and bake additional 15 minutes.
  10. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting and eating.

-StewsCat