I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this race. Going into it, I didn’t know if I should shoot for a PR (3:11:34) or just be happy with Boston qualifying time (3:15:59). My marathon pace runs during this training cycle have not gone well so my confidence was lacking. I decided that I would start with a 7:20-7:25 pace through mile 15 and then decide how I feel. If things were going well, I would open it up and shoot for the PR. If not, I would try to maintain a decent pace the last 10 miles and hope for a 3:15. Other than it being a little cold at the start and finishing into a slight headwind, the weather was ideal for racing. A lot more people signed up than the organizers expected and they were unable to get everybody bussed to the start on time. Because of this, the start was delayed 30 minutes. While waiting, the race director makes the following announcement: “Please stop urinating in the fields. The police are going to start issuing tickets.” We were up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere and they were concerned about people peeing in the cow pastures. Finally, the cannon goes off and we are under way. Miles 1 through 5: This section is predominantly downhill so it takes a little self control to hold back the pace. Around mile 3, something didn’t feel right. Nothing hurt but I just felt a little off. By the 5th mile, I started to warm up and felt a lot better. (All splits are according to my Garmin which was about 0.1 miles off for most of the race). 1: 7:19 2: 7:21 3: 7:16 4: 7:19 5: 7:26 Miles 6 through 10: Much of the same. Flat to downhill and am just cruising along. The course flattens out around mile 8 then continues with some rolling hills (felt like more uphill than downhill). 6: 7:22 7: 7:23 8: 7:24 9: 7:22 10: 7:20 Miles 11 through 15: This section was hillier than I thought. It looks flat on the elevation chart but it felt like a climb most of the way. It ended with a good ¼ mile climb during the 15th mile. On the big climb, I just tried to maintain my position in the pack. Hit the half in 1:37 so I was right on target. 11: 7:28 12: 7:28 13: 7:25 14: 7:27 15: 7:41 Miles 16 through 20: Time to assess how I feel and decide whether or not to push. I am not feeling as strong as I would like and decide to hold my current pace until 20. By mile 18, I start feeling numb all over. This happened last year at SLCM and I eventually hit the wall and had to do some walking. I am not to the point where I feel like I need to walk but I am afraid that it may be coming. This section is mostly downhill which I think helped push back the wall. 16: 7:16 17: 7:22 18: 7:11 19: 7:25 20: 7:25 Miles 21 through 25: There are times when I am ready to throw in the towel. I feel like I have come to a complete halt but I am maintaining my position in the pack (not passing anybody but not being passed). Just keep plugging along as much as possible. I get a burst of energy from somewhere and end up running a couple of good miles. Start to think that I will have a strong finish and a decent time. I move ahead of the group that I have been running with. Was getting tired of seeing them anyway. Hit mile 25 and reality hits me. As much as I want, I just can’t get my legs to turn over. Just hope to hold pace under 8:00 to the finish. 21: 7:35 22: 7:36 23: 6:54 24: 7:15 25: 7:44 The last 1.2: Doing everything that I can to keep the legs moving. Looks like everybody else is doing the same. Even though my pace has slowed, nobody is catching up to me. In fact, I pass a few people. Hit the 26 mile marker and see 2 runners in front of me. I decide to kick it into another gear and catch up to them. As I am passing them, I see my wife on the sideline. Swerve over to give her five and realize that the 2 guys I just passed have started their kick. I kick it up a notch and we are off to the races. One guy pulls away slightly but the other guy and I finish at the same time. Lesson learned: the time for celebrating is after you cross the finish line. As it turns out, both guys started a couple of seconds before me so I actually placed ahead of them. 26: 7:59 26.2: 1:32 +0.2 Garmin error: 1:32 Chip Time: 3:15:47 Average Pace: 7:28 Garmin Distance: 26.4 miles Overall Place: 50 out of 990 Division Place: 12 The course measured a little long on my Garmin which I attribute to the winding nature of the course. I expected to finish a couple minutes faster than this so I am a little disappointed. In reality it is probably pretty accurate for the shape that I am in. This was the first of 5 marathons that are part of the Utah Grand Slam. I am currently in 7th place overall. Funny enough, the guy that I crossed the finish line with is also running the grand slam. Guess I will have to keep an eye out for him at future races. | 