Originally volunteered as the 3:35 pacer because that was Becky's goal time for her first marathon. Her training went so incredibly well that she changed her goal time to 3:25. When I saw the 3:25 spot available I asked to move up to that time (actually talked into moving up). This made me very nervous. Hitting that time on this fast of a course was not a big concern physically but I haven't run a fast marathon in almost 3 years so I had a bit of a mental barrier I needed to get past. My other concern was that I haven't been through a proper marathon training cycle. The last few months have mostly been 3 days of boot camp and 3-4 days of running. I have had plenty of long runs (four 20+ mile runs) but my weekly mileage has been lacking. Logically, I knew I could easilty do it but there is always that irrational fear the you have to overcome.
Had a very adventurous bus ride to the start. Three miles from the start line, a bus took a hair pin turn to tight and got stuck and was completely blocking the road. Panic started to set in as we thought it would take at least an hour to clear the road. After 20 minutes of waiting around, they said to walk up the hill 1/2 mile and the 3 buses that had already made it to the start would shuttle us the rest of the way. Made it to the start line and being there alleviated a lot of the stress. Still had no idea when the race was going to start but at least we were where we needed to be. The race only started 30 minutes lates which was incredible considering what they had to deal with. As we were preparing to start the race, I stripped off my outer layer of clothes and threw the drop bag in the bus. About a minute later, I realized I left my GU belt in my bag. Had no idea what I was going to do. Wasn't about to rummage through 1,000 identical orange bags and there was no way I was getting through the race without GU. Becky had extra so I could take some from her but I really didn't want to take hers. Just hoping they would have some along the way.
Thought I was pacing alone so was happy to see Matt with the 3:25 sign. Pacing a marathon solo is stressful because so many things can go wrong along the way. Becky's plan was to stick with us for the first few miles so she wouldn't be tempted to go out too fast. We maintained a good, steady pace coming down the canyon. I could feel the downhill in my quads early in the race which caused a little concern. Even thought it is a severe downhill race, there were a few sections that flattened out that gave the downhill running muscles a break. After 9 miles, I could tell Becky was itching to go so I told her that she had done the smart thing by starting conservatively and if the effort felt easy that should could start easing forward but to not go more than 10-15 seconds per mile faster. She started to edge forward. I was excited for her. There was a good group that stuck with us for the first 16 miles of the race. A lot of them were trying to get their last minute Boston qualifying time. After exiting the canyon at mile 17 and a couple more miles of gradual downhill we turned onto Holladay Boulevard for the real work. Kept the same effort and let the pace slow. Our group of runners started to thin out. We had one girl from Texas that was with us stride for stride since the start and a couple of other guys still hanging on. As we got to the end of Holladay Blvd., at mile 22, I heard somebody say "I'm struggling". Looked up and it was Becky. Took me by surprise because I really didn't expect to see her. Started the internal battle of whether I should stay with her or stick with the 3:25 group. I really wanted this to be her thing and thought if I stayed with her it would take away from her accomplishment so I continued on. I'm sure it was the wrong decision and I regret it a little. We lost contact with the guys that were hanging on and just had the Texas girl with us. Matt and I continued on pace for the next few miles down 4500 S. and onto Highland drive. We were 45 seconds ahead of goal time which is ideal. At mile 24.5 I could tell we were holding the Texas girl back so I told Matt to run her in and I would stick to our pace. Shortly after this, I came across a former neighbor who was having issues with her piriformis. Talked to her for a second and she decided to stick with me the rest of the way. It was nice to be running with somebody I knew for the last stretch. Picked up another guy along the way and we stuck together the rest of the way. Hit the mlie 26 marker 40 seconds ahead of pace and was happy I was coming in so close to my goal time. The only problem was that the distance from the marker to the finish line was 0.4 miles. I ended up coming in 40 seconds late. Really glad I didn't have any Boston hopefuls with me. My best guess is that the total distance was correct but the mile markers were off. Either way, it really made hitting my goal time difficult.
Immediately after crossing the finish line I ditched my pacer sign and started running back to find Becky. Was so surprised to see her less than 1/2 mile from the finish line. Ran the last little bit with her and Tara. Hit the last turn and let her go so should could enjoy the last stretch on her own. Although she missed her "B" goal by a couple of minutes, she BQ'd by more than 7 minutes which is quite an accomplishment for her first marathon.
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