Chapter 11
Back, again…
Year recap (brief)
It has been
awhile, three years in fact. It is amazing, frightening, sad, etc. how quickly
time can slip through your fingers. I think the hourglass is truly the best
timepiece. A lot has happened between TOU ’09 and TOU ’12. I am still in UT
although that was up in the air for a while and not sure what is next at this
point but I have a good option on the table. Sandra
and I finally found time to enjoy the state we live in and took a camping trip
to southern UT and a number of other day trips to closer sites. She has also
taken to running and in many ways has surpassed me in her dedication to the
sport, even bringing strength training back into the house!
So here is the
story of my ’12 marathon, number eleven on my list. As is my usual tradition,
marathon race reports are a time of reflection for me on my year in running and
life in general. The biggest news from the running standpoint is that I’m doing
it again. In 2010 and 2011 combined I only had 9 weeks of 50 miles or more.
This year alone I have 13 weeks above 50 miles with 5 weeks above 70. I even
started the year with a PR in the 5K. Now this is a ridiculously aided course
but still I’m 34 now and I was running about ½ the mileage of what I was
running when I set the previous record. The year continued to go well with my 4th
fastest half marathon in August. At one point I thought a marathon PR was
possible but doubts did creep in from time-to-time. I was heading up to Logan
again to once more attempt TOU. It is a great course and well-organized race.
Pre-race
First
and foremost I have to thank Cody and his family for opening their house and
kitchen to my family. After school on Friday we loaded up in the car and headed
up to Logan. It was a nice drive and when we arrived we drove the portion of
the racecourse Sandra and the girls were going to cheer me on the next day.
After packet pickup we headed to Cody’s and his family was in the front yard
ready to meet us. The girls loved playing with his kids and we had a wonderful
carbo-loading pasta dinner and salad. After the kids went down for dinner Cody
went with me for a 3-mile shakeout run along the Planet Walk trail. Logan has
sure been kind to me and between Cody and Scott it has been great to stay with
bloggers pre-race. After some more nice conversation I did my prerace routine
and got some sleep, restful with only one wake-up. No morning star. Cody was
kind enough to wakeup early to bring me up to the race start. I sat next to
“Mike” someone running his 32nd marathon with two Wasatch 100s under
his belt. It made for some good conversation. After getting off the bus I ran
into another Knox alum at the start. This was funny, but was because I was
wearing my Knox ski hat. At the start I tried for that star but still no go. So
it was off to the start area and deciding what to do. This was very difficult.
I had made the mistake of mentioning 2:40 out loud before really examining my
training fully. Although it may have been possible I think the way it played
out was the best. I had good conversation with a number of people including
Albert, Allie, Jake, James, Ben, and a number of others. I eyed Ben and his
group aiming for the 2:40 and Allie shooting for 2:50 and decided to try and
stay between these two groups. This was a last minute decision but I stand by
it and I hope you will see that it worked out for the best.
The Race
The
weather was perfect for a marathon, cold but not unbearable. I was dressed
properly after my experience at the half. Thanks to Andrea for suggesting the
sock sleeves, that really did the final trick. I was wearing my compression
socks, shorts, jersey, sock sleeves, gloves, and a headband. The start felt so
smooth and between the group, the downhill, the taper in my legs, it felt so
effortless to run 6ish pace. It took effort to stay back but I did. The first
mile was side-by-side with Allie. Also, Will (a person that passed and beat me
late in the TOU1/2 three weeks earlier) pulled up and said hi. We spoke for a
bit and decided to run together. We gradually caught up with James’ group and
ran together for the next two miles. Could see Ben upfront and hear Allie just
back so right were I wanted to be. But the bathroom was calling and I decided
to stop. The mistake I made was to rush out of the port-a-pottie and gun back
up to James, Will,
Kevin,
etc. Even with the bathroom break that mile was still 6:16
so I was cruising. Luckily that didn’t kill me but I’m sure put a dent in my
tank. The next 5 miles were so relaxing. I just stayed with the pack we had and
watching Cynthia the lead woman. Then at mile 12, bathroom called again. Very
upsetting but made the stop. This time I was not going to gun it back up and
took nearly three miles to catch backup. At mile 14 is the first place you can
really have spectators and my three girls were waiting there for me. It was
great to see their smiling faces and get a Gu and water. Cody was also there
and rode along with me for a little giving me some updates on the race. It was
helpful. After that decided to finally make it to Will and what was left of the
pack. I did this and continued on with them. These two miles were quick. When
we pulled out onto Main Street we were hauling. Scott came up to run with us
some but we were moving… Just before turning off Main Street my three girls
were there again and after a little dancing to the music set-up there I got
another Gu and water. I tried to keep with the pack as long as I could but
after this turn I started to fall back. The next miles are some of the hardest
in the race but I stayed strong. This was MUCH MUCH better than I had felt
during miles 21 and 22 in this race back in ’09. Back on Main Street and a few
zig-zags. Saw the girls two more times before the finish. Was VERY happy to see
that I had sub-2:45 in the bag. Official time is 2:44:44, 12th
overall, and 2nd age group. I finally got a bigger moose! Thank you to TOU for putting on a top notch race.
Post-race
More
chatting with bloggers, soak in the stream, massage, and back to Cody’s for a
shower. Then we headed one more time to the park for the awards ceremony.
Congrats to a number of bloggers, especially Jake for his overall win! Hit the
road with a McDonald’s stop and to a birthday party. Crashed hard after dinner
and just enough energy to get this entry out. My reflection on the race at this
time is very positive. Even with the 2:40 mentioned I always had the 2:45 in
mind for this my first race back. My printout for my splits was 2:40, 2:45, and
2:50 so I more or less nailed my predicted. But more importantly than that I
ran it in a controlled fashion and actually enjoyed the last portion. I look
forward to my next marathon and hopefully getting a good 4-6 months of solid
mileage in for it instead of 4-6 weeks… Thank you to everyone who supported me
during this training cycle and were there with me on the course today in body
or spirit.
NERDY STUFF
Numbers, numbers, and more
numbers. First, this was the 14th TOU Marathon. My number was 14. So
the race number the moose on the medal is wearing is number 14. That was great.
Also, comes the pressure of wanting to finish at or below the number. So the 12th
place finish was also very nice. ]My Garmin output is below. As is my comparison of the course tool splits and
my previous TOU splits.
One of the most exciting parts is
the difference between the first 13 miles and the last 13 miles. A whopping 49
seconds!
First 13 1:20:40 Second 13
1:21:29
On to the splits, only 8
were slower than target pace and of those 4 were within 10 seconds. More numbers are posted on Monday for post-race reflection.
Split comparison
Garmin info
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