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St. George Marathon

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Location:

Spanish Fork,UT,USA

Member Since:

May 24, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

In May 2010 I was large and started running. Now I'm much smaller :), -63 lbs.

PR's:

1/2 Marathon - 1:13:25

Marathon - 2:32:40

Short-Term Running Goals:

Merge road and trail running and adventure run bonkers.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Sub 2:30 marathon. Run my best at distances from half marathon to 100 miles.

Personal:

Happily married with 4 great kids. Running is but one of the amazing vehicles for connecting with others and celebrating life. Gratitude!

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: St. George Marathon (26.22 Miles) 02:32:40, Place overall: 19, Place in age division: 6
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.5026.200.000.0026.70

7 minute pr, so happy. 1:17:45, 1:14:55. Nailed my race plan :).

This year hasn't gone like I was hoping it would with the injury through the winter. I started really easy after Boston and tried to be smart and listen to my body. I've been able to put together a solid block, and although there are more improvements that can be made I'm really happy with how the race went.

Taper always plays tricks on me. My legs this time were ready for the reduction and they still felt like lead on Monday morning. I finally got that feeling of replenishment on Thursdays shakeout and knew after the short run Friday that I was ready. Mike Nelson's blog post on Friday made me equally parts excited and scared because there really was no excuse not to have a good race. I slept 11 hours Thursday night and actually slept well the night before. I ate exactly the same things the day before the race as I did last year. I ate the same breakfast as I did the morning of the 15 mile tempo in St. George a few weeks ago. I really felt like a million bucks when I walked out the door.

Dan Varga and family shared a condo with us. It was so cool to have him there! I hope his body is healing so that he can be out hammering it with the rest of us. Dan was kind enough to let my wife sleep in and take me to the bus area. We met up with Matt, Zak, and Scott. Dan wished us all good luck and then we were off.

We got to the start area and found Fritz. Fritz was wrapped in ,ylar and happy :). It was cold and windy but the flags were blowing in the right direction and I was getting really excited. Soon the whole gang was there plus many friends from the blog. This is such an experience for me to be among people that I have aspired to emulate for years now. Such a great atmosphere. Fun to meet some new faces as well. A highlight every single time.

By the time they lined us up I had worked myself up into a focused frenzy of goodness ha! Just before the gun went off I saw Spencer Evenson. He ran Hobble Creek with Scott and I (only he didn't fade at the end and ran the 1:12 I was shooting for). I asked him what his goal was and he said somewhere between 2:30 and 2:39 :). Perfect! Then the gun went off and we were running.

I started out stupid easy and watched many people pass me. I mentally wished the leaders, especially the UCC, a great race and just eased right into it. I remember thinking how strange it was to start a race with no niggles, fresh legs, and a solid training block. First two miles clicked off over 6:00 and then it was time to pick it up. Just before mile 3 I came up on Spencer. I told him no worries it was just me and he was excited. He said "let's work together and get after it", normally I really do like to run solo but it just felt right so I was game.

The pace kept getting faster those first 7 and felt really good. I got my first bottle -this whole bottle thing rocks by the way- and took the GU and washed it down. I shared the bottle with Spencer and then we started up Veyo. Based on Paul's spreadsheet for 2:32 the Veyo mile was planned at 6:37. Spencer and I had been already picking people off since mile 3 and we continued that up the hill. When the watch beeped and I looked at the split 6:14 my thought was "oops.. that's going to hurt later". I told Spencer that we had charged the hill and he said "great, let's keep it rolling". This was the turning point. A few simple words from someone with such confidence. It really calmed me down and so we did just that. We hit the climbs through Dammeron Valley just perfect, under plan :).

We ran until mile 20 like this. Super consistent and just rolling. The half split was 1:17:45, near exactly what I wanted on the 2:32, and we were feeling great. We just kept on the pace, offering each other encouragement, keeping the spirits high. "Relax the shoulders, run tall, eyes on the horizon, quick cadence, light feet," the positive banter form check fest :). I shared my bottles with him and gave him one of my spare GU's as he hadn't brought any and was just going to get them on the course. I got a nasty side ache around 16 and I really thought I would have to stop. He talked me through it and helped to get my breathing back and then it just went away... and we were rolling again. I really can't thank him enough. I'm not sure I would have ran this race the way I did today without him. At 19 I was looking for the bottle that wasn't there, no aid station was there... strange.

The aide finally showed up just before 20. I grabbed the bottle and took the GU, washed it down and then went to hand off the bottle but Spencer wasn't there. I slowed up to make sure he could get the fluids. As we passed the mile 20 marker I told him it was time to wipe the slate clean. Forget about the 20 miles we had ran. It was time to start fresh and race a 10k. I had 1:57:xx at the 20 so I told him, "35 minutes and we're done." It was time.

And that's what happened. My legs started to get tight around 22 and I thought I was going to hit the wall at any time but I was not going to let up. I would run to get that 2:32 until I my body said no. I could see two guys up ahead and told Spencer "let's try and catch them". I looked over and he was not there. Mentally I wished him a good final stretch and then started to work on catching the two. At 23 I knew I was going to catch them. I caught Clyde at around 24. I didn't know it was Clyde until he commented on my short recap. This was probably a good thing that I didn't know because I probably would have freaked out. Clyde has been a hero of mine on the blog since I joined. I know he had some issues that prevented him running at his potential but still finished a strong gutsy race. I know he'll be back stronger than ever next year. As I went by him I tried to get him to latch on and offered some encouragement but to no avail. I was closing on the next guy fast. I went by just before 25 and saw that it was Pepe. I offered some positive words but got a grunt in return :). The marathon is so unforgiving. I got to talk with him afterward. Super tough competitor!

At this point I knew that there was no wall. I knew nobody was going to close on me and that I was going to finish strong. I was filled with gratitude and was fired up! I rounded the corner to the chute and could see the clock and was overjoyed! I wanted to sprint but couldn't so I waved my arms up and smiled and got a huge response from the crowd. Now I could sprint! Crossed the line with a smile. Right after I crossed I saw Scott. He looked at me and said "are you freaking kidding me!?" I just yelled and put my hands in the air.

My wife and kids gave me some big hugs, awesome! My kids were so excited, they are the best! I couldn't help the tears of joy. My wife then made the best remark ever. She looked at me and said, "You had waayy too much energy in the chute, you must not have ran hard enough." Then we just started laughing :).

I am so happy for so many people. The crew! Fritz, Zak, Scott!!, Mike, Reed, Curtis-freaking-Epply! Matt ran a big PR and I know he had and still has many HUGE marathons in him. I know it wasn't the day he wanted but he'll be back with a vengeance!

So many friends had great races! Riley and Ben tore it up as well. Riley will get that huge breakthrough and how about The Comeback Kid Vanbeekum! Clyde will be back strong too! The course record Bryant threw down is astonishing, what a year for that guy. I was very happy for Emily running a debut 2:40, awesome! It was definitely a special day down there, I'm just glad I was a part of it.

Continued success to everyone!

I accomplished everything I wanted to which is a great feeling! My training partners have helped me to belive in myself and I know that I can go faster. I'm looking forward to refining the process and enjoying every step of the journey.

Splits: 6:06, 6:05, 5:49, 5:47, 5:47, 5:38, 5:34, 6:14, 6:10, 5:57, 6:14, 6:03, 5:44, 5:44, 5:37, 5:40, 5:33, 5:35, 5:54, 5:49, 5:27, 5:44, 5:46, 5:42, 5:52, 5:52, 1:22 (5:40 pace).

Saucony Fastwitch 6 Miles: 26.70
Comments
From JPark on Sat, Oct 05, 2013 at 13:17:36 from 174.253.176.75

Awesome Brandon! Well done. Looking forward to your report. Savor the day!

From SpencerSimpson on Sat, Oct 05, 2013 at 16:09:48 from 50.73.45.89

BRO! Words cannot sum the facts on this! I am smiling from Ear to Ear like a BD smile would be in total elation! You are headed for huge things over the coming years not to take away from this race today! So pumped for ya BD. Made it Happen!

From fiddy on Sat, Oct 05, 2013 at 16:34:42 from 97.117.87.43

I totally echo Spencer's "BRO!"...BRO!

From allie on Sat, Oct 05, 2013 at 16:35:44 from 97.117.87.43

congratulations, brandon.

From Dave Taylor on Sat, Oct 05, 2013 at 21:10:34 from 174.23.73.8

Yeah buddy! I wish I could have accompanied you up Veyo :)

From Ryan Achatz on Sat, Oct 05, 2013 at 22:27:15 from 174.23.254.54

Awesome race Brandon. Nice to meet you today.

From Jon on Sun, Oct 06, 2013 at 07:14:19 from 107.203.52.135

Huge PR, nice run!

From Josh E on Sun, Oct 06, 2013 at 11:06:21 from 64.17.87.27

Great execution, Brandon. Congratulations on a nice PR and equally impressive training and development.

From scottkeate on Sun, Oct 06, 2013 at 17:23:24 from 98.202.116.66

Congratulations for such a great performance! Your energy and training has been awesome. It's definitely kept my fire burning these last couple of months. So cool to see your race plan play out so perfectly.

I love watching you knock down one mental barrier after another. 5:50/mile for 26.2! How cool is that!! Super inspiring!

From Superfly on Sun, Oct 06, 2013 at 18:39:28 from 74.211.21.81

I was the guy at 24. I was dead. Great race and super finish. You looked strong!

From Fritz on Sun, Oct 06, 2013 at 19:48:43 from 67.177.4.64

It's so awesome that you nailed your goal time. There isn't a more deserving person. Your training, hard work and all around positive attitude is contagious. Thanks for being a such good example to us all.

From Jake K on Sun, Oct 06, 2013 at 20:52:04 from 67.177.11.154

Great job Brandon. Smart racing - sticking to the plan and it paid off bigtime. A lot of hard work went into this, so I'm glad you feel so good about it.

From Carina on Sun, Oct 06, 2013 at 22:17:36 from 204.15.86.83

Awesome Brandon, You rock!!

From emruns on Mon, Oct 07, 2013 at 07:16:49 from 67.186.252.90

Incredible, smart race, Brandon! I'm so happy for you! You train so hard, and I'm glad it payed off!

From mike⇒nelson on Mon, Oct 07, 2013 at 07:45:51 from 98.202.168.196

Perfect execution Brandon. I was so happy for you at the finish line. I've enjoyed training with you and look forward to more fun in the future. That sub 2:30 is in the near future.

From Rachelle on Mon, Oct 07, 2013 at 09:33:45 from 159.212.71.199

Such an outstanding performance Brandon. It is an absolute pleasure to watch you run. You are always smiling and your positive attitude is contagious. Congratulations!

From RileyCook on Mon, Oct 07, 2013 at 10:00:48 from 132.3.57.82

It certainly was a special day Brandon! I don't know what 2007 was like, but this had to rival it.

I am very happy for you. You are approaching new levels of fitness and you're just going to keep getting faster. Have confidence in that. Great job.

From Superfly on Mon, Oct 07, 2013 at 20:24:13 from 74.211.21.81

lol... thanks man.

From Kim on Mon, Oct 07, 2013 at 22:07:50 from 160.7.247.191

Way to represent Spanish Fork! I'm glad you were the winner of our Sp. Fork 1/2 marathon and to see you do so well at SGM!

From Andrea on Tue, Oct 08, 2013 at 09:45:29 from 72.37.171.52

Awesome race Brandon! Sounds like it was such a joyous experience and you deserved it. ALl the hard work paid off!

From josse on Wed, Oct 09, 2013 at 13:15:55 from 70.208.3.66

Awesome race, it's so fun to see your progress over the past few years.

From Matt Poulsen on Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 20:34:05 from 174.52.216.185

Excellent race, Brandon! And totally well-deserved. The sky's the limit!

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