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).
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