Hurt so good.

Okay so the Utah Valley Marathon. Drove down with Jon the night before to stay at Spencers house got up at the crack of dark to hit the buses at 4 in the morn. Got to the start of the race with about an hour to spare so I hit the bathroom and did about a half mile jog with Jason, Mike, Jon and Nate.

Race started went out way conservative and felt really relaxed hitting around 5:30 pace for the first seven miles. By the time we hit the first series of hills Nate and Ezekial? were already out in the lead and Jason, Mike and I were working together taking turns on the lead. We ended up coming into the half around 1:14 flatish so a little slower then I wanted and what we all wanted but we were fine. For the next two miles we started dropping the pace hoping for a 1:11 next half. As we approached mile 15 there was an incredibly strong head wind that wasnt allowing to hit the pace that we wanted to so we just had to go with what it was. We were hitting 6+ min miles when we shouldve been mid 5s. Anyways around mile 17 my stomach took a turn for the worse and had to hit the unfortunate bathroom break. Which sucks because I thought I got a way with it on this race. Came out of the bathroom and I could see Mike and Jason about a quarter mile down. So I just took off and to be honest I felt awesome. I slowly set my sites on Mike to see if I could at least catch him and finish with him. Around mile 20 before we exited the canyon I caught Mike so it took 3 miles. I ran with him a bit and told him that we could catch Jason because it looked like he was coming back to us. So I just stayed patient and Jason slowly started coming back to me around mile 22 I got close enough to make my move and passed him and didnt say a word, I just gave him five and went on my way. I felt really good the last 4 miles and just settled in which was a mistake because a little under mile 26, Matt Poulsen was on the side and he was yelling at me to go because I had someone on my tail that was coming in hot! So I guess it was a race to the finish. I just took a deep breath and took off and finished the last half mile in under 5 min pace. Hit the finish line and about fell over! Overall 3rd place was great. I felt thats where I belonged because Nate and Ezekial were in better shape today. I wish the wind wasnt there today, I felt like have prepared myself for a sub 2:25 and it was definitely obtainable. But thats the marathon sometime you race against the elements instead of racing for time. Just glad things worked out for the best today. 

Great finishes today by Mike , Jason. Jon who I felt ran the best race of the day running 2:33 with a 6 min PR. Spencer, Tony and everyone else. Good to see my running family like always!