Ran top of Utah Marathon!!
splits were 6:33, 6:45, 6:43, 6:43, 6:54, 6:57, 6:55, 6:37, 6:44, 6:50, 6:46, 6:33, 6:28, 6:27, 6:27, 6:45, 6:40, 6:43, 7:03, 7:28, 7:01, 7:15, 7:47, 7:39, 7:40, 7:39, .46=3:16, (my garmin showed that the race was about .26 too long-oh well) * First half 1:29:10, 2nd half 1:34:55
Was excited to get to Logan Friday afternoon as I graduated from USU and it has been soo long since I have been there. Had a crappy nights sleep due to our room being 82 degrees-it took us all night to realize the heater was turned on. The baby kept waking up and crying also-oh well. The sound of the alarm at 4:10 seemed oh so early.
Woke up and quickly got dressed and ready- caught the early bus and was one of the first ones there. (surprise, surprise-I am always usually late-but not today!) The ride up seemed sooo long. 26.2 miles long to be exact. Talked to a girl sitted by me which helped calm my nerves. Once I got there-I went in the warm heated tents-it felt sooo good as it was sooo cold up top. Took another bathroom break-sprayed my legs down with muscle mist and threw my clothes bag in the bus and it was time to start..The nerves were definitely setting in.
My first mile was a 6:33 and it seemed soo slow.. I knew this was a good sign-but hoped I didn't go out too fast. Realized within the first couple miles my garmin was .1-.2 off. This was frustrating as I had my watch set to auto lap and the mile markers always came after my watch went off. There were about 10 or so girls ahead of me. I told myself to relax and took the next two to three miles to get into a rythm/pace. I was running by myself-but stayed close to the girl ahead of me. Took my first gu at mile 9-still feeling great! Running down the canyon was soo relaxing and beautiful. I felt amazing-and just kept telling myself to relax and not go too fast. I just cruised to the beat of my music. Sara Frey (who placed second) caught up with me around mile 8 or so and we ran together for the next 8 or 9 miles. Towards the end of the canyon-the tailwind was strong and I could feel it pushing me faster. It was awesome. These were some of my fastest miles. I was amazed as I kept looking at my watch and 3 miles straight were under 6:30.
I ran my first half in 1:29 and realized I was about 2 minutes faster than I expected to be. yeah! Saw my hubby for the first time at mile 14-I was happy to see him! Mile 15 took another Gu. (I swear Gu's really help) The next couple miles seemed to go by fast-I saw Julie Esplin around mile 14-15 and kept trying to catch up to her-but she always seemed to stay just ahead of me. I kept waiting for the "wall" to start hitting me-but I still felt awesome. Saw my parents and fam again around 17-18. Still feelin good. I realized at this time I was on pace to go under 3 hours if I kept it up. The next couple miles were the worst as it is mostly flat to slght uphill. I just kept telling myself to stay mentally strong and try to catch the girl in front of me (julie). The hill at mile 19 wasn't bad at all-and at least it was followed by some down hill. Took another gu at mile 19. I didn't really start hurting until mile 22 or so-but I kept telling myself that I was almost there. At this point my pace started getting alot slower-but I was excited bc I knew I was on pace to go well under the time I expected to run. At this point Julie started leaving me and I got passed by MaryAnne S. (who finished 5th). Oh well-I knew I was still running a good time so I just tryed to stay strong. Took another gu at mile 24. This helped me make it home. Main street was fun as there were lots of spectators. There was no greater feeling then turning the corner and seeing the finish line. With my legs on fire- I ran as hard as I could toward that line. 3:03:15. yeah!
It was great to see my hubby, kids, mom, dad and sister right after. They were excited for me. I felt really great about this race as my goal was to run 7:10-7:15 pace. I ran 6:59 pace-so I was really happy with it. I ended up being the 7th girl (my time would have been second last year) and 1st in my age group. Anyway, today I am feeling the aftermath of being sore-but I am still on cloud nine. I want to run St george next year and hopefully break 3 hours. Anyway-it was a fun race and I recommend anyone running TOU.
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