Well to start off I need to give some thanks. To my wife for always being a trooper. To family and friends for supporting my wife and I. Also to The St. George Running Center for the support they have given me through the year, and to Sasha and the FastRunningBlog for helping all of us improve soo much. I really feel like today I was blessed to run out of my league and without the help from everyone else I wouldn’t have made it. We were honored to have Paul and Stacy stay with us for the weekend. So I had Paul to get ready with on Saturday morning and then we headed over to the park to pick up Dave. Paul, Dave and I jumped on a bus that was leaving right at 5 a.m. We got up to the start and had plenty of time to talk, stretch, and go to the porta potty 4 times- well I did anyways. The race started and Logan, Dave and I were planning on sticking together and getting to the half by no faster than 1:13 and no slower than 1:15. We ended up just being right with the second group who were going for a “B” qualifier. Unlike other marathons I’ve run this year the miles just flew by. It was like the race started at Veyo. I couldn’t believe how soon we were there. A little ahead of schedule for my plans but I though this will allow me to run the hills easy and give me some breathing room. That’s pretty much what happened. As we started our assent up Veyo and then up through Dammeron Valley I just tried to relax and not push it. In doing so I got dropped by everyone we were running with. Oh well I thought- As I checked my watch I was still way ahead of my sub 2:30 goal. I hit the half at 1:13:40 and everyone was long gone although I did pick off a couple runners I didn’t know right before the half. Back about mile 9 I got this double side ache/ stomach cramp that pretty much limited me to run no faster than 5:30 pace this went on until around 14 or 15. So during these miles I just tried to run within myself and focus on breathing and a very efficient stride. I was loosing ground on everyone ahead of me by the second. Then by 15 or so the discomfort had passed and I jumped back on the bus and was trying to hunt down a few guys. I caught the lead Japanese guy around 16, and two more guys I don’t know by the Winchester Hill. At the top of the hill I had a drink at the aid station and was very hesitant to down much of it because of the issues I’d had with my stomach a few miles back. So I took about a forth of a GU and one sip of my water bottle mix and chucked it. Now down into miles 20, 21, 22 I catch and pass one other guy who I don’t know and as I get to the big turn around the 22nd mile I can see that I’m coming up on Dave H. and Steve A. As they rounded the corner I could see Steve drafting off Dave and then I myself hit the headwind that they were fighting. I made my way up that little hill and caught both of them as it flattens off before it starts to drop off again. By this time I was hurting and knew that my time was slim- I said a few words to Dave but I couldn’t break my stride of I would have been done- kind of a use it or loose it type thing. Steve A. took off as soon as I got to him and I just tried to manage my pace down into town and through all the turns to the finish. All summer I’ve thought about what the time would be when I got there- on the clock that is at the one mile to go mark. I always though “man that would be so nice to get there and see it at 2:20.” That way I’d for sure break 2:30 only having to run just under a10 min/ mile for the last one. Well when I saw the clock it was 2:19:30 or so. I was so happy. I refocused and though I’d push this as hard as I could and run a 2:25 something….I just made it 2:25:50. What a great day and race. I honestly just wanted to break 2:30 and next year try running a 2:25. So now I’m not sure what I want to run next year. Oh well for now it doesn’t matter. I’m just floored that I ran it that fast and feel so blessed to have been able to train so hard all year and stay healthy and have the support of my family. As I said earlier the miles just seemed to fly by so my mile –to-mile memory is very blurry. First half- 1:13:40 Second half- 1:12:10 1. 5:29 2. 5:32 3. 5:21- Everything going as planned through here but I don’t look at time until mile five 4. 5:19 5: 5:25-Cruising along with the pack 6. 5:20 7. 5:22- Are we really in Veyo already? 8. 6:13- Time to back off and relax up the hills 9. 5:55- Stomach pains start until about 14- so no I’m in survival mode 10. 5:49 11. 6:02 12. 5:47- It seemed these hills would never end today and I’m soo glad to be done 13. 5:30- At the half I’m ahead of schedule so I’m smiling 14. 5:32- Start feeling better and time to push this downhill 15. 5:22 16. 5:19 17. 5:23 18. 5:21- Rolling along 19. 5:42- Winchester uphill 20. 5:25- 1:51:10 at mile 20- A new 20 mile PR! 21. 5:14- This kind of mile in a Marathon? Who is this guy? 22. 5:37 23. 5:32 24. 5:38 25. 5:38- Coming through town I’m hanging by a thread but there will be no Wall today! 26. 5:49- Sub 2:30 is going to happen today and I’m starting to get emotional I forgot to turn my watch off so the last .2 miles split was all messed up. After finishing up I couldn’t fight off the tears. I had broken 2:30 and the months of hard training since the end of February had paid off. Between my emotions and the cool air at the finish my body went into a small shock. For the next hour or so I was aided by others, some wanting to put an (iv in me). That wasn’t happening. | 