I have been looking forward to the Ogden Marathon for some time now as I have wanted to prove that I can run faster than my PR of 3:11:20 at TOU. I had a lofty goal of sub 2:50, but knew that if all pieces fell into place I could run even faster than that. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but I am still pleased with an 18 min PR. Good to get the 3-hour monkey off the back.
I ran 2:52:45 - 16th overall and 4th in my age group. Results are HERE:
After a brief warmup and some standing around, the race started out nicely, close to being on time and in ideal conditions. My splits are according to the course markers.
Mile 1: 6:08 - Maybe a tad fast, but on a nice downhill
Mile 2: 6:23 - A tad slower than what I was wanting.
Mile 3: 6:14 - Right on pace now.
Mile 4: 6:16 - I ran for quite some time (till mile 17) with a student from Weber
Mile 5: 6:16 - Still feeling great
Mile 6: 6:17 - Sun is out full bore and I am now noticing it. I was drinking from almost every aid station or dumping cold water on me as I knew I would need to stay hydrated and cool.
Mile 7: 6:14 - I don't remember anything about this mile
Mile 8: 6:14 - No more downhill now ...bummer
Mile 9: 6:37 - Too slow on the hills
Mile 10: 6:17 - Over compensated a tad.
Mile 11: 6:34 - Was trying to figure out if it was worth it to take a bio break as I felt the need pretty strong thru here. Ended up not stopping.
Mile 12: 6:23 - Felt better this mile
Mile 13: 6:33 - Net Uphill mile I believe
Half Marathon: 1:23:10 - Was shooting for 1:23. I am happy but I can tell that I am getting pretty tired and am having to work way to hard for the times. But I can run 1:26:50 for the second half and meet my goal.
Mile 14: 6:23 - Was energized running thru the crowd at the half start
Mile 15: 6:49 - Up the big hill and back down the other side. Was not as hard as I thought it would be. Still very uneasy about my energy levels. I have taken 3 gu's by now and power aid at most aid stations to try and keep my legs going. I dumped water on my head at every aid station from here to the finish (there were a lot of stations..that was nice)
Mile 16: 6:30 - Losing it slowly
Mile 17: 6:37 - I got dropped by my running buddy. Just couldn't go any faster.
Mile 18: 6:21 - Was looking forward to this mile for so long that when I saw my split, I was bummed as it had a great downhill and I couldn't take advantage of it fully.
Mile 19: 6:40 - Down the canyon but still slowing down....Oh boy
Mile 20: 7:01 - I have lost it now. I can't move, I actually almost passed out here. I was wobbly and almost stopped to walk, I was so out of it.
Mile 21: 6:55 - Still slow, but I can see straight now.
Mile 22: 6:47 - Trying so hard to go under 2:50...Can I do it?
Mile 23: 6:39 - I had hoped to stay under 6:30's thru here and can't go any faster
Mile 24: 7:22 - Somewhere in mile 23, my body shut down and mile 24 was pathetic. My HR dropped with the pace, but I couldn't get the body to go. I am in survival mode. I know now that 2:50 is not happening, but am still giving it my all.
Mile 25: 7:33 - Same thing
Mile 26: 7:09 - I know I am almost done, but no gas in the tank. Sasha ran me in for a good half mile. That helped me a ton. What a great gesture! I was grateful for the support
Finish: 1:18 (6:00 pace) Wow I hurt. I need water....HR climbed up to 188 on last mile.
I would say that the "wall" met me around mile 18 or so. I was able to keep moving, but not at the pace I wanted. If I had gone out slower, maybe I could've avoided the wall, but I had to put myself out there to try and go for it. I did what I had set out to do and the chips didn't fall into place for a sub 2:50. However, I am sure I ran my best possible race for the day and I am very pleased with it. Who can argue with such a large improvement over less than a years span? Last year at this time I was running < 15 miles a week and couldn't have run a 10K under 40 minutes to save my life.
I was very happy for the other bloggers who did so well. So many people ran well in-spite of warm temperatures. Good job to everyone, but especially to Paul who deserves the validation of his hard work and gets to see the fruit of his labors. What a day! | 