St George Marathon... 3:23:46 Started the race right at the pace I wanted. I ran with the 3:05 pace group since they were running my pace. They did my starting pace for the first 2 miles. Maybe I should have backed off the pace group when they started to speed up on mile 3. I felt really good and I decided then that I would see were this will go. By the time we got to the top of Veyo hill I was in great shape. After that I should have dropped off the pacer because he pushed hard through the Dammeron Valley hills. I ran that section much harder than I planned. But, the pace didn't seem to bother me. I knew I lost my energy when I couldn't pick up the pace after the half way point. I was still feeling good. I was almost 3 minutes ahead of myself at this point. Even though my pace was lower during the next 10K I was still slightly under my time by mile 19. The next 7 miles was a different story. I was so numb and dizzy the last 4 miles I didn't care anymore. I wish I knew how to break through that. I do this too often during the last 6 miles of a marathon. I lost almost 2 minutes per mile after mile 21. I missed my finish time by 9 minutes. I am still happy with my finish, but I want to get that faster time! My drive to run faster needs to exceed my desire to quit early on races. At least I have another year to work towards my goals. I will just have to keep running!!! Splits: 7:33, 7:25, 6:53, 6:56, 7:02, 6:54, 6:59, 7:58(Veyo hill), 7:31, 7:20, 7:33, 7:38, 7:18 (half), 7:38, 7:21, 7:09, 7:19, 7:58, 8:37, 7:39, 7:36, 9:01, 8:37, 8:12, 9:56, 9:55, and 8:18(last 0.2) |