Garmin had me at 3:51:38 for 26.44 miles. (Official time: 3:51:25). I'm disappointed that I didn't get the 3:45 I was looking for today. But I am happy with a 14 minute PR. I continue to get faster with age! My excuse for being off pace today is that my right IT band started flaring up around mile 8, and continued to get worse as the miles went by. Frustrating because it's been almost a year since I last had any ITB issues. Maybe the cut back in miles over the last three weeks caused it? I don't know. I was hoping that it would remedy itself by the time I got to the drop off point at the top of the canyon around mile 17, then I could make up some time on the downhill. But it just got worse. Still, getting through and finishing was as big a victory for me today as a 3:45 would have been. Maybe more so. Around mile twelve I briefly considered the possibility of getting my first DNF as I just couldn't get my mind around another 13 miles with the pain. I adjusted my form/stride to try and alleviate the situation, and that seemed to help. But the new, wacky form took it's toll on other parts of my body; by the time I got out of the canyon I was cramping all over. A major highlight of the race for me was around mile 22 where Allie Scott had made signs on bright poster boards for each of the FRB'ers running Ogden today. I saw this big yellow sign that said "JD" on it. I was so out of it, I had forgotten Allie was doing this and I thought to myself "hmm, what a coincidence, I'm JD too." As I got closer I saw Allie just in time to put the pieces together and swing over to say thanks and give her a high 5. A much needed boost. Thanks Allie! My splits ranged from 8:15 to 9:00 mpm, except the last two miles, which were 10:22 and 10:00. Would I have made my goal of 3:45 today if not for the ITB issue? I don't know. I do know that my lungs and breathing felt great. I could feel that energy that I do during a good workout. Maybe if I wasn't in pain I would've gone out too hard the first 18 miles and then blown up for the remaining 8 (like I did at TOU last Fall). It doesn't matter. Race day is all about what the day brings. During those last couple of miles I swore that I would never run another marathon. Now, a few hours later, I'm trying to decide on a Fall marathon so I can torture myself again. WHY? WHY DO WE DO IT? Congratulations to all the runners out there today!
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