I'm writing this 2 days after the fact and after thinking things through for a while. With that in mind, I guess I should start with the positives: (1) I got a new PR by about 60 seconds; (2) I ran some pretty strong miles along the way; (3) I took a risk early on and managed to hang on without completely crashing; (4) I managed a PR even after having my hamstrings start cramping at 18; (5) for my first marathon in 3 years, I did pretty well; (6) Brooke (my wife) BQ'd by over 5 minutes; (7) Katie (my sister) finished her first marathon; (8) I had lots of support from friends and family; and (9) it was a gorgeous day for a marathon.
Now for the gritty details.
As usual, I hardly slept on Friday night. I went to bed early and fell asleep relatively quickly, but there was still a fair amount of activity all around me, and I woke up a couple of times and had difficulty getting back to sleep. When I did fall asleep, it would only be for short intervals, followed by seemingly long periods of wakefulness. I tried to stay relaxed, but I didn't succeed too well. When my alarm went off at 4:15, I was up immediately. I ate half of a plain bagel for breakfast and started sipping water. Brooke, Katie and I got on the bus around 4:55. I was feeling pretty upbeat and excited about the race. I ate a banana and kept sipping water. I didn't chat too much on the bus, but went over my race strategy a few times in my mind. For the record, this was the plan: (1) 0-7: relax and keep pace between 5:35-5:38; (2) 7-14: on the hilly section, don't obsess about pace or splits--just recognize that I'll give a couple of minutes back here and don't kill myself trying to maintain even splits; (3) 14-20: ease back into marathon pace of 5:40 or better; (4) 20-24: start hammering and take advantage of the strong downhill; and (5) 24-finish: give everything I have left. If everything went perfectly, I wanted to run under 2:30.
Here's how things played out in reality:
Warmup was great. I loved having access to the elite runner area, particularly the favorable runner-to-port-a-potty ratio. The easy access to the fire barrels was also nice. About 45 minutes before the gun, I ate half of a Power Bar (some orange smoothie thing that actually tasted better than disgusting for a change) and started stretching lightly. About 30 minutes before, I started some light jogging in the elite corral. About 5 minutes before, I decided to ditch the long-sleeve tee-shirt and get rid of my drop bag. The drop bag area was a bit of a disaster, since everyone seemed to have waited as long as I did to discard their gear in an effort to stay warm. A huge mass of humanity was crowding the two U-Haul trailers, and as the gun time approached, people just started hurling their bags in the direction of the trailers, sometimes hitting fellow runners in the process. After I had discarded mine, I felt like a salmon swimming upstream trying to get back to the corral. Fortunately, I did so without getting trampled or smothered, and in plenty of time to get a good spot near the front. I had decided to run with my Garmin but without my HR monitor strap. (I didn't want to fuss with it and wanted to focus on running based on feel, not on data.)
After the horn, I took off at a reasonably quick clip, hoping to avoid any early jostling or tripping. No problem there. About 400 meters in, I heard Sasha's voice coming up behind me, saying, "Dallin, I think that's a little fast," or something like that. Figuring that Sasha would run a first mile of 5:10 or so, I figured that my pace was way too fast, so I backed off a little. As Sasha caught me, I said hello. I never saw him again until the finishing area.
Mile 1: 5:50 - I didn't look down for this one and wasn't going to worry about my first split, since I just wanted to establish a good rhythm).
Mile 2: 6:09 - I turned on my Garmin light and saw this one and panic set in. I had just settled in with a small group whose pace felt just about right. When I saw how slow this mile was, I realized that 2:30 was not in the cards for this race. Even this slow pace felt very quick. Nevertheless, I was not willing to throw in the towel this early, so I threw in a surge to see if I could recover from a slow split without killing myself.
Mile 3: 5:36 - I suspect my HR jumped quite a bit on this mile, but I felt okay. However, for being my first split in my target range, it certainly didn't feel relaxed. I knew at this point that I would be working for a more modest goal, but figured I'd just do my best to follow my race strategy to the half, then reevaluate there. I took my bottle from the elite station and ripped off my first Enervitene packet. I ran with it for about a mile, then took a couple of small sips.
Mile 4: 5:35 - Still not relaxed, but feeling pretty strong and still wanting to run as close to 2:30 as possible.
Mile 5: 5:42
Mile 6: 5:24 - I think I passed a couple of people during this mile, which would explain the increased tempo.
Mile 7: 5:30 - Took a few sips from my bottle and grabbed my second Enervitene packet. The crowds in Veyo boosted my spirits.
Mile 8: 6:40 - Veyo. I got passed here by a guy I had passed during mile 6, but I didn't care. The plan was to avoid going anaerobic up the hill and to prepare for the real start of the race at 14. I took a full packet of Enervitene here.
Mile 9: 6:19 - I think this was the point at which I started to feel a headwind. It wasn't terribly strong, but strong enough that I wished I had a group to share the work with.
Mile 10: 6:11 - Still trying to work the hills without blowing up.
Mile 11: 6:40 - The hill here wasn't as steep as Veyo, but it felt pretty challenging, especially with the headwind. I took a few sips from the bottle again and held onto the next Enervitene packet.
Mile 12: 6:17 - Still watching the guy who had passed me on Veyo as he traded leads with a Latino runner who had a very distinct, forward-leaning form. Gradually finished another Enervitene.
Mile 13: 5:53 - Finally done with the hilly section. Starting to warm up the pace a little.
Half: 1:18:42 - At this point, it was clear that 2:30 would have to wait for another year. After taking a little inventory, I decided that running under 2:35 was a worthy goal that was within my reach. I decided to give myself a little bit of a buffer on the next section, figuring that as long as I could hold between 5:40 and 5:50 through 20, I'd have enough energy to really hammer the final 10k.
Mile 14: 5:56 - I don't remember what happened here except that it took me a lot longer to get my gloves off and safely stored in the rear pockets of my shorts than it should have. I passed the guy who had passed me on Veyo but couldn't see the Latino runner anywhere. I never saw him again, so I assume he must have really turned it on from about 13 on.
Mile 15: 5:40 - Right on pace. Took a few sips from my water bottle at the aid station and held onto the next Enervitene packet.
Mile 16: 5:32 - 2:35 still felt well within reach. Starting to feel the burn, though. I think this is where I passed a new guy I hadn't seen before. As I caught him, I asked how he was doing. He replied, "Just one of those days." I offered him my Enervitene, but he said he was okay. I think it may have been Dave Holt?
Mile 17: 5:43 - Still going reasonably strong.
Mile 18: 5:52 - I started feeling some real tightness in my right hamstring, about halfway down.
Mile 19: 6:23 - I think this is where the hill takes you up beneath the Ledges Parkway overpass. As I climbed the hill, I really felt the effort, and my right hamstring started to cramp. I used a good portion of the water in my bottle to spray on my leg in an effort to ease the cramping.
Mile 20: 6:02 - The cramping started in my left hamstring here. I've never had cramping in a race before, so this was surprising and disappointing. I started to feel my stride shorten as the hamstrings seized up, and my pace slowed commensurately. I came through 20 at 1:59:04. From this point on, I started taking a water cup at almost every aid station and splashing it on my legs.
Mile 21: 5:45 - This would have been much faster (probably 5:25 or so) without the hamstring problems, since the grade is pretty steep.
Mile 22: 6:11 - I got passed here and had no response.
Mile 23: 6:08 - I was just trying to hang on at this point, but the pain had affected my stride enough that I couldn't seem to squeeze more speed out.
Mile 24: 6:04 - Passed again. Why did I choose this sport, anyway?
Mile 25: 6:22 - Really hurting, and pretty oblivious to the time.
Mile 26: 6:15 - Trying to pull a little more speed out.
Last 0.2: 6:07/mi pace. And that was with a bit of a modest kick through the finishing corral.
Finish: 2:37:04. This is petty, but I am pretty mad that I didn't find 5 more seconds so that I could tell myself that my new PR was 2:36 instead of 2:37. The Garmin displays only hours and minutes, and I couldn't see the clock (I am near-sighted) until it was too late, but that probably didn't matter anyway--the only thing I cared about at this point was finishing the stupid race. Still, it bugs me. (My old PR was similar: 2:38:02.)
Had I finished under 2:35, I think I would have called the race a near-complete success. Although I am pleased that I managed a PR in spite of the hamstring problems, I am disappointed to have put an entire season into training for this event only to have found another 60 seconds at St. George. I'm going to take some time to think about where to go from here. Right now I'm considering a few tweaks to my training. First, I think I need to rotate between hill work and speed work. I lost all kinds of time on the hills and my training consistently showed that my HR jumped when I was climbing. I think I need to address that weakness if I want to hit my goal. Second, I think I need more long slow distance and higher mileage. I felt exhausted and lethargic during much of my training, and I think that may have been a result of doing too much training at high intensity and not enough mileage at a comfortable pace. For me, I don't train as well when I'm not enjoying myself, and much of my training this summer felt like drudgery. I want to rediscover the joy of running, and for me that means more time at a lower intensity. Third, I think I need to swallow my pride and incorporate some shorter racing into my training. As it is, my goal race pace feels like 5k or 10k pace to me, and that's no way to run 26.2 miles. I need to get back to a place where 5:40 feels slowish, and where I can run a 5k at a significantly faster pace than I can run a marathon. (Keep in mind that I ran a 10k 2 weeks before St. George at a pace of slower than 6:00/mile.)
I am toying with the idea of running the Grand Slam again. I love the new schedule with only 4 races, and especially the fact that it no longer includes D-News and that Top of Utah is an alternate. It is tempting to run it again and to try to race myself into 2:30 shape. However, I worry that 2:30 is near the top of my ability, and that running 4 marathons in a year may not allow me to run at my peak at St. George. I need to give it all some additional thought. For now, I'm not thrilled with the race result, but I am pleased that I didn't fall apart completely after being pretty aggressive in the early going. I need to keep in mind that a PR is a PR, and that it could have been much worse.
Congrats to all the bloggers out there who ran great races! | 