My blog fails to reflect it (I stopped logging my workouts for about a month), but my taper did not go particularly well. After my last entry, I did a 25-mile run down Big Cottonwood Canyon and home (I ran home from Brighton at 3:30 a.m. when the guy I was pacing for the last 25 of the Wasatch 100 got sick and was several hours behind schedule, which conflicted with my obligations the following day). I had lower back pain (SI joint) throughout the entirety of the run. Following that workout, I had problems all the way up to race day. I saw my chiropractor, physical therapist, and massage therapist twice each in the final two weeks leading up to the race, and by the time I toed the starting line, they had me feeling pretty good. Unfortunately, the back problems kept me from doing much running in the final month before St. George (just as they had for a couple of weeks before the Salt Lake Half), and my fitness probably suffered for it (cycling on the trainer in my basement can only do so much).
Because I was nervous about my back for the race, I took a lot of ibuprofen in the two or three days leading up to St. George, hoping that I could zap any remaining inflammation. Fortunately, I had no back pain during the race. Unfortunately, my stomach gave me a lot of trouble (see below).
I drove down with the family on Friday morning. We went straight to the expo, where I dropped off my water bottles in the elite area (choosing to alternate between water and Gatorade), grabbed my race packet, and fled. From there, we grabbed lunch at Jimmy John's (I ate half a #11 sandwich on 7-grain bread), then Brooke dropped me off at my hotel, the ironically named St. George Best Inn. What a dive (bathroom only had half a window, toilet didn't work, remote didn't work, the non-smoking room smelled like smoke, etc.--but it was dirt cheap)!
I spent a quiet afternoon and evening, trying to stay off my feet and relax as much as possible. I ate an early dinner (5:00) at The Pasta Factory (half an order of fettucine with pesto and a side of sauteed Italian veggies), which was delicious, even after a week of carb-loading. After that, I got my race gear ready and half watched the BYU game in my room while I half watched Rocky on my portable DVD player. I continued sipping my 64-oz Gatorade, which I had been working on all day. I closed my eyes at around 10:15 and managed to sleep relatively well until around 3:00, when I started waking up every few minutes until the alarm went off at 4.
I got up, showered (admittedly weird race day habit), then walked to the bus loading area. I was fully prepared for the usual freezing temperatures at the starting line, so when I left my hotel room in my tights and jacket, I was immediately alarmed by the warm air that greeted me. I could only hope that things would cool down significantly as we headed up the canyon. On the bus, I ate my bagel and banana and kept sipping Gatorade. I talked a little to the woman next to me, who was from Cleveland. I kept assuring her that the temperature would drop like a rock as we climbed to the high-elevation start. So much for that.
Once we arrived at the start, they announced over the loudspeaker that the temperature was 67 degrees, a new record (it was 6:00 a.m.). I do not run well in heat, so I was very concerned about the temperature. My race plan was to dip under 2:34 if everything went well. In light of the heat, I started thinking about whether to modify my goal for the day. I went to the elite staging area and immediately got in line to use the port-a-potty. I was startled by how packed the area was. The last time I was there, it was probably 80% less occupied. (Not sure whether they opened it up to more people or just didn't enforce it as strictly as they had in 2009.) At any rate, I spent most of my pre-race waiting in line, just to be sure.
About 15 minutes before the start, I took my bag to the trailer with all of my cold-weather gear (no need for even gloves), then started stretching a little. I talked briefly with Trent Jensen, Ryan Bybee and Lisa Madsen. Trent told me he was looking to improve on his 2:45 PR. Ryan told me he was running with his wife, who was doing her first marathon. Lisa was shooting for 2:54 but was typically full of baseless self-doubt, questioning her most basic decisions (wear the tee at the start or dump it now?). She went on to run 2:55--way to go, Lisa! As we started lining up, I talked for a minute to Walter, whose child had taken his Garmin out of his bag the night before. (I would have been a wreck.)
Now for the race.
At the gun, I took off and settled in very quickly just behind a pack of guys, most of whom, like Walter, were wearing red St. George Running Center tanks. After a mile or two, I figure they were all gunning for 2:30, and that was too rich for me. I hoped to at least keep them in sight until around the halfway point. I ran alone, with a little bit of back and forth with three guys (two of whom were running together) until around mile 12.
Early splits were basically on the money:
Mile 1: 5:52
Mile 2: 5:58 (a little slow)
Mile 3: 5:40
Mile 4: 5:41
Mile 5: 5:51
Mile 6:5:41
Mile 7: 5:39 (took a PowerGel on my way into the town of Veyo)
Mile 8 (Veyo): 6:38 (a little slow, but not too bad)
Mile 9: 6:27 (target was 6:05)
Mile 10: 6:07 (this took more effort than it should have, and I felt it)
Mile 11: 6:38
I changed my training this year specifically in an effort to handle the hilly section better, but I really started to come apart here. My stomach started hurting and my breathing got labored with the slightest effort to maintain my target pace.
Mile 12: 6:35
Mile 13: 6:06
I dry-heaved for the first time at about 13.5. This was a new experience. My usual approach to St. George is to relax through the half, making sure not to go anaerobic on Veyo and the subsequent hills, then blast the second half, doing a negative split by at least 2 minutes. Clearly, that wasn't going to happen today. It was at this point that my race really started to fall apart.
Mile 14: 6:21
Mile 15: 5:59
Mile 16: 5:29
My family surprised me by being at Snow Canyon this year. Seeing them gave me extra motivation to try to break through whatever was holding me back, so I injected some pace in on the sharp descent and pulled out one last solid split. From that point on, though, it was glorified jogging as I was thoroughly broken and the parade of passing began. I started thinking seriously about stopping to wait for Lisa to try to pace her in under 2:54, but I was feeling so lousy that I wasn't sure that I'd be able to keep up 6:50 pace or be of any use to her if I stopped. Instead, I decided to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and accepting the fact that I had completely blown up for the first time since running my very first marathon (SG '03, when I was on track to finish in 2:45 until mile 19, when I hit the wall and crawled in at 2:53).
Mile 17: 6:14
More dry heaving.
Mile 18: 6:26
Quads were already killing me--probably a function of too few miles over the final six weeks leading up to the race.
Mile 19: 7:03 (I did a little walking on this one)
More dry heaving and getting passed.
Mile 20: 6:48 This is supposed to be the fastest part of the course, but I had nothing to give.
Mile 21: 6:24
Mile 22: 7:26
Just after a walking/weaving/dry heaving spell, Trent Jensen passed me and tapped me on the shoulder, saying, "Sorry, man." I did my best to cheer him on, knowing that he was on pace for a big PR (he finished in 2:42--awesome job, Trent!).
Mile 23: 6:50
I felt like an idiot taking my bottle from the elite station here and apologize to the volunteers for being so late, but I took full advantage of the convenience of dousing myself with water. I was in a fog and just plodding along at this point, getting passed by anyone and everyone.
Mile 24: 6:44
Got passed by several men and the first two women. Hadn't been "chicked" in quite a while, but had no response today, except to try to cheer them on.
Mile 25: 6:51
Stomach wasn't hurting as bad at this point, but my pace was lethargic. More passing.
Mile 26: 6:41
Hey--this will soon be over. Cool. More getting passed.
Final 0.195 (Garmin clocked it at 0.25): 1:21
Saw my dad and got a boost from that, so I picked it up a bit. Then saw my sister. Picked it up a bit more. Then saw my 12-year-old son sprinting along the sidewalk (he was trying to tell my family I was coming, but I thought he was trying to beat me, so I picked it up more and finished in nearly full turnover). Passed a guy who had passed me during Mile 6, then passed Walter about 100 meters before the finish. Felt like kind of a clod for passing people after having jogged for 10 miles (one of my pet peeves is that guy in a muscle shirt and basketball shorts who outsprints the two moms at the end of a fun run like he just won the Olympic marathon), but didn't care enough to not pass them. I was just glad to be done.
I left the runners-only area quickly, wanting to get out of there and draw the curtain on this whole sorry episode. My whole family was waiting for me, so we took a bunch of pictures while people tried to make me feel better even though they all knew that I had fallen well short of my goal. Brooke had brought my post-race chocolate milk, but it was kind of warm and didn't do much for me. My stomach felt awful at this point and I kept doubling over. I didn't even bother to get a massage.
A few days after the fact, I think my problems were due to a
combination of the following: (1) compromised training at what was
supposed to be my peak due to back problems; (2) reduced running during
the taper; (3) stomach problems due to ibuprofen, which I had not taken
in any appreciable amount in years prior to last week; (4) heat,
although I think I may have had similar problems on Saturday even if the
weather had been perfect; and (5) lack of confidence due to back
problems and the knowledge that I had not done the same kind of MP work
on long runs that I did in '09. Where to go from here? I have a few ideas, but they are in the formative stage at this point:
1. Incorporate strength training during the winter, perhaps running 3 days a week and doing kettle bell training the other 3 days. My PT says my core is pretty weak, and it makes sense, since I haven't done anything other than run for years now. I think I need to add some core strength if I want to avoid further back problems and other injuries down the road. After all, I'm 37 years old.
2. It seems like I say this every time I have a bad race, but I need to race a little more to avoid putting too much pressure on myself in one race. My best year of running was when I did 7 marathons. I don't intend to do anything like that again, but I am considering running 2-3 instead of one (I did do Boston this year, but I jogged it with my wife, so it didn't count).
3. I need to do more MP work on my long runs. The most I did was about 9-10, and I have to think that hurt me to some extent. The great thing is that there's always next year.
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