Ok, here's the big report: Got up at 4:30, ate a small breakfast and headed out. Me and my friend Jamie, who was running her first marathon (she would go on to take 9th in her division in 4:04:30--pretty good for the first time) drove together to Merlin Olsen Park and waited in line for the buses . We got underway at about 5:50 and got to Hardware Ranch and the starting line at about 6:30. Lines at the portajons were super long and slow. But I got my stars earned for the race just in time to run down to the starting line and shuck my extra clothes and get ready to go. Temps were chilly at about freezing, but I didn't notice it. Focused on the race. Start was uneventful. I was somewhat worried about starting off at a pace as fast as I needed to, worrying that the shock would be too much, but it wasn't bad at all. First mile was right on target at 5:44 and felt like a breeze. After that I knew that I could do it and didn't worry about the pace being too much anymore. 5 miles: First five miles were uneventful. The Kenyans and Sasha (who I met for the first time in person) took off after about 2 miles. I settled in the loosely formed chase pack of about 6 or 7 guys. We spread out a little bit, but everyone was mostly in sight for most of this portion. Came across 5 miles about 30 seconds slow, but I didn't worry about it. 10 miles: Our pack kinda split up, with three guys going ahead quite a bit, one Master between, and me and an 18 year old local boy bringing up the rear. Can't remember my 10K split, and the results are messed up so I can't tell, but I think it was 35:something or 36 minutes. 10 mile split was 59:20ish.
15 miles: Dropped the 18 year old like a rock, and pulled in the Master and one other guy that had gone with the first part of our now defunct chase pack, but now he looked like he was hurting. Hit the half in ~1:17:10. 15 mile split was 1:27:--, so back on pace. 20 miles: Cody hooked up with me right at the 15 mile aid and gave some much needed company and support for a couple of miles, which I much appreciated, as I was starting to become quite conscious of the pace. I had also become aware of a slight twinge in my right hamstring, but more on that later. Pace was still fast, hitting 5:45s or so pretty consistently. After Cody pulled off, things got rough in a hurry. I could see Sasha ahead of me, and I was closing pretty quickly, but I was also really starting to feel fatigue. The spectators, including my crazy roommates helped motivate me though. Some jerk was also burning very smoky weeds right after mile 18--as I was climbing Millville Hill--making breathing difficult. But I got through the hill and apparently had made up a lot of time as my 20 mile split was fast by nearly a minute at 1:56:-- (good for 2:34 if I could hold it).
Final 10K: (aka, the Death March) Made it through mile 21 or so in good shape, but was really feeling the fatigue. Legs were gone and I still had one big rise to conquer. Pace was still decent though. Just trying to last through it and reel in Sasha. Unfortunately, that was not to be. That twinge in the hamstring became a major problem somewhere between mile 22 and 23. Each stride felt like my hamstring was going to tear in half. I was even tempted to walk, but my pride and the knowledge that it wouldn't do me any good kept me going. Pace became rather horrible at this point, but I had to keep going. Sasha was long gone by mile 25, and I almost got run over by some dingleberry who apparently didn't realize that there was a marathon going on and decided to gun it through the course right in front of me. I was pretty cranky at this point, but I managed to keep my reaction PG-rated. Got through the last mile and finished in 2:38:15. Overall I am very happy with this race. I feel like I ran a smart race, and gave it everything I had. PR by over 15 minutes, although it has been 2 years since my last road marathon. I feel great about my performance, but I know I can run faster without a badly tweaked hamstring, so my next goal is sub-2:35. I haven't decided yet what my next race will be, but Ogden is looking like a good candidate. Anyway, great day, great race! Looking forward to the next one.
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