Pre-race thoughts / strategy / goals in yesterday's post. In summary, Scottt Wietecha and I wanted to go 1-2 while taking it somewhat "easy" if possible and saving our legs a bit.
The strategy, as expected, went out the window immediately when Seth Pilkington shot off the line into the lead, and he was closely shadowed by another guy I didn't know (Jesse Dunn). Scott gave chase a little, and I positioned myself about 10 meters behind him - determined not to get "caught up" in the early racing. After a couple comfortable miles (5:26, 5:31), the pace increased a bit (5:19, 5:16), Seth/Scott pulled away, and I made the decision to not chase them. Jesse fell back after 6 miles, and I just tried to maintain a steady effort. I didn't want to press too hard, but I also wanted to keep Seth/Scott in sight, just in case they started to come back to me. Next 7 miles were 5:24, 5:29, 5:27, 5:24, 5:23, 5:28, 5:28. They had a big gap on me through 10 miles, and then somewhere around that point I noticed that Scott was pulling away from Seth, so I picked it up a bit and reeled Seth back relatively quickly over the next two miles (5:21, 5:21). Split at the half was around 1:11:00 - two minutes slower than last year, but it felt even easier than that.
Tailwind was strong coming out of the canyon, so mile 14 was the fastest of the race (5:14). Then on Hollow Road I really locked into a consistent groove - 5:24, 5:24, 5:24, 5:24. According to Mr. Timex, these 4 miles were all within two-tenths of a second of each other.
A little past 18 miles Andrea gave me the update - Scott was a minute or so ahead, and Seth was about two minutes back. So it was time to decide whether to hammer the last portion or go into steady-hard-cruise control. I chose the latter and took it pretty easy up the Milleville hill (5:50, 5:42... although I overshot a turn by about 40 feet before realizing it - nearly a disaster!). Then it was really just about relaxing and keeping the effort under control for the last six miles - 5:33, 5:46, 5:46, 5:22 (oops, too fast!), 5:38, 5:36. I finished second in 2:23:33. Scott ran 2:22:34 to take first.
I couldn't believe how I felt at the end. No "wrecked" feeling like usual after 26.2. Not even a "semi-wrecked but don't really want to admit it" feeling. No pains or aches, just a little (expected) fatigue. Despite running about 5-7 minutes faster than I was planning to, I wasn't in the beat up state that I thought 2:23 would leave me in. We'll see how I feel in a week, but I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll come out of this OK and this won't derail progress towards my fall goals. This definitely felt the easiest of the six marathons I've run (which was the idea).
It was great that Scott and I could go 1-2, but the best part of the day came shortly after our finish... Allie's finish was awesome. Her 4th win at TOU, but more impressive - 2:44! What a huge, well-deserved breakthrough. The Top of Utah Marathon is not an easy course. The canyon is downhill but not ridicliously so, and the last 8 miles are challenging and can really expose you when you're chasing a fast time. That part of the course ate me up last year. I think Allie's time is really, really, really impressive. I couldn't be happier for her.
One of the things I did differently today was actually eat gels during the race. Not just open them, pretend to bring it up to my lips, then throw it on the ground like I've done in the past. I actually squeezed the gooey contents into my mouth and injested it. I took 4 whole gels (right before the start and at 7, 14, 20). This is a big deal for me because I've never gotten down more than one before. Obviously it made a big difference in how I felt, and I'll be replicating this strategy in future marathons.
Speaking of future marathons - apparently there is a rumor floating around that I'm running St George in two weeks? I've had like 10 people ask me, and I have no idea how that started. I can assure you that there is a 0.000% (ie. ZERO) chance that I'm running STG. I'll be laying on the couch watching the finish line webcast.
Major thanks to Andrea for being the on-course support crew for myself, Scott, Allie, and Devra. She helped the four of us bring home $5000 :-)
Herald-Journal article: Historic day for Moore at TOU Marathon, Wietecha beats friend for men's title. Jason Turner always does a great job covering local running.
Splits - 5:26, 5:31, 5:19, 5:16, 5:24, 5:29, 5:27, 5:24, 5:23, 5:28, 5:28, 5:21, 5:21, 5:14, 5:24, 5:24, 5:24, 5:24, 5:50, 5:42, 5:33, 5:46, 5:46, 5:22, 5:38, 5:36, 60. [1:11/1:12:30]
More photos from Andrea: TOU 2013
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