Had a decent night's sleep and got up around 2:45. Got ready and grabbed a little breakfast (oatmeal and PB) and headed out to my friend Sheila's house to pick her up and then to Southe Towne Mall to pick up my work buddy, Mike. At least where I live (Sandy), the wind had been ragging until late Friday night, but at this point, it all seemed calm. We drove downn to the Provo Towne Center Mall and met up with my other work buddy Bill and got on the buses. This was to be Bill's first half marathon and Mike's second. Also Sheila's first half although she's done a marthon and several 10-K in the past and was a state qualifying-level high school track runner.
Once up Provo Canyon at the bus drop-off, it was the apparent the wind was back and was definitely going to be a factor. It didn't seem too strong, but it was blowing straight up in the canyon into our faces and I was having fears of Moab all over again. Hit the potties and got in a very small amount of warm-up and light stretching. Saw and talked to a few people I knew, including Ryan Jonson. The weather wasn't as cool as I expected it to be (because of the warm wind from the south), but the temps weren't bad.
We made our way to the start and I noticed fast guys Brad Osguthorpe (last year's winner and course recordholder), Kyle Perry (last year's second place finisher, I think), Iain Hunter, and several other fast, or at least fast-looking, guys. Last year I had set my half marathon PR here, but I was doubtful a 1:10 something effort was going to happen today given the headwind, and more importantly, my lagging fitness compared to last year because of the recent injury. That said, I was feeling pretty good. Energy all right and no noticeable aches or pains. The right knee had been feeling a little off earlier in the week, but was fine now.
The gun went off and Brad, Kyle, Iain, Ken Richardson, and Conner Maitz quickly formed the lead pack and start slowly started pulling away. I was in the second group with Ryan Jonson and one other faster-looking gentleman who's name I didn't know. The wind was immediately noticable. The lead group didn't put much space on us the first mile and they appeared to be working mostly in a single file line, drafting aganist the wind. I ran with Ryan and the other fellow for about the first mile and towards the end of it, I began pulling away. At that point I was alone and in 6th place and that's the way it would stay the rest of the way. First mile split was 5:38. A far cry from last year's 5:24 ave/mi pace, but okay since I usually prefer to start races a little on the slower side and work into a faster pace. Last year's start was slower too. But I could tell I was already working harder than I wanted to and speeding it up was going to be a tall order.
Wind still in the face pretty good for mile 2, 5:39 pace. The lead group is building their lead. I never intended to catch them, but hoped someone might eventually fall off the back that I could use as bait. But that wasn't going to happen.
Miles 3 and 4 were both 5:57. In my opinion, the wind was worst at this point and also had a little bit of a incline here. Effort feeling pretty hard. Getting a little discouraged as I knew I wasn't going to be anywhere close last year's time. Oh well. Let's try and salvage something decent and not embarrass myself.
Mile 5 was 5:38. Better than the last two. Wind was still there, but there was some pretty steep decline here.
Miles 6 and 7 were both 5:30. Now that I'm lower in the canyon, the winds don't seem as bad, but are still present. Lots of downhill that I'm trying to take advantage of. Feeling pretty good, but not totally smooth. Though this pace is closer to what I want, I just can't find that faster gear. Current fitness level, wind, and the energy I'd already lost battling the wind the first few miles were all factors.
5:34, 5:32, 5:36 for miles 8, 9, and 10 respectively. Last part of the Canyon and on to University. More of the same. Feeling better than the first few miles now that the wind has eased up, but not able to go any faster. Feeling good and like I'm moving okay, just can't find any speed.
At mile 11, there's a small climb that slowed me up some: 5:44.
5:38 and 5:35 for miles 12 and 13 as I cruise home towards the line. Crowds were plentiful and supportive.
Crossed the line in 1:14:20 per my Garmin. Mileage showed slightly off at 13.16.
Got a little food and a quick massage and ran back out on the course to help run in my friends. Saw Sheila first, she ended up just under her goal of 1:45. I was surprised because she injured her hip a little over a week again and hadn't been running much since then. I ran back out and got Mike and ran him in. He broke 2 hours which was his goal and a substantial improvement over his first half (Salt Lake a couple months ago). Went back out and got Bill who ended around 2:05, about what his goal was. So all of them had good races.
Stopped at this point and met up with Sheila to watch the top marathoners come in. I was particularly interested in seeing if Scott Keate and Riley Cook were going to get their sub-2:30's today. Both are in incredible shape and tearing things up this year. But I had some doubts knowing they'd be contending with the same wind I had just fought. Unfortunately, my suspicions were confirmed and the winners (who weren't Riley or Scott) didn't even cross until around 2:29. About 10 minutes off last year's winning time. I watched as Jon Kotter (2:31:56), Byrant Jensen (2:32:00), Jordan Perry (2:35:51), and Scott Keate (2:37:27) came in.
Then I headed back out on course to find my work buddy Jason Clegg. He had been training hard for this, his first marathon. He's lost a ton of weight over the last couple years, has been meticulous about his training and diet, and has put up some good half times. He was hoping to get a BQ. A tall order for a first marathon, especially in today's conditions.
As soon as I was on course, I saw Sasha coming in. About a mile in, I saw Walter Brown who looked pretty roughed-up. I decided to try and help him in. Not sure if I did or not. Sorry if you didn't want that Walt. Good race though buddy.
Headed back out again to find Jason and passed several other folks I recognized: Craig Green, Seth Wold, Steve Anderson, and Dan Varga. Sorry if I missed anyone. It soon became apparent Jason won't be getting his sub 3:10. At this point I was mostly doing a slow jog, but would stop and walk for parts. I finally meant Jason at about mile 23.5. He looked pretty rocked. Calves cramping. I took his water belt and we battled on towards the line. He was in quite a bit of pain, but showed a lot of perseverance to keep running with only short walk stops at aid stations and a few other points. I tried to keep him cool poor water down his back. He ended up crossing the line in 3:45. Certainly a commendable first marathon time, but I know it wasn't what he'd hoped for. Hang in there Jason. Rest up and get back on the saddle buddy. You'll have substantial improvement on your next one.
I accumulated ~9.3 miles per the Garmin helping people. Some of that was walking, I'm going to say a mile and a half give or take. So almost a total of 21 running miles for the day.
I have a couple other thoughts I want to add to this later.... | 