I went down Friday with Michelle and Katie. Taylor's cross country meet got switched from Saturday to Friday in Cedar City. I was grateful I was able to go and watch her race on our way to St. George. Her race ended at 4:30. We decided to avoid the crowds in St. George and we had an early dinner at the Pasta Factory in Cedar. After dinner we went to the expo and then back to the condo for the night. I took sleeping pill at 9:00 and by 10:00 I was bed. I woke up at 1:30 when Katie got up to use the bathroom. For the next 2 1/2 hours I was in and out of sleep.
Michelle dropped us off at the buses at 5:00. We met up with Cheris, Angela and a bunch of others and headed up. Cheris and Angela went into the elite area to use the bathrooms. I went with my neice Brittanee and her group and waited until it was time to get in the corrals.
I lined up in front of the 3:45 pacer and Angela met me there. Angela was hoping for a 3:30. I knew I was only in shape for a 3:35-3:40. We wanted to run the first 5 miles a little slower. I could tell Angela felt great and wanted to push the pace a little. Those first miles felt harder than they should have so I kept holding back. We stayed together until about mile 11. Then we started leap frogging each other. When I caught up to her at mile 20 it broke my heart to see her. She was really struggling. She ran Top of Utah just three weeks ealier and I don't think she had fully recovered.
My hip flexor hurt and I was tired but I just kept plugging away. I ended up running even splits. Not ideal, but I'm happy I didn't slow down more. This was only my second marathon out of 15 that I didn't have to stop to use the bathroom. It must be my lucky skirt. I'll have to wear it more often. :))) I carried a little 10 ounce bottle with Gatorade until mile 7. It was so nice to just be able to sip on that as I went. I had Hammer gels at miles 5, 11, and 17. I had 1/2 a Roctane Gu at 21 and the other half 23. I didn't stop at any of the aid stations from 23 on. It was too hard to start back up again. For breakfast I had a white bagel, a banana, a Pop Tart and sipped on Gatorade.
My splits were:
8:36, 8:15, 7:50, 7:35, 7:48 (40:07)
7:47, 7:40, 8:46, 8:35, 8:23 (1:21:20)
9:15, 8:39, 8:18, 8:30, 8:03 (2:04:07)
8:01, 8:02, 8:15, 9:01, 8:01 (2:45:30)
7:40, 8:51, 8:33, 8:17, 8:45, 9:11 and 8:44 for the final .28 (I didn't run the tangents very well)
As for my training, I only did one 20 miler and I did very little training on hills. Next year I will be more prepared. :)
I can't thank Michelle Nelson enough for supporting me this weekend. When Michelle M. and Lisa ended up injured, Michelle N. offered to go down with me. She is the best friend I could ever ask for. We had a great weekend. (Even though we lost money in Mesquite and she got a speeding ticket on the way home). It was so much fun to hang out with her. Thanks Shimelle!!!
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