Catch me if you can

This was definitely not the race I wanted.  Hopefully I can look back at this report and learn from my mistakes.

The day before the race, I picked up Cheris and we drove to St. George.  Once in St. George, we picked up Peggy and headed to the expo to get our packets.  We then went back to Peggy's house where we would be spending the night.  Cheris and Peggy had their own food and I made the mistake of not planning what I was going to eat for dinner.  I ended up getting a turkey sandwich at the grocery store.  

We went to bed at about 10:00 pm.  After not really sleeping, we got up a 3:50 am.  We got to park and searched for Jody but couldn't find her.  We decided to get in the bus line.  We ended up in a longgggg line waiting 75 minutes for the buses to return from their first trip.  It wasn't too cold, but there a little rain.  

We finally got on the buses and made it to the start.  Cheris went into the elite area.  There wasn't much time left, so Peggy and I threw our drop bags and headed to the porta potties.  We lucked out and found Jody.  Jody and I wanted about the same time, so we lined up together.  The race ended up starting nearly 30 minutes late.  

The first few miles felt okay.  Not great, but okay.  It was cold and raining.  Jody and I stayed together for about three miles.  She was smart and held back.  I picked up the pace just a little.  My dad's cousin, who lives in Veyo, was so sweet  and stood out in the crappy weather to see me come by.  I quickly realized after started up Veyo that it wasn't going to be my day.  I'm normally pretty strong on hills, but I had nothing.   I really struggled through miles 7-13.  I stopped at the porta potty for the second (or maybe 3rd) time at mile 12.  When I came out, I saw the 4:00 pace group a little ways ahead.  I caught up to them and made the decision to just tuck in and stay with them.  I felt I could have run faster, but with the headwind, I liked running in the pack.  I stayed with them until about 19 when I had to make another porta potty stop.  

Just after mile 23,  I started feeling pretty good.  I was able to pick up my pace and passed a lot of people.  The last three miles didn't feel hard at all.  When I finished, I knew I didn't run the race I had trained for.  

Here are some of the mistakes I made and will not repeat next training cycle.

1.  I did not follow my training schedule.  I ran six 1/2 marathons during the 18 week program.  I pulled this off in 2014 but this time it just wore me out.  Stick to the plan!

2.  I ran my final 20 mile run just three weeks out.  I've done this in the past, but this 47 year old body needs more taper.

3. I need to strength train and eat more (better choices).  I lost too much weight and just felt weak.