Park City Marathon today. The morning started out a little stressful when I got on the freeway and found out I-215 NB was closed near I-80, so they backtrack us and wind us around and finally let us get on I-80 - but westbound. I finally got off at 1300 S and swung around and floored it up to Park City.
Talked to Ben VanB before the race and wished him well on his attempts to take 3rd place (he eventually did!). Congratulations Ben!
The start of the race was a little warmer than last year when there was frost on the ground. I decided to not wear a throwaway shirt or gloves and my hands were the only real cold items until about mile 6 when the sun was fully up. For those who have not run Park City - it is a loop course, so you start and finish at the same location, there are some trails, and the roads are not closed to vehicles. The real challenge is running at elevation and the fact that there are a lot of little, steady uphills on the course (more than I remembered). I talked to a few 50 staters in the starting chute - including one named Marcia from Texas who I passed at about mile 22 and then talked to again after the finish.
The race started on time. There were plenty of port-a-potties, but it would have been nice if a bunch of them were designated for marathoners only until after our race started because we were fighting for spots in line with half marathoners who started 15 minutes after us.
Again - I love the course, running surrounded by mountains and with lots of trails. This course is typically run slower than St. George or Ogden because of the trails and elevations. I found that the course was a little short, but didn't really mind (my garmin listed it as 25.88).
I was predicting an under 6 hour finish (last year was over 6:18). I knew I was not really as well trained as I wanted to be for a marathon, but also knew I needed to get some long training runs in before I head to Italy so I will be ready for St. George and the OV 50 miler. Leslie predicted an under 5:30 finish - which I didn't think was possible. My goal was to attempt to run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes for as long as I could in the race.
Just so Leslie can say "I told you so"....
PR time....... 5:24:06
Now - back to my regularly scheduled report....
I haven't looked at any of my mile splits until now - that wasn't the point of my run - it was to see how long I could maintain a good running pace.
Mile 1 - 11:59 Mile 2 - 12:28 Mile 3 - 12:29 Mile 4 - 12:48 Mile 5 - 12:01 Mile 6 - 12:32 Mile 7 - 14:37 Mile 8 - 12:42 Mile 9 - 12:40 Mile 10 - 12:44 Mile 11 - 13:25 Mile 12 - 12:53 Mile 13 - 13:48 Half - (2:47:04) Mile 14 - 13:42 Mile 15 - 13:44 Mile 16 - 12:11 Mile 17 - 11:48 Mile 18 - 12:18 Mile 19 - 11:34 Mile 20 - 13:03 Mile 21 - 11:22 Mile 22 - 13:10 Mile 23 - 11:32 Mile 24 - 11:17 Mile 25 - 11:44 Mile 26 - 10:58
LOL - I can tell the miles when I took portapotty breaks.
Highlights of the race course (too many hills are not highlights):
Watching the sun come up, 5 hot air balloons taking off between miles 5 and 8, a cow blocking the path at mile 9 (a guy wanted me to scare it off and I told him I had faced down buffalo so a cow was nothing and I just started running at it and it moved off), the long uphill slog through downtown Park City up to Deer Valley parking lot. I had wanted to negative split if I felt good and it looks like I did. My hip hurt a little around miles 16-18, but quit hurting so was probably just running a lot affecting it. Two quick knee twinges around 18, but I didn't even tape my knees today and they really never hurt at all.
I started feeling tired around mile 19, but I also started feeling stronger (the same thing happened last year). From mile 19 on, I passed 1-8 people per mile and was only passed once by an older runner, but I passed him at the next aid station and never saw him again. My running was feeling really strong, even though I was hot and tired. About mile 21 I passed a couple of guys and heard them comment that "I bet that lady wins a medal in her age group" (I wish) so I must have been running as good as I felt. Approaching mile 25, the walking segment was actually more tiring than running, so I ran the last mile without a break. Two guys tried to pass me, but I held them off and they gave up and walked.
A great race for me. I can now say I ran more than 80% of a marathon and think if I put in some interval and tempo time while I am in Italy that I might meet my goals of breaking 5:15 at St. George and breaking 5:00 if it is a perfect day. I was pleased with my legs and think I am finally starting to accomplish the progress I want to do.
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