Denouement

St. George Marathon

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Location:

Kowloon Tong,Hong Kong

Member Since:

Jul 02, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided:

5K - 17:11 (track Pre-kids and at BYU) (1998)

10K - 35:48 (track Pre-kids and at BYU) (1998)

10K - 35:34 (road - Shek Mun 10k 12/12)

1/2 Marathon 1:19:44 (UNICEF HM 11/12)

Marathon 2:47:08 (ING Hartford Connecticut 10/10)

Aided:

St. George Marathon 2:50:40 (10/08)

1/2 marathon - Hobble Creek 1:17:14 (8/08)

10K - Deseret News 10K - 35:02 (7/08)

Short-Term Running Goals:

PR 1/2 marathon AGAIN


Long-Term Running Goals:

Break 2:46 in Boston!

Personal:

I used to run for BYU, but only after trying out three times and finally walking on, so I was never a star. However, it was wonderful to run with great people and under Coach Shane. When you run with fast people, you can't help to improve! I graduated BYU in 1998, and didn't run a race until 2002, after having my second child. My hiatus and other crazy life commitments have made my competitive running suffer, but the last couple of years I have tried to get back into it the best I can. I have been married since 1996, to Paul Lowry, who is a runner himself. I have three boys (my three rascals), ages 12, 10, and 8.

After a great 2008 season, I was injured and eventually diagnosed and cross-diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a type of arthritis disease, which precludes running for all but the most stubborn.  So I am on medications, trying to stay healthy, and seeing my PT often.  And running!  Now beating the streets in Hong Kong.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
NB RC900 Black/yellow Lifetime Miles: 183.31
NB RC1300 Red/Black Lifetime Miles: 195.31
2012 MTR Lifetime Miles: 4035.70
890 Blue Lifetime Miles: 310.55
NB RC 1600 Lifetime Miles: 96.76
RC 1400 Lifetime Miles: 90.60
NB 890 Baby Blue Lifetime Miles: 233.26
NB 890 Electric Blue Lifetime Miles: 319.67
NB 890 Tokyo Turquoise Lifetime Miles: 163.54
Race: St. George Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:00:41, Place overall: 39, Place in age division: 15
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
0.0026.200.000.000.000.000.0026.20

Well, I had a great time running my first marathon!

My SF running buddies saw me hanging out right behind the elite section and pulled me into the back half of the elite section which was great because it kept the first mile from being overly crowded. 

I wore a 3:00 marathon bracelet as guide of splits that would be too fast, since my races predicted me around 3:04.  I wanted to run by feel and ideally wanted to break 3 hours, but I also knew that my training was not quite there to get me there.

My legs pretty much went from frozen for the first 10 miles to sore from miles 13 on.  I took one shot block every water station from 5 - 23, and took mostly water but sometimes gatorade and never really felt sloshy or stomach problems.

Splits (garmin mostly behaved itself but some splits are my pace as I hit the lap button a couple of times when it got off):

1 - 7:07

2 - 7:03

3 - 6:39

4 - 6:37

5 - 6:44

6 - 6:34

my legs never really got loose or felt great, but I realized I was running even below my 3 hour bracelet, but figured I would race it that way since I was already on track.

7 - 6:30

8 - 7:48 Veyo baby met up with a running buddy from BYU I haven't seen in 5 years, and we ran together until my potty break

9 - 7:06

10 - 7:08

11 - 7:26

12 - 7:12 amazingly enough, my potty break was in this mile

13 - 6:52

13.1 split 1:31:20

14 - 6:50

15 - 6:34 took 2 ibuprofen, legs sore, I wish I had more to take

16 - 6:32

17 - 6:35

18 - 6:50

19 - 7:11 this hill was hard to take, but I passed some people and crested strong

20 - 6:41 feeling sore but still strong, knew I would break 3:00 if could keep 6:50 or so

21 - 6:33

22 - 7:02

23 - 6:53 starting to hurt, my husband and kiddies were there to cheer me on

24 - 7:01 starting to really hurt but know I can do it if am about 7:05 or so, have to go to the bathroom but knew there was no way my legs would bounce back if I stopped

25 - 7:09,  at 25.2 had 7:12 to finish last mile and still break 3 hours, my husband and kiddies were there to cheer me on again.

25.2 - 26.2 last mile: 8:09 - Tried my hardest, talking to myself, pathetic and ineffective efforts, but was just so done, my legs just would not cooperate.  I did manage to pick it up at the end so that I was under 3:01 per the official clock

1st split (taking out chip to timer difference) 1:31:04

2nd split 1:28:37  (1:27 difference)

My husband said that I looked much different between mile 23 (he said I looked great) and 25 (he said I looked terrible).

In retrospect, I feel like my first half was probably too fast for my legs, but my 1/2 marathon split gave me the confidence to go for the 3 hour mark, so I am not sure that my fast first half did me harm.  Sometimes your mental state is as important as your legs.  If I had gone out slower, I could have gotten the more typical 4-5 minute negative split, but I am not sure that I would have gotten a faster time overall.  I feel like I could not have done better and laid it all down.  I would think that if you have to hit the wall, it's better to do it around mile 25 instead of mile 20.

I think that I learned alot and I had a great time, except perhaps for the last three miles. 

I will not bore you with all the bad things I ate today, but I will go back to being good tomorrow :)

I will say that my legs hurt so, so bad.  I can pretend I am not a marathoner if I concentrate on my walk but going up and down the stairs is a feat and trying to grab something off the floor is almost more than I can bear.

It was great to meet so many bloggers and appreciate you all coaching me through my first marathon.  I could have not done so well this season without you.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Ruthie on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 03:11:28

Great job! You definitely hit some of those short-term goals and were DANG close to getting your 3:00 mark! Way to go on your first ever marathon, keep it up - you're amazing!

From Maria on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 06:12:42

Congratulations, Michelle! This is a very fine performance on your first marathon ever! You can only get better from here, in fact, I'm pretty sure you can hit OTQ in a few years, if you put in the work. People who run 3:00 on their first marathon have a lot of potential :). Think 2011!

From jtshad on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 07:51:28

Great race and nice first marathon time! It was nice meeting you at the Bloggers party.

Keep running strong!

From Christi on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 10:02:53

Michelle- it sounds like we had very similar race experiences except you were 1 HOUR FASTER! Way to go!!!!!! You are an inspiration! I REALLY wanted under 4 hrs, but I knew that was optimistic for me and I was dying the last 2 miles trying to make up time. Like you, I came about a minute higher than I wanted. So I can relate (on a MUCH slower level) But I hope you are super proud of your time because it is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! Great to meet you at the blog party also- so glad you came!

From Bonnie on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 12:10:54

Congratulations Michelle!! I was so very happy to see your results!

Bonnie

From James in Sunny AZ on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 12:21:47

Way to go Michelle! Sounds like a lot of bloggers had similar experiences - I was dying the last few miles as well, with my legs just refusing to work the way I wanted them to. Great job.

From josse on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 21:18:01

Impressive first! Great job you rock.

From Dave Holt on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 09:10:34

Great 1st marathon!

From Jon on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 15:05:52

3 hours for your first marathon??? Wow! And you barely slowed down from your 1/2 marathon times!

From Lybi on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 16:59:33

Great job! And thanks for introducing yourself at the pasta party. I cheered for about 10 girls with shoulder length blonde hair thinking they were you. Ha ha. But you looked great coming in! Thanks for the inspiration!

From Cal on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 17:29:13

Congratulations! What an awesome way to run your first marathon!

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