Keeping myself sane!!!

I managed to do some things in this race that I've never done before.  First off, it was my first official trail marathon, and I ran it below my range of aerobic capacity.  I also came up close and personal with the course more so than I've ever done in a race.  I felt strong physically through the entire race, however, my encounters with exposed jagged rocks and tree roots forcefully put me in my place.  My clumbsiness and apparent lack of coordination shined through in miles 8, 10, and 12 (and many close calls throughout the course). Fortunately, the only thing I injured was my pride.  Every time I felt I had a handle on my running, good old mother nature was there to let me know who's boss!  So, after my 3rd experience of outstretched arms like superman (but with much less the glory!) I decided that this was not a race for me, and just to finish unscathed was my goal.  This ended up being the slowest marathon I've run of my last 22.  I plan on running a few more marathons & halfs in the very near future, so injuries are not an option! 

I'm sure I'll look back on this experience and laugh, but for the moment; I am working on a waning frustration of my performance.  It was indeed a beautiful course, and an opportunity for me to expand my running experiences.  Maybe I'll choose to do some more trail races in the future as I gain control of my awkward footing!

This was my ninth marathon this year, and it was my fourth in a five week stretch.  I could definitely tell that running them so close together had taken its toll.  I'm glad to have next weekend off from racing to prepare physically and mentally for St. George on Oct. 2nd.

I have had a difficult time with this race in the past with the inclines appearing from around mile 19 onward, when a good downhill (like Utah Valley, or St. George) is needed to keep the legs moving.  I knew that I'd need to take advantage of the canyon segment and the next 5 or so miles thereafter.  I hit mile 13 approx. 1:33:23, so my next 13.2 miles were around 1:39:46.  I guess that wouldn't be construed as major of a blow up as it felt at the time.  Around mile 21, I could feel that my legs still had some speed in them, but no longer the energy storage to support them.  I had kept my fueling consistent as with other races, as taking GU every 4 miles, and orange slices when available. This proved to keep me hanging on from total disaster, but I did ultimately bonk in the end.  Each time I'd try to hold a steady pace of 7:00-7:15, my heart rate and respiration would begin to climb significantly.  I knew I could only hang on for the finish I had left in me.  

By mile 24, I really wanted to shut down and finish up with walking, but this wasn't to be.  I spotted a runner friend ahead, and knew that if I could catch him, he would be nice enough to help pace me through the last 2 miles.  This really helped me from mentally giving up.

Going into this race my primary goal was to go sub 3:10, but my back up plan was to better my time from last year of 3:19:39.  I guess it wasn't a total failure, as I did manage to course pr by 6:30. With this marathon behind me, I can now prepare to take on the challenge of St. George in 2 weeks!