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! | 