It was raining. It was chilly (39). It was breezy. I didn't go into the race with much optimism. I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to the cold and the wind. Wimpy and marathon are a bad combo so I was trying to stay positive. Talked with a few folks at the starting line, had a moment of silence for those injured and slain at the Boston Marathon, and started the race to "Sweet Caroline". (Salt Lake Tribune) The plan was to try and average 5:50 or so the 1st half and then see what I have left. It was lightly raining at the start but not too bad. First splits (1-5: 5:47, 5:54, 5:46, 5:46, 5:45). I was feeling OK. My stomach hurt, I could feel the oatmeal I ate that morning sitting high in my stomach. The pace felt right (must be the downhill!). I went through Sugar House conservatively (6,7: 5:56, 6:00). Here I saw Scott and Brandon who gave me a sports bottle with Gatorade in it. I'm super grateful for those two! They met me several times on the course with an easy-to-drink bottle and a towel! At this point something strange happened, at least for me. My left quad started to get very tight. Almost to the point of a strain. I backed off the pace a bit to try and encourage it to relax. It didn't. My energy levels felt great, all systems were firing but that quad threatened to end the race. It was dissapointing so early on. The next few miles were flat or uphill and I kept it conservative, then some downhill. (8-11: 6:00, 6:14, 5:50, 5:46). I opened it back up a little on the downhill and the quad held up and gradually felt better. By 12 the pain was gone. Yay! (12,13: 6:01, 6:14). Hills. Hard rain. I was getting cold, mostly my feet! The hills were over. I was 1:17 at the half, slower than I wanted but still in a good position. I'd moved into 3rd place up the hill. I opened it up a little on the downhill (14,15: 5:49, 5:47). Scott and Brandon met me again and provided a good drink. It was good to see them. At this point I had my next worry: both hamstrings started to tighten up. It was frustrating, again, because otherwise I felt great. Lots of energy, legs wanted to move but I really had to hold back to keep the hamstrings in check. These miles were mostly flat and now we were running north west, right into a steady wind. (16,17: 5:59, 6:03). Unfortunately, this time, the hamstrings didn't loosen up but got progressively worse. (18,19: 6:18, 6:11) were slightly uphill. I was still feeling good but felt like the hamstrings were on the edge. Still fighting the wind. (20-22: 6:16, 6:13, 6:04) felt OK but I couldn't go much faster and now my calf (old injury from last August) started to flare up a little. I started to feel generally crappy at this point and just tried to salvage the rest of the race (23-26: 6:25, 6:35, 6:31). All in all, I'm happy with it. I think I was in shape for better... 6 minute PR so I can't complain. I was really cold at the end but I had warm close in my drop bag. I met up with Ty, my dad, and Scott and Brandon at the end party. It was raining so it didn't last long. I went to my dad's car to thaw out then came back for the awards. The podium was fun! Bryant and Seth are class acts. There were a good 9 people to watch us get our awards! Altra wanted to interview us afterwards which was a new experience for me, I don't know if I'll ever see it. I've got a lot of work to do to get where I want to be but I'm happy with the race.
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