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St. George Marathon

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Location:

Fort Collins,CO,

Member Since:

May 15, 2003

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)

Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.

Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.

Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

  Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall.

Personal:

1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5

 

 

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Race: St. George Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:18:09, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.5026.200.000.000.0026.70

First off, awesome job to everyone who ran the race. And it was great getting to meet so many people before and after the race.

I stayed with Clyde and Mik'l both Thursday and Friday night. It helped getting there a day early, so that I could get the stress of driving out of the way and have all of Friday to relax, go to the expo, scope out the course, and finalize race-day strategy.

Clyde and I drove the course on Friday, which allowed me to lay down the foundations of what I would do on Saturday. It was helpful to see the Vejo hill, and even more helpful to see the quarter-mile downhill after it, and the three-mile uphill after that. I determined I would try to relax up Vejo as much as I could, and then regain any lost energy on the short downhill before the real test: Dammeron. For Dammeron, I would be content to not push the pace either. In fact, I planned to do as much sitting and as little leading as possible for the first 12 miles, before turning it loose at the half. Hopefully the competition would cooperate!

Race-day arrived, and the weather cooperated. And fact, it was utterly perfect. High 30s at the start, with an ever-so-slight breeze that would act as a tailwind for most of the course. At the staging area, I did very little warmup (only about 0.25 miles plus strides), and focused mostly on getting quality porta-pot experiences (4 total, matching Clyde), and keeping my core and my extremities warm by hanging out at the fire pits. So mostly, I hung out and shot the breeze with friends.

I do not get nervous for marathons, by the way. 1500's on the track make me very nervous. 5K's make me a little nervous. But the marathon is too long and too dependent on long-term training to make me nervous. The work has been done over the last several months, and now it was simply a matter to execute the training. It's kind of like typing a long document (the training), and then hitting "print" (the race). Or it's like painting a house. All the washing, chipping, scraping, caulking, and other preparation is the hard part. Painting the house is fun. At 6:45AM, it was time to paint the house.

It was still very dark when the gun went off. It remained dark for the first 5 or 6 miles, resulting in me missing most of my splits (I was running Garmin-less). This was all fine though, because I could just focus on the pace, the pack, and how I felt.

I was hoping that lots of people who were not me would want to take the lead at least through Vejo, preferably through Dammeron. Maybe it's selfish, but I wanted to run as efficiently as possible, and therefore just tuck in and let other people do the work through the hard part of the course. The weather was already cooperating, and so was the competition; several dark shadows of runners stepped up (none who I knew), allowing me to draft guilt-free. The first 5 miles went by very fast. I only got two splits: a 10:48 2-mile, and 16:06 for the next three miles. This is a conservative start for the "A" group, but fast enough for me and exactly what I was hoping for. Due to this conservative start, part of the "B" group caught up, including Mike, Sasha, and Steve. This was great. More bodies, bigger pack. Better banter too. Chit-chatting with others makes the first half of marathons go faster.

So far my body was feeling good. I was running in just shorts, singlet, and gloves, but felt okay with the cold temperature. My hands were a little cold, and my knees were freezing and achy for some reason, but other than that, things were good and the pace felt efficient. The sun started to come up, and Vejo was upon us before I knew it. Believe it or not, I was actually looking forward to Vejo, because my cold, achy knees (and lower quads) were already a little sick of the downhill (somewhat alarming), and I predetermined yesterday that I was going to relax up Vejo and expend as little energy as possible, a plan that I further committed to when Sasha informed me we were ahead of the 5:20-guy right before the hill. Indeed, Vejo was enjoyable, definitely a good change of pace. However, our pack completely fragmented here. Dave Danley pushed up the hill and separated himself. Sasha, Steve, and Mike dropped back.

At the top of the hill it was just me, Sean Sundwall, and Nick Schuetze. Nick, Sean, and I formed a temporary alliance, and began what was probably the most enjoyable part of the race for me. I drafted off of Nick for about halfway up Dammeron, and just tried to stay relaxed and easy; time did not matter yet. We made comments on the beautiful sunrise and redrock. It was a gorgeous day, and life was good. By the start of Mile 12, Nick started pushing a bit, and chasing Dave Danley. I stuck to my plan of relaxation, let him go, and worked in with Sean. We discussed trading off leads, but with no headwind, and with the hill nearly over, I was content to run side-by-side. I missed a some splits, but was averaging 5:30-5:40 on the Dammeron hill.

Sean and I crested the hill at Mile 12. I gave him a high-five, and said "It's time to go." And we did. With the mission accomplished of running a relaxed first 12 miles and mooching off others, it was time to start really working, and time to get under qualifying pace. I knew based on the splits of previous winners (James Lander, Joe Wilson, Mike Kirk), the second half is where the race is won. Mile 13 was a 5:08, and we were rolling again. Nick had gapped Sean and I by a bit, but Danley was starting to come back; I knew that we could reel him in. 1:11:24 at the half.

Seeing Snow Canyon was a beautiful site; not just its aesthetic appeal, but also the downhill it represented. I have been mentally (and physically) preparing to hit this section at sub-5 pace for several months, and now it was time to do it. Sean really helped hammer the pace from 15-17. My quads protested a little bit, but remained intact. We passed Danley around 15 miles. At Mile 17, I checked my splits and realized that we had just put together a 15:20 5K, and three consecutive sub-5's. We were definitely back under pace, now I just needed my body to hold up, kind of like a shuttle holding up during re-entry of the earth's atmosphere.

Sean and I kept working together and encouraging each other. Fist-bumps, high fives, whatever it took. We knew we were on the verge of doing it. I missed another split, but got 10:18 for a 2-mile during 18-19. Satisfactory. Then a 5:27 for 20 (up the overpass hill?). One of us remarked "10K left". No wall for me get, although my muscles were certainly all protesting from the battery, particularly my left calf. My knees were feeling better though, once it had warmed up. Sean had a pace band and informed me we were on track for 2:19. I needed nothing better than that, and tried to relax a little and just keep my body intact. But kind of like the Alta race, but body was already in auto-pilot, not heeding my mind, and working even harder. The four-mile stretch of 21-24 was 20:04. I gapped Sean a little bit with 4 miles left, but didn't feel confident enough to make the big move, and he caught back up. I felt like I still needed someone to push (or pull) me if things turned sour. I started a mantra in my head, "There will be no Wall." With 5K to go, I gapped Sean again, this time for good. "Okay, just a 5K," I thought to myself, and started doing some mental math to figure out how slow I could run a 5K and still hit the "A" standard. My mental math wasn't doing so hot, and by the time I figured it out, another 5:00-mile had passed, and now I had only two miles. "There will be no Wall."

Now I knew the "A" standard was a virtual certainty. I was hurting, my muscles were screaming at me, but I was not near the Wall. "There will be no Wall." I ran Mile 25 in 5:13 just to prove the point to my doubting mind. Now it was just a mile race. Just a 1600m track interval. "There will be no Wall". And there was no Wall. Last Mile in 5:13. Last 0.2 in 1:07. Last Half in 1:06:45.

Ryan Hall is one of running role models, not just because of how he runs, but how he uses his running as worship, as a way to praise and glorify God. How does it feel to qualify for the Trials? Elation. Absolutely amazing. And I give God the glory and praise for the chance He's given me, the gifts He's given me, the beauty of His creation, and just the feeling of running in itself, fast or slow.

I was happy to see both Sean and Dave Danley hit the "A" standard too. And I was absolutely elated to see Logan cross the line in 2:21:45. That was definitely a moment I'll remember for a long time.

Lots of other fabulous performances by other bloggers and friends. I'd like to make a list of blogger PR's, but don't have time right now. :-) Today in St. George was certainly a special day. St. George is a special course, fast by its very topographic nature. But in order to have a truly special race, you need three other things beside a fast course: 1) cool/cold weather with no wind or tailwind; 2) thick competition; 3) great training and preparation. Sometimes you get only 2 or 3 of these four things to come together. This will lead to a good race, but not a special race. It is rare when all 4 factors come together on the same day, but today was one of those days. It showed not just in my race (an 8:15 PR), but in the times and PR's of countless others. It was truly a special day in St. George: a cold start, a tailwind, superb competition (and pace groups!), and lots of well-trained individuals.

MileSplit
1-210:48
3-5
16:06
6
4:58
7-8
11:02
9
5:43
10
5:31
11-12
11:23
13
5:08
14
5:12
15-16
9:49
17
4:58
18-19
10:18
20
5:27
21
4:53
22
5:05
23
5:03
24
5:03
25
5:13
26
5:13
0.2
1:07
First Half
1:11:24
Second Half
1:06:45
Total Time
2:18:09

Comments
From Maria on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 19:40:27

Paul, this is so awesome!!! I saw your name about an hour ago on Letsrun thread, and then in the official results. Huge congratulations on OTQ (and under 2:20 too!) and on getting 2nd!! Looks like a great performance with a 5 min. negative split, which is not uncommon for St. George, as I understand. You're doing something right in your training (thanks to Tinman's big workouts philosophy, perhaps?), and hopefully, you'll continue to improve! All the best, and happy running in NYC!

From Bonnie on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 20:30:03

Congratulations Paul, quite an accomplishment today!!

From ArmyRunner on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 21:02:37

Congrats Paul, you deserve it! Have a blast in New York, I am looking forward to watching the trials and seeing how everyone does. Thanks for all of your support and advice on the blog as well as it means a lot.

From S Browning on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 21:22:58

Great Job Paul, a well deserved performance!! Best of Luck in New York!

From Dustin on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 22:46:02

Great Job Paul! What an inspiration to the rest of us bloggers. Best of luck in New York and let us know if we can help out at all.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 22:55:41

Paul - congratulations on being the first blogger to qualify, and not only that, but with standard A. Good luck in New York!

From Ethan on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 23:06:33

Congratulations for sure on the qualifying time. Most people think you mean BQ time when you mention qualifying time. Not Olympic qualifier.

Awesome work. You ran an amazing race

From Tom on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 23:32:12

Congrats Paul, as a spectator today it was awe-inspring seeing you come in followed by so many of the other bloggers in the top 20. Good luck in NY!

From James in Sunny AZ on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 00:02:56

Congratulations, Paul, I was so happy for you when I met you in the post-race recovery area and heard how well you did. Lybi saw you come by but couldn't even see the expression on your face because you went by so fast. Awesome job!

From Paul Thomas on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 02:43:11

Let me add my congratulations. I'm proud to share the same blog (and the same name). Best of luck in NYC!

From Ruthie on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 04:04:19

Great job at running freaking fast today! I guess I won't repeat what everyone else just said, but I wanted to add something since you ran such an AWESOME race today. And by the way, the coaches at Calvin(specifically Nancy Meyer) say hello. Congrats yet again, you're performance today was really awe-inspiring!

From jtshad on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 07:35:40

Congratulations on a fantastic race on obtaining the A Standard. Can't wait to here about your OTQ race in New York!

From Jed Burton on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 10:44:16

It's been incredible to follow your success this season, Paul, especially given the injuries you were recovering from a year ago. Congrats on a stunningly fast time, and best of luck in NYC.

From Aaron on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 16:35:30

Sweet. I hope today's nap was the best yet.

From Superfly on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 16:52:15

Again great race Paul. We loved having you guys stay with us this weekend. I think having you here helped me run a better race too. It just helped having someone so focused here to help me not be so stressed. Way to set a bench-mark for the rest of us. Looking forward to many more racees. Good luck at trials.

From Brent on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 18:56:32

Paul, congradulations, WOW, WOW, WOW, a million commando points for your OTQ. Have the time of your life at the trials. Wow, wow, wow and wow again.

From Chris Rogers on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 20:41:40

Paul--Congratulations! Your great race is clearly a byproduct of the calculated training and outstanding dedication you have shown from the beginning of 2007. You are very deserving of your Olympic Trials berth, and I can't begin to say how excited I am for you! I can't tell you how many times out on the course I was doing mental math myself to try to figure out where you were at based on a 2:19 finish time. Congratulations again--what a great accomplishment!

From dutch on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 21:30:23

Paul,

I knew you'd do it. Wish I could have been there...

I'll be watching you in NY.

From dan on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 23:58:45

Awesome run Paul. I tell everyone I meet that I know an Olympic Qualifier. You are an inspiration. I feel the same way about being greatful everyday that I am able to be out running. I know God is smiling when one lives up to their potential and does so in such a classy manner. You are one of my heros.

From James on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 00:51:15

You are the man! I am always proud to call you my friend. Not only are you a great guy, but you are so darn fast! You deserve all the spoils because you have earned it through your smart training and hard work. Great race, and good luck at trials, I'll be cheering you on!

From Chad on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 01:27:28

Paul, thanks for the thoughtful entry. Congratulations on an outstanding race. Recover well for NY. We'll all be there in spirit cheering for you.

From ashman on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 09:03:19

I can't believe your closing mile splits! You are a tough cookie Paul, Good Luck in New York I'll be praying for you man.

From Dave Holt on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 09:25:43

Paul, such an inspiration. Great job!

From Cody on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 10:27:05

Let me be the first to congratulate you. Wait, maybe the last. Good job buddy! I am so proud to be a training partner of the famous Paul. Like you have said many times, you trained for it and all you had to do was execute. And man did you execute. I wish I could have been a camera man filming the show. The hard work payed off.

From Randy on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 11:00:07

Dude, I know you are inundated with comments, but just wanted to say congrats! Thanks for the sweet race report and for showing us how it is done! You and Logan really ran picture perfect races. Can't wait to see how the trials play out. .. a tough, hilly course... anything can happen. Best of luck!

From wheakory on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 12:36:58

Paul what an amazing accomplishment... God really blessed you. It couldn't have happened to a more talented and generous person. Your going to go far with your running. Good luck in the trials.

From Bethany on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 13:10:18

Congrats on an awesome race. Glad I was there to see it. Thanks for training with Cody and helping him reach his potential. What is there left for you to conquer? Great job.

From Mik'L on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 13:15:44

Great race Paul. It was so much fun to see you come in. We loved having you guys stay with us and I really think it helped Clyde calm down a little having you there (yes, that was calm for him!). Hopefully you are doing okay today since I heard Nick Schuetze has been in the hospital for some muscle related problem. Good luck at trials...just enjoy it! Hopefully I will win my trip and we'll be watching!

From Jon on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 14:45:00

I want to add my congrats to everyone else's. I guess your training strategy of napping more than the competition worked (with a bit of running in between). Nice job!

From Jon on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 15:35:43

One comment- I heard from about 10 people that you had a smile on your face the whole way for the last 2 miles! Maybe you will have to give me tips on how to look happy at the end.

From Tom on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 15:41:48

Having been a spectator at the finish line I can vouch for Paul looking great coming in and having a big smile on his face. He looked like he could have gone a few more miles yet. I think maybe the only other leaderboard runner that was any more jovial was Logan.

From Jon on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 16:41:46

Hey, if you were a woman, there would only be one faster person in the world than you (Paula Radcliffe)!

It looks like we were lucky with the weather- http://www.marathonguide.com/#Featured

All other marathons were hot, while SGM had "ideal" conditions.

From Paul T on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 16:51:34

I don't know how you and the other elite runners on the blog feel about AgeGrade percentages (I'd never heard of them before today), but in the SGM results it shows your AgeGrade percentage as 90.4%. If you click on the question mark icon that explains the AgeGrade percentage it says "Over 90% = World Class". Congratulations on being a "World Class" runner. Quite impressive.

From Lulu on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 18:11:44

Wow! Congratulations! You are inspiring!

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 19:44:44

Thanks everyone. Saturday was truly living the dream, and I am thankful for it.

Yes, I was smiling for most of the last two miles. I was also yelling a little, throwing cups, and generally scaring the volunteers.

I definitely made the right choice in my fall marathon. Chicago and Twin Cities were horrible busts for all involved, due to weather. Meanwhile, St. George was absolutely perfect, plus I got to spend the weekend with friends. Hands-down the best running decision I've made all year.

From Andy on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 21:57:39

I'm sure your just about sick of comments but your run was truly amazing. Coming back from the injuries last year and performing at this level is a true inspiration. I was pretty frustrated with my 5 minute negative split but if it was good enough for you then it must be the right thing to do.

From Jon on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 23:25:55

I forgot that you were choosing between SGM, Chi, and Twin Cities. Good choice.

From Michael on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 23:49:46

Fantastic run and attitude Paul - sounds like you had alot of fun too, alot to be proud of. Best of luck in New York - you can do it

From Sean Sundwall on Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 00:24:22

Paul,

Great report. You filled in some gaps. It was a pleasure to run with you for so much of the race. I look forward to seeing you in NYC...assuming I can get my legs working again.

--Sean

From Nick on Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 01:01:14

YESSS! Paul you rock man! That is an awesome time. Congratulations on the PR and keep on rolling through Oly trials! It will be really cool to run with some of those big dogs!

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 16:59:31 from 64.81.245.109

Bump to get this to the Hot Discussions. OTQ is hot.

From paul on Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 17:18:28 from 65.103.252.214

Sasha, I'm disappointed it took you almost two years to post on my blog. :-(

From Brent on Thu, Jun 04, 2009 at 18:52:07 from 168.178.30.75

Paul, read the bump, #18 at the OTQ, the Logan Legend

Stay Kool, Running Great Again, B of BS Rools out

From Kelli on Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 21:16:48 from 71.219.76.64

Cool BUMP. You are FAST!

From Fritz on Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 23:07:34 from 97.117.43.207

I never said nice work so I will say it now. 5 min negative split! That must have been an awesome day for you.

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