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St. George Marathon

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Location:

Orem,UT,USA

Member Since:

Apr 03, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

HS/COLLEGE:
mile: 4:56, 2 mile: 10:21 (1978)
marathon: 2:52 (St. George 1982)
OLD MAN (20+ years later):
5K: 19:53 (Nestle/Art City Days 5K 2007)
10K: 39:55 (Spectrum 10K 2008)
half marathon: 1:26 (Hobble Creek 2008)
marathon: 3:07 (St. George 2007)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get back to a BQ marathon time (currently 3:40).

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun running, keep fit, and fight middle age spread. Run consistently and injury free. Maintain a healthy balance between running and other life priorities. Encourage my ever-aging running buddies to keep running so we can continue to share runs on the trail instead of rocking chairs.

Personal:

Blessed to be married to Karen for 30 years. We have six children (4 daughters/2 sons) ages 16 to 30, and one wonderful granddaughter.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Altra Instinct 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 83.50
Altra Lone Peak 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 21.80
Saucony Guide 7 Blue 2 Lifetime Miles: 376.95
Saucony Fastwitch 6 Lifetime Miles: 200.05
Saucony Guide 7 Black 1 Lifetime Miles: 271.15
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
5.500.0032.700.000.0038.20
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
2.000.001.500.000.003.50

I ran 3.5 miles on my own this morning. Ran 9:09/mi for half mile warm up, 8:18/mi up a gradual hill for a little over a mile, 8:58/mi for half a mile up a steeper hill, then 7:29/mi for the 1.3 mi back home. I would classify this as a moderate effort run, as I ran steady but never really tried to press the pace. My legs are feeling pretty good.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
3.500.000.000.000.003.50

I ran an easy 3.5 miles at an average pace of about 8:35/mi. I was hoping Kent and Larry would be out, but it turns out they got home from Europe pretty late last night, and Kent had to turn around and fly out again this morning.

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Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
0.000.005.000.000.005.00

Larry wanted to try some miles at marathon pace. He and I ran 5 miles at right around an 8:00/mi pace. It felt pretty good. Larry did well but expressed some doubt about being able to hold that pace for 26.2 miles. Now that he is back from vacation, he said he was going to work on his race plan for St. George and would email it to me.

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Race: St. George Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:32:47, Place overall: 932, Place in age division: 115
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
0.000.0026.200.000.0026.20

Well, the results of my experiment of trying to run two marathons in two weeks are in. I finished St. George in 03:32:47. This was 4 minutes slower than TOU two weeks ago, and 5 minutes slower than SG last year. Nevertheless, I consider the whole experiment a success.

I know various people who ran TOU two weeks ago and still managed to run faster at St. George. One older guy I met while eating after the race ran SG 11 minutes faster than TOU this year. And I remember seeing Dean Karnazes, running his 21st marathon in 21 days, blow by me on his way to a 3:20 finish. It appears that there is a fitness level at which running multiple marathons with little time for recovery is not a problem.

I apparently have not yet reached that level of fitness. I felt great for at least the first 10 miles, but then my legs began to feel tired earlier than expected. By mile 16 I began to feel tightness in my right calf and upper right thigh, the exact areas that were hurting at the end of TOU. Those areas had apparently not fully recovered.

By mile 18 my right hip had started hurting me to the point that it was slowing me down. I had been runnning with Kerry the entire race up to that point. We were on pace for 3:30 and easily beating his qualifying time of 3:35. I didn't want to hold him back so I urged him to go ahead without me.

The next 4 miles my hip seemed to be getting worse. I dropped from running sub-8:00 miles to 9:32, 9:10, 8:34, and 8:47. My hip hurt badly with nearly every step, and every once in a while it felt as if it would give out completely. I was beginning to wonder if I would even be able to finish.

However, at mile 22 my hip began to feel a little better. I remember finally passing someone (instead of getting passed). I liked how that felt. I gradually pushed the pace back down to sub-8:00 and got so carried away I actually ran 7:13/mi for nearly a mile. Of course I couldn't hold that pace, but I did manage 7:43 for mile 25 and averaged 7:35/mi the last 1.2 miles. Luckily for me, my wife and three youngest daughters were watching along this last stretch. They said I looked good, and my 14 year old daughter actually told my wife she wished she were "as fit as Dad." For those of you with teenagers, you know that is a reward well worth the effort to train for and run a marathon.

The weather was perfect. I enjoyed seeing and running (at times) with so many of my friends along the way, and I really enjoyed spending the weekend with (part of) my family. I look forward to next year.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
5.500.0032.700.000.0038.20
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