What a great race for me! I really only hit the wall with about 2 miles left, but even then I was able to run all the way to the finish.
I didn't run at all on Thursday or Friday before the race. Lisa took the day off work Friday and I spent the morning selecting songs for my running playlist that were between 160 and 180 bpm. Unfortunately, the only songs that I had the data for were from mp3's and these are mainly from my old CD's collection. So Earth Wind & Fire, Journey, Smash Mouth, etc. But there were some really good songs. I have heard that 180 steps per minute is the optimul efficiency for running. After trying it in this marathon I'm a big believer.
Lisa drove and we rode to St. George with a friend for a passenger (Terry Foust) who just ran the Wasatch 100 three weeks prior. The time passed quickly with great conversation. We went to the expo and got our numbers, talked to friends and then dropped Terry off at his in-laws and checked into the La Quinta and took a quick ice bath. Lisa and I went back to the expo for the Spahghetti dinner and returned to the hotel to watch BYU pull off a miracle win and went to bed for a very restless night of sleep.
I woke up after minimal sleep and got ready including drinking 1/2 a bottle of Powerade. Lisa and I went downstairs for breakfast. The first person I saw looked like a ripped kenyan man who made me feel like I wasn't a runner and I should just go back to bed. I grabbed a bagel and a yogurt, put them in my bag and headed out the door. I said hi to Jeff Shadley and met Terry and Troy Anderson and rode up to the start. My goal was sub 3:20. This has been my goal ever since I decided to run a marathon--10 marathons ago. After a porta potty stop and another trip to the weeds, I got in the corral with the 3:15 pacer and the gun went off. I said a prayer for a positive experience and took it as a sign from heaven that the first song on my playlist was the Fisherman Song by Mae. A great way to start the run.
I stuck with the 3:15 pacer not really caring how close he was, but not wanting to run ahead of him and ran to the cadence of the music. 3:15 was not my goal. 3:19:59 would be acceptable and thrilling. I decided not to look at my watch for a while, but just run comfortably with the pacer in my sights and to the cadence of the music. I planned to drink at every aid station and fuel every five miles. I had "Stinger"s for fuel for the first half and GU for the 2nd half. Everything felt very easy and I found myself ahead of the pacer climbing the Veyo hill and for a few miles after that. But I let him catch me. I looked at my watch at 10.84 miles for the first time. Average pace was 7:29. Everything good so far. I caught a friend, Rick Nef, at an aid station and we ran together for a few minutes before I let him go. I stuck with the cadence that was comfortable to me and ran with the music. Across the Dammeron Valley there was a headwind, so I tucked in behind the group that was with the pacer and let them break the wind for me. The pelaton did a nice job. At mile 14 I was a bit behind the pacer, but the route heads downhill and everything felt good. Lisa cheered for me at mile 16 at the top of Snow Canyon. She had ridden her bike there and had a bottle of Heed ready for me. I had been carrying my hat the whole time and intended to give it to her. No hat next time. Too much heat retention. I forgot to ditch the hat. I drank some Heed and tossed the bottle.
About mile 18 I came up to a girl with the best mantra I've ever seen. It carried me for a while. "The only good race pace is suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die!" It was awesome. I read it several times as I approached the last real hill of the day. At the base of the hill, I grabbed a half drank (dranken, drunken...) water bottle and decided it was okay to unscrew the cap and dump the rest over my head. It felt good. At the remaining rest stops I drank one cup of Gatorade and dumped a cup of water over my head. I at my two GU's along the way and tossed my last Stinger (which I love!), but let's ditch the extra weight.
At mile 22 I passed my Kenyan friend from the hotel as he stretched out something that wasn't working right. At mile 24 I was pretty beat, but by now I knew that if I just kept running I would realize my sub 3:20 goal. Lisa was there and cheered for me again. I ditched the hat. My watch read 7:29 average min/mi. I ran through some water misters and had 10% of the race left. I passed people walking and told myself to "Run through the carnage" which is a phrase I use to refer to all the suffering people that have hit the wall near the end of the race--Carnage. I was running out of gas myself when I saw my nephew Lamon and his wife Mary at mile 25 and they called out to me with a great cheer. It was awesome. I needed the lift. I turned to run down to the final turn and made it there with 1/2 mile left in the race. I was beat. I ran to the beginning of the chute and wanted to stop desperately with 0.2 miles left. Lisa called out to me to get moving. I thought of Audrey Hepburn's cheer for Dover in My Fair Lady, "Come on Dover, move your bloomin A...!" What else could I do? I ran it in at 3:17:34. Goal met. I got my medal, did two loops through the mist area and started looking for Lisa. It was sweet to see her and receive her congratulations. She is so supportive and was just as excited as I was. I met friends coming into the finish and enjoyed the food and the moment.
In the end my splits were positive by only 35 seconds. A near perfectly timed race. I credit blessings from above for a great day. I think the music was a huge factor and all things including my hydration and nutrition plan, my tapering as well as my maintenance plan to run at least two 10 milers per week while training on the bike over the summer for the LOTOJA all seemed to work out. Anything can happen on game day. It sure was nice to have things work out so well on this day.
My splits follow:
| 1 |
7:36 |
| 2 |
7:26 |
| 3 |
7:03 |
| 4 |
7:10 |
| 5 |
7:13 |
| 6 |
7:10 |
| 7 |
7:11 |
| 8 |
8:13 |
| 9 |
8:02 |
| 10 |
7:43 |
| 11 |
7:54 |
| 12 |
7:30 |
| 13 |
7:18 |
| 14 |
7:37 |
| 15 |
7:13 |
| 16 |
6:59 |
| 17 |
7:23 |
| 18 |
7:21 |
| 19 |
7:45 |
| 20 |
7:31 |
| 21 |
7:18 |
| 22 |
7:47 |
| 23 |
7:41 |
| 24 |
7:30 |
| 25 |
8:03 |
| 26 |
7:56 |
| 27 |
2:02 |
| 