My St. George 2006 Report. Well, St. George finished my first year of running the 6 Grand Slam marathons. During the last six months, my training has been sporatic, with virtually no long training other than the marathons. Heading in I’m a bit concerned, given the fact I’ve had a cold for a week and don’t know how recovered I am from Top of Utah. Mile 1 - 7:25 Mile 2 - 7:19 Mile 3 - 7:01 Mile 4 - 6:57 Mile 5 - 7:00 Mile 6 - 6:40 Mile 7 - 6:35 Mile 8 - 8:29 – At the advise of some runners, I walked part of Veyo to “conserve” for later. In hindsight, I should never have stopped running. Oh well, .live and learn. Mile 9 - 7:47 Mile 10 - 7:43 Mile 11 - 7:51 Mile 12 - 7:30 Mile 13 - 7:21 – Half around 1:36 Mile 14 - 7:37 Mile 15 - 8:10 Starting to experience stomach issues, which has been uncommon for me. Watch the 3:10 Cliff Pace group pull away, which at the time seems alright because I’m targeting 3:15:59. Mile 16 - 7:03 Mile 17 - 8:10 Mile 18 - 8:16 Struggling Mile 19 - 9:30 – Bathroom stop, which proved to be more psychological than physiological. Mile 20 - 7:39 Struggling Mile 21 - 8:08 Struggling Mile 22 - 9:36 3:20 Cliff Pace group catches me around here or in last mile, which demoralizes me because mentally I thought I was just hanging ahead of the 3:15 group. However, when I realize it is the 3:20 pace group and that no 3:15 group existed, I lose all hope of 3:15 and mentally tank it as I realize I cannot make up the 3:15. Mile 23 - 8:18 Mile 24 - 8:25 Mile 25 - 7:55 Mile 26 - 8:20 Mile 26.2 - 1:44 3:24:32. Still a PR, but not very satisfying. I’m disappointed that I didn’t tough it out more, but once I lost the 3:15 I really struggled. At least I’ve had glimpses that more serious training can continue to lead to improvement. |