What ever it takes!

Today I decided I wanted to run the second 1/2 of the Big Cottonwood Marathon to get a feel for the course, and how to pace it.  My Office is at the finish line of the race, which will be nice on race day cause I have access to the showers in the building.   I drove to work and then ran up to Wasatch, the 13.1 mile point would have been about another 1.5 miles up the canyon so I just figured out where the closest intersection point would be which was mile 15, I slow jogged from my office up to mile 15 of the marathon and then started my watch.  I wrote down the pace calculator along with course turns so I wouldn't get lost and carried it in my pocket, problem was it was pitch black, I had no light and couldn't read my paper at all.  I had a decent idea of where I needed to be but right away I knew it was going to be hard to pace the 3:05, not cause it's to hard, but because it's too fast.  Mile 15 is pretty much where the course stops going downhill and gets more challanging, problem is (if its a problem) there is a massive tail wind, I had a really hard time slowing myself down to pace even going uphill, this is going to be a very fast course if the wind is the same on Saturday, which I assume it will since it is every day.  Made it to the top of the hill and then you turn down onto 4430S, which is really going to hurt, that mile was my only mile slower than pace just because I was afraid of blowing my hip out going down that hill, the hill is 3/4 of a mile then it turns and evens out.  The next few miles are pretty un-eventful through neighborhoods, then you turn around and start back on Holladay Blvd. This last 3 miles is where it's going to get rough, the tail wind turns into a headwind and its a long busy road.  I was still feeling good, pretty much gave up on trying to stay on pace and just ran cause I was enjoying it, the last mile is pretty uphill and I would say if you are pacing someone trying to BQ it would be a good idea to hit 25.5 a good minute or more fast cause if they were struggling just to get to this point the last 1/2 mile will tear them apart.  Actually looking at the pace calculator that is the slowest mile, so maybe the calculator already took that into account, but just be warned, it's going to be hard.

Mile	Pace Calculator	Actual Pace
16	7:44	7:33
17	7:17	7:18
18	7:38	7:30
19	6:47	7:15
20	7:34	7:08
21	7:12	7:13
22	7:04	7:04
23	6:50	6:57
24	7:18	7:10
25	7:45	7:18
26	7:58	7:45
26.2	1:40	1:28

Humm, after actually looking at the numbers I wasn't off as much as I thought.  1:21:40 actual time, the pace calc would have had me at 1:22:28 for the last 11.2.  My watch was exactly at 11.2 where I would guess the finish line will be, so if mile 15 is correct I think the course is right on.  Here is my Garmin Data!
 

Bike commute to work this morning,  55 degrees is much colder on a bike than running.  I need one of those really super bright headlamps, my wimpy $20 light just doesn't cut it.

And home again.

Bike commute to work, I went and bought one of the really bright bike lights, it's almost as bright as 1 car headlight,  it made a world of difference. 

For some reason my right knee was really bothering me this morning, hopefully I can get it stretched out before my ride home tonight.

Very frustrating, I just decided to run on the treadmill this morning, got on started slow and after 1 mile the treadmill froze up, I jumped on another one and just after 2 miles it froze up.  I went to try a different treadmill and started talking to Riverton Paul instead, then I decided to just lift weights, followed by 15 minutes on the elliptical.

I'm a bit out if it this morning, not really sure why, I slept fine but I'm just kind of dragin.

I hope they get the treadmills fixed before winter starts, I could have gone outside and ran in the dark I suppose but I just wasn't feeling it.

I just noticed that I broke 1,000 running miles in my Nike Free 2+'s.  Some people say they can tell a difference when the soles of the frees break down, I can't for some reason, I actually like them better worn down.

I can't wait to get my new iPhone tomorrow.

http://youtu.be/XNBP18nrRdw

I tried a new training technique today, basically this is what it is.   I slept in well past 4:30am, made breakfast, ate it, let it digest, waited for it to be light outside and then I went out for my run.  I know, it's crazy but sometime you just have to try new things.  I'm not sure I liked it so much, first of all there was a terribly bright ball in the sky which made my eyes hurt, and even though it wasn't raining there was a massive amount of unexplainable water dripping down my forehead, and shirt. 

From now on I'll leave this day time running for the crazies.

I made this a race report for a couple of reasons, 1- cause it's the only way anyone will read it, and 2- cause its probably the highest placement I've had in a marathon.

I'll start by saying, great race, most fun I've ever had running a marathon.  I have no idea why anyone would drive down to St. George and deal with that misery when this awesome marathon is right in our backyard.  My only regret is that I didn't race it cause the winning time was 2:47 I think, so I'm pretty sure I could have got on the podium.  I probably wouldn't have had as much fun though.

The buses started at my office so I had a key to get in and use nice bathrooms at right away, met the other pacers, got my pace band and glowy stick and hopped on the last or second to last bus.

Got up to Brighton, it was cold but the lines for the porta potties were very short, maybe 5 deep, and we only had to wait about 20 minutes for the race to start, when they announced that the race would start in 5 minutes so get lined up I went up about 20 feet back from the start line and held up my sign, I was the first in line.  no one would step up to the mat, I yelled out that I better not win this thing and a few guys finally came up to the front.  The race started and the front runners were all pretty content running with me, they asked what pace I was going to run the canyon and I told them about 6:40 average and everyone seemed happy with that.  I was actually in 3rd or 4th place with a bunch of guys behind me through mile 3.  I felt weird being the pacer and running right behind the police escort but I knew I was running the right pace for 3:05 so I stayed.  Finally a few guys took off, one guy named James said this was his first marathon and was trying to Qualify for Boston (which is what my goal was) so he ran with me and we chatted quite a bit.  At mile 8 he went ahead, the racer in my wanted to stay with him but I had to hold back and be a good little pacer.  We started hitting the 1/2 marathon runners around mile 5, I gave all the other pacers for the 1/2 high fives as I passed.  I kept freaking people out with my 3:05 sign and had to explain that I was the marathon not the 1/2.  I felt really good down the canyon, I could tell that racing it would have really hurt but I was having a blast telling everyone good job as I ran by.

Mile 14.5 you leave the canyon and break away from the 1/2 path, it all of a sudden got very lonely, there was 1 guy with me and was content running about 10 feet behind and listen to music.  Then we hit the hill, around 17 miles I couldn't hear him anymore, I looked back and he was gone, I felt bad and wanted to wait but he was walking so I couldn't.  Once you turn down 33rd or whatever it is it's really steep, I started passing a few people here and then at the mile 18 aid station I caught up with James again, I told him to stay with me, which he did for 2 miles but said he was hurting and his calf was cramping up.  I kept slowing down, telling him we were ahead of time about 2 minutes so I could wait.  I really wanted to get him in on time, but around mile 21 he crashed and there was nothing I could do. I felt like a failure but couldn't slow down anymore.  Mile 23 turns into Holladay Blvd, I could see quite a few people ahead and really wanted to run faster to catch them but I controlled myself and stayed back, I was still about 1 minute fast and was worried about getting in to fast.  People started dropping like flies though, I kept catching them, slowing down and telling them to stay with me, but at mile 24 of a marathon your pretty much spent (I've been there) you don't want anyone talking to you telling you to run faster.  So I just chugged along, wishing I could go faster cause I thought it would actually fell better on my legs.

I hit the final uphill and there was an older guy struggling up it,  I really tried to push him along but we were going 9:00 pace so when I hit mile 26 right on schedule (first accurate time of the day) I took off, when I got to the top of the hill my watch said 3:04 and 26.1 miles but I could see the finish line was way further than .1 away, I thought "Oh crap, what happened" and started sprinting, got to the start of the chuts and my watch turned to 3:05 and I knew I failed.  Luckily there was no one anywhere near me to get mad.

Very happy with my pacing skills actually, I think I did pretty good even though I was over.  Pretty sure I want to race this race next year but I have a feeling the winning time will be faster than 2:47.

Mile	Time I was suppose to be	Time I actually was :)
1	6:38	6:40
2	6:30	6:33
3	6:34	6:40
4	6:30	6:33
5	6:42	6:34
6	7:04	6:45
7	7:21	6:50
8	7:08	7:01
9	6:59	6:58
10	6:51	7:05
11	6:38	6:55
12	6:47	6:42
13	6:38	6:41
14	6:38	6:32
15	7:08	6:51
16	7:33	7:20
17	7:16	7:25
18	7:33	7:29
19	7:08	7:20
20	7:25	7:09
21	7:25	7:27
22	7:04	7:07
23	6:55	7:07
24	7:21	7:29
25	7:42	7:38
26	8:07	8:26
26.2	1:25	2:13 (.3 miles)