Wow!!! So that is what it feels like to run a marathon! I have never crossed a finish line feeling so much gratitude, excitement and elation. My dream goal going in to my first marathon was to hit a sub-2:55 but my true goal was to be under three hours. My initial plan was to be built up to 80 mile weeks by the beginning of February and to start putting in some big workouts by March, however, that plan didn’t quite work out. I hurt my right foot pretty good playing indoor soccer the end on last November which bothered me through the middle of December. I then got lazy through the end of December and slowly stretch in the month of January with some 20 and 30 mile weeks. I finally started making an ok push in February with daily runs at 12 miles; however I missed a few days here and there for one reason or another (running 12 miles at 10:00-11:00pm in freezing cold was tough to get out to sometimes). Come March I knew that I wasn’t going to have the proper buildup time to put in any “big” work outs so I kept all my runs at a relative easy pace and would rely increased easy distance to get me through the marathon. I raced the Riverton ½ the end of March and finished in 1:23:52 on a tough hilly course with a lot of wind and cold. This race gave me the confidence that maybe a 2:55 was possible and a sub 3 hr. was very likely if all went well. The month of April was go time, this month was going to make or break my marathon dreams. To help insure that I got good mileage in every day I started running 4 miles a day during my lunch break at work and then I would finish off the evening with 7 miles (instead of 12 all at night). In April I put together three 70 mile weeks and one 45 miles week (due to no sleep with work conflicts) and my only real concern now was to please avoid injury. I raced the Provo City Half (1:24:52) the beginning of May to try any lock in my final goal marathon pace (which I settled in at 6:41) and then let the taper begin. I made it to race day injury free and with hopes that I had enough to get me a 2:5x marathon.
My plan for the race was to keep the first half at 1:27 and just see what the second half would give me. My planned fuel for the course was a total of three strawberry-banana GU’s (loaded in my but pocket) to be taken approaching miles 9, 15, and 21 (along with water). After spending 5 hours of time in the hotel bed in an out of sleep I got up at 4:00 am, got dressed, and had a Gatorade and a banana. My loving wife then drove me to the buses to start on my adventure. The good thing about getting on one of the first buses is that you get the pick of the litter of the port-a-potties, the bad news is that I had an hour and a half of standing/walking around before the start of the race (I will probably be a little less punctual the next time around). I did get to meet and chat with Stephen for a bit before the race and got hellos into Rob, Teena and Fritz. The weather and temperature was fantastic from the start and I knew I would be fine in my tech-t and compression shorts. Apparently there was some challenge getting all the buses through, so the start of the race was delayed 10 minutes (which turned out to be a God-send for my wife and kids).
The first half of the marathon pretty much went exactly how I had scripted it. I tried to keep as close to 6:41 pace for the first 8 miles as I could (I knew that low 6’s were going to feel easy at first but I would pay for them later).
Mile #1 – 6:24
Mile #2 – 6:27
Mile #3 – 6:22
Mile #4 – 6:28
Mile #5 – 6:31
Mile #6 – 6:32
Mile #7 – 6:34
Mile #8 – 6:38
Approach mile 9 I took my fist GU and got ready for the rollers for the next 9 miles.
Mile #9 – 6:43
Mile #10 – 6:43 (somewhere in here I passed a guy that had his Garmin alert beeping every second – very annoying!)
Mile #11 – 6:52
Mile #12 – 6:47
Mile #13 – 6:56 (I came through the half at 1:26:21 (a little faster than planned but everything was still together))
I am now telling myself that ALL I had left was the uphill at mile 15, a few downhill rollers, and then down the canyon (Easy, Right?!)
Mile #14 – 6:48
Mile #15 – 7:10 (darn that hill) I took my second GU leading up to this mile along with some water at the aide station.
Mile #16 – 6:50
Mile #17 – 6:52
Mile #18 – 6:41 (Starting to head down the canyon and taking what the downhill on tired legs will give me) After this point I really can’t trust much more from my Garmin other that miles paces on the river trail in Ogden. According to my Garmin I did some impressive mountaineering in the canyon with several 300 ft. accents with some of that a 6:12 pace (I know Crockett, Jun and all you others would be impressed).
After some path drawing in Google Earth and some calculation I figure that I averaged 6:54 pace through the canyon (6:50 pace minus the Pee brake at mile 20). The run through the canyon was where my marathon destiny was made. I probably made mistake not taking my last GU approaching mile 21. I burped up some stomach contents around mile 19 and really got nervous about taking another GU (would it make me feel worse? I decided not to risk it and just kept on trucking). Allie and Fiddy cheered me on at mile 21 (whether I was looking good or not was irrelevant, but having someone calling out my name at that stage of the race was fantastic! Thanks!) I even did some good-old Sasha grunting through the canyon (it really does work – and I didn’t care what anyone thought).
I got to mile 23 marker with about 24 minutes left on the clock to get under 3 hours. I was tired and sore but I knew I had it in the bag. Dodging half-marathoners on the river trail was definitely interesting at times. I also nearly took out a guy that was casually crossing the trail without looking. At the 25 mile marker I had over 10 minutes to finish under 3 hrs. As I approached 25th street the clock came in view showing me at 3:59 and change (I definitely think the course was long – according to my Garmin my last 3 miles were in the 7:20 pace range) and almost magically the course was clear of all other runners but me. I did it! I tend not to be a very emotional individual but I nearly broke down in tears. I have never felt an emotion like that at the end of a race. Phenomenal!
I got my finishers medal, grabbed a bottle of water and a Creamy (yummy!), and made my way out of the coral to meet up with Aubrey (my wife), Steffin and Alex (my boys), and my mom (and nearly came to tears again). It turned out that the alarm never went off for my family at the hotel and my woke up at 9:30 am with only 25 minutes to get herself dressed, the boys dressed, my mom moving, checked out of the hotel, and at the finish line at 9:55 am for my projected finish time. Superwomen ended up 5 minutes late but ended up with about 5 minutes to spare (Once again the late start was a God-send).
The only cloud of the marathon experience was the lack race and age division results from the timing chip system. I figured that I had a good shot at an division medal but had to sit it out until 2:00 pm to find out (Thanks family for being so patient – I place 4th in my division and 20th overall (2300+ runners)). To finish up the day we had some Baskin Robbins ice cream and made a stop at the Air Force Museum (I couldn’t say no to the boys after how patient they were after the race).
Thanks everyone! | 