What a great event my second marathon turned out to be. I have really enjoyed the last 6 months making new running friends and great training partners. As much as I like to do well in a race I enjoy watching people I care about achieve their goals even more. There certainly was not a lack of inspiring performances today (Rachel, Paul, Kelli, Fritz, Scott, Steve to name a few) and being able to share in that was truly rewarding. And of course much gratitude goes to Aubrey who puts up with all my Saturday morning running adventures.
Breakfast @ 4:15 am - An orange and water (that’s all that sounded good). 1 mile+ jog to the Marriot to meet up with Rachel, Kelli, Smooth and crew. Nice social ride to the start of the race to mingle with the curious cross section of society that marathoners are. Hanging out with my orange jacket, jeans, and Crocs (Wait his time chip is attached to his Crocs… He’s actually running in those…). The weather is absolutely brilliant – Low 40’s, sunny and no wind. And right on time the race is off.
Mile 1 – 6:03.22, Mile 2 – 6:17.55, Mile 3 – 5:31.81 (marker was quite short), Mile 4 – 6:50.25 (making up for the short marker), Mile 5 - 6:10.95, Mile 6 – 6:15.07, Mile 7 – 6:18.95 (7 mile total - 43:34 (6:14 pace)) – I certainly enjoyed the downhill and the pace felt very controlled. Now the easy part is done and it is time to work (or get worked) on the middle stretch.
Mile 8 – 6:32.70, Mile 9 – 6:36.25 (Took my first GU), Mile 10 – 6:34.60, Mile 11 – 6:47.78, Mile 12 – 6:42.87, Mile 13 – 6:48.28 (Half Marathon total – 1:24:14 (6:26 pace)). I came across the first half in my goal time and was feeling pretty good. My legs were somewhat tired from all the rollers but otherwise all was well. I just needed to get through the next few miles with some sort of semblance and the rest was downhill. I nearly plowed into a guy carrying his daughter just after the half marker as he was nonchalantly strolling across the road.
Mile 14 – 6:45.52 – Flat, down & up, not too shabby, Mile 15 – 7:00.63 (ten seconds faster than last year) I took my second GU hear, Mile 16 – 6:41.40, Mile 17 – 6:41.12, Mile 18 – 6:26.53 (18 mile total - 2:01:02 (6:44 pace)). I lost some time on my overall goal through this section but I was now in Ogden Canyon and hoping to make so time up.
Mile 19 – 6:43.21, Mile 20 – 6:46.11, Mile 21 – 6:47.28 (took my third and final GU), Mile 22 – 6:41.10, Mile 23 – 6:45.67 (23.1 mile total – 2:30:46 (6:32 pace)). I was able to pick up some time down the canyon. I was thinking at this point that a 2:48 probably wasn’t going to happen but with a good effort I could be really close to 2:50-2:51.
Mile 24 – 7:22.23 – So what happened this mile? A “little” hill on the parkway that felt like a mountain. Once I crested the hill my quads were done. They didn’t hurt but they were done doing their job.
Mile 25 – 7:47.05 – Getting slower and slower and just wanting to stop and walk but I kept on running.
Mile 26 – 7:57.57 (0.20 – 1:45.21 (8:46 pace)) - The final slow stretch down Grant Ave. I think three or so people passed me but I didn’t care, the finish was my only focus and I finally found it.
Despite missing my initial time goal (2:48) by a pretty large margin I am very happy with how this race played out. First and foremost, I got a PR by nearly 4 minutes and through mile 23 I was on pace for 2:51. Second of all I had zero stomach issues (no potty stops) and only a couple water cup fumbles. And finally I know I can improve. I know my quad strength is a weakness of mine but I can improve that. I also need to get my mileage into the 70’s which is very doable (especially with all the great friends I have to run with).
To finish out the day I took somewhat of a nap at the hotel, tried to figure out what food sounded good (a Wendy’s burger – Who knew), a trip with Aubrey and the boys to the Air Force Museum, more napping to get rid of a head ache, the Avengers (a fantastic movie), and finally back to the hotel to go to bed (and fantastic sleep it was). Currently I can still feel the race a good deal in both quads and somewhat in my left calf. I will take the next few day off and step back into it towards the end of the week. | 