Each Day Is a Gift

Met RAD at the McDonald's off Bangerter in Riverton at 5am.  I'm terrible with night vision driving and ended up driving past the State Prison 3-4 times before finding the dang road.  Thankgoodness, RAD was awesome at driving and getting me there right on time to meet Teena for the bus ride up.  Had 30 min to use the PoP, find Slick and his protoge Troy in the tent before dropping our bags and head to the start line.  The tent was awesome!  I think every race should have a tent instead of smoky fire-pits to keep runners warm. 

I think the temp was in the low 40s but the 10+mph wind made it feel like mid 30s.  Teena and I walked shivering to the start line with Slick and Troy following close behind.  Gave Teena a quick hug and a good luck to Slick as they joined the throng of speedsters down the canyon.  I was instructed by Slick to bring Troy back a marathoner and Troy was instructed to not loose me; so no matter what the two of us need to stay together.  We started somewhere between the 4:30 and 5:00 pacers.  Breathing was uncomfortable for me at this elevation of 8,730'.  The first 5K always seem to go by quickly and I found myself running with Cathryn who was pacing the 4:15.  We chatted a bit and I let her go knowing that I would not be able to hold that pace.  I was not aware that we were supposed to stay on the left side (inbound traffic) of the road.  I was following the runners crossing the road doing the tangent when all of a sudden, rounding a corner, a motorcycle cop blaring his siren and yelled at us to cross the road.  He was driving on the "wrong side" of the road with several cars behind him.  I jumped off the road to my right onto the side of the hill thinking that I would just let them pass before crossing the road.  He yelled at me with angry commanding voice: "Get over there NOW!" That totally scared the heck out of me...never been yelled at by a cop before.  There goes my trying to teach Troy to do the tangent.  Then he told me how he was stopped by a cop earlier this morning making an illegal U-turn on his way to meet Slick.  He told the cop if he was going to write him a ticket, to do it fast because he didn't want to be late and face the wrath of another cop (Slick who's a retired law enforcer) on their way to his first marathon.  That made me laugh! :) :) :)

Anyhow, we both had to stop and use the honey bucket at the mile 5 aid station, where I also took my first Gu while waiting for the p-o-p.  They need to put more honey buckets in the earlier aid stations.  Anyhow, it was fun to run with a first-timer.  Troy shared stories of his running to loose weight, and how he met Slick and wonderful U of U students and employees on his daily train ride to work.  He also reminded me what Slick would say in coaching him.  Yep, Slick used to tell me all that good training wisdom when I was a newbie some 10 years ago.  I have been "hiding" from the running community the last few years and sorta lost my enthusiasm in running.  Running with Troy in his first marathon is just what I need to remind me of the joy of marathoning. 

The first few miles had some good decline, then it would flattens out a bit.  After the Half the course has some rollers then flat the last 6+ miles.  My legs felt good the entire time.  The temp stayed in the mid 40s with sunny blue sky.  The scenery is gorgeous.  BUT, the wind was unbearable!  It literally took my breath away.  I was hoping that the wind would die down once we got out of the canyon.  But no such luck, in fact, the wind seemed to worsen blowing through the open fields of farm lands.  Everytime we turned left, the wind would be a nasty headwind and I would duck behind Troy to draft off him.  I was coughing and wheezing.  I had to take my inhaler at mile 23 and took lots of walk breaks.  If not for Troy I think I would've never made it under 5 hours.  Saw hubby with 0.1 to go and I wanted to cry.  When I crossed the finish, a volunteer saw my labored breathing and assisted me as I staggered around.  I got light headed and my fingers and toes were numb and tingling.  She kept asking if I needed to sit down or go to the med tent to which I refused.  I just needed to walk a bit and get my breathing under control.  Hubby later told me that my lips were purple.  Troy crossed the finish ahead of me and made a bee line to meet his family.  After collecting some post-race food, I found Slick who has run a BQ and won in his AG.

Mile 1-5 -- 9:22, 9:18, 10:05, 9:43, 11:58 (potty stop, GU),

Mile 6-10 -- 9:41, 10:24, 9:52, 10:10, 10:01,

Mile 11-15 -- 12:18 (potty stop, GU), 10:20, 10:25,  Half-2:14:xx, 10:42, 9:51,

Mile 16-20 -- 12:45 (potty stop, GU), 10:24, 12:23, 10:43, 12:20 (Troy pit stop),

Mile 21-23 --11:18, 11:47, 12:23 (inhaler, cough/wheeze),

Death march the last 5K -- 11:45, 12:20, 12:22, 12:10