On Thursday night, my wife took our baby to the ER because she had a really high fever. So the weekend turned out differently than we had planned, but I decided to still run the race. I dropped the other kids off with family members. Thanks to the 80 mph speed limit on much of I-15, I made it to the expo at 8:40 pm, twenty minutes before it closed. Everything went smoothly. I grabbed a burger and fries for dinner and then drove to Dustin's house. They were very kind to let me stay with them. I slept well for 4-5 hours, and we were off to stand in (a long) line for a bus to the starting line. I wasn't sure what to expect for this race. I think my longest training run in the last two months was 10 miles. And my weekly training mileage had been 30-40 miles the past two months. On the other hand, my weight was lower than the last time I ran St. George, and my fitness level was as high as it had been all year (based on my training times). Breaking 3 hours was my stretch goal, and I figured I had nothing to lose in shooting for that. Fortunately, Dustin and a few others were also planning to run that pace, so I had others to run with. The first 7 miles were nice and relaxed, according to plan. We averaged about 6:50 pace. Then we hit the hills. The next two miles were in about 7:35 pace, not too bad. After that, there is some flat/gradual uphill. I actually felt really strong and relaxed on this part, which hadn't happened in past years. My goal at this point was to get back to 7:00 pace average. I wanted to keep in striking distance. Around this point, a guy in a green singlet was running near me and was encouraging runners to stay relaxed and not burn through the downhills. So I stuck near him for the next 9-10 miles. He was great. Once I got to mile 18, I was exactly on 7:00 pace average. I slowed down a little on the Winchester hill, but not too much. After that I decided to push the pace. I was feeling amazingly well and was having to hold myself back until that point. Now I wanted to start being more aggressive. But the downhill was hurting, so I could only push so hard. I knew that if I ran a 10K in 39 minutes, I could break 3 hours. As I came into town, I was still feeling amazingly well. The crowd also got me going. Around mile 23, I couldn't hold back from smiling. It was such a cool feeling. I was running 6:30 pace at this point. But then as soon as we turned off Bluff St., my body ground to a halt. I struggled through the last 2 miles and finished with 3:03:51. This time was a minute slower than last time, but I was very happy with it, considering my training. And I placed higher than last time (148th), maybe because of the heat, not sure. This race brought me a lot of joy. It's hard to describe why. For one thing, I felt like a runner again. My body felt light and smooth for most of the race. I loved being out in nature and being around great people. I also was happy that I had stuck with my (limited) training, even though many times I had wanted to give up on it. It also proved to me that it's possible to run a decent marathon on limited training. As I came toward the finish line, I kept thinking one thing...this would be my second marathon I had run faster than my friend Matt's PR. That should be embarrassing to him. Ha ha. A few things could have made it better...1) practicing downhill running, 2) eating GU and/or drinking Gatorade at one or two more aid stations (I stopped at every aid station until mile 21), 3) increasing my training mileage at least a little. I'm forgetting what else. I'm not sure when I'll do another marathon. Next year I probably won't race much. But I do want to focus on a few key races to keep my motivation to train. The rest of this year I'll probably do just enough to maintain fitness and keep my weight down. Thanks again to Dustin, and I hope he can find his groove again for next year. 1- 7:06 2- 7:04 3 - 6:47 4 - 6:38 5 - 6:50 6 - 6:35 7 - 6:47 8 - 7:45 9 - 7:26 10 - 7:17 11 - 7:26 (maybe should have pushed a little harder here) 12 - 7:09 (and here) 13 - 6:55 14 - 6:54 15 - 6:44 16 - 6:39 17 - 6:48 18 - 6:54 19 - 7:18 20 - 7:05 21 - 6:46 22 - 6:53 23 - 6:54 24 - 6:31 25 - 7:02 (I guess it wasn't as slow as it felt) 26 - 7:42 (ditto) 26. 2 - 1:46
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