In The Long Run

I went into this hoping finally to get under 4:00.  Most of the predictors had me right around 4 flat, but I hoped to find a few seconds somewhere and squeak out a 3:59.59.  I knew it would take a perfect race on a perfect day for it to happen, though. 

My previous road marathons had been disasters.  I trained inconsistently and went into each race without a plan, and the results showed that.  At Hartford in 2001, I went through the half in 1:59 before finishing in 4:25.  At Colorado in 2010, I went through the half in 2:02 before finishing in 4:27.  Ouch.  This time my training was pretty consistent and I had a plan. 

On Friday night, I made a pace band that accounted for the course profile to wear for the race.  I set it with my garmin, gels, and other race day necessities so that I wouldn’t forget it.  In my 3:30a.m. stupor, I somehow left with everything but the pace bracelet.

I made it to Ogden around 4:45 and got on a bus. I forgot how much I hate bus rides to a race start.  It was so hot on my bus that I had peeled all my layers off.  I also get motion sickness so I could not wait to get off that bus. After a few minutes of being outside in the crisp air, the queasiness went away. It looked like it was going to be a perfect day to run. After several stops in the bathroom line, it was go time. 

These are all Garmin splits (different from the race mile markers.)  I knew that it would read long, so I tried to be mindful of that while running.

Miles 1-6:  8:41, 8:53, 8:51, 8:47, 8:58, 9:00

I knew these downhill miles should be faster than 9:09, but I couldn’t remember how much faster.  I shed my gloves and long sleeves by mile 3.  At this point, everything felt good and I was super confident. Took a clif shot at mile 5.

7-13: 9:06, 9:14, 9:05, 9:06, 9:10, 9:07, 9:17

I was still feeling good.  Took another clif shot at mile 10. Reached halfway at 1:59:38 (this was according to the race markers.  My garmin was at 13.2 something at that point).  The 4 hour pacer passed me right around this point. 

14-20: 9:19, 9:41, 9:24, 9:17, 9:05, 9:41, 9:22

Things were getting harder now.  I was chatting with another runner and realized that I was slowing down.  I increased the effort, but now I was at the hill.  I caught back up with the 4 hour pace group going up the hill and tried to stick with them. They pulled away on the downhill, but I tried to keep her balloons in sight.  I was feeling a little discouraged, but then we turned down the canyon.  Took a third clif shot at mile 18. A quicker mile 18 increased my confidence.  I was certain I could pick it up again.  But then almost instantly, my quads started aching.  I just couldn’t stay in the low 9s anymore.  I started to shuffle.  The balloons disappeared in the distance and sub 4 slipped away. The new focus would have to be sub 4:05.

21-Finish: 9:43, 10:17, 10:15, 11:02, 10:59, 10:20, 9:12 pace for final .45 (Garmin read 26.45)

I was really hurting now.  Sharp pains were shooting up both of my legs. Just keep each mile below 10 I told myself, but that slipped away, too.  The blow up was on. I had shifted into survival mode. It was all I could do to keep my legs shuffling.  I walked through the aid station at 23 to take a clif shot, and starting to run again was so painful.  I knew that I couldn’t let myself walk again until the finish.  I just kept plugging along.  This stretch was very hard mentally.  There was a lot of carnage, and it was so tempting to join in and walk.  But I kept shuffling and when I realized that I could break 4:10, I picked it up to the finish. I think my time was 4:09:42.  A PR by over 15 minutes. 

As I worked my way through the finish area, I saw Nate along the barricades.  I went over to him and just started crying. I don’t know if I was crying because I missed my goal or because everything hurt and I was just so glad it was over.  He was so happy because I had set a big PR, but I was just so disappointed.

I was in so much pain after the race.  I sat down in the shade and could not get up without assistance.  But after I got some food and water down, I started to feel much better, both physically and about the race. 

Things that went well:

• My stomach and breathing felt fine.
• Except for walking through two of the later aid stations, I ran the entire thing.
• I made it to 20 feeling better than I ever had at that point before. While I still blew up, it was much better than previous blowups.
• Mentally, I believed that I could do it for most of the race.  While it didn’t quite work out, I did run 15+ minute PR. 

 Things that need improvement:

•        I clearly went out too fast for my goal/fitness level.  If I had dialed those first few miles back, could I have prevented the later blowup?
•       More long runs.  I only fit in 2 20 milers this cycle.  A few more would have helped a lot.
•         More downhill running in training.  My quads were not prepared for the late downhills of this race. I knew this was a weakness as I’ve had quad problems at downhill races before.