This race for me was going to be very interesting because of two
factors 1. My knee was bothering me for three weeks. 2. I ran the SLC
marathon less than four weeks ago, and I didn't feel in peak
performance shape yet I kept telling everyone that I was ready to go to
stay positive, and keep my motivation high. But I knew my legs were not
at a 100%. Last week I was able to do 80 miles and the pain in my knee
seem to decrease. The cause of the knee pain I believe was a pair of
running shoes in my training rotation. Although, two training runs
before the marathon the knee pain was back a bit. My original
plan at the start was to stay with Cody, and Walter to shoot for a
2:40. But even after the first mile they were about 10 seconds ahead of
me. I just didn't feel like I was ready to move yet probably do to the
fact that I didn't do any warm-up miles, because the two pre-race
bathroom stops used up all the time before the race. The first 8
miles was somewhat a 1% downhill, and I wanted to stay at a 6:00
pace. I did accomplish that ( 5:56, 6:03, 5:57, 6:00, 5:53, 6:00,
6:04, 6:07). I felt really good and fresh and I was running by myself
with Cody, Walter, and Ben about 20 seconds ahead of me. Looking back
at it now I wish I would have pushed a little bit harder, but I knew
that miles 9 - 17 would be slower with the rolling hills. Paul
Peterson gave me some great advice to stay relaxed on this portion of
the race and your pace will drop about 15 to 20 seconds from the
previous miles, but just let it happen and wait till miles 18 - 24 to
pick it up on the downhill. I did exactly what he said and relaxed and
my pace was slower and Cody, Walter, and Ben were now pulling further
ahead, and I was sadden that I couldn't run with them. But I wasn't
going to try to push in this stage to keep up (splits starting with
mile 9 - 6;17, 6:22, 6:27, 6:14, 6:24, 6:22, 6:40 (uphill portion),
6:21, 6:18). Starting the downhill at mile 18 I didn't feel bad and felt I could make up some time and maybe come close to a 2:40 or 2:42. Mile 18 - 5:58 (Starting to pick the pace up on the downhill, and the legs felt okay)
Mile 19 - 5:54 (Trying to get in a groove and keep the pace below 6
minutes. I really didn't push this mile as hard as I could have)
Mile 20 - 6:00 (Still holding back a bit, and the legs felt fine and
my hydration was fine. I never missed a water spot, drinking one cup
and pouring another cup of water over my head).
Mile 21 - 6:04 (I'm not sure what happened here, but I was weaving in
and out of walkers which could have slowed the pace down).
Mile 22 - 6:00 (Still not pushing as hard as I could, but I was
feeling fine, and I knew that I could burn myself up going to fast when
I reached the last three miles).
Mile 23 - 5:44 (Started picking it up and all system were a go, and I
put a few sports beans in my mouth to give that extra boost.) The
last three miles of this course I knew were tough because of all the
turns so I just wanted to try and stay at least under a 6:30 pace. I
didn't feel too bad for mile 24 and I ended up passing Cody which I
thought maybe I could get him to keep up with me. Then I ended up
passing Walter and Ben, and finished the mile at a 6:05 pace. I
thought by picking up the pace I could get these three guys going and
we could finish the race together, unfortunately that didn't happen.
Mile 25 I slowed down a bit with a 6:23 pace, but I wasn't feeling too
bad or sore maybe a little fatigue setting in. The last mile I finished
at 6:22 pace, and I wished I would have pressed this mile harder. My
goal going into the last mile before the race was to do sort of a
fartlek where I would pick a spot and pick the pace up then slow down a
bit and then pick it up again. I want to build the mental toughness up
for a last mile in a marathon which is so important. But all I did was
stare at the finish line and forgot this strategy totally. I did
sprint to the finish line the last 100m's and finished 7th. It was great seeing everyone (Walter, Cody, Jon, Sasha, Jeff, Chad, Michelle, Bill Cobbler, Logan).
My knee started getting sore tonight so I will take tomorrow off
and just run lightly next week. Then I'll start building the miles back
up per week. I do think a 2:40 was doable if I would have pushed at
certain miles because I really didn't feel bad coming in. But it was a
good race concerning the extreme heat. After the race I ran the Kids K with my three year old son, and we finished in 13 minutes.
My 12 year old daughter ran the 5k at 24 minutes. My 8 year old
daughter also run the 5k at 38 minutes, and finally my wife ran the 5k
at 38 minutes. All in all a good day for the Wheatley running family. (Asics Ohana Racer's #2 - 54 miles) | 