When I got up for the marathon this morning about 3am my wife and I had a great devotion (she got up with me). The scripture was perfect for today's event and I kept quoting them through the whole race. Isaiah: 41:13 - For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Isaiah 35:3 - Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. Isaiah 40:31 - But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary [and] they shall walk and not faint. These scriptures helped in the race. I rode the bus with Jeff Shadley, Walter, Bill and we had a good conservation on the way up to the start. It was nice being with friends and enjoy the time before the start, and seeing other blogger's as well. The plan was to run a 2:35 with Jeff and Walter, but I wasn't sure if I was ready for that since I had an Achillies injury 7-8 weeks ago. I originally thought I would do a 2:45, because of the lack of speed work. I had the endurance putting in two 100 mile weeks and three 90 mile weeks leading up to the taper. But also thinking this was my first marathon of the year, and 2:45 was a good goal to pursue. But, Jeff gave me confidence and I decided to go out to achieve a 2:35. When the race started my legs felt dead and heavy for some reason and right off the bat I fell behind Jeff and Walter. I felt this way for the first couple of Miles. Mile 1: (6:20)
(uphill mostly)- Not feeling the energy in the legs. I guess a warm-up would have been good.
Mile 2: (5:49) (downhill mostly) - Again, I do the same thing where I always fall behind the runners I'm trying to pace with. Mile 3: (6:03) (Rolling Downward) - started running with a guy in his first marathon who finished at either a 2:46 or 2:49. Jeff and Walter are pulling further ahead. No chance for me to run with them at this point.
Miles 4-6: (5:52, 6:07 5:44) (Rolling Downward the uphill Mile 6 Downhill) - my legs started to loosen up a bit and not feel as heavy. I'm not sure why they were so dead. One reason could be because of no warm-up. Jeff and Walter at this point pulled even further ahead. Miles 7-9: (5:42, 5:48, 5:54) (Downhill)- Legs seemed to have kicked in gear, but I could have pushed harder but felt I should be a little conservative considering I didn't know what my body might do. I took a Powergel at mile 9 and that was a booster. Miles 10-12 (5:53, 6:07, 5;59) (Mile 10 Flattens, Mile 11 mild uphill and Mile 12 mild uphill)- I'll I can remember about these miles is the sharp turn at mile 11, and I was still feeling good. The legs were reacting well on the course and I was trying to get some kind of groove going. Miles 13 (5:59) (mild uphill)- Finished the half at 1:18ish. The goal for a 2:35 was 1:17, but I didn't care at this point because of the way I felt at the start.
Miles 14 (5:55) (Partially downhill, but really good downhill, many turns. )- I took a wrong turn here and lost 15 seconds and it seem to knock my thinking a bit because of that. But I reversed the thinking and thought of the scriptures from this morning and started quoting them. I also thought of my family at the finish line.
Miles 15-17 (6:07, 6:02, 6:14) (mainly flat with short ups and downs and turns)- Took another Gel at Mile 14 and a half, but there was no one at the aid station to wash it down at mile 15. For some reason they were down the road a bit from the cups. I wasn't too pleased, but I started quoting the scriptures again. I also started to see Jeff at this point and Walter I guess ducked into the portable bathroom which I had know idea until a while later. My goal was to get up with Jeff to pace together. A lot of turning in the course at this point. This was really a tough course I thought with all the turns.
Miles 18-20 (6;14, 6:11, 6:28) (Mile 18: flat with turns. Mile 19 flat with some short up and down and turning. Mile 20 flat)- at this point I was getting closer to Jeff. I really hated this part of the course with all the tunnels and sharp turns. It really just destroyed a consistent pace for me. I thought some of these were just a weird layout for a course and was really shocked and surprise and through me off-guard at times. But instead of thinking negative I started quoting the scriptures from this morning again. Mile 20 was flat and you started heading straight towards the downtown mall. Miles 21 -23 (6:29, 6:31, 6:32) (All miles flat)- This was straight and reminded me of the last 6 miles of the Pocatello Marathon course. I caught Jeff I believe around mile 22 (Jeff let me know if I'm wrong). I wanted to pace with him so I took the lead hoping he would follow my back. But it didn't happen. Miles 23-26 (6:32, 6:29, 6:27, 6:20) (flat - last mile some uphill and downhill)-
Here I was basically just giving what I had left and cruised in to the finish. Tough second half for this course. The downhill wasn't what I expected from looking at the elevation chart (but when are they ever accurate). Pre Breakfast Marathon Meal: Banana Coffee with Cream and Equal sugar, and Torani Sugar free Vanilla Syrup (clean pipes out). Special K Bar Strawberry (90 Calories). Few bits of a bagel.
Up at the start about 20 minutes before I had 3 sports beans.
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