Here is my race report for the St. George Marathon. It was a mild cold day at the start of the race. People were running all over the place trying to stay warm. Music was blasting and I was stoked just to be a part of it. I stayed with Dustin at his cabin in Pine valley the night before the great Race. I picked up Steve from the Expo and drove up around 10 pm. As usual we were pretty much up and down all night. We got up at 6 am and drove over to the marathon! The gun sounded and off we went. Mile one I was having a sharp pain coming from my lower back. I tried to stretch it out. I was maintaining a 6:40 pace as planned. I stopped at the first aid station and had a guy give me a bear hug to see if he could pop it. I stopped at several aid stations and had them try to pop my back but each time with no success. I tried sports cream. My left leg was going numb. My form and stride was completely out of wack. I managaged to hold a 6:50 pace the first half but after that my pace and time quickly deterated. My calf’s felt like exploding and I knew at this point my goal of under 3 hours was dashed. I observed the ambulance go bye several times and thought about having a DNF on my record. I decided that I was going to finish. I was not going to let this win. I run many races each year and i realize I will have a bad race once in awhile. This was one of those. Finished around 3:30. Just behind grandpa and walker brigade!
Thinking back J this may be the cause of my problem at this marathon.
- I hurt my calf two weeks before Marathon. Tapered more then I should have. To recover from injury. Body did not respond well to running again?
- I had a full body massage (Deep Tissue) Weds first massage I have ever had.
- It was colder then normal. I was not use to the cold!
- Back was simply out and it made the difference.
I would like to say I loved this experience. But it was the most painful Marathon I have ever Ran thus far. #4. I am looking forward to another race at another date. | 