Got the sub 4 that I was looking for but didn't quite meet my secondary goal of going 3:30. Kinda fell apart the last 6 miles and couldn't keep pushing. Still very pleased with the effort and look forward to bettering it next year. Compared to last years 4:55 I am happy to know that I have the ability to "run" the entrire 26.2 miles, even if the the last 6 miles were a bit slow. More to come later.
I am now typing this for second time DANGIT!
Going into this marathon I really wasn't sure what to have as a goal finishing time for several reasons: First, I have never "run" the full marathon distance. Last years SGM really doesn't count for me because I ended up walking the last 7 miles. Second, I had missed about 180 miles worth of training in August and I could tell that I had lost a lot of fitness as a result. Third, I wasn't sure how much of an advantage or disadvantage the hills would be during the last few miles of the race. With these things in mind I decided to set my sights high and try for a 3:30, Meg agreed to try for the same time.
Originally we were going to go up to St. George on Thursday night and stay with my parents through the weekend. Considering how poorly we usually sleep before a race we decided to stay in Las Vegas on Thursday night and sleep in our own bed and sleep in so be sure and get a good nights sleep the night before. I'm glad we did that because as expected (maybe a self fulfilling prophecy) we didn't sleep well on Friday. I was up at 2 and then again at 3 at which time we decided to just get up and get going.
After freezing last year at the starting line I swore I would never go up on the early bus again. As it turns out, this year we ended up on the very first but....go figure. This year though, we were prepared with blankets and we planted ourselves squarely in front of a nice fire and relaxed for the next two hours and stayed very warm.
As the race time approached we ended up having to hustle to the clothing truck to toss in our bags. The poor kids in the back of the truck were getting bombed as people were hurrying to make it back to the starting line on time. I got back just in time to meet up with Meg and take off running. Our warm-up could have been a little better. We ended up jogging from the last fire pits to near the clothing truck and some very easy stretching. We started somewhere between the 3:10 and 3:20 pace groups.
The start was a bit crowded but not as crowded as I remember it from last year. I think our faster pace than last year really helped to keep us closer to the front of the pack and things seemed to thin out relatively quickly.
Things felt really good for the first several miles and we were right on pace. We were careful not to go out too fast knowing that we would really pay for it later. I ran with Meg up until about mile 10 when she took her first potty break. I knew she would eventually catch me due to her competative nature and her desire not to lose to me today.
The next few miles alone were very boring. The uphill section after Veyo are very long and generally uphill and difficult. At the halfway point I was right at about 1:46 which is right were I figured I needed to be to meet my 3:30 goal.
Some time around Snow Canyon I get a tap on my shoulder and it is Meg. She came roaring back a lot sooner than I had expected and it was nice to have a running partner again. I was only able to hang with her for about a mile since by this time my pace was starting to slow and I had to let her go. I could feel the 3:30 pace group breathing down my neck and I knew it wouldn't be long before they would chew me up and spit me out. It was at this point that I decided to take a potty break.
I could still see the 3:30 pace group up ahead but I knew that I could never catch them as I was really starting to feel the fatigue and my pace was slowing constantly. At about mile 20 I was begining to wonder if I was going to be able to finish while still running or if I was going to have to walk it in. I determined in my mind that I was going to finish running not walking.....so I did.
The last several downhill miles turned out to be a big disadvantge to me, my feet were jammed into the front of my shoes, my calves and quads were screaming STOP, and my legs just couldn't move any faster. This is one lesson that I hope will help me prepare better next year for the downhill sections of the course.
At the mile 23 aid station I had the volunteers slap a little icy hot on my calfs and I walked through the aid station to get the full benefit a cup of water and I set off to finish strong. By this time I knew that my 3:30 goal was gone but I had determined that a sub 3:40 was still possible if I could just hold a sub 9 pace. During the last two miles I must have gotten passed by over 100 people but I didn't quit running. I was so zoned out that I really didn't even hear the crowd until we got to around tabernacle and the crowds were getting larger and a band was playing. At this point I knew I would make it and I was able to find a little extra energy to finish strong....relatively speaking of course.
Overall we are happy with our effort. Meg finished in 3:34 which is an 11 minute PR for her. I think the stronger training plan and faster running this summer really helped her get to the next level. This was her 4th marathon and she did awsome.
We are already signed up for the runner series so we are guaranteed for SGM 2008. I think the things I learned from this day will really help in my training for next year and maybe that Boston qualifier will become a reality. | 