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I did St. George in 2009 and came away very impressed with the organization of the race and the amount of community support on race day. I left really wanting to do this one again and was excited to learn that I got through the lottery.
I came into this race having had what I consider a very successful training. I stayed healthy until the final week and conservatively took that week off which I think was a good decision as my tendonitis did not affect my performance at all. I trained hard with the ultimate goal of getting a time under 4 hours. I also had a sub-goal of approaching a 3:30 (which was ambitious considering my only other attempt was a 4:11) but by the end of my training I was very confident that I could get something near that 3:30 time. In fact, I trained running the splits for a 3:20 and most of the time I could make them. I had done a lot of at pace long running too and so, going in I thought a 3:30 was realistic.
Pre-race: On the bus ride up I was still trying to settle on a strategy. For weeks I'd been trying to decide between staying at the 3:30 pace, or trying to go out at a 3:20 or 3:25 marathon pace and then slowing down if need be. I'm well aware of the risk of that strategy, but since I'd trained for it, I thought it was a risk possibly worth taking. Seeing all those downhills as the bus climbed toward the start, I made up my mind to start with a friend who was shooting for a 3:20 and stay with him as long as I could. I figured if it got too tough, I'd slow to the 8 min/mile pace and be able to hang on. We both decided we'd go easy the first 2 miles and then try to keep our desired pace the rest of the way.
Stepping off the bus at the start there wass a huge difference from 2009. First, more people and second it was already warm. In 2009 I froze my butt off at the start and I wore gloves to mile 16. This year I stayed in my tech shirt and never donned the hat or sweatshirt. I wore the gloves for less than 2 miles. The announcer told us several times that it was already 67 degrees (it was 5 am) and that it would be the hottest start of the marathon ever. This worried me some. I train in hot weather, but I don't like it and don't necessarily perform well in it. I spent a lot of the pre-race time drinking fluids.
Mile 1: 8:23. It was a bit crowded coming through the chute. It took much of this first mile just to feel like I had enough open space to run properly. I'm feeling good, no nervousness. I'm enjoying the whoops and yells from people excited to get going.
Mile 2: 8:19. Purposely holding back on mile 2 as planned. The road has opened up now. I'm feeling really good and the tendonitis, a worry in the back of my mind, is a complete non-factor. I'm enjoying the scenery even though it's still dark. I didn't even bring my iPod so I'm also enjoying the conversations going on around me.
Mile 3: 7:51. We are starting to ramp it up. It's getting light and I just love the scenery in this marathon. I'm feeling strong but strangely I'm already hungry. I had eaten a Gu just before the start and so decided that was sufficient. Lots of nice downhill in this mile. Easy stuff early on.
Mile 4: 7:42. Feeling great. Happy about my strategy. Also calculating the time to Veyo hill and hoping we beat the sunrise.
Mile 5: 7:46. Don't remember much about mile 5. Just that the pace felt easy.
Mile 6: 7:29. We've picked it up because the terrain is easy. Veyo is coming up soon but so is the sun. It's getting light, but the sun isn't over the mountains yet.
Mile 7: 7:31. Still feeling good. Veyo in sight. I fuel as I approach the hill.
Mile 8: 8:42. Veyo Hill and the beginning of 5 straight miles of uphill grade. Anyone who says St. George is easy probably hasn't run it. This 5 mile section is tough. We took Veyo easy. Or so it felt. Honestly, before I looked at my splits I guessed we came in around a 10 minute mile here. I don't think I took it too fast according to my strategy and training. I do think that my shot at a 3:30 came apart beginning here.
Mile 9: 8:20. I'm still feeling good but this is the kind of terrain that hurts me. I do better on steeper hills than I do on the gradual uphill grades. I'm not struggling yet but for the first time the thought crosses my mind that I don't have the legs to keep this pace. No evidence of it yet, my legs just didn't feel strong. The sun is up now and I didn't bring sunglasses. A headwind is blowing that on one hand feels great because it's cooling us off. I imagine at this point we're approaching 80 degrees? But on the other hand it is a headwind and as we head into mile 10 it's bothering me a little, mentally.
Mile 10: 8:13. Again, prior to looking at the splits I'd have guessed we were almost a minute slower and I was getting worried about it. My heart rate is up higher than I'd like and for the first time I'm noticing that I have to work a little bit to stay alonside my friend. The headwind combined with some cloud cover makes this climbing more tolerable but I continue to feel like my legs are lacking their normal strength. I'm not worried yet but am really starting to hope that the downhill coming after mile 12 is a big relief.
Mile 11: 8:36. I haven't seen my friend's splits yet, but this is where we separated. I'd guess he kept the above pace or even improved on it. I could still see him at mile 12 but he was slowly pulling away. It is in this mile that my quads start feeling more fatigued than they ever do at mile 11. I've run most of my long runs at pace or very near it and I'm starting to get worried about holding any kind of a respectable pace much longer. Again, this uphill grade is tough on me. There are a couple of false summits too that start to work on me mentally.
Mile 12: 8:28- The last of the uphill grade for a while. I still havent been passed by the 3:30 pacing group and I feel like if I can just get through this mile I can bomb the downhill, catch my breath and go at the 3:30 pace. Again, if I had to guess before seeing the splits I'd have guessed at a 10:30 mile here. My legs feel much more tired than they should and my turnover sucks. I'm starting to think it might not be my day.
Mile 13: 8:14. I'm over the hill. It's flat now and I know there's a huge downhill coming. But I can't get going. I feel like my legs won't turnover like they should and I have no answer for why. I'm psyching myself out at this point and have become steadily more nervous since mile 11. I still haven't been passed by the 3:30 group and am holding onto that fact for at least some comfort.
Mile 14: 8:37. This is the first mile of 5 straight miles of downhill grades. Some of it is quite steep. My strategy had been to bomb this section. I worked a lot on downhilling and thought I was ready. There is still a headwind and I start to blame it for my troubles. My heart rate isn't coming down. In short, I'm trying to bomb the downhill and I can't get going. It actually felt more pain in this mile than in the flat mile before it. My quads are feeling shot already. The 5 miles of hills have really taken their toll on me. I am in full panic mode. Almost half the marathon to go and I can't get below 8:30 on a steep downhill? The 3:30 pace group catches and passes here and I can't stay with them. I saw something very interesting though. The pacer was popping balloons worried about friction and how he was feeling. As they got a bit ahead of me he handed his balloons to one of the men in his pace group, asked him if he'd take them in, then ran off the course. You don't see that very often. I was feeling for the poor guy.
Mile 15: 8:17. The downhill is finally starting to feel better. I'm still very worried about my fitness but have calmed down a bit. It's getting hot. I can't remember if the rest station was at this mile or mile 16 but I walk through it for the first time in the race upping my intake to 3 cups.
Mile 16: 8:22. I'm feeling a 2nd wind. Mentally more than anything. Mile 14 had scared me very bad. Even having done this course before, I'd underestimated the difficulty of the downhills. I tell myself I'm going to be happy if I can keep my pace better than 8:30 the rest of the way. It's hot.
Mile 17: 8:23. Still kind of sad that my 3:30 is slipping away but happy that operation keep it under 8:30/mile is succeeding. Enjoying the support of the community along the course. Really wishing temps were as cool as they were in 2009.
Mile 18: 9:10. Sounds crazy but the downhill is killing me. My quads are getting blasted. I'm dreaming of flat road. I know there is some uphill coming soon and I'm almost excited about that. I'm walking through all rest stations now. Long enough to drink 3 cups.
Mile 19: 9:26. I regret having been excited about any kind of uphill. I'm realizing that this will not be any kind of a comfortable finish for me. I'm also fully aware, and have been for several miles, that I likely picked the wrong strategy. I start thinking a lot about how much better I'd have felt had I stayed at 8min/mile all along. It's hot. I begin worrying that I'm actually going to go over 4 hours and not even beat my old time. I'm hurting.
Mile 20: 9:19. This is a steep downhill that I'd been looking forward to since 2009. At this point it's official that downhill isn't going to help my time much. I keep telling myself that it's just a 10k now. I'm doing lots of loser math. You know where you come up with worst case scenarios for yourself and hope you don't make them self fulfilling prophecies? I'm thinking things like "I could do 13 minute miles now and still come in under 4 hours, it's ok to slow up if I have to." I fight with myself like this the rest of the race.
Mile 21: 8:30. Still downhill. I'm pleased when I look at my garmin. I feel like I have no control of my turnover but I see that the time this mile is decent. The 3:45 pace group hasn't passed me yet. I'm keeping myself motivated with these kinds of thoughts.
Mile 22: 9:51. Still downhill but I treat myself to a longer walk through the rest station. I'm really fighting with myself to keep running. I know I keep saying this, but I have this overwhelming feeling that I have no control over my turnover. Also, the downhill has just destroyed my quads. I start telling myself that nothing short of a heart attack now should keep me from going under 4 hours. It's really hot.
Mile 23: 9:15. Thank you citizens of St. George for turning out in droves and lining the course the rest of the way. I can't express how much it helps to keep the legs driving to hear people cheering you on and telling you you're almost there. I can't help but contrast how I'm feeling this year with how good I felt in 09' but remind myself that I'm much further ahead too.
Mile 24: 9:00. See above. I feel like I'm running in wet cement. I would have guessed that these were 11 minute miles at best. Grade remains downhill to the finish and my quads seem barely functional. I am beginning to get twinges in both quads. The kind of mini cramps you get before the real ones. I'm thinking to myself that it would really suck to be this close to the finish and battle cramps. Luckily they never do anything worse than twinge. There is a man running 10 yards ahead of me that is bent over and twisted and is running on sheer will. I can't believe he's ahead of me and I can't make up any ground on him. It's really, really hot.
Mile 25: 10:11. I'm spent. I feel like I'm in a dream where I'm trying to run and my legs won't go. The drop in time comes from walking through the rest stop. I still regret that. I didn't need to. It was a moment of mental weakness. Somewhere between here and the finish I see ERcoug in his spot. I say hello and am embarrassed to be moving so slowly. He cooled me off with his water sprayer which seemed heaven sent. Somewhere early in this mile I see a family of several kids each holding a sign for their mom. One of them says "mom, did you pee in your pants?"
Mile 26: 10:01. Just trying to hang on. I'm elated that I'm going to go under 4 hours for the first time. I'm also excited that the 3:45 guy hasn't passed me. As we turn onto the last street and the finish line is a quarter mile away he comes past me like a bat out of hell. I give chase for about 3 steps and realize I have no kick. In that last quarter mile he beats me by a minute.
Mile 26.2: As usual I forget to turn off my garmin. My official finish time is 3:46:12. I am elated for now. I feel like I could really have unraveled as early as mile 11/12. I'm happy that my training got me through those tough miles. I also feel a lot of satisfaction in having been totally spent. It wasn't pleasant, but I've never taken myself there before and getting through it was very fulfilling. I felt very proud as a finisher's medal was hung around my neck. As the day passes and I have time to reflect on my strategy and results I begin to wish that I'd employed the safer strategy. But with nearly a week gone by I've come to a couple of conclusions:
1) I'm probably not as good as I thought I was.
2) I'm very happy with my race and my time. I can't wait to do it again.
I came into this race having had what I consider a very successful training. I stayed healthy until the final week and conservatively took that week off which I think was a good decision as my tendonitis did not affect my performance at all. I trained hard with the ultimate goal of getting a time under 4 hours. I also had a sub-goal of approaching a 3:30 (which was ambitious considering my only other attempt was a 4:11) but by the end of my training I was very confident that I could get something near that 3:30 time. In fact, I trained running the splits for a 3:20 and most of the time I could make them. I had done a lot of at pace long running too and so, going in I thought a 3:30 was realistic.
Pre-race: On the bus ride up I was still trying to settle on a strategy. For weeks I'd been trying to decide between staying at the 3:30 pace, or trying to go out at a 3:20 or 3:25 marathon pace and then slowing down if need be. I'm well aware of the risk of that strategy, but since I'd trained for it, I thought it was a risk possibly worth taking. Seeing all those downhills as the bus climbed toward the start, I made up my mind to start with a friend who was shooting for a 3:20 and stay with him as long as I could. I figured if it got too tough, I'd slow to the 8 min/mile pace and be able to hang on. We both decided we'd go easy the first 2 miles and then try to keep our desired pace the rest of the way.
Stepping off the bus at the start there wass a huge difference from 2009. First, more people and second it was already warm. In 2009 I froze my butt off at the start and I wore gloves to mile 16. This year I stayed in my tech shirt and never donned the hat or sweatshirt. I wore the gloves for less than 2 miles. The announcer told us several times that it was already 67 degrees (it was 5 am) and that it would be the hottest start of the marathon ever. This worried me some. I train in hot weather, but I don't like it and don't necessarily perform well in it. I spent a lot of the pre-race time drinking fluids.
Mile 1: 8:23. It was a bit crowded coming through the chute. It took much of this first mile just to feel like I had enough open space to run properly. I'm feeling good, no nervousness. I'm enjoying the whoops and yells from people excited to get going.
Mile 2: 8:19. Purposely holding back on mile 2 as planned. The road has opened up now. I'm feeling really good and the tendonitis, a worry in the back of my mind, is a complete non-factor. I'm enjoying the scenery even though it's still dark. I didn't even bring my iPod so I'm also enjoying the conversations going on around me.
Mile 3: 7:51. We are starting to ramp it up. It's getting light and I just love the scenery in this marathon. I'm feeling strong but strangely I'm already hungry. I had eaten a Gu just before the start and so decided that was sufficient. Lots of nice downhill in this mile. Easy stuff early on.
Mile 4: 7:42. Feeling great. Happy about my strategy. Also calculating the time to Veyo hill and hoping we beat the sunrise.
Mile 5: 7:46. Don't remember much about mile 5. Just that the pace felt easy.
Mile 6: 7:29. We've picked it up because the terrain is easy. Veyo is coming up soon but so is the sun. It's getting light, but the sun isn't over the mountains yet.
Mile 7: 7:31. Still feeling good. Veyo in sight. I fuel as I approach the hill.
Mile 8: 8:42. Veyo Hill and the beginning of 5 straight miles of uphill grade. Anyone who says St. George is easy probably hasn't run it. This 5 mile section is tough. We took Veyo easy. Or so it felt. Honestly, before I looked at my splits I guessed we came in around a 10 minute mile here. I don't think I took it too fast according to my strategy and training. I do think that my shot at a 3:30 came apart beginning here.
Mile 9: 8:20. I'm still feeling good but this is the kind of terrain that hurts me. I do better on steeper hills than I do on the gradual uphill grades. I'm not struggling yet but for the first time the thought crosses my mind that I don't have the legs to keep this pace. No evidence of it yet, my legs just didn't feel strong. The sun is up now and I didn't bring sunglasses. A headwind is blowing that on one hand feels great because it's cooling us off. I imagine at this point we're approaching 80 degrees? But on the other hand it is a headwind and as we head into mile 10 it's bothering me a little, mentally.
Mile 10: 8:13. Again, prior to looking at the splits I'd have guessed we were almost a minute slower and I was getting worried about it. My heart rate is up higher than I'd like and for the first time I'm noticing that I have to work a little bit to stay alonside my friend. The headwind combined with some cloud cover makes this climbing more tolerable but I continue to feel like my legs are lacking their normal strength. I'm not worried yet but am really starting to hope that the downhill coming after mile 12 is a big relief.
Mile 11: 8:36. I haven't seen my friend's splits yet, but this is where we separated. I'd guess he kept the above pace or even improved on it. I could still see him at mile 12 but he was slowly pulling away. It is in this mile that my quads start feeling more fatigued than they ever do at mile 11. I've run most of my long runs at pace or very near it and I'm starting to get worried about holding any kind of a respectable pace much longer. Again, this uphill grade is tough on me. There are a couple of false summits too that start to work on me mentally.
Mile 12: 8:28- The last of the uphill grade for a while. I still havent been passed by the 3:30 pacing group and I feel like if I can just get through this mile I can bomb the downhill, catch my breath and go at the 3:30 pace. Again, if I had to guess before seeing the splits I'd have guessed at a 10:30 mile here. My legs feel much more tired than they should and my turnover sucks. I'm starting to think it might not be my day.
Mile 13: 8:14. I'm over the hill. It's flat now and I know there's a huge downhill coming. But I can't get going. I feel like my legs won't turnover like they should and I have no answer for why. I'm psyching myself out at this point and have become steadily more nervous since mile 11. I still haven't been passed by the 3:30 group and am holding onto that fact for at least some comfort.
Mile 14: 8:37. This is the first mile of 5 straight miles of downhill grades. Some of it is quite steep. My strategy had been to bomb this section. I worked a lot on downhilling and thought I was ready. There is still a headwind and I start to blame it for my troubles. My heart rate isn't coming down. In short, I'm trying to bomb the downhill and I can't get going. It actually felt more pain in this mile than in the flat mile before it. My quads are feeling shot already. The 5 miles of hills have really taken their toll on me. I am in full panic mode. Almost half the marathon to go and I can't get below 8:30 on a steep downhill? The 3:30 pace group catches and passes here and I can't stay with them. I saw something very interesting though. The pacer was popping balloons worried about friction and how he was feeling. As they got a bit ahead of me he handed his balloons to one of the men in his pace group, asked him if he'd take them in, then ran off the course. You don't see that very often. I was feeling for the poor guy.
Mile 15: 8:17. The downhill is finally starting to feel better. I'm still very worried about my fitness but have calmed down a bit. It's getting hot. I can't remember if the rest station was at this mile or mile 16 but I walk through it for the first time in the race upping my intake to 3 cups.
Mile 16: 8:22. I'm feeling a 2nd wind. Mentally more than anything. Mile 14 had scared me very bad. Even having done this course before, I'd underestimated the difficulty of the downhills. I tell myself I'm going to be happy if I can keep my pace better than 8:30 the rest of the way. It's hot.
Mile 17: 8:23. Still kind of sad that my 3:30 is slipping away but happy that operation keep it under 8:30/mile is succeeding. Enjoying the support of the community along the course. Really wishing temps were as cool as they were in 2009.
Mile 18: 9:10. Sounds crazy but the downhill is killing me. My quads are getting blasted. I'm dreaming of flat road. I know there is some uphill coming soon and I'm almost excited about that. I'm walking through all rest stations now. Long enough to drink 3 cups.
Mile 19: 9:26. I regret having been excited about any kind of uphill. I'm realizing that this will not be any kind of a comfortable finish for me. I'm also fully aware, and have been for several miles, that I likely picked the wrong strategy. I start thinking a lot about how much better I'd have felt had I stayed at 8min/mile all along. It's hot. I begin worrying that I'm actually going to go over 4 hours and not even beat my old time. I'm hurting.
Mile 20: 9:19. This is a steep downhill that I'd been looking forward to since 2009. At this point it's official that downhill isn't going to help my time much. I keep telling myself that it's just a 10k now. I'm doing lots of loser math. You know where you come up with worst case scenarios for yourself and hope you don't make them self fulfilling prophecies? I'm thinking things like "I could do 13 minute miles now and still come in under 4 hours, it's ok to slow up if I have to." I fight with myself like this the rest of the race.
Mile 21: 8:30. Still downhill. I'm pleased when I look at my garmin. I feel like I have no control of my turnover but I see that the time this mile is decent. The 3:45 pace group hasn't passed me yet. I'm keeping myself motivated with these kinds of thoughts.
Mile 22: 9:51. Still downhill but I treat myself to a longer walk through the rest station. I'm really fighting with myself to keep running. I know I keep saying this, but I have this overwhelming feeling that I have no control over my turnover. Also, the downhill has just destroyed my quads. I start telling myself that nothing short of a heart attack now should keep me from going under 4 hours. It's really hot.
Mile 23: 9:15. Thank you citizens of St. George for turning out in droves and lining the course the rest of the way. I can't express how much it helps to keep the legs driving to hear people cheering you on and telling you you're almost there. I can't help but contrast how I'm feeling this year with how good I felt in 09' but remind myself that I'm much further ahead too.
Mile 24: 9:00. See above. I feel like I'm running in wet cement. I would have guessed that these were 11 minute miles at best. Grade remains downhill to the finish and my quads seem barely functional. I am beginning to get twinges in both quads. The kind of mini cramps you get before the real ones. I'm thinking to myself that it would really suck to be this close to the finish and battle cramps. Luckily they never do anything worse than twinge. There is a man running 10 yards ahead of me that is bent over and twisted and is running on sheer will. I can't believe he's ahead of me and I can't make up any ground on him. It's really, really hot.
Mile 25: 10:11. I'm spent. I feel like I'm in a dream where I'm trying to run and my legs won't go. The drop in time comes from walking through the rest stop. I still regret that. I didn't need to. It was a moment of mental weakness. Somewhere between here and the finish I see ERcoug in his spot. I say hello and am embarrassed to be moving so slowly. He cooled me off with his water sprayer which seemed heaven sent. Somewhere early in this mile I see a family of several kids each holding a sign for their mom. One of them says "mom, did you pee in your pants?"
Mile 26: 10:01. Just trying to hang on. I'm elated that I'm going to go under 4 hours for the first time. I'm also excited that the 3:45 guy hasn't passed me. As we turn onto the last street and the finish line is a quarter mile away he comes past me like a bat out of hell. I give chase for about 3 steps and realize I have no kick. In that last quarter mile he beats me by a minute.
Mile 26.2: As usual I forget to turn off my garmin. My official finish time is 3:46:12. I am elated for now. I feel like I could really have unraveled as early as mile 11/12. I'm happy that my training got me through those tough miles. I also feel a lot of satisfaction in having been totally spent. It wasn't pleasant, but I've never taken myself there before and getting through it was very fulfilling. I felt very proud as a finisher's medal was hung around my neck. As the day passes and I have time to reflect on my strategy and results I begin to wish that I'd employed the safer strategy. But with nearly a week gone by I've come to a couple of conclusions:
1) I'm probably not as good as I thought I was.
2) I'm very happy with my race and my time. I can't wait to do it again.
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