Marathon report: St. George 2011

[Moliere]

Steel, your post moved me. No really it did, I'm not being sarcastic. I LOVE race reports and this might be the best one yet. It reads almost like a novel. I found myself cheering for you from inside as you moved through race.

Congrats on finishing even though you didn't get your time. I've heard that running downhill is tough on the legs (quads especially) even though it does take less effort. The hot temps also didn't help. My brother ran this marathon (I was supposed to be with ) and he said it was a hot race. He cramped up around mile 20 and fell well below his time goal.

You and the rest of the marathoners give my inspiration and I'm scheduling my first marathon in May in Ogden. It's downhill so I have no idea how to train for that given that the only hill near my house is about 10 feet long but we'll see how it goes.

[SteelBlue]

Thanks Moliere. I'll be rooting for you in May.

[cowboy]

Have you given any more thought to hosting the marathon on your ranch that you talked about a few years back? I thought that sounded like a cool idea.

I've thought about it, but I haven't had time to make it happen. We run a half marathon on my ranch every Thanksgiving, and the full would follow the same route. A couple of challenges I'd have to work through would be the date and how the course would end.

Selecting a good date is challenging because we want to have a date late enough that the snakes aren't out and the weather isn't hot, but still early enough in the year that snow isn't likely to be on the ground. October would be the best, but that's a pretty busy time with harvest and cattle. November could work, but there is a greater possibility of crappy weather.

Ending the course is a bit of a problem, because the last 7 miles or so is just ugly desert on a gravel road. So we have a choice between ending in town where there will be a park and good support, or ending out in the sticks where it's all dirt but more of the course would be scenic. It would all be high desert landscape, but the early part of the course looks out on the valley, so there is a great view. Also, there is more cedar/red rock landscape in the higher elevations, while the lower stuff is just flat sagebrush and dirt.

[falafel]

Thanks Moliere. I'll be rooting for you in May.

He prefers to be called Molieddie.

Great report, SB. I would love to run a marathon one day. Right now I'm working on getting out of bed in time for work. Baby steps, I guess.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Thanks for the report SteelBlue. My wife ran St. George as well and was hoping to break 4 hours for the first time but ended up being sick with giardia all of July and was also affected by the heat. Although not as much this year as 2010. Did you run 2010, or just 2009? I remember getting to the finish line in 2010 at 9:00 a.m. thinking, "It's already 90 degrees." One guy that my wife runs with finished that year with a 3:10 but collapsed at the finish so they took him straight to the ER and put 6 liters of fluid in him. Given that you heard them announce that it was the hottest start ever, I'm guessing that the cloud cover made all of the difference. I watched the online feed of the finish this year and watching countless people have to be assisted across the finish line, didn't really make me want to participate.

Having said that, I got into the Runner's Series this year and am registered to do the Snow Canyon Half next weekend. Unless you want to count the Ragnar that I did last weekend, this will be my first race as I've only started running in August. My goal is to run St. George in 2012, so we'll see. It amazes me that you can run 26 miles and still be able to recount how you felt during individual miles throughout the run.

Congrats on the PR.

[venkman]

Hal Higdon's Novice program is the best program around for a beginner. I still use it, and I've got 5 marathons under my belt.

Agreed. I went from zero running to a 4 hr marathon time in 4 months with his program.

[Borg]

Agreed. I went from zero running to a 4 hr marathon time in 4 months with his program.

As of Monday, I have started the Hal Higdon's Novice Marathon Training Program.

I'm going to finish it at the end of February, but...will be ready to go. Plans are to complete the marathon training by the end of February...and do so at a comfortable pace for me.

Hit the Salt Lake Half Marathon as a measure or if I'm feeling really good about things, take on the full marathon. But, my friend and I were going to utilize the Salt Lake Half Marathon as a goal for a measure stick for the Top of Utah Marathon later on in the year.

I'm pretty stoked to do a marathon though and may up my schedule if I'm ready to roll in April.

[venkman]

As of Monday, I have started the Hal Higdon's Novice Marathon Training Program.

I'm going to finish it at the end of February, but...will be ready to go. Plans are to complete the marathon training by the end of February...and do so at a comfortable pace for me.

Hit the Salt Lake Half Marathon as a measure or if I'm feeling really good about things, take on the full marathon. But, my friend and I were going to utilize the Salt Lake Half Marathon as a goal for a measure stick for the Top of Utah Marathon later on in the year.

I'm pretty stoked to do a marathon though and may up my schedule if I'm ready to roll in April.

Good luck. If you do feel ready to roll earlier, you might try the Ogden Marathon in May.

[Borg]

Do you know how early you have to sign up for that Ogden Marathon? I hear that one is hard to get into? That might fit better than to wait for later in the year if I am training thru the winter.

[Eddie]

Do you know how early you have to sign up for that Ogden Marathon? I hear that one is hard to get into? That might fit better than to wait for later in the year if I am training thru the winter.

http://www.getoutandlive.org/index.php/ogden-marathon

Ogden marathon registration opens Nov 1. Last year it was filled within the first couple of weeks. Two years ago I didn't register until January and still made it in.

As far as ease or difficulty in getting in - Ogden doesn't have a drawing yet, so if you register the first couple of days getting in is easy. And to be honest, in many ways it is nice to know right away that you are in instead of waiting for a drawing to see if you made it or not.

I've done the last two Ogden Marathons and really enjoyed them. I think they organize a nice race. I will admit that it requires training in the cold months, but that doesn't bother me. Except for a few days when there is a lot of deep snow that the plows are piling up, I kind of enjoy running in the cold. And having an upcoming race is good motivation to keep me active through the winter.