Link to 2009 St. George Marathon pictures by MarathonFoto.com.
I've evolved to where I'm not much for race reports on my major "A" races especially marathons. It's too hard for me to capture everything. But several have asked so here's a few of my thoughts mile by mile:
I met a 51-year old guy at the hotel from Alabama. He missed his Boston qualifying time at his last marathon by 27 seconds. We rode the shuttle from the hotel to the buses together along with a couple women from Salt Lake City. Sometimes I get claustrophobic when I'm packed onto a bus made for kids. I knew they'd fill every seat. For some reason, Alabama guy didn't sit with me. That was fine. I didn't want to talk. I women from Morgan ended up sitting by me. I tried to "sleep" (also known as sending the signal that I don't want to talk). I didn't drive the course yesterday; didn't want to. I closed my eyes on the bus ride in the dark. Although I did see the fantastic full moon. The drive was long but still seemed shorter than usual. When the bus slowed at the top, Morgan lady started talking ... too much. She was polite and everything but I wasn't interested in small talk.
Off the bus it was cool and the wind was blowing a bit. I ducked in behind the one of the huge trucks and waited. I packed my pocket (2 vanilla CarbBoom's, Advil Liquid gel caps, and salt) and pinned two more CarbBoom's on my shorts. My plan was to use 3 gels one at Mile 7, 14 and 21. The fourth was a backup. I left the wind break offered by the eighteen-wheeler and headed for the trees to clear my bladder. I had slowly drunk an orange Gatorade on the bus ride and had eaten oatmeal at the hotel. Waiting for the line at the port-a-potties was not an option.
I walked over to the start area to see if I could see any of the elite runners. There wasn't much going on there so I returned to my position behind the truck. I talked briefly with a guy who had a foreign accent and a huge thermometer. He said it was 40° and dropping. It was cool but I like it that way. The whole feeling was surreal. At one point, I thought "I'm actually going to be running 26.2 miles in a few minutes." I started stretching - an abbreviated version of my dynamic stretching routine. They played the national anthem. I took off my sweats, slathered on more Aquaphor than I ever have, debated briefly about hat and gloves before deciding against keeping them, then went to the clothing drop. The line was long and chaotic. I tied off my bag and just threw it about 15 yards toward the back of the truck. I thought, "Hopefully I see that again."
I dumped my salt under my tongue and walked to the starting area. The pace groups had balloons. I wanted to be with the 3:20 group to start since my goal was 3:15 but my starting pace would be slower. I had talked with the pace leaders at the expo the night before and knew that they planned to run even splits. There was no room on the road. Suddenly the call to start then the gun. The mosh pit was moving ... very slowly.
Mile 1 - 7:44 (Goal=7:42) I crossed the starting line and said to myself for no real reason, "Let's get it on." I looked up at the bright spotlight and cameras overhead. Then, it was almost over for me. Fifteen feet after the start while looking up, I stepped on something with my right foot. My ankle rolled over. I let out an expletive. This can't be happening. For the past 2 1/2 weeks I've been freakishly paranoid about every crack in the road, sidewalks, any place I stepped. Now, while looking up, I had stepped on something that had screwed up my ankle. I limped along thinking to myself that it may improve once I warm up and get some adrenaline flowing. The running crowd was still very heavy. My ankle was throbbing. How long could I last?
Mile 2 - 7:35 (7:33) I stayed with the 3:20 pace group. It was a large group and a bit annoying traffic-wise. My ankle was still questionable but I had decided to ignore it.
Mile 3 - 7:07 (7:15) I got away from the pace group here. Something that I learned from last year has that it would be dark. I wouldn't be able to see my watch or my pace band. Therefore, I turned my Garmin light on permanently before the start and memorized my goal splits for each of the first eight miles.
Mile 4 - 7:00 (7:06) I was feeling better than okay. This day held promise if I could keep it together. The ankle was now only bothersome on the steeper downhill sections. I was wondering how it would hold up over the last part of the course when the muscles would be fatigued and the steepest downhill of the course would be encountered.
Mile 5 7:20 (7:24) I'm controlling the pace well. I think I grabbed my first Gatorade here.
Mile 6 7:15 (7:24) Reminding myself not to go too fast. "No one around me cares if I run 3:15 today. I'm the only who cares and I'm the only one who can do anything about it. Stick to the plan. Stay with the pace."
Mile 7 7:01(7:24) Veyo Hill looms in the distance. I take advantage of the downhill in this mile and a good crowd in Veyo gives me a charge. I grab another drink (water or Gatorade ???)
Mile 8 7:43 (8:18) I charge up Veyo Hill. I'm passing people left and right.
Mile 9 7:52 (7:55) Wondering if I used up too much going up the hill.
Mile 10 7:39 (7:42) Realize that I'm going to have to stop to evacuate bladder. Decide to hold out as long as I can.
Mile 11 7:52 (8:00)
Mile 12 7:33 (7:38) It hits me that I've really got something going here. Up ahead I see a woman wearing the light blue colors of Fast Running Blog.com. I set her as my mark and slowly reel her in.
Mile 13 7:08 (7:24) Run side by side with Josse Tobias of fastrunningblog.com. We only talked a little bit. I may have surprised her that I knew who she was. The wind had kicked up and was in our faces. I estimated 5-7 mph. As I see that I'm running too fast compared to my scheduled pace, Tobias leaves me before this mile finished.
Mile 14 7:48 (7:15) I stopped at the half way point. I knew I was slightly ahead of schedule but still tried to hurry. No port-a-potty so I used the side of the road. Felt like my right sock was bunching under my foot or that I had something in my shoe over the last several miles. Tried to remedy that problem. Whatever I did helped but didn't completely clear the problem.
Mile 15 6:52 (7:02) Got a little carried away trying to take advantage of the downhill and make up for time I lost by stopping.
Mile 16 7:05 (7:15)
Mile 17 7:07 (7:15)
Mile 18 7:07 (7:15)
Mile 19 7:26 (7:38) It's getting tough but I know I just have to stick with it. "Stay within the mile," I keep telling myself.
Mile 20 7:13 (7:15) I talk to a guy from Orange County, California targeting 3:15. He's running with a woman doing her first marathon. She's an ultra trail runner and looked like this was a walk in the park for her. Shortly thereafter she left us in her dust.
Mile 21 6:54 (6:58) This mile is always a question when creating the pace band. It's the steepest downhill on the course. Can I really go this fast after already running 20 miles? The answer this year is "Yes!"
Mile 22 7:13 (7:15) Somewhere in here I make mental note to self, "Be sure to do ankle strengthening exercises next year."
Mile 23 7:18 (7:20)
Mile 24 6:54 (7:20) This has been my favorite mile the past two years. It's coming into town and there is a big energetic crowd. There isn't a question about finishing; it's just a matter of getting there. Passed several runners in this mile.
Mile 25 7:13 (7:24) Tough mile that seemed to go forever. Knew I was ahead of schedule just focused on keeping the pace and finishing.
Mile 26 6:59 (7:24)
Mile .2 1:29 (1:37) Didn't have the kick that I've had before but still finished strong.
I crossed the line with an overwhelming euphoria. I had 3:11:42 on my Garmin. My absolute best case scenario was 3:15. I grabbed a drink then went to get my official time. It was 3:11:38. I accomplished my goal of qualifying for the Boston marathon.
Thank you everyone who supported me along the way: my Saturday training partners: Stephanie, Laurie, Stacey, Augie, Randy, Josh, William, Jonathan, Aaron, and others; my massage therapists: Molly and Angie; my co-workers for excusing my late arrivals from getting a few extra morning miles; my wife and son for letting me go AWOL to chase the dream; my parents for caring and coming to St. George to see a few seconds of my marathon; my blog readers and online running friends for your questions and support.
Oh, a couple footnotes ... the Alabama guy at my hotel missed his qualifying time by 14 seconds. Although Josse Tobias left me shortly before the halfway mark. In a huge surprise to me, I passed her in the last mile and finished a minute ahead of her.
