St. George Marathon! A personal best of 2:58:19, 10th place overall finish and 1st in my age category. My goal was to break three hours so although I crossed the finish line exhausted I was happy.
Sleeping:
I have sleeping problems. I went to bed feeling really good about everything. I took a melatonin and went right to sleep. In fact I figure I went to sleep about 20-25 times in the 6 hours I spent in bed, which basically means I woke up about every 15 or 20 minutes. I was on a futon couch at my brother-in-laws home and every time the air conditioner kicked on it woke me up. My 5 year old daughter was sleeping next to me and her kicks account for about another 5 wake-ups. I wished I had ear-plugs and my own bed.
Pre-Race:
I met Melanie, Kim and Jane at the busses and we rode to the start together. We found a spot in the bushes to stretch, pee, visit, stretch, pee and pee some more. Then we said a prayer together and went to the starting line.
The Race:
I ran with Melanie, Kim and Jane for the first three miles and lost track of them at the water stop. The rest of the race I ran on my own.
Miles 1-7: 6:57, 7:05, 6:41, 6:32, 6:34, 6:34, 6:23 These miles felt good and relaxed. I was cautious not to go out too fast and I think I ran smart along here.
Miles 8-13: 7:40 (Veho hill), 7:23, 7:08, 7:30 (another hill), 7:09, 6:41. This is the long slightly uphill section that always seems harder for me than the miles after. My right hamstring also started hurting at the top of Veyo and ached all along here until I hit the downhill.
I felt a little panicked when I saw the clock at mile 13 say 1:30:08..09..10... I knew I needed to run the second half faster than the first half if I wanted to reach my goal and I've never done that before.
Miles 14-19: 6:48, 6:22, 6:13, 6:30, 6:34, 7:00. I felt really good along these miles. Although at the mile 17 water stop I learned that yellow Gatorade in the eye REALLY HURTS!
Miles 20-26.2: 6:43, 6:25, 6:44, 6:29, 6:23, 6:51, 7:08, Last .2 @ 7:13 pace. I felt the best I've ever felt miles 20-24 of a marathon. As I approached the 23rd mile marker I decided to put out a little more effort and pick up the pace. I was hoping I had three miles of "more effort" in me, but I didn't. Just after the 24th mile marker I started to hurt. I took my last gu hoping that would get me through the last two miles. It seemed to help some, but only for about a mile. Just after the 25.2 marker with only one mile to go my whole body shut down. Everything felt tight and in pain. My thought here was, "NOOOO!" I wanted to finish strong, but I really felt like I was going to cry. I swear the first half of this last mile is slightly uphill and that was a big problem for me right then. After I turned the corner I felt just a tiny bit better as the road went just a tiny bit downhill, but I lost control of my breathing and probably sounded funny. Josse came running up to me and asked if I wanted her to run with me. I said, "Sure, I don't care," but about a minute later was really glad she stuck with me for that half mile. After I turned the corner I just stared at the finish line and didn't even see my kids yelling from the sidelines. I knew I would be under three hours if I could just keep running for another quarter mile. I put my arms up in the air as I crossed in 2:58:19!.
Post Race:
I received an award for being in the top 10 women and also an age division award, a stone clock. As I drove home with my clock on my lap I remembered the first time I ran the St. George Marathon with my dad at age 18. I won my age division with a 3:18:47 and drove home with a similar clock on my lap. Twenty years later I finished 20 minutes faster and have myself another clock.
I have to thank Melanie B for being such a good running partner. I never would have done the 22 and 23 mile training runs on my own and I think they really helped. I'm also so happy for her 2:59:00! Kim and Jane were great to run with too and PR congratulations on a 2:50:35 and 3:00:23. | 