"If we don't suffer enough we won't remember it."

4 miles

7 miles with Melanie from her house along the Jordan River trail.  Fortunately the moon lit up the trail enough to see.  I'm feeling anxious for the St. George Marathon.  We ran two miles of it a little faster and the rest a little slower, although it was hard to slow down as I can feel the extra energy from tapering.  Our avg was 6:48 pace.  That seems faster than an "easy" run should be, but we really didn't feel like we were going fast and 7 miles isn't far. 

I seriously start feeling sick to my stomach when I think about the race.  Yesterday I thought, "Why am I even doing this?"  I love those weeks in the heat of training, the long runs with friends, seeing my progress, etc.  But when it comes down to the race, I hate the days leading up to it.  Usually I like the actual race, at least the first 22 miles, and I like having done it when it's over, that is if I do well.  When I don't do well I wish I hadn't even done it.  This week is the worst.  I wish I didn't doubt myself so much.  Ahh!

St. George Marathon 2:54:39!  This was the most enjoyable marathon I have ever done.  My goal all summer long was 2:54:45.  I looked at a pace chart last spring, noticed 6:40 pace was 2:54:45 and decided to shoot for that.  I must admit I had some serious doubts about it over the last couple of months though.

Melanie and I ran together until mile 23.  Our first mile was too fast, but after that we followed the 2:54:45 pace chart fairly well.  The miles seemed to go by so fast, mile after mile it was so nice to have a good friend by my side, wind at our backs, beautiful scenary, etc.  I thought Melanie might go out slower after having her foot bother her a few weeks ago, but was so glad she decided to "go for it" with me.

This was the best I've ever felt in a marathon.  My quads hurt almost the whole time and I felt a little "off" the first 8 miles, I think from the sleeping pill I took the night before, but other than that I felt great.  When I got a massage on Wednesday the therapist stretched my quads a little too hard and pulled them.  When we crossed the half, faster than we ever have before, I was nervous about how fast we were, but not about how I felt.  I thought I could keep up the same effort for 13 more miles. 

I was so nervous I would "hit the wall" any second during those last two miles but didn't.  When I turned the corner and saw the finish I felt great!  As I got closer and closer and the clock came into view I realized I was right on where I wanted to be, 2:54:38, 39, 40...  I sped up looking at the clock as I approached the line crossing at what I thought was exactly 2:54:45 gun time.  Ended up being 39 chip time.  My 9 year old son had so thoughtfully and specifically prayed for me to run a 2:54:45 after I told him that was my goal.  I hope my dad saw it.  He would really enjoy that.

1st half splits: 6:37, 6:46, 6:36, 6:25, 6:36, 6:29, 6:28, 7:19, 7:04, 6:58, 7:07, 6:55, 6:36.  Mile 13 @ 1:27:54

2nd half splits: 6:38, 6:27, 6:19, 6:25, 6:31, 6:54, 6:36, 6:25, 6:47, 6:37, 6:33, 6:32, 6:33, last .2 @ 6:24 pace.

So happy!  So so fun!  Can't wait to do it again next year!

10 miles up/down Provo Canyon with Melanie.  We were tired and stopped a lot.  Pace around 7:10. 

10 miles with Melanie in Lehi.  Felt better than Saturday, but tired the last 1.5.  Pace 6:58.

10 miles with Melanie and Melody in Orem.  Didn't feel as well as Tuesday.  Maybe I didn't get as much sleep, or it could have been the flu shot I got the day before.

12 miles with Melanie and Jane up/down Provo Canyon.  6:52 pace.  So much fun to run and visit and not care about the pace.

4 miles with burpees avg 7:09 pace.

10 miles with Melanie from her house to Smith's and back.  Avg 6:58 pace. 

10 miles up/down Provo Canyon with Melanie.  40 degrees with a little slushy rain falling at the start.  The first few miles were really pretty with snow on the trees and the sides of the trail.  But about 4 miles up it all of the sudden got reallydark.  We started at 6 a.m. so we were running in the dark anyway, but it was even darker, the clouds looked really grey and we could hardly see the headlights from the cars on the road off to the side.  It also sounded like the rain picked up, but we couldn't really feel it. 

When we turned around at Bridal Veil we had a pretty good pace going for the uphill @ 7:08 avg, but we quickly realized it was much less pleasant going the other direction.  The wind was blowing hail in our faces so hard it hurt our skin and eyes and we could hardly see where we were going.  The next two miles going down were some of our slowest ones on the stretch where wer're usually our fastest!  Fortunately it quiteted down for our last two miles.  Avg for whole run 7:00 pace.

4 miles

Ran 12 miles of the Halloween 1/2 down Provo Canyon with Melanie.  Average 6:24 pace.  We paused our watches four times when we stopped to drink.  My brother met us a couple miles from the mouth of the canyon and ran our last couple fast down with us.  Then I ran a mile home with him from the canyon for a cool down.  He lives right near me, and by right  near me I mean he lives in the house next door. 

4 miles avg 7:04 pace.

10 miles with Melanie along Jordan River Parkway avg 6:50 pace.