Pretty solid race today. I'll write more when I get home on Monday. I'm staying at my 90 year old grandparent's and they have no internet access... Do 90 year olds even know what the internet is? ---- Where to start? I was hesitant to run this race as I don't enjoy downhill races of any distance, especially the marathon. But as I kept trying to fit a marathon into my fall schedule, this was the only one that seemed like it would work for me. Needless to say, I signed up about a month ago and felt great on my Saturday long runs leading up to today. When I got to Logan on Friday I drove the course to get an idea of the layout and was pleasantly surprised that the majority of the downhill was of the gentle rolling kind mixed in with flat and even a few slight uphills. The multiple turns during the last 6-7 miles didn't look too fun but I'm glad I knew the course before hand and was prepared for the course set up. Lastly, I was was more than happy with the rain that fell Friday night and throughout the morning. One of my only concerns was the dry air and possible heat the last few miles of the race but neither of those happened thankfully. As we lined up to race I met Paul and James for the first time, Sasha for the second time. None of us were any help to Paul today (wow, what a quick start) but James, Sasha and I made a good team for the first 13 miles, helping maintain pace and work together sharing the load. When the gun when off, about a dozen people took off ahead of me--apparently I don't start as quick as most people but I still managed a 5:30 first mile. After the first mile I had caught up to Sasha and James and we took turns leading our group and running 5:30, 5:33, and 5:33 for miles 2-4. My lungs felt fine and I had no issue whatsoever being at altitude but even just 4 miles into the race, my quads were already feeling the affects of the downhill sections mixed with race pace. At some point Sasha said he wasn't feeling 100% so James and I took turns leading, most of the time organically rather than 3 minute trade-offs like we had the first few miles. Mile 5 and 6 were both 5:41 followed by a 5:44 for mile 7. Not much to say during the next few miles. Again, my legs didn't love the downhill but the rest of my body felt absolutely fine. The canyon we were running in was visually stunning as the sun started to rise, the low clouds hung around the hills and the peaceful stream followed the same path on our left. I took my first Gu at mile 8 (5:33) and continued down the canyon running 5:41, 5:49, 5:55 and 5:31 for miles 9-12. There were a couple times when James pushed the pace on the downhill and I fell 1-2 seconds behind both he and Sasha and I wondered if they were leaving me for good, but I'd quickly catch up once the course flattened out. I missed getting water at mile 13 (5:36) and that seemed to fire me up a little bit. It wasn't on purpose, but I subsequently picked up the pace as we left the canyon (mile 14 in 5:26, mile 15 in 5:27). I think this happened for a couple reasons--there was a large group of supporters cheering as we entered Harlow Rd (including my best friend from high school), the rain started to come down even harder and it felt like I was still in Oregon, and the flat roads were heaven to my quads and hamstrings which were starting to tighten up as well. Regardless, the pace felt comfortable and so I went with what felt good. Miles 16-18 stayed pretty consistent (5:35, 5:36, 5:35) as I continued to love the rain, flat course and seeing family/friends spread out every mile or so (huge shout out to my amazing family/friends that traveled 7+ hours to watch me plod along in the rain--it was a great help knowing I had support along the final miles). The turns began somewhere along here as we left the highway and looped through a few sections of residential areas. The race organizers must have quickly fixed the course confusion from when Paul had passed through because there were cones and a lady in a mini-van directing my at the turn just past the bridge (thankfully! I'm not as mentally strong as Paul and wouldn't have loved the thoughts of adding more sections at the end and the possibility of a DQ). Miles 19 and 20 (5:45, 5:50) must have had a little uphill and by then I was getting a little tired but I managed to pull it together on mile 21 (5:35). Going through the aid stations were a blast as the volunteers were full of energy (probably because it had such a long gap between Paul and I...). I slowed down on mile 22 but barely stayed under 6 min pace (5:59). I wasn't so lucky on mile 23 (6:07). Pretty typical reasons at the end of any marathon--I was tired, legs were cramping and starting to check out mentally (how do I fix this?? Seems to happen every time. Frustrating.). The cramp in my stomach was too much to handle after fighting it for the past 2 miles. I gave in and walked for a brief section (maybe 20 seconds, 30 at most). My pace was slowing considerably and I thought the break might rejuvenate me for the final push. As a result, mile 24 was my worst (6:40). The cramp subsided and I immediately felt better as I passed through mile 25 (6:04). I felt like I was crawling during the last mile--I wasn't to the point of walking but I'm sure there are people who can walk faster. Mile 26 in 6:24 and final .2 in 1:23. Total time in 2:30:54. Perhaps the finish would have been different if I was fighting for 2nd place. Probably not though...haha. I need to figure out how to not die during the final few miles of a marathon. And no more walking! I was 99% happy with today's race and how it all unfolded. 1% disappointed that I didn't go under 2:30 but I'll focus on the 99% instead. I left the race soon-ish after finishing--I was cold and needed to take a long, hot shower. Had Thai for lunch with family and friends (on me of course since I had cash to burn after taking 2nd), returned to the park for awards, then traveled south for lunch #2 at In-N-Out Burger. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the company of family I don't see nearly enough. The icing on the cake was the absolute beat-down Utah put on the team from Provo to finish off the day! The day couldn't have turned out much better. It was good to meet a number of fellow bloggers and congratulations to everyone that ran today. Perhaps I'll return next year, especially if the forecast calls for rain!
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