Winning Back What I Lost

Top of Utah Marathon

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Location:

Meridian,ID,US

Member Since:

Mar 31, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

PR's:

5K Beat Coach Pete Fun Run Boise, ID- 21:13(2009)

Meridan Barn Sour Days 10k, Meridian, ID- 41:32(2012)

Famous Potato Half Marathon, Boise, ID- 1:30:40 (2012)

Utah Valley Marathon, Provo, UT- 3:20:14 (2011)

Athlinks profile here.

Garmin Connect profile here.

Short-Term Running Goals:

2014 Racing Schedule and Goals: 

-Get healthy

-St. George Marathon, October 4, 2014, St. George, UT

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run at least one marathon every year until I buy the farm.

Qualify for Boston Marathon.

Personal:

Started running in November 2007 to get fit. Now I'm back almost to square one after back surgery. I did it once and I'll do it again.

"In truth, runners don't race other runners. They race against themselves: to conquer their wills, to transcend their weaknesses, to beat back their nightmares. And while a runner can't actually beat himself, he can beat his time. Even years into running, he can get better."  Running for His Life by Michael Hall. 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
New Balance MR 1400 Lifetime Miles: 392.77
Saucony Kinvara 2 Lifetime Miles: 424.41
Saucony Kinvara 3 Lifetime Miles: 438.89
Saucony Ride 5 Lifetime Miles: 235.68
Brooks Launch (Blue/Yellow) Lifetime Miles: 282.52
Hoka Rapa Nui Tarmac's Lifetime Miles: 181.17
Hoka Clifton (Blue)(2) Lifetime Miles: 164.15
Total Distance
39.90
Asics DS Trainer 14 Miles: 8.47Saucony Tangent III Miles: 31.43
Total Distance
5.02

625AM: warmer this morning; felt pretty good after taking the weekend off; 2M at 8:00/mi pace and 3M at current MP (8:20); breathing was a bit labored this morning; don't know if it was the humidity or if I'm still getting over a brief bout w/ the flu; I'll run an easy 5M Tue-Thurs just to keep sharp. 

Asics DS Trainer 14 Miles: 5.02
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Total Distance
5.05

630AM:  Slogged through a horrible run; not sure what is going on here but I felt really lethargic; I don't have any pain but just a general achiness that has me worried; Gonna try to get to bed really early tonight and take a hyperdose of Vitamin C to see if that helps. 

Saucony Tangent III Miles: 5.05
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Total Distance
3.45

7AM:  Thought I'd better get in a quick run to stretch the legs since I haven't logged any mileage since Tuesday due to illness; nothing too hard but I kept it at current MP throughout w/ some faster strides mixed in; all I can say is that I don't feel any worse than earlier in the week but still a bit run-down and nasally.

3PM: Arrived in Logan; gonna get a quick nap in before picking up the race packet and then come back to the hotel to watch the Broncos annihilate Fresno State on ESPN.

Asics DS Trainer 14 Miles: 3.45
Comments(2)
Race: Top of Utah Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:35:59, Place overall: 259, Place in age division: 26
Total Distance
26.38

I had a lofty goal going into this race.  I thought based upon my increased mileage, results from a July half marathon on a flat course, cooler fall temps and a favorable downhill course that there was an outside chance of running a BQ time of 3:15:59.  It turned out that I wasn't anywhere near ready to sustain that pace (7:29) for a full marathon. 

Arrived in Logan Friday afternoon and immediately headed over to the packet pick-up.  Got in line behind Court (FRBer) and his wife.  Asked him if he was going to stay in Utah for the BYU v. Florida State game on Sat evening.  He said they were headed back to Boise right after the race.  Good call on that one.  See worst BYU home loss since BSU destroyed them in Provo in '03. :-) 

Selected a personal pan pizza and breadsticks as my pre-race carbo load meal- well that along with about a half dozen oatmeal cookies.  [This ill-advised decision would come back to haunt me before, during and after the race.]  I actually got a pretty good night's sleep on Friday night- 5 hours which is a PR for the night before a marathon by at least a couple of hours.  Limited my morning breakfast to a bagel and half an orange.  Why couldn't I have been so sparing the night before???? 

Got on one of the last buses up to the starting line.  This was another ill-fated decision because it meant that I didn't actually arrive at the starting line until 6:15ish.  Actually, it wouldn't have been so bad but for the extremely long POP lines and the fact that it seemed like every person was taking an inordinately long time in there. I did finally get some business done but the upshot was that I barely had time to strip off the layers, stuff them into the bag and get to the starting line.  No warmup whatsoever. 

It was cool at the start (mid 40's?) but not nearly as cold as I had anticipated and I knew from the forecast that it would warm up substantially during the second half.  It did.  I tried to take in lots of gatorade but I could never really get enough it seemed. 

I'll cut to the chase and say that I came to the realization that I wasn't going to even come close to running a BQ time roughly halfway through the marathon.  Finished the first half in 1:40 which meant I'd have to run a negative split the second half.  No way that was happening.  I adjusted my goal to a sub 3:30 finish. 

During the last six miles I had serious doubts as to whether I would finish at all.  My stomach wasn't getting any better and my left hammy was feeling as though it would pop.  But more than that was the mental challenge of circumnavigating traffic and the maze-like, circuitous route during the last part of the race.  Its one thing to run along traffic but its quite another to be dodging it.  My pride kicked in though and I persevered, even though I walked through every aid station and beyond during the last six miles. 

Splits:

Miles 1-19: 7:46; 7:21; 7:24; 7:23; 7:19; 7:44; 8:54 (1st pit stop); 7:23; 7:26; 7:34; 7:38; 7:54; 7:23; 7:35; 7:37; 8:09; 7:46; 8:05; 8:17;

Miles 20-26.2: 9:35; 8:23; 10:45 (2nd pit stop); 9:03; 9:37; 9:02; 9:28; 8:39 (.2).

As I type this I am sitting in my recliner and I can't make up my mind whether I'm just extremely sore or if I am injured.  My left ankle (never fully healed from last years severe sprain) and my left hammy are the most sore.  I've been icing and popping ibuprofen every 3 hours.  My other marathons have led to some soreness but this is beyond the pale.  Something feels different this time.

 

Saucony Tangent III Miles: 26.38
Comments(4)
Total Distance
39.90
Asics DS Trainer 14 Miles: 8.47Saucony Tangent III Miles: 31.43
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