On April 19, 2014 I ran my second marathon. This was suppose to be a training run in anticipation for a Boston qualifying time at the Ogden marathon. The goal was to run the first 16-20 miles at my marathon pace. This pace is a 7:15 pace. The rest of the race would be at a conservative pace and the goal was to finish in 3:30 to 3:45.
The fueling plan was to take a gel very three miles. I would also take water and powerade at aid stations. I cannot remember the meal the night before. I so know that I was good the two days before and carbo loaded fairly well. I woke up and immediately had a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I also had an emergen-c packet and my vitamin. As I walked out the door I also consumed a banana. I felt good with the fueling to this point. I was worried that I only had three gels. Studying the race guide and map I was unsure of where if any gel stops they would have. I finished off the pre race fueling with a 5 hour energy about 20 minutes before the start.
I carpooled to the start line with Dave Earnshaw and one of his friends. I was concerned trying to find parking close to the finish line and riding tracks to the start. This would also mean that we would have two cars in Salt Lake since Julie and the girls were coming to see me finish. By carpooling we were dropped off at the start line.
After being dropped off I headed to the potties and start the pre race ritual. After the potties it was off to get ready to race. I dropped off my bag and headed to the start. The good thing about this race was that they had flags telling the pace so you could line up accordingly. They started at 6.00 minutes and went every minute back. The start was wide and I had no problem working my way to the 7.00 mile area. Slowly the corals started filling up. 7:00 am came and went and we did not start. Tracks was dropping off several hundred people so we waited so all runners could be there for the start.
I was a little nervous but full of confidence. I was confident I could hit my pace and run a good race. I was using a pace band created for the elevation of this coarse. With the star spangled sung and excitement in the air we were off.
The start funneled and tightened quickly which was not much of a problem since I was near the front. The first five miles I knew the coarse as I had run portions in other half marathons. There were some up and downs in elevation. At mile 3 there was an odd loop through a parking lot heading down city creek canyon. I took my first gel and cruised through the aid station. At this point I was running with some junior high students. It was fun to keep pace with them and to watch them work together as a team. We would see-saw for about five miles. At the mile 6 station I stopped for a porta potty. I was not worried about the lose of time as I hit my paces good except for some sub 7 minute miles coming down into the canyon. I still felt good and strong.
The next three miles were rolling hills. I was surprised at how many people came out to watch. Not much else they could do since the entire road was closed and they were home bound until after the race. It was just after mile nine that the half marathon and the marathon coarse separated. It was an awesome feeling being one of only a handful of runners turning left while the masses headed straight for the half coarse. It was here I slowed a little as the hills started wearing on me. I still was keeping within my goals. My fueling plan around mile 13 went down hill and I never recovered. Running through sugar house park was bit fun or exciting as I hoped. The mental wall was hitting and my goals were slipping. When I hit mile 13 my watch read 1:34. I knew the first half was all at goal pace. This would also be one of my top 3 half marathon times. This excitement running would be ruined when results were posted. They had me at the half at 1:37. The coarse and my gps were not jiving together. My watched was about .25 mile early. This time would still be a top 5 half marathon time. The extra time banked early on helped when I slowed later on.
My legs at this point had a enough of the elevation. If I did not do something I would be in trouble. The goal now was to hit the next five miles at under a 8.00 minute pace. Goal was accomplished, just barely.
Something happened after mile 13 that has never happened before. My sports induced asthma kicked in. By mile 18 it was hot and I had bouts of dizziness and by mile 20 I had nausea. All these things were firsts. As I approached mile 20 I was done. I had hit my goals. I knew going forth was only going to hurt my efforts for Ogden. Only problem was I had no phone to call Julie. My pride was also not going to allow me to ask an aid station volunteer for a phone to call Julie. The only goal now was to finish.
New goals were now in place for the last 6 miles. I would walk at every mile marker and I would walk through all aid stations. With a new game plan I trudged on. Every hill was a killer. I was feeling worse as the race went on. The mental aspect was almost worse than the physical. With about three miles to go my watch was way off. It was now off by almost .45 a mile. Having your watch go off that early was defeating. At this point I wanted desperately wanted to be done and take a nap. As I came through the finish shoot I could hear Julie yelling and encouraging me. The numbers read 3:43. My goal was still meet in regards to finishing.
As I grabbed my medal I exited I found a patch of grass and feel in heap. I lay there for sometime until Julie and Carly found me. I still just wanted to sleep. After laying in a heap for sometime the medical team came over to check on me. I headed to the medical tent to be checked out. They wanted to make sure my vitals were ok. After warming up and having some powerade I was cleared. Everything checked out. Now to go home and take a nap.
The Salt Lake marathon was tough. There were lots of hills. I did not take into account the difficulty of the coarse when I laid out my plan for this race. I still was able to hit many goals. The biggest take away is I toughed it out and still finished. This May not have been the wisest thing to do.
Time: 3:43:17
Overall: 114
Age: 90
Division: 15
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