Here's My race report for the St. George Marathon.
I began getting nervous about a week before the race when the weather channel was predicting 15-20 mph headwinds, But since I obviously don't have control of the weather, I tried to put it out of my mind.
My first good break occured 3 days before the race when I posted on a SGM forum board begging for a ride to the start. That way my ever so caring wife who drove me to the race despite having no interest in it whatsoever would be able to sleep in. Within 3 minutes of posting, I got a reply back from a runner staying in the same complex who offerred to take me to the start.
We left at 0430 and went straight to a bus for the trip to the starting line. It was probably in the 40's at this time, but being acclimated to Havasu, I was fairly cold. The ride to the start seemed to take forever. I began wondering how I was going to run a distance that took 30-45 minutes to drive in 3 hours and some change. The start was colder, but there were enough bonfires going to keep everybody warm. There was minimal wind and it was actually a tailwind. Guess those guys at the weather channel were wrong - woo hoo. About a 1/2 hour before the start I got in line for a port-a-pottie, but this moved at a rate somewhere between molasses and pond water. I finally got to the front of the line with my watch showing 5 minutes to the gun. I ran to the extra clothes drop off truck and began to shed the extra layers. As I stuffed them into my bag, the cord tore off. At that point, they announced overhead that they were ready to start and 10 seconds later the gun went off. I threw my open bag into the truck and watched my sweats fall out immediately. I wrote them off and ran to the start. Thank goodness for the timing chips, because I ended up taking another minute after the gun putting my race belt on and getting my Ipod situated.
By this time the weather was perfect, the wind was at my back, and my legs felt fresher than they had in months. About 1 mile in, one of the 2 small water bottles on my fuel belt fell out. I thought this was unusual, since I had never had a full bottle fall out before. I ran back, picked it up and started to put it back on the run, when the 2nd one fell out. It was at that time I realized I had put my belt on upside down, and apparently in this position the bottles are not very secure. Who would have guessed? I stopped by the side and got everything taken care of and went on.
I glided past the first 7 miles at a fairly good clip and was about 2-3 minutes faster that my proposed pace, but I felt very comfortable and my heart rate was fairly controlled. At 7 miles, there is a very steep hill. Picture the steep part of the multiuse path then make it steeper. I slowed down, but didn't try to kill myself up it. At the base, I caught a group of experienced runners going for a 3:15 pace (my goal was 3:20) so I slowed down a bit.
By 13 miles, I had cleared the uphill portion of the course and the rest was downhill. I hit the 13.1 point at almost exactly 1:40 minutes which was actually ahead of pace given the fact that the second half should be nearly all downhill and quicker.
Between 13-18 miles, I actually made up another 1-2 minutes and was again ahead of pace. This is when I started getting some mild calf and quad cramping. It wasn't too bad, but it kept me from accelerating too much even though my heart and lungs felt like they could go harder.
I was still running about 8 minute pace by 23-24 miles when the 3:20 pace group passed me. I wasn't able to stay with them, but was able to keep them in site and they were only slowly pulling away.
I had run out of my gel that I had placed in one of the bottles of my fuel belt at about 22 miles, and in retrospect, I really should have taken the last packet with the extra caffiene at the 24-25 mile point. Just after 25 miles, I hit a huge wall. My watch showed 3:10 at the 25 mile aid station, and even though I was tired I was still doing ok and though I would be able to make 3:20. Unfortunately, I bonked hard and it took every ounce of effort I had just to get to the finish. I think my last mile was probably close to 10 minute pace, crushing my chance to qualify for Boston.
My final time was 3:21:54 which was 55 seconds short of qualifying. However, This was a great race for me and I am very happy with the result. My first marathon was 3:34:50, so I crushed my old PR.
Im recovering on a cruise ship with my family. I will see everybody when I return.
