Huge marathon PR in St. George

So its definitely been a whirlwind since the marathon on Saturday, but I have tried to remember everything as best I could to get it all out here for your reading pleasure.  I am thrilled how the race went, especially with the travel prior to me heading out west.  I was at a conference in Boston Monday – Wednesday before and that can always throw your schedule off.  I was able to get my runs in, and run with Ashley for my last workout, which was awesome.  I flew home Wednesday on an earlier flight, thank gosh, and unpacked to repack.  Thursday I went for my sports massage in the morning and then headed back to the airport.  Getting to St. George can be tricky, either a layover or a drive, so I went with layover.  When I got to Salt Lake City, I just felt very blah.  My nose was a bit stuffy and I am not going to lie I freaked the F out.  I was visiting RI the weekend before to see my parents and my mom came down with a cold – and I called her almost blaming her for getting me sick, oops is right.  I had pounded water the whole flight, even in the window seat and got up three times to use the rest room… could have been worse.  In SLC, I drank 2 emergenCs, took an allergy pill, bought a nose spray and prayed for the best  I landed in St. George Thursday around 630, went to the place I was saying and went promptly to bed!

Friday I woke up feeling better and did a two mile shakeout and some strides.  I found an awesome place called The Orange Peel, I highly recommend if if you are in St. George.  I took a wheatgrass and a ginger shot and had a protein bowl.  I was going all in to make sure I started feeling better! After a quick jaunt to the expo, I decided to drive the course and I am glad I did! Driving out 26 miles in one direction is far (as everyone knows who runs Boston).  And when I got to the start, I got out of the car to stretch a bit and walk around and it was much colder than St. George itself.  I never even looked at the weather at the start, it was always St. George.  When I did I was horrified – rainy and 47 at the start.  oh gosh, oh gosh.  So I headed back into town, made note of all the uphills and hauled it to Dick’s.  I went a little overboard – bought a hat, longsleeve shirt to run in, hand warmer, sweatpants, poncho and blanket.  After this I went and had an awesome dinner with fellow instagram new besties.  I pounded some salad, pasta, and bread and was back at home by 7pm.  I laid out all my stuff and was in bed by 8.  Since its 10pm east coast time, I was good and ready for bed.

Race morning! Up 2 minutes before my 4am alarm and I was ready.  I did a quick rinse off in the shower to wake myself up, ate peanut butter on an english muffin with banana and oatmeal.  I drank SOS hydration and was off to the buses.  It was great to ride the bus with my friend Lindsey and her friend Janae.  It kept my mind from wandering.  We got to the start and had about 30 minutes until the race was to go off.  I was all set in my sweats, poncho and blanket, I didnt even notice the cold.  The portapotty lines were short and I was able to go twice before the race started – I probably had 60oz of liquid total that morning before.  I was not about to leave any dehydration up to chance.  5 minutes before the gun ( which would actually be 30 minutes late, ugh!), I took my sweats off.  I decided to start the race in a throw away long sleeve, and hand a blanket on me still.  Ditched the blanket and was ready to go!

Welp, my pandora wasn’t working, so that means no music.  Ok, the views will be pretty and I didn’t run my last marathon with music.  Went through the first mile in 644, not the plan! My plan was to do 705s and hammer it the second half.  But the first mile you are excited and it was downhill…. I never really start downhill, so it felt effortless.  Mile 2 I eased up a bit and went through in 705, perfect and spot on.  There was a slight include, so that helped me keep pace.  3 and 4 were even in 655 and 657.  It felt like a 705 effort, so i just went off feel.  Everything felt relaxed and I was cruising.  Oh and I ditched my long sleeve at 2 and was rocking my crop top.  I did have gloves and arm sleeves as well.

5 and 6 I stayed relaxed and prepped for the hill that was coming just after 7.  Went through these miles in 7 and 645.  I would try to tuck in behind some guys that were around me, since it was raining, felt like that might help.  I took my gloves off at mile 6 and stuffed them in my spandex.  It was still quite chilly at this point and my legs were a little numb, but overall fine.  I gave my gloves to Kimberlie at mile 7 and clocked a 654.  I knew the fun would start after this.  Over a mile of straight up hill, which i welcomed because I could already tell the downhill, I felt it a little.  Cruised up the hill in 731 and was passing people left and right.  I do love hills, but I got worried I should slow down.  So went through 9 in a 728 and knew the next 4 miles or so were flat or up.

10 and 11 I brought it back down to 706 and 708 and was good hitting those paces on flat, I know my pacing, haha.  Downhill just threw it off.  Felt good so knocked it down to 657 and 650 for 12 and 13.  I went through the half in 1:32:18 and was feeling very good.  At this point I saw the 305 pacer and got a bit rattled, where did he come from? Did he pass me? Did I just catch him? I decided not to worry about the pacer as I heard him say he was banking time for later… That is not how I roll.  At this point It was light out and the rain had subsided a bit.

14-18 I was in the zone.  My pandora started working and the JayZ forever young song started playing.  I ran my own race and clocked in 647, 646, 648, 646, 653.  I dropped the pacer by that point and just focused on the miles I was in.  I knew there was one more uphill at 19 and went through that mile in 711.  This is when everything started going blank in Miami and I did not think about that this race.  I said think about the mile you are in and cruise.  20 came in 651 and I was back on track.  Just look ahead and go.  21 in 639 and I was still feeling great an when I hit 22, I got rid of the arm sleeves.  I realized they were making me cold because it had warmed up and they were a cold wet from the rain.  647 and you have 4.2 miles left.  I did some mental math and realized it would have to be a fast ass last 4 miles, but I kept trucking.  Mile 23 I even thought was 22, so when I went through in 634 I was thrilled, 3 more miles.  631, and then 645.  I was doing it.  When I saw the clock at mile 25 it was 254 and change.  I knew 3 hours wasn’t going to happen, but I dont think I even realized I was that close! This is when I started hitting the wall.  My legs felt heavy, but I just kept saying one more step, one more step…. I think I got overly emotional and i slowed to a 706 to take it all in.  The last .2 was also at 705 pace because I was just shocked when I saw the clock time.  Finally, after so much heartache at the distance, I did what I knew I was capable of.  In heavy trainers to boot…. thats a story for another time.  I just didn’t feel comfortable running in a lighter shoe – my zoom flys made my toe tight in my last half and hyperions are just little padding to run 26 in.  So I went with what I knew would be comfortable.

Oh also important, I took water or gatorade (sometimes both) at every stop, which was every 2 miles (the odd numbered miles).  I also took 4 gels throughout the race every 40 minutes or so.  I never had stomach problems or felt week, so I think my plan worked.

In another post I will detail out how I was able to take 18+ minutes off my marathon time and what I think made all the difference.