This race had more ups and downs than usual. I woke up at 2:15 and immediately ate my new prerace breakfast, i.e. two pieces of toast with pb&j and a can of Monster Java. I used to drink chocolate almond milk but the Monster Java got me through Ragnar so I am sticking with it.
I got to the busses at 3:30 and the temp on my phone read 86 degrees. That seemed odd but it didn't really concern me at the time. The bus dropped me off at 4:15 and I considered spending the next hour searching for the watch I lost but then decided a nap was more important. I have accepted that my Garmin 305 is officially gone. :( The wind picked up a few minutes before the race which I wasn't excited about. The race got off on time and to no surprise Jon and I were running elbow to elbow down the mountain with a little guy in green right on our heels. At mile three I learned that he is from Mexico and had run a 2:40 in his only marathon. Interesting I thought. He dropped back as we started up Little Mountain never to be seen again.
1 to 5: 5:12,4:56,4:57,5:06,5:19
Feeling ok here but it seemed like we were working and breathing too hard to hit those splits considering the extreme downhill. The wind was definitely a drag.
As we passed Little Dell and started the climb I knew I had to back off a bit or else it could get ugly. Even backing off we were both breathing heavily to hit 6:02 and 5:55 for miles 7 and 8. I will just say I was very happy to get over Little Mountain.
6 to 10: 5:35,6:02,5:55,5:05,5:31
After getting over the hill my spirits were lifted and miles 9 through 14 felt pretty good, although my splits looked slightly slow. Jon and I, still elbow to elbow, went through the half at just over 1:10, about 1:30 slower than in 2011. I refuse to accept that I have gotten slower so I blame the wind :)
11 to 15: 5:17,5:24,5:17,5:24,5:26
At mile 15.5 we turned up the hill at the zoo. It was great to see my pops, sister and Amiee right before the make or break Wasatch out and back. By this point I sensed that Jon was working harder than me and seeing salt on his face wasn't a good sign. Sure enough I started to pull away just past the golf course.
16 to 20: 5:35,5:33,5:46,5:31,5:41
I was definitely slowing over these miles but it could have been worse. I never did look back for Jon but my dad did say at Foothill that he was "way back." I was surprised given that I only broke away three miles earlier. Just after passing my dad I hit mile 21 and saw a split of 5:59. Sweet I thought. Looks way better than 6.
21 to 26
5:59,5:29,5:47,5:40,5:49,6:10
At this point I was just trying to keep it together and not have a meltdown in the last few miles. The 5th south and south temple downhills were much appreciated and a special thanks goes to Rob for helping me through mile 25. The gradual climb up 8th south was as fun and long as usual but at least when I rounded the corner on 9th I was done.
The post race highlight was laying in the kids pool filled with ice with Josh. That will expedite my recovery by at least a day.
Congrats to all of the other racers, i.e. Allie for winning yet another desnews, Josh with a solid 4th place finish, Steve's second place finish in the half, James and Hille, etc.
Now off to Sun Valley for some river soaking, no running and mountain biking. Although I seem fine this race typically breaks seething so I won't be in a rush to start running again.
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