I went into this race hoping to break 2:30 but I wasn't very confident it would happen. To give myself a chance I took it very easy the week after my last marathon on 9/12 and I only ran 10 miles in the 5 days leading up to the race. Apparently my lazy strategy paid off because I set a PR by 7 minutes and I placed 7th overall. Turns out I was only 1 minute out of third place but I felt fortunate enough to finish where I did. I am fully aware that the course had a lot to do with my time plus the weather couldn't have been better. I also decided at the last minute to wear lighter shoes (Nike Lunars) and I think those helped as well. Never again will I road race in my Saucony Omni army boots.
|
Split |
Pace |
| 1st Half |
1:15:07 |
0:05:44 |
| 20 Miles |
1:52:54 |
0:05:39 |
| 26.2 Miles |
2:26:46 |
0:05:36 |
Before the race I told my sister that I should go out conservatively with a 1:15 half so I could take full advantage of the downhills in the second half. Although I wasn't watching my first half splits my first half time turned turned out to be exactly that but I wouldn't exactly say that my effort up to that point was conservative. Guaging my effort I would have guessed my split to be closer to 1:14. This worried me a bit for a few miles but fortunately I caught a couple of guys at mile 15 and started to get into a rhythm. My 16 and 17 splits renewed my confidence and at that point I knew 2:30 was within reach as long as my hamstrings didn't snap. At mile 20 I dropped the two guys and by mile 22 and I had three more guys in sight. Unfortunately I couldn't bridge the gap enough to catch them. At mile 23 I considered stopping to stretch my right hamstring because I seriously didn't think it could get any tighter. Of course stopping wasn't a realistic option so I just tried to take shorter steps to reduce the strain. My hamstrings sucked it up and I finished without causing significant damage. This was my first SGM and I must say I was very impressed with the organization, post race festivities, and awards ceremony. They gave overall awards to the top 10 and to my surprise I also got $100 from Murdock Chevrolet for being the first Salt Lake County finisher. Congrats to Jeff McClellan, who finished 2nd, Walter, Sasha and all of the other bloggers who I sadly do not know. Like Jon, I might semi retire from the road and take my game to the trails.
| Time |
Distance |
Split |
| 0:05:35 |
1 |
0:05:35 |
| 0:11:30 |
2 |
0:05:55 |
| 0:16:59 |
3 |
0:05:29 |
| 0:22:22 |
4 |
0:05:23 |
| 0:27:52 |
5 |
0:05:30 |
| 0:33:07 |
6 |
0:05:15 |
| 0:38:24 |
7 |
0:05:17 |
| 0:44:43 |
8 |
0:06:19 |
| 0:50:44 |
9 |
0:06:01 |
| 0:56:39 |
10 |
0:05:55 |
| 1:02:54 |
11 |
0:06:15 |
| 1:08:50 |
12 |
0:05:56 |
| 1:14:30 |
13 |
0:05:40 |
| 1:20:10 |
14 |
0:05:40 |
| 1:25:34 |
15 |
0:05:24 |
| 1:30:50 |
16 |
0:05:16 |
| 1:36:15 |
17 |
0:05:25 |
| 1:41:44 |
18 |
0:05:29 |
| 1:47:29 |
19 |
0:05:45 |
| 1:52:54 |
20 |
0:05:25 |
| 1:58:09 |
21 |
0:05:15 |
| 2:03:39 |
22 |
0:05:30 |
| 2:09:05 |
23 |
0:05:26 |
| 2:14:31 |
24 |
0:05:26 |
| 2:20:06 |
25 |
0:05:35 |
| 2:25:37 |
26 |
0:05:31 |
| 2:26:46 |
26.24 |
0:01:09 |
| 
