Hurt so good.

Deseret News Marathon

What a great day at the races. At the start of the marathon we couldnt have asked for a better weather, nice chill around 55 degrees, slight wind but nothing crazy.

Going into this race I wasnt really sure of what type of shape I was in for a marathon. Mostly been focusing on half stuff and doing alot of intervals and had been slacking in the long run a bit. Looking at the registration list on Monday and being bullied a bit by Riley ;-) it looked like I could go after the win or at least get a solid long run in and walk a way with at least some money.

Got to the start line about an 70 minutes before the race started. Immediately hit the bathroom then went and found a spot to lay down, was perfect and I actually fell asleep for 20 minutes which was a shock but I will take it. Started my warm up about 20 minutes before hit the bathroom again and called it good.

Race began it quickly seperated to the contendors of the race. Jon Kotter, Jace Nye, myself, Bill Cobbler and could here others behind. About 3 miles in it was down to Jace, Jon and I. First 4-5 miles were very patient and just let them come. Talked to Jon abit and he is a really nice guy. He ran a great smart race and had a solid win.

Mile 5 is where I feel the race began though. Jon quickly put in  surge and gapped Jace and I. So I told Jace we need to be patient and work together and try to reel him back in. So thats what we agreed and went for it. Most of our miles were in the 520s going down and around 7-9 we had a couple of mid 540s and mid 610s due to the climb up to little mountain.

As we hit the out and back section of the course we saw Jon coming out of the little canyon and I timed the gap he had about a 1:45 lead on Jace and I. Hit the half marathon in 1:14:09. I immediately went into competitive mode and started focusing on 520s for as long as I could. I felt that if I could hold that pace to the finish I might have a shot to win. Also thinking that a negative split and 1:11 second half would be a great personal goal. Around mile 17 I started getting the flood of memories coming back to me on why I havent ran this marathon in 8 years. My calves were starting to lock up and fatigue was setting in but I could still see Jon up ahead and I faught every tooth and nail to give into the pain. At mile 18 I hit a mile in the 550s and thought this could go bad real quick. Jace had since dropped back now I was running solo I decided to give it anothe push and hit 19 in mid 530s and could see Jon. A spectator said the gap was 90 seconds, I thought is he coming back? I still might have a shot. So I stayed focus ran the next miles as best as could. I got to mile 22 and looked up and couldnt see Jon anymore. Now realizing that the only way to win this race was for Jon to drop and I knew that wasnt happening. So I took a quick look back and didnt see anyone close. And made the rash decision to shut it down. ran the rest of the race in in the 610s. Think I hit mile 25 in low 540s due to the running on the parade route. 

Ended up finishing in 2nd place with a time of 2:32:01.

For this race I feel a good deposit was made. Sure I might have to take 3-4 days off to recover but I am not completely blown. I now know that I need more tempo runs in my life in the 9-10 mile range. Now I need to focus and recover and shoot for a solid time in STG.

I guess there was a little contraversy at the end of the race. I was told that Jon had ran the original finish route off of North Temple but I was told to go to the parade route by the officers. Also was told by the race directors that the lead guys were going to run the 10K finish route, so thats what I did.

Anyway some were trying to get Jon DQ. I quickly shut that idea down fast. Thinking okay Jon ran the right route and so did I. Also time gap wouldnt have made a difference anyways. If I had lost by maybe 30 seconds, maybe there wouldve been an argument but even still I dont think I wouldve challenged it knowing that both routes are USATF Certified.

Jon ran awesome today. Also he is a very, very cool guy. Havent talked much to him before hand but  seems very humble and grateful about his running.

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