What a miserable day all around. Bad, bad day for me. I will write more later but to head off the main questions, no I didn't have stomach issues nor a pit stop. Yes, I did try my best. I don't know even now what the problem was. I stopped for like 10 seconds to tie my shoe just after mile 8 and then just never got back in a groove. By mile 10 my legs felt like they did at mile 20 at Phoenix Marathon. Clearly a very bad sign. By mile 15 my legs were really hurting and my energy levels were like zero. It was weird. I feel grateful I was just able to finish because it was sure looking like I was in trouble of not finishing.
Ok, here's a more detailed report:
I was very proud of my efforts to keep a very strict eye on my nutrition in the days leading up to the race so as to avoid GI issues. I cut out all dairy, sugar, soda, and anything even close to resembling greasy or spicy food. I tried to eat well all week but really buckled down starting Wednesday night. I think was the main (maybe only) positive part of the race today as I avoided stopping for a pit stop or even having an upset stomach for the first time ever in a marathon. So, I will try to replicate what I ate in future races.
This morning I may have skimmed too much on breakfast though in efforts to avoid GI issues and that may have factored into the low energy levels. I went with the all liquid breakfast of Gatorade, Clif Shot Blocks, and a Honey Stinger gel. It may not sound like much, but it was still like 400 calories. I don't know, maybe I needed more. I'm open to thoughts on that.
I met up with Bryant and rode up on the bus with him and also with some family. The starting area was a miserable place! It was a swampy, muddy mess, not to mention cold. Unfortunately, even with being on the last bus we still had to wait 1.5 hours for the start, which is just too much to be sitting in the cold and rain.
The gun went off and I found myself in the lead with Jason Holt, which surprised me since I don't feel like the pace was too fast by any means. By mile 4 Bryant and Brett finally caught up to us and the four of us ran together for a bit. The first 8 miles were straight into a headwind (5-7 mph) and they were very rainy. During mile 8 I stopped to tie my shoe (which somehow came undone despite a double knot and being tucked under the cross laces). I told the others I was going to speed up for about 100 meters and then pull over to tie it. I was only stopped for about 10 seconds, but man did Bryant take advantage of that! He took off and dropped the other two at that point.
I tried to work back up to Brett, who had dropped to third in that quick surge, but tried to do it slowly. I figured I could get back to him in a mile or so, as the pace wasn't difficult. But somewhere in here I just hit a wall, I know way early to be hitting walls! But, I just got zapped of enregy. So, I took out my Clif Shot Blocks and took one at mile 9. At mile 11 I got my first Honey Stinger down with my first water too. I went with the drink when you're thirsty strategy today, which worked fine I think, especially with the cool weather.
I was still maintaining what I'd consider a decent pace for the rollers, but it was feeling way harder than it should have and my legs were just tired. I came through the half in 1:13:30, which was slower than I would've liked. By mile 15 Justin caught me and asked how I was feeling. I told him I felt fine cardio-wise, but that my legs were just dead. He said he felt so-so and then dropped me. I thought Justin ran a great race for where he's at in his training.
Around this time I thought to myself, "Something is not right. I don't know what's going on but no way should I feel this tired, stiff, and low on energy. I run faster than this and further than this every Saturday! What is going on? I don't feel sick or anything, but something is seriously not right!"
Once I entered the canyon I was really bleeding time and I started wondering if I was going to make it to the finish. It was very early to be bleeding that much time, so I was concerned. During mile 19 I was feeling sorry for myself and I had had a rock in my shoe since mile 12 and I thought oh who cares anymore! I'm stopping to get this rock out! So I stopped and took my shoe off and emptied the rock. Then I just stared into space for like 15 seconds wondering how this had happened. This was a crictical point in whether I was going to finish or not. The temptation was there to stop, but I made the mental decision to keep going no matter what unless my health was at jeopardy, which is wasn't. So, I put my shoe back on and started trotting along again. I looked down at my pace and saw that I was still in the 6:30s. So, I yelled at myself in my mind, "Start running like a man you pansy!"
That helped for one mile as I managed a 6:06. I was like "Yes, that's more like it!" Funny how before the race if you told me I was going to be happy with a 6:06 mile 20 I would've said you're out of your mind. But I was really happy with that effort at this point. But tiredness set back in and I slipped back to 6:20s and 6:30s again. Every step was a huge effort. But I tried to keep plugging along.
During mile 23 I gave into the sore legs and fatigue and walked a few times, not for long but I did have some walking stretches. This was the second critical point where it would've been easy to throw in the towel. But I yelled at myself again to get running! I knew if I walked too much more my legs weren't going to get going again. From this point on I was somehow able to manage 6:20s for the rest of the way. It was a death march, but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.
Finally I finished in just under 2:40, which really surprised me actually. At mile 23 I was doing some math and thought there was no way I was going to salvage the 2:30s.
My family was very concerned and then I finally came down the final stretch and they cheered for me like I was winning the race, which made me kind of emotional because it was so hard for me to finish the race. I almost felt more proud right then of my effort than I have felt in other marathons, obviously not because of my result but because I refused to quit and put up with some of the most painful miles of my life.
I was so thrilled to here how well Bryant ran! When you train with someone so much like that and know all the hard work they've put in it's great to see them suceed. I honestly thought under good conditions today Bryant could break 2:20. But the weather didn't cooperate and in this rain and wind 2:23 is a very very solid effort!
I thought Brett also gave a great effort in his marathon debut! We'll miss Brett a lot as he is moving to SLC on Memorial Day. It will be a huge blow to the Ogden training group! But we wish him well.
Splits:
5:26 5:28 5:18 5:24 5:26 5:31 5:30 5:39 5:31 5:37 5:49 5:47 5:48 (1:13:30 half)
5:42 6:10 6:01 6:35 6:39 7:32 6:06 6:22 6:34 7:15 6:27 6:28 6:25 and 6:16 pace for last bit (I guess that makes a sad 1:25:53 2nd half)
I should note that I'm not super upset or mad with this result. It didn't go well at all but that can happen. It was bad and I'm just going to move on. I will take the positives out of it (Nutrition and perserverance) and use those to build on the future. Sometimes you just can't dwell on the bad ones, you just have to let them go. So my head is up and I'm ready to get rolling again. | 
