Time: 5:35:39; Pace: 12:48
Division: 178/201; Gender: 1640/1850; Overall: 3912/4108
Splits:
The road to this marathon wasn't easy as explained in previous posts but it was so worth it. This was my first vacation since starting my new job. I felt back to normal, in a way. I live for seeing new things, running in new places and having adventures.
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| starting in the dark |
Emily was supposed to run this race with me - the whole trip was her idea - but she didn't recover from her leg surgery well enough to run a marathon. Crappy for her but lucky for me as she was an amazing one woman support crew.
We arrived in St. George the day before the race and headed straight to lunch followed by the state liquor store to load up on beer. Everything is pretty much shut down on Sundays so we wanted to make sure we had beer for the day after the race. The conservative, alcohol avoiding mormons run the state which means crazy liquor laws that make it hard to buy beer just anywhere. The local section at the liquor store was sad.
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| MIle 16 |
Next we headed to the expo. I was surprised by the size of this expo. It was pretty big for a field of only 4k runners. The race shirt that came with my registration was horrible. Who puts a giant logo right over the belly? Luckily I was able to get a few items from different designers which were way better than the crap Nike puts out for the Chicago Marathon.
Even though Emily wasnt running I told her she still had to get up at the crack of dawn with me. I filled up on hotel breakfast while I gathered my things. Had I bothered to check the weather I would have worn my hat and taken my rain jacket. I put the hat, jacket, food and Nuun in a bag and gave it to Emily to bring to me at miles 7 and 16, the only 2 points along the main part of the course where people can spectate.
The hotel had a shuttle to the park where runners caught another shuttle to the start line at the top of the mountain. The line to shuttle #2 was an hour long. According to the veterans, this was so not normal. I made some friends who loved all the Chicago TV shows for which I took credit, of course. As we waited in the ridiculous line in the dark, it started to lightly rain. Great.
On the way up we heard over the bus's CB that another bus was turning around because one of the stupid ass runners forgot her bib. I added the stupid ass part. As a result the race started 15 minutes late. That would have NEVER happened in Chicago.
The rain subsided when we got to the top. I ran into my new friend from the shuttle line and she graciously gave me a commercial sized garbage bag. I thought I didnt need it but as we started to cross the start line it began to rain again. This time not so lightly. As I ran I punctured arm holes and fashioned three ties in the front to hold the bag in place because stupid me tore the bag at the seam.
The course was on a two lane highway, mostly down a mountain. Runners had to be at a certain point by a certain time or else the sad sag van would come and ruin your life. Being a slow runner and being delayed by the forgetful stupid ass I was super worried about making this cutoff. A runner holding a "SWEEPER" sign was all I needed to worry about. As long as I stayed in front of him, I would make that cut-off time. I ended up making the cutoff by about an hour.
running in the rain makes me feel like a badass. I felt extra bad ass with my MacGyvered rain coat, staying ahead of the sweeper and being on this amazing course with the surreal scenery. I felt like I was on a movie set. The noise of my everyday city life was non-existent. I dont think even a plan flew overhead. The only sounds were from the music in my ears, the rain drops and the stomping feet of the other runners. The beauty of the mountains is breathtaking. The whole trip Emily and I kept asking each other if this was real.
The race was very well supported. Fruit was offered at the majority of aid stations along with volunteers ready and waiting to apply icy-hot. Running downhill took a toll on my lower back. I backed into one of the icy-hot people with my shirt pulled up and my pants down an inch trying to make my pit stop efficient as possible.
Speaking of gravity....the entire summer I was looking forward to gravity making up for what my training may have been lacking. I usually run long races in intervals of 4 minutes run and 1 minute walk. I threw that strategy out the window on the first downhill. Plenty of times I was able to fly downhill for 10, 20 minutes straight and at an unbelievable pace! Never before during a marathon have I ever looked down at my Garmin and seen 9:30 as my current pace! Of course on the uphills I mostly walked. The uphills were friggin' brutal.
At mile 7 Emily was waiting with my backpack. I was able to get out of my makeshift trash bag rain jacket and into a real rain jacket and my hat. I snarfed down a fig bar, guzzled some Nuun and continued on my merry way. She also met me at mile 16. I was glad I fueled up at mile 7. The next mile was one long miserable uphill battle.
Not long after we plateaued I met a former meth addict runner. This was her first marathon and she completed her first half in Mt. Rushmore two weeks prior. I was so fascinated with her story I lost more time walking than I wanted. Eventually my quicker pace and urge to move on was taking me steps and steps past her. I had to keep going. I couldnt believe how good I felt during this race!
The last few miles of the course took runners through the main sections of St. George. Lots of goodies awaited me: candy, popsicles, more icy hot. The best part was the end! Smaller races are great. They are well supported and the post race celebration has more than just a free beer and a banana. In this case, no beer because, Utah. That's OK because we had plenty of beer back at the hotel. I loaded up on thick, fresh bread and butter and ice cream bars.
My post marathon celebration for small races differs from large races. OK, the only large race I've ever run was the Chicago Marathon three times. It usually involves a group of friends going to a restaurant and feasting on large quantities of comfort food and beer. The two small marathons involve the same comfort food but acquired via drive-thru and eaten at the hotel with pre purchased beer or beer later.
We got drive-thru burgers and "mini" shakes. Utah never learned how to label things properly in grade school like we did. In my world a mini shake would be something in the range of 4-8 ounces or a small fountain drink from McDonald's or a small frosty. To these people a mini shake is the size of a big gulp. Oh the full fat dairy!
I took a shower but couldn't take a nap. We lazed around and watched The Office. I saw a runner wearing a shirt from the episode where the gang at The Office had the "Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure". We started with this episode.
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| like my trash bag rain coat? |
Even though Emily wasnt running I told her she still had to get up at the crack of dawn with me. I filled up on hotel breakfast while I gathered my things. Had I bothered to check the weather I would have worn my hat and taken my rain jacket. I put the hat, jacket, food and Nuun in a bag and gave it to Emily to bring to me at miles 7 and 16, the only 2 points along the main part of the course where people can spectate.
The hotel had a shuttle to the park where runners caught another shuttle to the start line at the top of the mountain. The line to shuttle #2 was an hour long. According to the veterans, this was so not normal. I made some friends who loved all the Chicago TV shows for which I took credit, of course. As we waited in the ridiculous line in the dark, it started to lightly rain. Great.
On the way up we heard over the bus's CB that another bus was turning around because one of the stupid ass runners forgot her bib. I added the stupid ass part. As a result the race started 15 minutes late. That would have NEVER happened in Chicago.
The rain subsided when we got to the top. I ran into my new friend from the shuttle line and she graciously gave me a commercial sized garbage bag. I thought I didnt need it but as we started to cross the start line it began to rain again. This time not so lightly. As I ran I punctured arm holes and fashioned three ties in the front to hold the bag in place because stupid me tore the bag at the seam.
 |
| Mile 20! |
The course was on a two lane highway, mostly down a mountain. Runners had to be at a certain point by a certain time or else the sad sag van would come and ruin your life. Being a slow runner and being delayed by the forgetful stupid ass I was super worried about making this cutoff. A runner holding a "SWEEPER" sign was all I needed to worry about. As long as I stayed in front of him, I would make that cut-off time. I ended up making the cutoff by about an hour.
running in the rain makes me feel like a badass. I felt extra bad ass with my MacGyvered rain coat, staying ahead of the sweeper and being on this amazing course with the surreal scenery. I felt like I was on a movie set. The noise of my everyday city life was non-existent. I dont think even a plan flew overhead. The only sounds were from the music in my ears, the rain drops and the stomping feet of the other runners. The beauty of the mountains is breathtaking. The whole trip Emily and I kept asking each other if this was real.
The race was very well supported. Fruit was offered at the majority of aid stations along with volunteers ready and waiting to apply icy-hot. Running downhill took a toll on my lower back. I backed into one of the icy-hot people with my shirt pulled up and my pants down an inch trying to make my pit stop efficient as possible.
Speaking of gravity....the entire summer I was looking forward to gravity making up for what my training may have been lacking. I usually run long races in intervals of 4 minutes run and 1 minute walk. I threw that strategy out the window on the first downhill. Plenty of times I was able to fly downhill for 10, 20 minutes straight and at an unbelievable pace! Never before during a marathon have I ever looked down at my Garmin and seen 9:30 as my current pace! Of course on the uphills I mostly walked. The uphills were friggin' brutal.
At mile 7 Emily was waiting with my backpack. I was able to get out of my makeshift trash bag rain jacket and into a real rain jacket and my hat. I snarfed down a fig bar, guzzled some Nuun and continued on my merry way. She also met me at mile 16. I was glad I fueled up at mile 7. The next mile was one long miserable uphill battle.
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| Red State |
Not long after we plateaued I met a former meth addict runner. This was her first marathon and she completed her first half in Mt. Rushmore two weeks prior. I was so fascinated with her story I lost more time walking than I wanted. Eventually my quicker pace and urge to move on was taking me steps and steps past her. I had to keep going. I couldnt believe how good I felt during this race!
 |
| Happy to be done1 |
The last few miles of the course took runners through the main sections of St. George. Lots of goodies awaited me: candy, popsicles, more icy hot. The best part was the end! Smaller races are great. They are well supported and the post race celebration has more than just a free beer and a banana. In this case, no beer because, Utah. That's OK because we had plenty of beer back at the hotel. I loaded up on thick, fresh bread and butter and ice cream bars.
 |
| At the expo |
My post marathon celebration for small races differs from large races. OK, the only large race I've ever run was the Chicago Marathon three times. It usually involves a group of friends going to a restaurant and feasting on large quantities of comfort food and beer. The two small marathons involve the same comfort food but acquired via drive-thru and eaten at the hotel with pre purchased beer or beer later.
 |
| Went back to the start the next day and planted a WAC sticker |
We got drive-thru burgers and "mini" shakes. Utah never learned how to label things properly in grade school like we did. In my world a mini shake would be something in the range of 4-8 ounces or a small fountain drink from McDonald's or a small frosty. To these people a mini shake is the size of a big gulp. Oh the full fat dairy!
 |
| Coming into the finish chute |
I took a shower but couldn't take a nap. We lazed around and watched The Office. I saw a runner wearing a shirt from the episode where the gang at The Office had the "Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure". We started with this episode.
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| "mini" shakes |
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