The Top of Utah Marathon was my 5th marathon this year and one of my last chance to obtain a Boston marathon qualifying time (sub 3hr10min).
I live about 2 hours south of Logan, UT where this marathon was held, so I drove there the night before to pick up my number at the expo.
The expo was a bit underwhelming to be honest. Sure, this is not a huge marathon, but with 1600+ projected participant, I was expecting a bit more. Not that I am a big fan of marathon expos, but I always enjoy browsing for the latest gadgets, running gear or learn about a races I have never heard about.
This time however, the expo fit almost entirely in the tiny room you can see below.
I live about 2 hours south of Logan, UT where this marathon was held, so I drove there the night before to pick up my number at the expo.
The expo was a bit underwhelming to be honest. Sure, this is not a huge marathon, but with 1600+ projected participant, I was expecting a bit more. Not that I am a big fan of marathon expos, but I always enjoy browsing for the latest gadgets, running gear or learn about a races I have never heard about.
This time however, the expo fit almost entirely in the tiny room you can see below.
I went and grabbed my race number, and decided to stay for the pasta dinner which was held right next to the expo.
I ate without a lot of reserve, but not to the point of feeling bloated (I'm guesstimating 1200 calories).
I had reserved a room at the Baugh Best Western Motel, so I went to check in right after dinner. Before going in my room I went shopping for my pre-marathon breakfast. At 4:30am, there would be no breakfast served at the hotel for me.
I laid out all my gear on the table next to the bed so there would be no panic in the morning and I went to bed at around 9:30pm.
I had a bit of trouble sleeping and I woke up a few times during the night.
I slept about 5 hours.
In the morning I was happy to see a bus waiting in front of the hotel to shuttle the marathon participants to the marathon bus pick up area. I had not expected it so this was a nice surprise for me. The marathon bus ride took about 30 minutes up the canyon in the pitch black night.
At the start line, the temperature was in the low 40ies and I had taken no extra clothes to wait for the start. Not an omission on my part, just that I hate throwing away perfectly good clothes every time or deal with the race bag check ins. I was hoping that the organizer would have set up some fires to warm up participants as I' ve seen done in other marathons. However, they did a whole lot better than that! They had set up 2 huge "tents" or more like, temporary structures with super hot burners pumping hot air in at a fast rate. These tents where right in front of the start line. I laid down on the ground in front of one of those burners and closed my eyes for a while.
This was the best pre-marathon staging experience I've ever had. I was able to relax and stay warm until the very start of the race.
When I heard the gun, I calmly exited the tent, turned on my watch and started the race.
There was a bit of traffic at the start but by running a bit faster on the side of the road, I was able to position myself around runners of similar speed. At 0.5 mile, I looked at my watch which showed 5:48 min/ mi.. Oops, time to calm down and relax.
This marathon course is pretty easy. I had spent time the night before to establish a pacing strategy which I hoped would help me finish strong. This was my 9th marathon so I knew by experience that I have a tendency to get tired around mile 18, and drop my pace significantly after that.
The first 18miles of this course are a gentle downhill with a bit more than 1000 feet drop. After that, there is one first mile-long climb between miles 18.5 and 19.5 and another 2 mile climb from mile 21.5. Basically, there is no more downhill after mile 18.
My strategy, was to go faster on the first 18 miles (about 7:00min/mi) to take advantage of the downhill but not too fast so that I would significantly drop the pace on the tougher last 8 miles. I wanted to avoid dropping the pace above 8:00min/mi later in the race. This pacing strategy, if I could execute it properly would take me just under 3 hours 10 min.
In the first few miles, I felt a bit off. In the downhill portion, a 7:00min/mi pace should really feel easy, but somehow, it felt a bit harder that it should have. I let the pace slide just a bit to 7:05min/mi.
My marathon prep for this race had been a bit lacking and a bit short. My longest run in the last couple of months had been only a 20 miler and I had reached that distance only once, feeling exhausted and dehydrated, finishing it at nearly 10min/mi. I had learned from that last long run though... I needed to keep hydrated, and keep my perceived effort to a low level in the beginning of the race.
By mile 11, my splits were as follows:
Mile Pace
1 7:04
2 6:57
3 7:03
4 7:04
5 7:07
6 7:05
7 7:07
8 6:52
9 7:06
10 7:05
11 7:05
This was pretty good, but 35 sec off my planned time. I didn't know exactly how off I was, but I knew, continuing this pace would not cut it, especially since the uphill portions were coming.
I decided to pick up the pace just a bit, which did not feel too uncomfortable.
Mile Pace
12 6:50
13 6:48
14 6:33
15 6:47
16 7:00
17 7:00
18 6:59
Now, I was back on track. However, my legs were starting to feel heavy, and since mile 16, the back of my left leg was feeling very tight and I was getting worried it would cramp. Now was going to be the true test of my will. With the hills coming, would I be able to stay under 8min/mi? Did I want this Boston qualification bad enough? Had I saved enough energy for the end? Would I completely implode at the end like I have in the Salt Lake marathon or the Utah Valley marathon this year?
I was about to find out...
Mile 19 was getting a bit harder as the incline increased, but in fact I had expected a more difficult, more inclined climb. In addition, this is about the time when all the runners I had been following for miles started really dropping their pace considerably. I was passing every one around me, which was a great mental boost.
It seemed I had paced this right after all.
I was tired but not exhausted. More importantly, I had kept intact this fire, this rage to move forward and I could still summon it a t will.
I managed to keep the pace well under 8:00.
Mile Pace
19 7:16
20 7:21
21 6:51
22 7:10
23 7:30
24 7:27
25 7:19
26 7:40
.2 7:19
When I approached the finish line and saw the clock at 3:06, I could not believe it. I almost got emotional for the first time ever in marathon running. I had finally done it! The rest was a blur, a medal was placed around my neck, I walked to the recovery area and just basked in a moment of triumph...
I stayed a while there cheering for the next runners arriving and waiting to see my official time posted before taking the road back home.
What a day! A plan perfectly executed, a new PR and a BQ. AMAZING!!
I ate without a lot of reserve, but not to the point of feeling bloated (I'm guesstimating 1200 calories).
I had reserved a room at the Baugh Best Western Motel, so I went to check in right after dinner. Before going in my room I went shopping for my pre-marathon breakfast. At 4:30am, there would be no breakfast served at the hotel for me.
I laid out all my gear on the table next to the bed so there would be no panic in the morning and I went to bed at around 9:30pm.
I had a bit of trouble sleeping and I woke up a few times during the night.
I slept about 5 hours.
In the morning I was happy to see a bus waiting in front of the hotel to shuttle the marathon participants to the marathon bus pick up area. I had not expected it so this was a nice surprise for me. The marathon bus ride took about 30 minutes up the canyon in the pitch black night.
At the start line, the temperature was in the low 40ies and I had taken no extra clothes to wait for the start. Not an omission on my part, just that I hate throwing away perfectly good clothes every time or deal with the race bag check ins. I was hoping that the organizer would have set up some fires to warm up participants as I' ve seen done in other marathons. However, they did a whole lot better than that! They had set up 2 huge "tents" or more like, temporary structures with super hot burners pumping hot air in at a fast rate. These tents where right in front of the start line. I laid down on the ground in front of one of those burners and closed my eyes for a while.
This was the best pre-marathon staging experience I've ever had. I was able to relax and stay warm until the very start of the race.
When I heard the gun, I calmly exited the tent, turned on my watch and started the race.
There was a bit of traffic at the start but by running a bit faster on the side of the road, I was able to position myself around runners of similar speed. At 0.5 mile, I looked at my watch which showed 5:48 min/ mi.. Oops, time to calm down and relax.
This marathon course is pretty easy. I had spent time the night before to establish a pacing strategy which I hoped would help me finish strong. This was my 9th marathon so I knew by experience that I have a tendency to get tired around mile 18, and drop my pace significantly after that.
The first 18miles of this course are a gentle downhill with a bit more than 1000 feet drop. After that, there is one first mile-long climb between miles 18.5 and 19.5 and another 2 mile climb from mile 21.5. Basically, there is no more downhill after mile 18.
My strategy, was to go faster on the first 18 miles (about 7:00min/mi) to take advantage of the downhill but not too fast so that I would significantly drop the pace on the tougher last 8 miles. I wanted to avoid dropping the pace above 8:00min/mi later in the race. This pacing strategy, if I could execute it properly would take me just under 3 hours 10 min.
In the first few miles, I felt a bit off. In the downhill portion, a 7:00min/mi pace should really feel easy, but somehow, it felt a bit harder that it should have. I let the pace slide just a bit to 7:05min/mi.
My marathon prep for this race had been a bit lacking and a bit short. My longest run in the last couple of months had been only a 20 miler and I had reached that distance only once, feeling exhausted and dehydrated, finishing it at nearly 10min/mi. I had learned from that last long run though... I needed to keep hydrated, and keep my perceived effort to a low level in the beginning of the race.
By mile 11, my splits were as follows:
Mile Pace
1 7:04
2 6:57
3 7:03
4 7:04
5 7:07
6 7:05
7 7:07
8 6:52
9 7:06
10 7:05
11 7:05
This was pretty good, but 35 sec off my planned time. I didn't know exactly how off I was, but I knew, continuing this pace would not cut it, especially since the uphill portions were coming.
I decided to pick up the pace just a bit, which did not feel too uncomfortable.
Mile Pace
12 6:50
13 6:48
14 6:33
15 6:47
16 7:00
17 7:00
18 6:59
Now, I was back on track. However, my legs were starting to feel heavy, and since mile 16, the back of my left leg was feeling very tight and I was getting worried it would cramp. Now was going to be the true test of my will. With the hills coming, would I be able to stay under 8min/mi? Did I want this Boston qualification bad enough? Had I saved enough energy for the end? Would I completely implode at the end like I have in the Salt Lake marathon or the Utah Valley marathon this year?
I was about to find out...
Mile 19 was getting a bit harder as the incline increased, but in fact I had expected a more difficult, more inclined climb. In addition, this is about the time when all the runners I had been following for miles started really dropping their pace considerably. I was passing every one around me, which was a great mental boost.
It seemed I had paced this right after all.
I was tired but not exhausted. More importantly, I had kept intact this fire, this rage to move forward and I could still summon it a t will.
I managed to keep the pace well under 8:00.
Mile Pace
19 7:16
20 7:21
21 6:51
22 7:10
23 7:30
24 7:27
25 7:19
26 7:40
.2 7:19
When I approached the finish line and saw the clock at 3:06, I could not believe it. I almost got emotional for the first time ever in marathon running. I had finally done it! The rest was a blur, a medal was placed around my neck, I walked to the recovery area and just basked in a moment of triumph...
I stayed a while there cheering for the next runners arriving and waiting to see my official time posted before taking the road back home.
What a day! A plan perfectly executed, a new PR and a BQ. AMAZING!!
Medical attention for some runners that really pushed hard...
Me, after the race...
Live band playing at the finish line
PS: After taking some time to reflect on this marathon, I am realizing one potential area of improvement.
Despite the good pacing, I still drop the pace too much at the end, which if I could avoid, could help me break 3 hours. Thinking about my training, I have never gone more than 20 miles in training, and I really do think I need to take my training runs to 26, or at least practice increasing the pace after 2.5 to 3 hours of effort if I am going to improve this point...
Changes in my training plan seem necessary.
Despite the good pacing, I still drop the pace too much at the end, which if I could avoid, could help me break 3 hours. Thinking about my training, I have never gone more than 20 miles in training, and I really do think I need to take my training runs to 26, or at least practice increasing the pace after 2.5 to 3 hours of effort if I am going to improve this point...
Changes in my training plan seem necessary.
