Yes, I know this is quite a late entry and I haven't even been really regularly blogging here but it is still a great place to keep an online record. So here goes.
WARNING: LONG
Ogden Marathon 2012
May 19, 2012
2:54:38
6:38/mile
Placing
Overall: 19
Gender: 18
Division: 6
2 days removed from the race, it is somewhat interesting to me how casual I am about setting this new PR. I think it is because for as elated and stoked as I am to see a 2 at the beginning of my marathon time, I really was quietly expecting it. After running Salt Lake at 3:02 a month ago, a course I consider to be more difficult, with an almost perfectly even split I think I quietly knew inside I could come to Ogden and break 3 for sure the only question being by how much. In the day or two before the race, I became very mentally aggressive as I tallied up the pros of my race prep & day-of strategy. This would be my fourth Ogden Marathon and having run 3:00:18 3 years ago, I was hell bent that was not going to happen again.
I pored over the course map & elevation profile and determined I would run the first 8 miles as easy as possible while hoping to be running 6:47/mile or maybe just less. The first mile was 6:23 and it was all I could do to hold back. I labeled my strategy for the middle ~9 miles taking me to the canyon as “careful”. Interpretation: I would try to keep the miles under 7 but not at the expense of the race…if I had to run one or two over 7, that would be ok. These miles can take your race away if you underestimate them. Finally, I planned on putting a hurt on the race in the final miles coming down the canyon and giving everything left for the final miles on the running path.
Race morning: up @ 3:30, started oatmeal on the stove. Left house @ ~4:00, managed to eat a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, a PowerBar smoothie bar, an apple, ensure, bottle of NO Xplode, a Rockstar Zero & another bottle of plain water. Rode with Baird on VIP bus to start. Had one evac pre-bus, a #1 on the bus, and another pre-race bushwhack evac.
For the first 8, my strategy was spot on, if only a smidge faster than 6:47. Baird & I were pretty comfortably ticking off ~6:3x’s. He, however, seemed to be running a little stronger and just after 7 I started letting him go while also feeling a pit stop coming on. By the time we hit 8, he had pulled a hundred yards or more ahead and at 9 I pulled over for a pit stop. It was possibly the fastest full pit I’ve ever had and I felt so much better after – the pressure was really building so I didn’t have to spend too much time sidelined. Made that split a 7:14 – I’d like to think even though I was quick, the stop was likely longer than 15 seconds so I told myself I probably still ran under 7. This began the “careful” middle miles and strategically, I didn’t really try anything except to run steady.
Just before hitting the half, I departed slightly from the race plan and decided to start climbing the ladder. I picked the nearest runner ahead of me and put on a surge to close the gap – once I closed the gap, I dropped right to their pace and ran even with the runner for a recovery before surging again to the next runner. This felt a little bit like running Yasso’s in the middle of the race. While the surges would definitely be above the pace I wanted through these miles, the short recoveries at the closure of a gap were surprisingly good little recoveries and I continued this strategy up the mile 15 hill and all the way around the lake. I caught back up to Baird around 16 and then clocked the fastest split of the whole race (6:10) to mile 17 climbing a wide gap up to a distant runner.
Turning down into the canyon was a relief knowing the “careful” miles were over and I was free to pick it back up and try to get aggressive. However, for the first mile or so of the canyon, I needed some recovery so rather than using the downhill advantage to run faster, I had to use it to keep steady and get in some recovery. I started running hard again at 21 and re-passed the runner I had chased to 17 whom had subsequently re-passed me. 21, 22 & 23 were the 4th, 5th & 3rd fastest splits as I took advantage of the favorable canyon grade. While the half marathoners at this point were plenty, full marathoners were few & far between so there was no more climbing the ladder. I just had to run smart & aggressive. I caught a few more coming right out of the mouth of the canyon and onto the running path where I settled in for the final battle.
I had really been pounding the past couple miles and I was starting to feel some acute soreness in my upper left quad and soon the same soreness was mirrored in my right quad. Since I didn’t think it was evidence of or creating damage, I didn’t conscientiously let up. My pace probably varied more through the running path occasionally ticking over 7 then I’d try to pull it back down in to 6’s. The running path became very crowded with halfers. There was one minor course change where they diverted off the running path in the 25th mile. Turning onto Grant Ave and seeing the finish ahead, I was stoked it was almost over. At the same time, however, I could tell there was a runner surging up on me. I kept strong and thought there was no way he would keep up but he just stayed there. I could hear his footfalls and spectators would cheer for us both so I knew he was right in my shadow and I could not drop him even running low 6’s. Finally he kicked up ahead of me and in the final block I kicked back and caught him – the finish line had a split for half/full and as we were on the left hand side of the road we had to drift to the right for the full finish chute, he pulled ahead and I could not catch him back. He crossed just ahead of me by one or two seconds. We both clocked a 2:54.
In the final results, however, he started 3 seconds ahead of me by gun time so the chip time put me ahead by only one second. Ha! That put me in at 19th place overall. The women’s winner clocked a smokin’ 2:47 so I got 1 chicked.
1st Half: 1:28:34 (not totally certain as I did not actually see a split clock)
2nd Half: 1:26:06
= neg split of: 0:02:28
What a great race. I really like the Ogden course – it is a beautiful run and I think the course is more challenging than most people give it credit.
|
Mile
|
Split
|
Rank
|
|
1
|
06:23.6
|
5
|
|
2
|
06:38.7
|
13
|
|
3
|
06:33.6
|
8
|
|
4
|
06:39.0
|
14
|
|
5
|
06:41.5
|
17
|
|
6
|
06:41.8
|
18
|
|
7
|
06:49.1
|
22
|
|
8
|
06:42.2
|
19
|
|
9
|
07:14.6
|
26 (Pit stop)
|
|
10
|
06:47.0
|
21
|
|
11
|
07:06.9
|
25
|
|
12
|
06:57.9
|
24
|
|
13
|
06:37.9
|
12
|
|
14
|
06:39.6
|
15
|
|
15
|
06:41.4
|
16
|
|
16
|
06:35.9
|
10
|
|
17
|
06:10.7
|
1
|
|
18
|
06:29.6
|
7
|
|
19
|
06:36.0
|
11
|
|
20
|
06:50.5
|
23
|
|
21
|
06:18.8
|
3
|
|
22
|
06:22.3
|
4
|
|
23
|
06:17.9
|
2
|
|
24
|
06:27.8
|
6
|
|
25
|
06:46.2
|
20
|
|
26
|
06:33.6
|
9
|
|
27
|
01:55.9
|
-
|
| 