Training in Montana

St. George Marathon

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Location:

Billings,MT,

Member Since:

Jan 10, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

~~Longest Ultra: Bighorn Trail Run: 12:19:00, 52 miles, Bighorn Mountains, WY, June 20, 2015

50K: Bighorn Trail Run: 5:52:13, 32 miles, Bighorn Mountains, WY, June 15, 2013

Marathon: 3:25:01, Deseret News Marathon, SLC, UT, July 24, 2013

Half-Marathon: 1:37:00 (downhill), Deseret News Marathon Split, SLC, UT, July 24, 2013

10K: 44:07, Big Sky State Games, Billings, MT, July 2012

5K: 20:25, Big Sky State Games, Billings, MT, July 2013

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get back into running shape.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Not get super fat, and qualify for Boston before I'm 50 (April 2023).

Personal:

Started running seriously in March 2010. Married 22 years to a hot momma and we have 3 boys, 1 sweet girl, 2 dogs, 3 2 0 1 cat, and 6     4 5 6 3 5 3 1 2 0 chickens (until Spring 2019 when we'll start over). As of September 2018 I'm looking for work... yay. I'm on the local School Board.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Adrenaline 18 Lifetime Miles: 424.24
Cascadia 12 Lifetime Miles: 396.50
Adrenaline 18 #2 Lifetime Miles: 64.00
Altra Lifetime Miles: 50.50
Brooks 20 Lifetime Miles: 50.00
Cascadia Green/orange Lifetime Miles: 223.00
Race: St. George Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:46:29
Total Distance
26.20

Now that I'm back home I did a new race report. My apologies to whomever reads it. :)

Woke up at 3:30 am, changed and headed down to the bus drop off. I took water, bagels, and Clif bars with me to eat on the bus and at the start. Got to the start at 4:30 and walked to the far North bonfires as those were the first ones burning. Laid around and listened to some conversations, then did some business at the POPs. As it got closer to 6:45 I got in line one more time, but realized that I wouldn’t make it so I got my bag together and headed down to the drop off. Put my bag away and searched for the 3:35 pace balloon. I found it, but there was a crush of people between me and the pacer so I thought I would stay where I was and find the pacer when the race started. That was mistake #1. Before the race started I lost the pacer balloon as he must have moved forward, and I never saw him again. After crossing the start line I ran pretty fast to try and catch up with the pacer, but after a bit of running in the 7’s and not seeing him I backed off, realizing that I probably wouldn’t catch him. It turns out that I was behind the 3:45 pacer as well as I caught up to him much later. Weeks before the race I created a SGM pace bracelet for 3:35, telling me exactly the pace I should hit for each mile based on elevation change and difficulty. Unfortunately I decided not to take that pace bracelet but instead took the Clif pace bracelet which was not SGM specific, and I knew it wasn’t realistic. So, mistake #2 was that I decided I’d run about an 8:30 pace for the first half, then book it downhill the second half and still hit my time. I’m not very good with running math on the fly. Really not good at it, plus didn’t take into account that I wouldn’t be able to run my pace the last few miles. Should’ve thought of that.

So, I chugged along, hitting around 8:30 for the first bit, then sped up with miles 6 & 7 into Veyo. That was really neat seeing the whole town come out to support us. Up Veyo hill I felt strong and passed a lot of people who I’d let go by on the first 5 miles, and I hit a 9:20 for mile 8 and a 9:32 for mile 9 including a pee break on a tree. The next few uphill miles were slower than I wanted, in the 8:40s, but once we got over the hill during mile 12 I started going faster, although it wasn’t as fast as I had planned. Mentally I thought I could hit 7:50s which would make up some good time but those miles were 8:18 and 8:14, which weren’t even on pace for a 3:35. Good downhills came after that and I hit paces in the low 7s and clicked onto a Marathon Maniac who was doing about 7:40 miles. I realized I couldn’t sustain that pace so I only ran in the 7s for a few miles, then hit another pee break at the 17 mile aid station. I felt pretty good for the next few miles, but my times were erratic. 8:23, 8:33, 7:51, 9:21. I knew I was in trouble when I was running downhill and hitting a 9:10 mile during mile 22. Just after that was one of the last uphills and I again felt strong and passed people, but at the top of that small hill I suddenly felt lightheaded and had to walk. The heat was hitting me. I wore my HR monitor and my HR was up way more than it should’ve been at the paces I was running. I was hoping to break 3:38 and with 4 miles to go I could’ve done that with an 8:00 pace but I realized that with the heat that was off the table, so now my goal was to finish as strong as I could. Saw my family at mile 23 and that was awesome. Mile 24 was okay and hit an 8:45, but mile 25 was a 10:00 as I walked quite a bit to keep my HR down. Mile 26 I picked it back up to an 8:55, then the last stretch I was able to get back to an 8:08 to finish. It was great being able to run solid down the chute and I got cheered on by a friend I made in Kansas City who now lives in Southern California and was cheering on his family. Loved that. I grabbed food in the recovery area and hung out there for a while. My gut bomb hit about 30 minutes after that, and then again while walking to the car. Thank goodness we parked near the labor & delivery hospital as I was able to duck in there and use the restroom. I’m glad the gut held out until after the race.

Overall, I’m pleased with the race, but a bit disappointed in how I ran the race. Next time I’ll go with Plan A and not second guess myself or try to do math on the run. But I’ll definitely be back for more.

My paces: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118876781

Red Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11 Miles: 26.20
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From allie on Sat, Oct 01, 2011 at 14:46:44 from 24.10.191.18

sub-4 by a mile! huge PR. way to go, russ. i look forward to hearing about your experience.

From Andrea on Sat, Oct 01, 2011 at 15:43:42 from 67.177.21.60

I would say sub-4 by more than a mile! Great job!

From I Just Run on Sat, Oct 01, 2011 at 18:25:34 from 71.41.149.142

Looks like you busted your marathon goal by a mile (or should I say several miles)...! Way to go!!!

From Kurt on Sat, Oct 01, 2011 at 18:50:16 from 75.220.16.26

Nice time. Well done!

From Kam on Sat, Oct 01, 2011 at 19:50:08 from 67.2.46.97

Wow, Russ! You know, right now you are feeling a bit frustrated, but a couple days from now you'll be singing a different tune. You are in the game, now. You put in the time and effort to run a strong marathon, and did you ever! I'm sure the heat sapped you of at least your b-goal. Well done. Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.

From flatlander on Sun, Oct 02, 2011 at 00:24:49 from 74.211.24.206

Good job today, and congrats on the big PR. I got stuck behind that 3:35 guy too. He was right in the middle of the road and he had a whole entourage around him, just couldn't get past.

From Kelli on Sun, Oct 02, 2011 at 23:55:55 from 71.219.83.151

Great race, hitting a goal is better than none! And we learn from our mistakes in these races for sure. I am still trying to figure it all out!

Best of luck on the next one!

From Russ on Mon, Oct 03, 2011 at 11:44:49 from 74.114.3.253

Thanks everybody! I'm pleased that I was able to smash 4 hours and I learned a lot about how to run "My" race, which I'll definitely be doing next time. Now that I'm home I typed up a new race report and posted it just now. The thighs are sore but better than yesterday and no injuries - yay.

From peg on Mon, Oct 03, 2011 at 20:25:41 from 98.202.166.82

Russ you did an awesome job, and looked strong both times I saw you! Way to go!

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