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Comments: I haven't trained with music that much. I had it for my long runs leading up to the marathon, but nothing more than just a handful of runs. I updated my iPod and had my starting/pump-up song all ready to go when the race started. The countdown started, I hit play, and we were off! I didn't feel like I was going out that hard. It was a decent pace and I was still keeping my HR in check. I did go out harder than the 3:25 guy, so I tried to stay with various groups that were in between 3:15 and 3:25. I felt great, I was definitely at conversational pace, but my HR was on the high end of my z2 register. Even when I deliberately tried to slow down to bring down my HR, it hardly moved. I wanted to follow the advice of "Be Iron Fit" and keep my HR in z2, and it was a little stressful when within the first 5 miles it was higher than I wanted it to be. The fact that this was a downhill made it that much more maddening. I was averaging around a 7 min/mile for the first 4 miles and then it went to closer to 8 min/mile cause I was so paranoid! At exactly 5.74 miles, both my HR monitor and my foot pod stopped working. Holy crap! Really!?!? I was so mad. I didn't want to stop my watch to try and re-sync everything cause I thought it was more important to keep accurate time of how long I'd been running. So, I pressed on without tracking HR or pace. At mile 6 there is a pretty crazy incline for the next 3-ish miles. It’s the only really tough incline on the whole course. You'd think I'd be dreading this part of the run (and I was before the race), but my quads were already on fire from the first 6 miles of downhill that I was actually looking forward to heading up hill and switching muscle groups. Like I said, I had no way to track my pace or HR, so I tried to keep it at a nice easy pace during this incline. About 2/3 of the way through this uphill, the 3:25 pacer caught up to me, so I decided to speed up a bit and run with him. My music was really starting to get annoying (like I said, I haven't trained with it). The tempo of the music was just too fast or too slow, so I just turned it off and started to chat it up with the pacer. We proceeded to talk for the next 10 miles. Conversation wasn't that lively (he wasn't that talkative), but we still. Took my first Gu at 1:10. I was going to take it at :45, but I felt good and decided to wait a little longer so I could wash it down at a water station. I tried have water with each of my Gu's. 2nd Gu was at 2:00 and the last Gu I took was at 2:45. I thought about having some other type of nutrition, but everything else was just so cumbersome to carry and hard to take while running. I had to go to the bathroom at mile 3, but was determined to hold it as long as I could. When mile 10 rolled around, my pacer decided to take a potty break. I continued running on this little out-and-back portion of the course and then hit the Honey Bucket on the way back. My potty break was a lot quicker than my pacer's because it took him a while to catch up to me. He said he had to run a 6:40 mile split to catch up. We continued to run together until about mile 18. We came to a water station (I walked through all water stations), and he just couldn't start running again. He said he was hurting, so... I left him! It was a little strange because at first I kind of felt some sort of loyalty towards him - like I couldn't leave him behind. I quickly snapped out of it and continued on without him (he ended up running a 3:40 something, so I'm glad I left him!). This played a few mental games on me, but I felt strong so...I kept running. I saw Ash, Heidi and the kids at around mile 20, so that gave me an extra boost as well. The runners around me had thinned out quite a bit. There was one gal in front of me that I decided to chase, and we ended up going back and forth with taking the lead for the next few miles. I had turned on my music again to see if it would help at all. It was a nice distraction at times, but again the tempo was off of my stride...that is until Cake's "Distance" came on. The lyrics are obviously very applicable, but the tempo was right in sync with my step. It was around mile 24 when this song came on, and I just pulled away with a surge of energy. It was awesome! Unfortunately the song only lasts about 3 minutes and it was on to another lame song. I quickly hit repeat and continued to do so for the remainder of the race. I was surprised that the course only had the marathon runners on the parade route for only a block. What stinks even more is that the last water station is right where the course meets the parade route, so I was walking for the first 50 yards or so. I guess it did motivate me to start running sooner. In no time at all, I was pulling into liberty park. This is where I turned on the turbos. I was actually surprised at how much gas I had left in the tank because I was able to come in sprinting! When I rounded the last corner to face the finish line, I saw 3:26 counting on the board. I was really shocked and pushed even harder for that finish. I don't think crossing a finish line has ever been more rewarding. It felt awesome to have surpassed my goal. What would you do differently?: I walked longer than I should have on a few of the water stations. Should have picked it up sooner after each station.  Post race
Warm down: Ash and her family were quick to come congratulate me. We took a few pictures and I made my way to the through the tents to get some food. I was shocked when they didn't have any Gatorade or Powerade or anything like that. Just water, oranges, bananas and creamies. I had about 5 cups of water, 3-4 orange slices, a half banana and a chocolate creamie. I tried to keep moving as much as possible - just walking around in circles and whatnot. I decided to go get in line for a massage, but got really lightheaded and dizzy. I went back over to Ash and the fam, laid down and put my feet up. I immediately felt better, but my legs were not doing well. The fam continued to feed me, and I eventually got my legs under me to go get a massage. Those things always go by too quickly. I probably should have done some more stretching, but ignored my better judgment, got in the car and drove to Kneaders for some breakfast. I was literally sore for a week. Event comments: Considering the fact that this was my first marathon, I dont' think I can really comment on course difficulty. It was obviously challenging, and my quads were numb at the end of the race...and sore for a week after. It was fairly well organized, but I was disappointed in the lack of amenities you would normally see at this type of a race. Granted it was a smaller race, but can I please get a Gatorade after I finish? Last updated: 2013-07-31 12:00 AM
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United States
Overall Rank = 49/428
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 5/17
Busses started transporting runners up to the starting line from Rice Eccles Stadium at 3:15. Seeing how the stadium is 45 minutes away from my house, I woke up at 2:00 to get my things put together and was out the door by 2:30. I wanted to wait to have breakfast closer to the race start time, so I just sipped on Gatorade throughout the morning. I probably should have brought some water to sip on as well to wash down that sugary film in my mouth from the Gatorade. I actually arrived early and noticed that they were already shuttling people to the start. I waited in my car for bit before heading to the busses to make sure I had everything ready to roll and to try and relax a little. A lot more cars started to funnel into the parking lot, so I decided it was time to go.
I fell in line for the bus right behind a bunch of people with neon green tank tops and signs that had different numbers on them. We started to load the bus and one of these guys commented on my cool shirt (it was the Halloween Half shirt). This kind of broke the ice, so I quickly sat behind him so I could inquire about his little group. They were pacers! I feel like a moron not having known that a marathon would have pacers... Each of them were assigned a specific finishing time with its corresponding pace and they ran the entire race holding that thing so they are easy to spot...! Crazy! I told them that I hoped to finish in 3:30, so they pointed out who I should stick with. They were all seasoned runners - this gal had run Boston a few times. I asked them for last minute advice on how to attack this course. They said what everyone else has told me - don't go out too fast. Random stranger came and sat next to me and remained silent the entire drive up to the drop off. I guess I didn't mind his not being a social butterfly. I still chatted with the pacers in front of me, so it was nice that I had made at least a few new friends.
We pulled up to the drop off about 30 minutes later. It was still really dark outside, so they had a few floodlights and a tent where people had crammed into to stay warm. The ridiculous lines to the Honey Buckets inspired a lot of people to jump in line right off the bus. I chose to wait until after I had eaten. At about 4:15, I ate my banana, whole wheat bagel loaded with peanut butter, and continued to drink Gatorade. I then made my way to the bathroom lines. My experiences with the bathroom caused the most stress of the entire day by far. I was so worried that I wasn't going to be able to get anything out, we'd start running, and then it would hit me like a ton of bricks. Luckily, this was not the case. The lines went pretty quick, surprisingly enough, and I was able to go! Having cleared that hurdle I was able to relax a little more. People were laying around on the ground, other people were already warming up (!?), but I decided to just stand. I don't know if it was the smartest idea. I mean, I didn't feel fatigued by standing, but I probably should have gotten off my feet.
It was pretty chilly! Nothing too terrible, but I was definitely glad I brought a long sleeved shirt and pants. Should have brought sweats/something a little heavier, but I survived just fine. At about 4:50 I snagged a bag to throw my warm-ups in and then jumped in line for the bathroom again. I didn't think I got everything out the first time (and I was right), plus I had to pee pretty bad. The lines went significantly slower this time around, but I had timed it just right. I was walking out of there having pooped and everything at 5:15. I downed my Gatorade Prime, stripped my warm-ups off, threw the bag in the truck for them to take to the finish line, and headed over to the starting line. I went to the back of the pack and did some light jogging away from the starting line, as well as some shuffles to loosen up my legs a little bit. I probably should have done some dynamic stretching, but the shuffles sufficed. I then made my way up to where my pacer was standing. I originally thought I would run with the 3:35 guy, but the 3:25 guy was right there. I thought it'd be more discouraging if I fell behind the 3:35 guy, so I'll try and keep up with 3:25 and if I lag a little, I'll try and keep somewhere in the middle. Well, everything changed when the race actually started.