The Bonfires at the Beginning of the race are Awesome!
Then Cynthia pointed out to me that Bart was standing by our fire. Bart is the creator of the "Yasso 800's" that we all do to test ourselves during training. Bart approached Cynthia to chat for awhile.
After the race we decided to reward ourselves for the hard work with post-race burgers from Five Guys. We had already parted ways with Marcie and Wayne, but ran into them again at Five Guys! We hadn't even discussed our post-race lunch, so I think that Five Guys must've just been the OBVIOUS post race choice for the day!!!
Then we rewarded ourselves more with some fancy cookies.
I love ST George Marathon!!! It was my second time at SG. I ran it in 2009, but the lottery turned me down the last two years. Thanks to their "3rd time is a charm" policy, we were guaranteed entry this year. So essentially we've been anticipating this race for over 2 years! Getting in the lottery every year, waiting for our opportunity.
The scenery is gorgeous. The volunteers are great! The community is great. Its only a half days drive away. Their sponsors are Awesome! Its the perfect combination of up hill and down hill.
The scenery - Lots of bonfires in the dark of morning. Then when it gets light out, Beautiful red rock.
The volunteers - Helpful kind people handing out liquid and fruit along the course.
The community - They love their St. George. On the bus ride up to the start, a local coached us on the best strategy for the course - describing the course perfectly, play by play.
The drive - no plane ticket needed, just 8 hours driving time.
The sponsors - Great Harvest, Blue Bunny, Cliff, Even Texas Roadhouse! What more could I want at the end of a race? Bread and Icecream - I was in HEAVEN!!!
Up hill and down - So the course has a net down hill. It is allot of down hill, and my legs were pretty sore in the days following the race. Its probably about as much downhill as I could take. BUT there were some really prominent climbs to give our legs the break they needed from the pounding. Even though my heart rate would increase on the up hills, my legs were very thankful for the variety!!!
Other random comments- It was fun to wait with several girlfriends at the beginning of the race. Cynthia and Karen, Virginia and Marcie. Marcie and I left for a last potty opportunity and then got in line together. It was our intention to stay together if the stars aligned for us. We had most of 19 miles together. A couple of times one of us would stop to kiss a husband, refill water, or potty. The other would keep going, as we had agreed to both do our best. We got a little separated for a mile or two on Veyo. So I used that time to stop and refill my water bottle. I wasn't sure if Marcie was ahead or behind me. Then I saw Yoshimi and talked to her for awhile. She ran with me for a mile or so. I could tell she was running a really easy pace. She was hardly breaking a sweat. Then I saw Marcie's pink tank up ahead. I was so glad to see that she was up there running strong. I sent Yoshimi ahead to tell Marcie that I was a little behind her, but for her to continue making Relentless Forward Progress! Marcie and I kept getting passed by a group of 3 girls wearing matching shirts. The shirts said "Just shuffling". I think their shirt should have said "An interval run today". I kept thinking 'didn't they already pass me???'. I'm not sure if they finished ahead or behind me, but I know they passed me at least a dozen times! When I finally decided that I would just have to stop for a potty, I saw 3 available porto's. I started running that direction, and then the 3 shufflers sprinted ahead of me and took all 3 portos! Darn Shufflers!!!! So I waited and took my potty stop later.
At the beginning of the race Cynthia had a sweatshirt to stay warm. It was meant to cast off and possibly not be seen again. The sweatshirt said "Make a Wish", so we asked Cynthia what her wish was. She was very kind to make a wish that "The porto potty's wouldn't stink". I thanked her aloud when I made my potty stop, because that was the most pleasant porto I've ever stopped at mid-race! I even sat on the seat! Normally I would have to squat over the seat, but this porto was clean and amazingly odor free!
At mile 19 Marcie and I started to get separated. I was mentally to that point where I just had to do what I could do. I've had some marathons where I felt great in the last 6 miles, and sped up to finish the last 10k at a faster pace. That had been my strategy and intention for this race. I tried to stay conservative in the beginning, and hoped to have allot left in the tank for the last 6 miles. But it was not so. At least for the last 6 miles I felt like I could hold my pace. I just couldn't speed up much. People say that SG should definitely be negative splits. I'm a believer in negative splits anyway. So that was my goal. But I ended up with equal splits. My avg pace at the half way was my avg pace at the end. So then of course you analyze your results later...if I started out faster, could I have held THAT? Or if I started out slower, could I have sped up more at the end? Maybe I started out just right, and equal splits were Terrific!!! I'm pretty happy with my experience. I don't think Id go back and do it differently. My "yasso 800's" had indicated that I might be capable of 3:26-3:30 for this race. But my training started off badly with an IT band injury. And downhill courses are hard for me. A year ago at Top of Utah I struggled and walked a whole bunch with screaming pain in my quads. So I was very pleased to hold a steady pace for the last miles of SG. I never considered walking. Didn't feel like walking. So I'm not disappointed that I also didn't feel like speeding up!
I saw Noah during the race. That was a fun boost. Him and his two besties came riding up along the trail on their bikes. He gave me a new water bottle and a dry sweat towel and a wet cold towel. Thanks Hon! The water and towels were awesome, but just seeing him and getting a mid-race kiss was the BEST!!!
Toward the end of the race, volunteers were handing out cold wet wash cloths and little bags of ice. I put the bag of ice in my bra, and the wet towel on my head. Genius! Wonderful, wonderful volunteers!!!
When I stopped running I felt like the ground was moving beneath me! A feeling I kind of enjoy actually. Hey we all get our own kicks, right? And then there was the misters to walk under. Love it. And then the post race goodies. Awesome! I hung out with Marcie in the finishing area. Marcie finished well with an awesome 3:45. Then we saw my friends Barb and Julie in the finish area. They did really well. Barb was very happy with her time and said it was a great time for her to frame and retire on. She is ready to focus on triathlons instead of marathoning. I saw Virginia in the finishing area too and she was also very happy with her time. Cynthia finished well and so did Karen. We hung out in the finishing area and enjoyed sitting in a shady patch of grass. I love you SGM! I will be back!!!
PS. Don't wear a waist pack over your Bib!!! I had issues getting my chip time. I didn't realize that my pack was covering and bending my bib. SG helped me get my true chip time. 3:37:43. Thank you Steve from timing.
