My 3rd St George Marathon!
Last Saturday I ran the SG marathon once again. I love this marathon more each time I do it. Marcie told me that she is going to run the SG marathon until she dies. It is pretty addictive. I may not be there every year, but I know I will return, again and again. Maybe someday I will even be in the 10 year club. Once you get in the 10 year club, you don't even have to go through the lottery any more. Automatic entry.
I have lucked out the years I have done SG. It can sometimes be too hot, but I've always had really good weather. In the past I've gotten hot for the last couple of miles. This time it was perfect. It was pretty cold at the beginning, but one cold mile to warm up was worth never getting hot. This year I still appreciated the bags of ice and the cold wet wash clothes that volunteers were handing out. But I didn't need them. They were just a nice extra. I still accepted them greatfully. Who turns down ice during a marathon???
I've always had to make a potty stop on SG marathon, and this time was no exception. I filled my water bottle and made a potty stop at mile 17. I had also filled my bottle at, maybe, mile 8. But I only went through 3 bottles of water this race.
On race morning we were dropped off near the buses by Cynthia's husband. Me, Karen, and Cynthia. We met Virginia and Elyse. We were trying to find a bus where the 5 of us could all fit together. We started to think that maybe we lost our chance as all the buses were pretty full. I was about to say that if we didn't get a bus we could just start our Garmin and run our 26 miles. That is when it hit me that I left my watch on the charger back at the condo. No watch feedback for me.
We did get a bus and when we got off the bus Virginia and Elyse took one of the first porto lines while Karen and I went to find Marcie. We found her with a great front row spot at one of the bonfires. We told her we'd be back, and went to take our trip through the porto line. The lines were long and slow. We were still in line when the gun went off. We decided that it would be best to wait and take our potty turn. The race was being chip timed so a late start would be just fine. We stripped off our long sweats to leave in our drop bags. We got our potty turn, wished Cynthia a good race, and Karen and I ran holding hands toward the bag drop off. We figured at this point that Marcie probably already took off. We hoped to see her out on the course. I kept looking through the crowd for Marcie the whole race, and never got to see her or run with her. I did feel sad about not getting to enjoy any bonfire time, and not getting to run with Marcie.
Karen and I stuck together for about 10.5 miles. We tried to start conservatively and even chatted some during those miles. My feet were painful to run on because they had gotten so cold. But I warmed up and took my throw away sweatshirt off by mile 1.5 I think. I did keep my gloves on for a long time though. Maybe 15 or 16 miles.
When we hit Veyo hill it got really quiet around us. The ex-aerobic instructor in me came out and I felt an uncontrollable need to do some loud hollering...but I apologized to those around me...I'm about to get really loud!!! The "woo-hooing" gave me an edge and the hill felt easier than in the past years.
I was sad when Karen and I got separated but I was so proud of her that she was running such a great race, just 8 months after having a baby! She finished with her 2nd fastest marathon time ever! And she has run quite a bunch of marathons. Good Job Karen. The miles we were together really flew by. I'd see a mile marker and think it was gonna say 6 and it would say 8! After I was alone then I was more aware of the passing miles, but still felt that they were coming easily.
I had decided to push harder after the half way point. If I had it in me. I still was holding back some though, even after half way. I figured that when I had 10 miles left I would really start to push. So at 16 miles I started gradually going faster. Every mile closer to the finish line I tried to push a little harder, a little faster. Sometimes this strategy works for me. Sometimes it doesn't. It feels great when it does. Nothing feels better than a strong finish. My mantra for the last 6 miles was this: "Its only (6) miles left, so whatever you can do now". I said that to myself at 5 miles, and then 4, etc etc...pushing harder with every mile. It was kind of nice to not have my watch, because everything was based on perceived exertion. I felt really in tune with my body. And then I could see the finish line. I figured that Noah and the girls would be there watching for me. So my eyes scanned the crowd for them. I heard them yell Lindy and saw them waving. I waved back and then flew through the finish line to get my 2nd best time ever! 3:33:20!
I stayed in the finish area and watched to see Karen and then Marcie finish. Then I enjoyed one of my favorite perks of the SGM....huge slices of great harvest bread with a generous layer of butter. And ice cream bars. I'm telling you, I would run 26 miles for yummy bread and ice cream any day! My favorite reward treats.
We were so happy as we found all our friends in the finisher area. Everyone had done so well. Virginia who was recently injured still got to run a strong race. Elyse finished her first SGM and did great. Cynthia got an amazing PR! Everyone was all smiles and happiness. No haters.
I can't get enough of that course. The beautiful red rock scenery is just amazing. There is something magic about the course. And Veyo hill comes at just the right place. You get a nice 7 mile warm up first. Then you get to take on Veyo hill and you kind of climb for 3 miles. But you are still fresh enough for it. And then if you held something back, you can really cruise all the rollers to the end. It is not really ever flat. Always a little up or down. But that feels good. And it switches up often to relieve your cardio output on the downhill and then to switch muscle focus on the uphill. There is enough down hill that my legs start to feel thrashed and threaten cramps. But it was nothing that some salt pills and my gu's couldn't hold at bay.
Thank you Sweat Sisters for enduring the summer training and early mornings with me! Cynthia, Karen, Virginia, Elyse, and Marcie from afar!!! A big part of my love for SGM is the group effort. We DID it!!!
Love, love, love this race. <3 p="">
