Top of Utah Marathon: Rain, Hail and Porta-Potties

There's one thing I know for sure about the marathon, it's unpredictable!

On Saturday, Lindy and I both ran our 8th marathon together - Top of Utah.  She came into town on Friday night and we carbo loaded at The Old Spaghetti Factory with pasta and marinara sauce.

 Then we went to Logan and headed to the expo to get our bib numbers and then to our hotel.

When I registered for the marathon, I booked one of the cheapest theme rooms at the Anniversary Inn - Lost In Space.  It was pretty cheesy.  I thought I would be sharing this room with my husband but since Lindy was willing to fly in and run the marathon, she got to experience the cheesiness.  Lucky her.

Here we are on marathon morning ready to run 26.2

 We were worried about rain and we should have been. It rained.  Not lightly.  Heavy, downpour rain and heavy, downpour hail.  We got soaked.  Also, I had stomach problems and had to stop at the porta-potties four times.  Four times.  That eats a lot from your time.  I wish I knew what caused the stomach problems because I would never eat that food again.  What did I say about the marathon?  Unpredictable.  On the other hand, my legs didn't cramp at all - probably thanks to my electrolyte pills - and I felt like I ran more the last six miles than in any other marathon I've ran.  Official time: 4:17:14.

The first portion of the marathon is downhill and that did not agree with Lindy's quads.  She's not sure downhill marathons are for her.  But I like the marathon for that reason.  Gotta love starting out the first half downhill - if your body can take it.  I'll be back to run it again.  Next time, it better be without the stomach issues.  Bring on St. George in a couple of weeks!

Funny story.  I was running by a girl and we were getting pounded with hail.  Her friend was cheering her on from the side and then started running with her.  As we're getting soaked and pounded with hail he said to her, "Remember, only thirty percent chance of rain today.  Should be dry."  That made me laugh.

Top Of Utah Marathon

Top of Utah Marathon

My watch says 26.44 miles, 3:47:48, 8:37 pace, 7.0 mph, 2283 calories, ascent of 1263 feet.

Things I did right:
Carb-loading- Thursday night I had rice, Chicken rigatoni, sourdough bread, pita bread. Friday night I had spaghetti with a marinara and mushroom sauce, and French bread. Saturday morning I had a plain bagel and a banana. During the race I took one of my own gels, and the two that the race handed out. I also took orange slices and banana quarters that race volunteers handed out at several points along the course. I had two gels leftover on my body at the end, that I never took, and a packet of pomegranate gummy chews that I never took. My nutrition was good. I never felt empty or light headed. I never felt hungry or lacking.

Electrolytes and fluids:
I had my hand-held. I refilled it several times along the way. I started with water and put a nuun tab in my water. I used 2 more nuun tabs along the way. In water. Never took Gatorade. I didn’t cramp along the course. I didn’t cramp until I bent down to put my warm-up pants back on at the end of the race.

Injinji socks:
They served me well. My feet don’t look any different today (Sunday) than they did Friday. Even though my feet were wet for the entire race. Even though I ran through pouring rain. Even though many others around me were complaining of blisters and feet squishing in wet shoes. My feet were fine.

Body Glide:
I did a good job. I only chafed one little spot in my left arm pit. Not bad at all.

Choice of clothing:
Mary said extra clothes in the rain would just be extra wet clothing. She was right. I chose a gray sport-bra, knowing that my white tank would be wet with rain. Wore my favorite long-distance shorts and my most comfortable white tank. I added my white aasics cap that Ive never practiced with. Im glad I did. This was advice from Mary and Uncle Lee- to wear a hat since there was 20% chance of rain. The hat was perfect in the downpour I could see clearly and never had rain getting me in the face. We stopped at Sport Authority the night before the race and got Marcie a visor. We were very happy to have these.

Things I did wrong:
Didn’t practice enough on downhill.

Chose a course with 18 miles of straight downhill.

Stopped doing my leg strength workout. Stopped doing squats and lunges and such when my mileage was high during training.

Let my pain in my quads get the best of me. I need better mental strategies for pain.

Perhaps went out too fast? I think it’s hard to fight the downward pull of gravity, so I just let it carry me. Perhaps I should’ve held back? Perhaps I need to study up on proper downhill stride.

What I learned about myself:
I can run in rain. I can run for a long time in rain.

Downhill is my kryptonite. Courses with variety or flat serve me better.

Positive people (around me) help me feel strong. Negative people make me feel weak. I need to remember to be positive for others. For a long while I was running by 3 young guys who were talking very optimistically and positively. After awhile I couldn’t keep up, but I appreciated their optimism while it was there. Sometimes I ran by people who were audibly moaning and complaining. This did nothing good for me!

I get a big boost from having a friendly and familiar pacer at the end- About 2 miles from the end the guy running by me asked me how I’m doing. I came out of my zone and saw that it was my Uncle Lee! How long had he been there? He was running by me, at a slightly faster pace so I picked up my pace just a bit. He gave me words of encouragement “your legs are still working good”. And after seeing him I had a little more pep in my step and felt like I could actually finish this thing. Then my brother-in-law, Scott, showed up running alongside me on the sidewalk. This was a boost as well. He disappeared and then showed up again. And ran alongside me a little more. I threw him my empty water bottle, and ‘doh’ it landed in a mud puddle:( He fished it out for me.

I really like a double scoop of Aggie Icecream in a waffle cone at the end of a race! Even if I’ve been wet and chilly the whole race, Icecream is still pretty rewarding!!!

In summary:
I had a great time hanging out with Marcie. I had a great weekend. The marathon was hard- maybe my hardest out of the 8 I’ve done. But at the end of the day I learned allot and I don’t regret it. I survived. Sometimes just making it to the finish line is a huge triumph.

*Sorry no pictures. Anticipating rain I decided to leave my phone/camera at the hotel.

Ultra blood in my genes!

http://www.bear100.com/

I know many of you have heard me brag about my Uncle Lee, the guy who runs 100 milers. I have always be in such awe over his accomplishments. It is hard to get information out of him, as he does not brag. I have to beg for information.

Sometimes it seems like Ultra Runners come in 2 varieties- the kind who go on and on about their accomplishments...or the kind you cant get anything out of!

Anyhow I was so excited to come across this race website, that I had to show you guys! Scroll to the bottom of the page and it says Leland Barker is the Race Director, and that drop bags should be dropped at his house...SOOO cool...

So if he is my Dad's brother, I must have some of the genetic endurance in my genes, right??? Or in my tempo shorts???

This Just In...

This just in from Ragnar:

"Guardsman Pass is open and will be driveable for the race as long as the weather holds and no freak June snow storms hit, Avon Pass will also be driveable. In the unlikely event that Mother Nature doesn't cooperate, we have a contingency play for Avon Pass. If necessary, we will notify you of this change at the start line with new maps.

Some people have asked about the road conditions and the need for 4-wheel drive at these points. While 4-wheel drive is recommended, it is not completely necessary for these locations. If you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, we encourage you to use it on Avon. Our staff will have tow ropes in case vans get stuck. We also encourage you to bring tow ropes as a precaution if you have them."

Well, I can't really say that is comforting, but we are definitely looking forward to an adventure and will be making sure to be safe in all ways possible! 8 of us from AZ will embark on a 12 hour drive to Layton tomorrow starting at 5:30am to meet our other 4 teammates from UT. Van 1 will head to Logan for our 10:30am start time Friday morning. We are scheduled to be done around 6:00pm on Saturday ending in Park City.

Our team pace is about 9:50. I have a 5.6, a 4.9 and then a 7.9 (18.4 miles total). I really wish that my longest leg was first, but it is what it is. :) I'll let you all know how the "ski trip" goes! haha Looks like highs in the mid 60s and lows in the high 30s and 40s (yes, I said 30s). Scattered thunderstorms in the forecast too. Yowza! We will be staying in Park City Saturday night and driving back to Phoenix on Sunday. Talk to you all again when we return!

First of Four

On Saturday, I ran the Utah Valley Marathon.  I had high hopes of Boston qualifying but that didn't happen.  I know Lindy and Karen are going so I can live Boston through them!

The race started at 6:00 in the morning and it started right on time.

I tucked in beside the 3:40 pacer and we were off.

I have a tendency to want to take-off quickly at the first and the pacer helped to hold me back.  He varied between an 8/min/mile to an 8:30 min/mile.  Sometimes he got up to 7:50.

I didn't carry water so I stopped at all the water stations to drink.

As we were coming to the aid stations, the pacer would sprint ahead of us, grab his drink and then he said he would slow down so we could all catch him.  But I found myself sprinting after the aid stations to catch him.  I didn't like this method because I knew that towards the end, my legs wouldn't have any sprinting action left.  I stuck with him until around mile 15 and then I kept him in my sight until mile 18.

At mile 18, my right calf and quad started cramping.

There were some major uphills and downhills on the course.  Both did a number on my quads and calves.

At mile 20, I started alternating between running and walking.

The last 5 miles of the race are flat and a straightshot to the finish.  I wished I had felt good enough to take advantage of the flat part and run hard to the finish.  Next time.

The weather was fantastic. 

Not too hot and sometimes overcast so you couldn't feel the sun beating down on you.

When my legs started cramping, I knew that I wasn't going to get my bq time.

So my new goal was to try and come in under four hours.

Finish time: 3:58:40.

Just barely.

Utah Valley Marathon: check.

Next up: Park City marathon in August.

Go Marcie!!!

Just a shout out to MARCIE who is running 26.2 in Utah tomorrow! Everyone send energetic carma her way tomorrow morning! I know she will ROCK!

Marcie just remember "It is not age; it is not diet. It is the WILL to succeed." Jacqueline Gareau

So Run like the Wind Girl!

I AM A MANIAC!

Well, tonight is filled with some excitement for me! After finishing 4 full marathons last year including my Marathon Maniac Bronze level qualifying back to backs within 16 days (St. George and Long Beach), I submitted entry into the unique club and can now call myself Maniac #3597. I've had this "title" since I submitted back in March, but today it just feels official because I just received the hat and arm warmers that I finally ordered last week! I wanted to make sure I had some MM swag to wear in a couple weeks at the Wasatch Back Ragnar, so I could wait no longer to purchase my "elitist" gear (LOL). I cannot wait to wear them and with the crazy weather in Utah right now, the arm warmers will come in handy for sure! The hat will be worn as early as tomorrow!!! :) Thanks to many of you that I was able to join in training many early summer mornings last year! Couldn't do it without you!

The arm warmers are some of the nicest I've ever tried on. Very nice bands at the top that don't pinch but have non-slip rubber. The hat is full mesh with a sweatband on the inside. I'm quite pleased with the quality of both! Next time I'll order a shirt or some shorts, but I figured these are perfect for my upcoming running trip. About that...

If some of you don't know, I'm captaining a Wasatch Back Ragnar team. The race is June 17th and 18th. 8 of us are driving from Phoenix in a 15 passenger van and we have 4 Utah team members as well. Our team name is Sofa King Awesome Runners...don't say that out loud if the kids are around. ;) Fun group of runners of all abilities. I'm also very excited to again be sharing another Ragnar with Al (the amazing man in my life for those that haven't heard from me in a while). It's awesome to get the chance to share your hobbies with your partner! This weekend Al and I went up to Flagstaff to get some elevation training in. We did some major hill repeats on NAU campus on Saturday evening and hiked on Sunday (see pic of the view from the hike - we watched elk grazing in the distance!). Gearing up for this mighty race has been a challenge since we haven't run much since Del Sol, but it feels so good to be getting back into it! We are packing in the training this week especially and will likely travel to Flagstaff again on Saturday. We may hike Lockett Meadow which is even higher elevation than Ragnar's 8950 foot high point. Anyone been there?

We are still hoping all the passes for the Ragnar race will be open and the 192 mile route will go as planned. The biggest part of the race - "The Ragnar" leg - goes over Guardsman's Pass which isn't scheduled to open until late June. Ragnar says they are working closely with the state, hiring excavators, etc to assist in the repair process after already reworking the course routes to avoid the current damage to Old Snow Basin Road (see picture). We shall see! Always an adventure no matter what roads they send us down (or UP)!

More Ragnar updates to come later! Hope everyone is doing well out there in WeLove2Run Blog Land! Happy running!