St. George Marathon 2012
Another tremendous race for me. I’m ecstatic about the way things turned-out and couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I feel greatly blessed to have had things in my life fall into place over the last several months for this race to go the way that it did. I hit a new PR of 2:24:08 (2 minutes better than last month’s win and previous PR at Pocatello and 5 ½ minutes better than last year’s personal best on this course (2:29:43)). I also captured my 5th top-10 finish at this race amid this year’s star-studded field. This was my ninth St. George marathon.
Reflections
Last year, after finally going sub-2:30 after many years of trying, if you would have told me I’d run a 2:24 a year later, I would have laughed it off as impossible. But now, somehow, here I am. What made the difference? Probably more factors than I can point to, but some of the more significant things are (in no particular order):
· Lack of major injuries and illnesses. This cannot be overstated. It’s easy to take your health for granted when you’re feeling good. The last two years leading up to St. George I had been contending with injuries. In 2010, it was a shin/tibia issue that inhibited my training from early June throughout the summer up to the marathon. There were a lot of miserable training sessions of enduring pain. Somehow I mustered a 2:33 and put up another 2:33 at NYC a month later. In 2011, all was well and I was putting up some of the highest running mileage I ever done until mid-August when I started to breakdown and had to slow-up to nurse some knee bursitis. I got over it within a couple weeks, but as soon as I did, Achilles tendonitis crept up and hampered me the next several weeks and through race day. Luckily, I still hit my sub-2:30 goal, but just barely. My running was limited in March through May of this year with shin/tibia pain similar to 2010. Luckily, thanks in large part to recommendations from the good folks on this blog, I was able to get it treated and taken care of by early June. Since then, it’s pretty much been injury-free training and my race results since June seem to reflect the benefits of the un-inhibited, consistent training. Also, I cannot remember the last time I had a cold. But it hasn’t been since at least May or April. Feeling good and having clear lung passages certainly is conducive to consistent training.
· Actively using this blog. It wasn’t until the beginning of this year that I started using the blog. I had never really tracked my workouts. Joining the blog added a sense of accountability. It reinforced training consistency as I didn’t want to be the only slouch who missed a workout when I knew someone might be watching. More importantly, I learned from what others were doing. Although I didn’t significantly overhaul my training methods, I incorporated new elements that certainly made a difference. Most importantly, I developed/strengthened relationships with many great runners (you know who you are). It’s been so fun to watch everyone’s training and progress and then catch up with each other at races and put each other to the test. The blog has most certainly had a positive impact on my running.
· Lots of road cycling cross-training. Running has been, and will always be, my fitness passion (at least as long as I’m able to do it). However, for years I’ve always viewed road cycling as my next frontier. In late 2010, I bit the bullet and got a nice Cervelo and wanted to start using it. I didn’t use it much in 2011 because I was so consumed running doubles that there just wasn’t time. Doing LoToJa had always appealed to me. So earlier this year I put in for it realizing that my chances of getting in through the lottery probably weren’t that good. I found out in May that I had been accepted in. I totally wanted to do it, but worried that it would be difficult to properly train for both it and running races. I figured I would try and do both. If I got injured running (which was a high likelihood based on my injury history), I could just shift focus more toward the bike. Fortunately that never happened, so I continued to pursue both. In June, I took a paid three week paternity leave from work because of the birth of our second child. I used that extra time off to sling-shot my biking training and got to the point where I was consistently biking 3-4 days a week. When work resumed, fortunately it wasn’t super busy like it has been some past summers. No big projects/deadlines and I was able to mostly stick to 40-hour weeks so that I could maintain the biking consistency pretty much all the way through LoToJa. Also, during the summer, I participated in some big organized rides including Harmon’s MS 2-day ride (June) and the Ultimate Challenge (August). On Saturdays when I wasn’t racing, I loved to do big 20+ mile runs in the morning and then tack on a 50 mile ride in the afternoon. Some of those days amounted to 6 hours of exercising. Although the cycling didn’t likely directly impact my running, the extra cardio/endurance gained from the hours in the saddle most certainly indirectly affected it. Because my afternoons had to focus on the cycling, I didn’t do running doubles at all (just a couple of times while out of town for work in July). I partially compensated by extending my normal 12 mile Tuesday/Thursday runs to 15 mile runs. I stuck to my unorthodox every-other-day treadmill workouts and tried to use them as my harder efforts (i.e. tempos). My overall running mileage was down from last year, but was still relatively high (mostly 65-85 mile weeks). The slightly reduced mileage and doing away with running doubles was probably a good thing for me given my propensity to get injured. I’ve pretty much convinced myself that ~85 miles/week is probably my magic weekly running mileage number. I feel that the cycling helped me keep my legs in better balance had they been if I had only ran.
· Work cooperated. As eluded to above, my summer/fall workload was the best it’s been for several years which translated to less overall stress, better sleep, and more training time. There were some busy times, some traveling, and it wasn’t perfect, but for the most part work was very cooperative.
· Confidence boosting races. My racing year started slow largely due to my spring injury and lack luster runs at Moab ½ and UV ½. But I had 3 great races starting with Timpanogos ½ (end of July), then Hobble Creek ½ (mid-August), and the Pocatello Marathon (early September). I set new PR’s at each of those races which gave me confidence that what I was doing with my training was working.
· Supportive wife and family. My wife deserves a medal for putting up with everything she’s had to brunt these last several months. Raising two babies, maintaining a job, and having many dinners home alone while I was training. By the way, she runs most mornings and is fitter than I am. She’s a dietician and helps me maintain a relatively good diet. All-in-all, she’s amazing and I couldn’t run the way I do without her.
· Race-day factors. There were many positive things about race day itself that contributed to my good day:
1. Loaded field: Fritz, Iain, Kotter, Metler, Scott, Pepi, Riley, Ben, Dave, Clyde, Walter, etc., etc. (sorry if I didn’t specifically name you). They were all going to be bringing their A-games, so I had better bring mine. Rise to the competition.
2. Fast course and very well supported.
3. Good weather and temperatures (much cooler than the past 2 years).
4. Tailwind for a good portion of the run. Probably shaved-off a few minutes easy.
5. Running with Scott Keate shoulder-to-shoulder for the better part of 23-miles pushing me to run my best (just sad I couldn’t hold with him the whole way; I get more disappointed the more I think about it.).
6. My buddy and local resident, Ryan Bow, on his bike shouting encouragement the last 10-K of the race.
7. Awesome family who had come down to support me (wife, kids, my folks, sister, nephew). I didn’t want to let them down.
8. Cooperative bladder and gut. No need for potty breaks. Not even an urge.
9. No other major mishaps/misfortunes.
Everything mentioned above played into the race and cannot be overstated. I don’t know when, if ever, things will fall into place like they did this year to allow me to replicate this kind of training block and race results. This may have been my pinnacle because the stars may never align like this again.
Pre-Race
Woke up a few minutes before 4 AM. Got ready and had my breakfast of two instant oatmeal packets (one plain, one maple/brown sugar) mixed with soymilk and peanut butter. Left the hotel with my wife at 4:30. My wife dropped me off at the park and then went to go run her old running route from here days of being down here as a Dixie Rebel. Unlike last year, I walked straight onto a bus and right away we were on our way up to the start. I didn’t want to be on the first buses or the last ones, so I hit it just about right in the middle. Got to the top and made my way to the elite coral. There weren’t any lines for the potties so I got right in and took my time emptying the tank the best I could. Got out and right away saw Fritz, Dan Varga and Matt Poulsen. Planted myself down on the ground near the fence and chatted with them. It wasn’t long before Scott Keate, Ryan Jonson, Brandon Dase, and others showed up. Then saw Dave and Clyde. With about a half-hour to go, a few of us got up and started trotting around in the little area they have sectioned off for the elites behind the start line. Before long, the potty lines were long, so I made my way out of the start area and through the masses to the brush area off to the west to relieve myself one last time. It wasn’t long before it was time to strip down and make it over to the start. All of the bigs were up at the front. I finally got a chance to meet Riley in person. Then it was time to roll.
The Race
Gun went off and I went out relatively quick, but comfortably. The lead pack, including Fritz, Kotter, Metler, Iain, and Pepi, surged to the front. It wasn’t long before I found myself alongside Riley and Scott, the exact two people I was hoping to be running with. We formed the first chase pack. The first couple miles were relatively comfortable with splits of around 5:40. Miles 3-7 were a little faster as we rolled shoulder-to-shoulder downhill toward Veyo. I was a bit disappointed that at the first aid station at mile 3, there weren’t any volunteers handing out our bottles at the elite table. Riley, Scott and I didn’t realize it until we were passing the table and it was too late. Oh well, not a huge deal, but irritating. Hoping that wouldn’t be the case at the later stations. Settled for some PowerAde.
About mile 6, I asked the boys what the strategy was for Veyo. Riley said we were going to shot for 6:15-6:45 going up the big hill and then high-5’s for the ensuing miles through Dammeron. It sounded good to me.
Luckily, the volunteers at mile 7 did their job, and we all got our bottles. I took my first Gu. We were just under 6:15 going up Veyo and none of us seemed to be working very hard. Once we crested the hill, I told Scott and Riley how happy I was to be together working with them. Scott and I took the front with Riley close behind. We cruised that way for a couple miles. The lead car wasn’t all that far ahead of us. As the leaders crested the Dammeron peak we could see their silhouettes in the rising sunlight. On the side of the road I could still see the weeds blowing calmly in a southerly direction…Beautiful tailwind!
I got another bottle and Gu and mile 11. At about mile 12, I sensed that Riley wasn’t feeling comfortable and he slowly faded off the back of us. Scott and I continued on. We hit the half at just under 1:13. I mentioned to Scott that it was the fastest first half split I had ever had on the course. He laughingly said it was his too. During the 14th mile I asked Scott how he was feeling and he said his lungs were feeling great but that his legs could tell they had some miles on them. But, he seemed perfectly fine to me and I felt great too.
We started down the big hill at 15 and I knew we needed to be a little careful or else risk torching our quads for the latter stages of the race. I told Scott I hoped the new compression shorts I was wearing would do their job. He said that if I ended up beating him, he’d blame it on the shorts. I assured him he wouldn’t have to worry about that. The views going through this section of the course are beautiful. I got another bottle of EFS and took my third Gu at mile 15. Also got my sunglasses which I had attached to my bottle. The crowds were awesome through this section. Scott and I were still working strong and continued to soldier on shoulder-to-shoulder for the next several miles. I was feeling great. I felt like I had been fueling well. Stomach felt great. Legs were turning over well and Scott and I were moving at a very good pace.
About mile 18, I started to notice my quads….Dang-it! I thought I had been conservative enough on the downs, but apparently not. I was really hoping that the cushioning in my LunaRacers and my new compression shorts would prevent that from happening, but nope. Hadn't I trained enough for this? I suspected at that point, my quads weren’t going to last and that it was only a matter of time before they would burn-out. Still, I kept strong with Scott up the last hill through mile 19. Got another bottle and Gu at 19. The status of my quads continued to deteriorate. At about that point, I thought about wishing Scott well, but I wasn’t ready to concede just yet. I was winning the battle with my mind at the moment. Right about the 20-mile mark, my friend and local resident, Ryan Bow, showed up on his mountain bike. Last year, he had done the same thing at about mile 23 and it had helped me so much the last three miles. This time, he had come all the way up to mile 20. Immediately, he began encouraging Scott and I and told us to work together. It helped my take my mind off my legs for a while and focus on sticking with Scott. There were a few times I let Scott get ahead of me several feet temporarily, but I was able to reel him back in on the steep downs. However, doing so was futile as it just taxed my quads all the more and delayed the inevitable. We sailed down some of the big descents. Ryan still barking commands at us. As we passed through the station at 21, we hit a split of about 5:08. I was amazed. I actually started feeling a little better and had pulled ahead of Scott a few feet. Was he fading? I felt compelled to slow and wait for him to take his drink and pull up alongside of me again so we could continue working. But he wasn’t struggling at all.
We pressed on together through the next mile or so. As we went through 22, I thought back to about this point of the course last year and that awesome little band I had been running with led by Ben and Dave. We had been running together so well until that point. Then we fell apart and Ben left the rest of us in his wake as he cruised to his 3rd place finish. Oh how I didn’t want to be the victim again, but it was about to happen.
By the end of mile 23 the crowds were pretty big. I was struggling again. Scott was pulling ahead and had maybe 5 seconds on me. Not out of touch yet. My immediate focus now was to get my last EFS bottle and Gu. But the crowds were thick and despite my intent searching, I didn’t know where I could expect to get it. Suddenly, Scott got his bottle from a volunteer. Where’s mine! Dang-it! Where is it?!...Too late. I had passed it. I grabbed some water or PowerAde from the regular aid station and got a little down..... Insurance policy!… I reached to my back pocket to get the one emergency gel I had stached for exactly this scenario. But I was unfamiliar with the pocket in my new shorts, I fumbled the Gu and it fell to the ground…@#$%@#!....Meanwhile, Scott is picking up speed and quickly putting a gap on me. Crap! Only 3+ miles to go. I’m just going to hold on and do the best I can. But the physical and mental damage had been done and the only thing I could do was watch Scott pull away. I had nothing left in my legs with which to respond.
My form started to fall apart. Ryan still rode alongside me providing much needed encouragement, “Loosen up your jaw, it will relax the rest of your body,” “loosen those shoulders,” “keep your head up…”
Those last 3 miles were tough. I especially struggled on the diagonal. Man this is hard! Harder than anything I felt at Pocatello. I had forgotten how cruel the downhills on this course are. I watched as Scott caught two of the guys ahead (Pepi and Metler). I felt like I was gaining on them too (slowly), but there wasn’t going to be enough road for me to catch them. It was gratifying to see Scott get them though.
“Use the turn to sling-shot yourself,” Ryan called. As we turned south off the diagonal, I regained a little composure. “Looking good Justin! I can tell you’re feeling better than you did a half mile ago.” Ryan sounded. As I rounded the second to last turn, Ryan was yelling, “To heck with with 2:25, you’re going to get 2:23! Keep it up buddy, you’re doing great!” That was encouraging, but I was just ready to be done.
I made the last right turn and left turn and was at last on the final stretch. The chute wasn’t that far away, but it sure seemed like it was. I saw Scott finish, but he as too far ahead for me to see the time on the clock. The other two crossed the line. I pressed on. I must have looked horrible those last few hundred yards. I was in the chute; I could see the clock ticking up to 2:24….Awesome! I raised my hands to the crowd and crossed the line with a final time of 2:24:08.
Scott was the first person I saw and congratulated him on his monster race and epic finish. I apologized for not being able to hang with him to the end. Saw my family and exchanged hugs over the fence. Saw Fritz who had already made his way to the other side of the fence into the finishers’ area and heard the great news that he had won. It wasn’t long before Riley crossed the line in ~2:29:20 (10th place) and Dave in ~2:29:50 (11th). So happy that those guys got sub-2:30’s. I know Dave has had a challenging summer with injuries and such. It was cool to see him cross the line and collapse to the ground after leaving so much out on the course. I wish Riley would have been closer to us at the end. He’s certainly capable and it probably would have happened today had it not been for the GI issues…Low 2:20s are in his near future. I was surprised that Ben wasn’t in the mix at the front. Based on his training and great year, he should have been finishing up there with Scott in the low 2:20s too. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite his day either. He still turned in a great 2:32 time. Clyde put up an amazing 2:35, despite his jacked-up ankle and tough summer.
It was an honor to be among the top-10 at the awards ceremony. I don’t feel like I belong in the company of most of these guys: Fritz (winner), Iain Hunter (2nd); Jon Kotter (3rd); Scott Keate (4th); Pepi Petersen (5th); Aaron Metler (6th); Riley Cook (10th). I ended up getting, among other things, a $325 prepaid card for the 7th place finish. Then, because Fritz was the only one in my age group that beat me, the first place division award defaulted to me and I got another $150 prepaid card. A little bummed that I didn’t get a guaranteed complimentary entry for next year. I guess they are only doing that for the top 3 overall now. But I can’t complain about the nice cash award. I did learn that since next time I’ll be joining the 10-year club, I shouldn’t have a problem getting accepted into the race.
Great day for many others, including Scott’s Utah Valley crew: Matt, Brandon, and Dan. Tough day for some. Absolutely incredible day for Fritz and Scott. Best of luck to the group who will be training for Boston over the Winter. I’m especially excited to see what Fritz and Scott will do. I’m sure it’ll be spectacular.
This race marks the end of my racing season. Time for me to ratchet way down for the next few months and recharge physically and mentally. I will still run consistently, but my mileage and intensity are heading way down and junk food and fat cells will be going up J. I’ve been neglecting certain things that are in need of attention (e.g. my yard) and I have a few non-running related goals to try and accomplish before the end of the year. So my focus will be shifting a little bit.
I haven’t thought much about next year’s racing schedule. I’ll rest up and probably get ready to hit another ~1:18 Canyonlands half in March and then go through the process of building up through the spring and summer. The build-up is a big part of the fun anyways. My wife is getting ready to get back into racing. We’re thinking about putting into the lottery for the Ogden full or half with some of our friends.
Again, super grateful for the great year of good running (and cycling) fortune I’ve been blessed to enjoy. It’ll always be one I’ll remember and I will look back upon it with a great deal of satisfaction. I hope my best racing is still yet to come. But if it’s already passed, I can be content with what I’ve accomplished. Running will always be a special part of my life for its fitness and spiritual aspects. | 