The sun is up, the air is fresh, the stone is old

Ogden marathon

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Location:

Logan,UT,USA

Member Since:

Dec 15, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PRs after age 40:

 

5k     15:15  Running of the Leopards.

8k      22:21  Alta Death Dash

10k   33:02    Des News

Half Marathon      1:10  Timp Half

Marathon        2:32    Ogden

First solo R2R2R Bass Trails Grand Canyon 

First R2R2R Grand Canyon Toroweap Overlook

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Not be fat all year

Long-Term Running Goals:

Smell the dirt, feel the mountain, taste the wind.

Personal:

 

"Our legs are tight, our feet are flying, and we are gliding over the roll of the land. The sun is up, the air is fresh, the stone is old, and we are free and at peace. The clock has stopped because another time has taken over." C. Bowden

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: Ogden marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:36:20, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.0026.200.000.0028.20

This race was just a lot of fun.  The best people to hang out with and a perfect race day. 

I'm not sure about the race time since even by the awards at 2:30 m the directors had not been able to post any results, so I'm taking my Garmin time.  I'm pretty sure that I now have the two slowest 2nd place finishes in the marathon in Utah history.  I had two goals going into this race; finish in the top three and run that elusive 2:30 marathon that I have been trying to get for a year.  Oh well, as my brother told me after the race, you never know with the marathon.  Every race can be a surprise.  This one set me back a bit and energized me to continue training for that goal.

I took up a blanket and fell asleep at the start for half an hour which was a first.  It was the third night of less than four hours of sleep and I could really feel it.  The pre race was a great time.  I met Chad, who was stoked for a shot at a sub 3, talked to big Rob, said a quick Hi to Teena and learned from Rob M his technique for bathroom breaks sitting down, not a method most of us guys get practice at.  Seth got yelled at for warming up across the starting line of the chip timer reader and it was perfect when he told them how to reset it because he owned one.

The first 7 miles were on pace and felt just perfect.  I was slowly beginning to pass people and ended up just tailing Ben and Riley.  As I caught up to them Ben had to hop off the road for a bathroom break, what turned out to be one about about five before he felt the day was done and stepped out.  I think he had a good shot at winning this today so that was a bummer.  I pulled ahead of Riley and then he passed me at mile 11 and handed me the water bottle that his support group gave him.  That was great timing.  I crossed the half a 1:15:02, dead on pace and pretty stoked about it since I felt great.  As we went around the lake Riley was coughing a lot and missing some strides but would catch back up and pull in ahead of me.  It was good to have someone to talk to through these miles.  Then by mile 16 he stepped out.  By 18 I was losing 15 seconds a mile and felt that kind of overall fatigue that just doesn't let you get a rythm.  My legs felt great but I couldn't put any use into the great downhills after 18.  I actually slowed down going down the canyon.  I did however, start getting glimpses of a yellow jersey that I was pulling up to and knew it had to be the second place runner.  That was way surprising since I was running so slow.  I could see my goal time dissapearing but at this point couldn't have cared less.  I was just going to hold on to some rythm.  At about 22 miles Seth walked off the course, sat down and waved at me as I jogged by.  For the next four miles I was sure he would be blasting by me with a big grin.  And that was it.  Very strange race for many of us and definitetly long.  All three of us at the front compared Garmins and all showed 26.47. 

We partied at the Marriot with the Murphys and my kids now think marathoning is cool again.  As long as it involves hotels, swimming pools, ice cream and friends.  We bought a frisbee and the kids played on the grass for two hours waiting for the awards.  Rob's wife Joanne stopped and gave me a ride to my car as I was attempting the long walk back.  Then it was off to Roosters for a huge cheeseburger.

I love this sport.  What other sport can you race so hard against yourself no matter what your ability and even run the same race with some of these guys that are so good at this stuff?  what a run by Fritz, a new PR I think and a race ran all by himself over 10 minutes ahead of the rest of us.  There were some other great races today, Rob Mantz, Chad R and some others.  I know Rob M. could easily have run a 2:40 but still beat Scott by 10 seconds for the Masters win.  The rest of us kind of got our shorts handed to us.

I'm ready to start training again for that 2:30.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00Calories: 0.00
Comments
From jtshad on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 10:11:58 from 69.20.183.178

Congrats on a stellar race. Nice and consistent (like always!). You are such a strong runner and competitor and just go out get the best out of yourself. Looking forward to running with you again soon. Go get that 2:30!

From Teena Marie on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 11:35:38 from 67.2.88.232

2nd place overall!!!! SERIOUSLY ... that is AWESOME!!!

I am sorry that everything did not fall into place, but dang you are fast!!! Plus ... you already ran a bucket full of miles today with no pain! :)

It was great to meet you.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. :)

From Scott Ensign on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 12:16:55 from 67.41.173.72

always love your reports, great job. second place overall and a 2:36 on a tough day is awesome. so you didn't break 2:30, big deal, that will come soon enough.

I am interested to see who did the chip timing this year (not milliseconds again?). I still can't find the results on line. I am almost ready to open my own chip timing business because I think it really can't be that hard to figure out that you turn on the timer and start counting when the race starts, and then get the data at the finish and print it out.

From Steve on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 12:21:06 from 76.27.106.132

Yep, they are so lost..

From Ben VanBeekum on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 12:24:28 from 67.169.246.116

Steve like always good to see you yesterday. Wish I could of ran with ya more but that's what the day brought. Great work on a second place finish!! I am happy for ya!!

From Fritz on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 14:48:51 from 65.100.192.74

Nice job Steve. Even on a so so day you still ran a solid race. 2:30 will fall soon I am sure. How do you recover so quickly? Do you drink recovery drinks with protein after your long runs? Unless I taper I rarely feel fresh.

From Paul on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 15:51:38 from 24.10.141.104

Congrats on the runner-up, and on a good time. I ran a time similar to that in 2005, and ran 2:26 at St George later in the fall, so keep aiming at that sub-2:30.

From Dave S on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 17:24:09 from 4.253.100.227

Great job on the race and congrats on the second place finish. Some day you'll have to try a marathon after doing a more conventional taper as in no marathons and 10ks in the last 2 weeks before the race, and see how fast you could go.

From Steve on Sun, May 22, 2011 at 20:14:29 from 76.27.106.132

Thanks guys. Fritz, I just run them slow. I am quite sure that it would take me a long time to recover from a sub 2:30.

From Superfly on Mon, May 23, 2011 at 11:36:30 from 74.211.21.81

Great race. Congrats on 2nd place!

From Mattrow on Tue, May 24, 2011 at 09:44:57 from 138.64.8.51

Great race. I was so happy for you when I saw you placed second. I do understand about having our shorts handed to us.

From Steve on Tue, May 24, 2011 at 10:47:10 from 70.8.217.166

Paul, I appreciate the encouragement. Hope to see a new record at the TOU this fall! See you there.

Clyde, I could use some of your mental strength in the marathon. I'm so lazy.

Looks like the timers are subtracting 3 minutes off my race time to agree with the posted local finish time. I don't know how the timing system works, but it sure seems weird that some runners have incorrect times and others don't.

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