Note: See all marathon pictures here. Warning – too many National Park pictures at the end!
Summer is over and October has finally arrived, just in time for the St. George Marathon in St. George, Utah. More importantly, 18 weeks of training in the hot Tampa summer was over. I prepared using the “up to 55 mile/week” Pfitzinger plan from his Advanced Marathoning book; I was feeling pretty good about the preparation. During training I’d hoped to get down to 3:35. The summer heat kept the speed work from getting to where I wanted it to be. Heading into the race, 3:45 seemed realistic and was the plan going in.
Logistically, I could not blog daily on this one, but I’m getting this down on the plane flight home while it is fresh.
Day 1 – Friday, October 3rd
Therese was able to go with me on this one, and Lynne Damron was both our travel companion and constant source of entertainment and snacks for the trip. Lynne stopped by the house Friday morning and we headed to the airport for a long direct flight to Las Vegas. Fortunately, the ride out went smoothly and we enjoyed an event free fight. Lynne and I review strategies for the first hour or so, and then Therese and Lynne took over the conversation with shopping, grand kids, etc. while I retreated to the headphones and a little computing.
The plan was to fly to Vegas Friday, jump in the rental car and make the 1.5 hour ride up to Utah, and arrive in St. George around 4:00PM Mountain time. We knew we had arrived as we exited the plane to the sound of jangling slots. We grabbed the rental car and Lynne began a week-end of chauffeuring us around the Southwest US. Heading out, we saw a little of the Strip as we headed out of Las Vegas and in to the Nevada desert. Going northeast, mountains began to appear as we cut across the southwest corner of Arizona, made a supply stop at Wal-Mart in Mesquite, AZ, and headed into southern Utah. The terrain slowly transitioned from desert, to rocks, to lower then higher bluffs. As we arrived in St. George, there were full sized red rock mountains looking over the town.
We located the expo at the Convention Center and headed inside to get the race packet and have a look around. The first interesting twist was they did not have my race packet in the aisle where it should have been based on my race number. No panic, I headed to the “trouble table” where we figured out they had put me in the Clydesdale section. They weighted me in but I already knew, unlike Oklahoma City in April, I was too svelte for the Clydesdale division. How dare them! I had slimmed down from around 208 to 193 in that time frame. They booted me back over to the regular age division.
I checked my race chip and found out that it had “St. George 2008” directly on the chip. It turned out this race featured a single use chip you keep as a souvenir. I picked up the long sleeve tech shirt and met back up with Therese and Lynne to look around. We found the Christi Horstmann at the Galloway booth. She was happy to see us as she was manning the booth for several hours that day.
Christi made it possible for me to run the race. There is a lottery to get in the race and only 7000 runners are accepted. This year they had 11,000 applicants; I was not one of the selected. Fortunately, after Christi moved from Tampa with her husband Josh, she started a Galloway training group in Salt Lake City. She had an arrangement with them to get a number of entries in to the race and offered one to me if I needed it. I did, and she came through for the first of several times that week-end.
The second time she came through was in accommodations – Christi had arranged to rent a house in St. George that we shared with 7 others from her running group. She gave us directions and we headed over to meet Josh and get settled. The house turned out to a sort of bed and breakfast about three blocks from the finish line. It was quite unique - several additions had been added in a somewhat haphazard fashion, and it really had a lot of character. We found our room and Lynne took residence in the room off the porch we immediately dubbed “The Penthouse”. Over the remainder of the afternoon and early evening began to meet the crew from Christi’s Utah group.
One great thing about this marathon is it was run on Saturday. This meant we would had the opportunity to get the race done, then have some fun Saturday night and Sunday rather than jumping on a plane right after the race finished. As the group from Utah arrived we realized that was going to be a lot of fun.
As Friday evening rolled on, one of the Utah folks - Jennifer – whipped up some large bowls of pasta with chicken and tomatoes that put any pasta dinner to shame. Christi and the crew had collected a little cash from all of us and stocked the house with all the food we would need for a small army. We got to know the group and really had a great time comparing running experiences. We had a mix of experienced and new runners; we swapped strategies and encouraged the first timers in the group.
The first inkling that this St. George Marathon might be a little different came when we turned on the weather report and saw a storm covering most of the western states on the weather map. There were predictions of 20 - 30 mph winds and rain. Rain at that time of year was a pretty unusual thing in southern Utah at that time of year – we didn’t realize how unusual until after the race. I had prepared for a somewhat warmer race and improvised a bit in laying out the clothes for the race. After some consternation, we decided what would be, would be and hit the sack.
Day 2 – Saturday, October 4th - Race Day
The 3:00AM alarm went off Saturday morning as planned and there was a lot of movement around the house. The St. George Marathon is a point to point marathon; you ride a school bus from near the finish line 26 miles up the mountain to the start. If you go early (around 4:00AM), you qualify for drawings running gloves. Mostly we wanted the experience so, despite some wind and sprinkles in the air, we headed for the early bus.
One the ride up, we got our first look at some of the hills on the course. Since we call the mounds on our Tampa running route “hills”, the name doesn’t seem sufficient for what we were looking at, but it will have to do. While the St. George Marathon descends a total of around 2560 ft, it doesn’t do so in a linear fashion! There are several climbs, the most notorious being the Vejo Hill at about mile 7-10. It was dark, but we could feel the bus moving up and down the hills. The rain began to hit the windshield as we approached the starting line.
The starting line is in the middle of the desert – the only stuff out there is what is set up for the race. We exited the bus to blustery wind and rain that was beginning to drop faster. Of course we were under our fashionable garbage bags, but much more of the rain and it would not matter. We picked up the free gloves and headed to the long line of bonfires that we set up behind the starting line to await the 6:45AM start- a full hour and a half away.
They keep the runners warm in the race by setting up to long rows of bonfires – each made up of perhaps 30 logs in a teepee formation. As the runners arrive, firemen light them one at a time starting from the furthest one back. The runners simply move down and take up residence near the first available open bonfire as they arrive.
At this point Lynne, I and several of the folks from Utah remained together near a bonfire, only to get driven back as the winds kicked up over 20 mph. The fires burned very hot with all that air whistling by them, tempered only by the rain that continued to pick up. We sat on Lynne’s throwaway blanket and huddled under the garbage bags trying to keep the shoes dry. As we waited the wind and rain would alternately die down and pick up as squall lines passed through the area. Thankfully, gallows humor prevailed and everyone remained in good spirits as we went through typical pre-race rituals: availing ourselves of the porta-potties (reasonable number available), munching pre-race snacks, absorbing hydration, and gathering items to send back down the mountain in the U-Hauls provided by the race organizers.
I was not as prepared as I would have liked for cold and rain. I had a singlet under a throwaway long sleeve cotton t-shirt – a t-shirt I would end up needing to wear the entire trip. I had the Race Ready shorts I wanted and, to keep the legs warm, the way-to-short plaid green flannels as a throw away. I could almost hear a cheer come up from my Tampa training group when I pitched those flannels as start time neared; they would never had to see me in them at Einstein’s again.
I bid goodbye to the group and headed to somewhere in the 4:00 pace area. At some point the race started, but I never heard the horn. It was drizzling and the wind was pretty noisy. I crossed the mat and headed out for 26.2. In the confusion I never looked at the clock so I never knew what my chip differential was vs. the race clock. I hadn’t heard the horn either so I had no sense of it.
The first interesting thing was that it was dark. Really dark. At 6:45AM the sun had not come up. In normal years, moon light and star light would have filled in; they were nowhere to be seen. With no ambient light from any buildings what so ever, the first couple miles were borderline treacherous. I could basically see the people around me but seeing dropped clothing, garbage bags, etc. on the road was difficult. I had to proceed carefully.
To compound the problem, I started my Garmin, only to look down a minute or two later and convince myself the screen was blank. I tried not to panic as I realized I might not have any timing – had I left it on over night or something? Was the battery dead? I’m still not really sure if it was blank, whether I shut it off trying to turn on the light, or what. But I jammed at the button until it came back on, the satellite reconnected and I saw it had registered the first minute or two. I restarted it and it began to work. I figured that the gap was approximately 3 minutes and I would work it out later in the race.
As we were off and I began to focus on the race. For the first 2-3 miles I could not really run the tangents, but the course was pretty straight. As I completed them the crowd began to thin out a bit. One thing became clear - there were no clocks up on the mountain and timing would be scarce. As it turned out there were a couple mile markers where people were reading out times, but that was about it. The logistics of the race prevented there from being clocks at the remaining mile markers. So, rather than focus on time, I focused keeping a consistent level of effort as the course rolled up and down the early hills.
In fact, the only thing I used the watch for was to check my instantaneous pace a few times each mile to make sure my pace was where it needed to be. I had the pace chart in my pocket, but reading it in the generally steady rain and wind was not easy. I knew where the two most significant climbs were on the course (not that you would miss them when they arrived!) and concentrated on three things:
- Consistent effort – slowing down the pace as I went up the hills and picking it up as I went down, so the level of effort remained the same;
- Consistent form – I reviewed the proper form for going up and down hills before the race by watching this video and applied the techniques as best I could; and
- Running the tangents – 26.2 miles is long enough –there was no traffic allowed on the course so running the shorted route was possible.
The sun did rise after the second or 3rd mile. In spite of the rain, the beauty of the mountains and desert became obvious. We would not have the sun shining off the red rocks that day but they were still imposing rising form the mist and the rain.
As I worked my way through miles 5-7, the wind, unfortunately, remained from the south - pretty much on the nose. For the first half of the race it seemed to stay between 5-15 mph with a few gusts, and the rain steadied to a drizzle. At least it wasn’t hot.
After mile 7 we approached Vejo Hill, the first of the long uphill climbs on the course. Working from memory but I know I could let my pace slip up to the mid to high 9’s as part of the strategy. I did this as I tried to keep my effort consistent with the first part of the course. It was at this point that I realized the altitude was not going to be an issue. Starting the race at 5200 ft., I was worried that my training at 40 ft. of elevation wasn’t going to be sufficient. However at no point in the race did cardio or breathing become an issue. If I didn’t feel it on this hill, I was less likely to feel it on the remainder of the course as it wound down to St. George. That became one less thing to worry about – even as I heard a lot of labored breathing from runners around me on the hill.
The climb lasted past the 11th mile with a few ups and downs in between. I emerged from the climb feeling very confident as I felt strong going forward. One weird thing was that I really wasn’t sure how well I was doing at that point. I figured I’d get a bead on it at the half way point.
As the halfway point arrived, another squall blew in. One of the few flat parts of the course was right at mile 13 – it was a large open area before we cut through the next mountain pass. This seemed to give the wind the opportunity to crank up again and it was 20+ on the nose with driving rain. I guess it was this distraction, but all I remember was the split time was a high 1:50 something, but not exactly what my time was. Compound that with the watch foibles and no clue on my chip differential and I had only a general idea I was doing ok.
As 14 and 15 passed I was focusing as I usually do on the “second 3rd” of the race – I divide the race into thirds – 10 miles, 10 miles, and the last 6. I knew there was a series of hills coming at 18 and my goal was to keep the wheels on over those hills. After that, the course was largely downhill from 22 or 23 on. Those hills arrived and it was clear I hadn’t realized just how long and difficult a climb this would be. It was compounded by the fact that in between rises were significantly steep downhill sections. The transition between pushing uphill and trying to retain form on the downhill took concentration. Fortunately, in this race, I feel like I never really lost it mentally.
As I moved through 22 I thought I was home free – only to see one more climb. I left out a rather loud expletive then realized a young woman was running about 10 feet away. I mumbled an apology, only to hear her say “No problem– you’re right!” and repeat it right back. It was that time in the race.
However, once I got past 23, two things happened – 1) we reached the edge of town and the number of spectators began to build, and 2) the course became mostly downhill. Other than a little twanging in the left calf I was feeling fine and I concentrated on maintaining pace. At that point I was pretty convinced a PR was possible if I held it together. One thing I noticed was I was having some pain from the right, uh, well, later I coined the new phrase “monkey tit”. Because I had to keep wearing the now saturated long sleeve cotton shirt, I had chaffed the sensitive area on the left side. This was a new and not so fun experience for me. I think it was cold enough that it was only bothersome; it definitely reared up in the shower later.
At this point in the race, the only walking I had done was 10-20 seconds at water stops. I consumed 6 Gus, 4 oz. of water or so at each stop and 6 salt tablets. All systems seemed in good shape. However, at 25.5 the twinge on the left calf tightened and I had to stop and walk/stretch it for about 20 seconds. It relaxed and I got back to pace for the rest of the race. Thankfully I didn’t hear from it again.
One nice touch – they had dry had towels around mile 26 – you got to wipe the rain, snot, saliva, Gu, etc. off your face before the finish line picture. Given the steady rain in the race it was especially appreciated. The last .2 of the race was a straight three or four blocks long so the finish line was in sight. For the first time in a while I had some inkling of my time – it was counting off 3:53 and something. Since 3:53 was my prior PR I knew I had one in the bag – although I didn’t know by how much. Remember – I had no real idea what my chip time was vs. the race clock. I had a lot of kick and got separated from the other runners – hoping Therese could spot me coming in. I was a pretty happy camper at that point.
Unfortunately, Therese hadn’t seen me go by and I hadn’t seen her. After picking up the medal (well, the granite as it turned out) I worked my way to the finisher area and tried to look conspicuous in case she had seen me and was coming over. She hadn’t, so I made my to the clothing pick-up. I had a mostly dry sweatshirt in that bag; stripping off the wet shirts and getting into that saved me from freezing in the finish area.
One great amenity of the race was the “Wand Tent”. Because the chip was single use, I still had it on my shoe. All
I didn’t have my cell phone as the rain would have destroyed it. I eventually made my way to our rental house, picked up my phone, and headed back to the finish area. I finally raised Therese on the phone; by this time she was ready to call the medical staff. She was relieved to hear I was already finished and didn’t have to live with a grumpy husband for 2 more days on the trip.
I then made some phone calls while hanging two blocks from the finish looking to cheer in both Lynne and other folks we shared the house with. It continued to spit rain and blow but it lessened as noon approached.
After the runners went by, we headed back to the house after the race. One amenity of the house was an indoor Jacuzzi installed in one of the bathrooms. Someone had the foresight to fill it with ice water, and Lynne and I shared an intimate soak in sub 32 degree water. A shower and some dry clothes and I didn’t feel like a million, but at least a buck 99.
Now the great part – it was only Saturday! We didn’t have to jump on a plane – and Christi and Therese had been working up a post race feast. By mid afternoon my inner carnivore returned and I snarled down a couple burgers in short order. Everyone compared notes and stories as the day and evening progressed. Other folks from Christi’s Utah group came by and we had quite a crowd for a while. As evening set in and the crowd died down, Therese did some PT on sore calves and quads for some of the runners.
Day 3 – Sunday, October 5th – Zion National Park
Unlike prior marathons we had the opportunity to spend an extra day at the site of the marathon. Sunday, after a final group breakfast and seeing everyone off, Lynne, Therese and I drove up to the Zion National park (50 miles north of St. George). Hiking didn’t necessarily seem like a good idea, but sometimes the “hair of the dog” is a good idea. Lynne and I were gimping around but moving along. Lynne had experience in the park and before long we were hiking the two mile
“River Walk” trail – mostly flat – then the first part of “Angels Weep” – 3 mile round trip pretty much straight up. The view was spectacular – as bad as the weather was Saturday, by Sunday it had cleared and just clear and bright. We ended up doing 5 or 6 miles of trails – yes the calves and quads were barking! You can see a couple pictures from the park in the pictures posted on the web.
After the park we drove back to St. George – ate dinner – then drove back to Las Vegas to spend the night before the flight home. Lynne – always the adventurer – decided she was going to see the Strip and headed off. Therese and I cleaned up and headed down to the casino to look around. Having no idea what we were doing, Therese managed to whack the buttons on some penny slots and turn $20 into $95. We bailed out of there and called it an evening.
Day 4 – Monday, October 6th – Flying Home
Monday brought an early alarm and travel home. Fortunately everything was uneventful – we did bump around flying over the very storm we had run through – now hanging over Texas – but otherwise returned safely.
Conclusions
Despite the weather this will go down as one my favorites. Local newspapers reported it was the fist rain at the St. George marathon in 25 years. But good organization and a great course make it a must do. While the overall elevation change is in your favor, no one running this should think they won’t do some significant hill climbing.
For me it was a PR by over 4 minutes, but more significantly a race I ran “on plan”. I believe I had a negative split – there are no split times in this race as there are no mats along the course – and I handled the hills as planned. Mentally, I was in it the whole way and hydration and Gu seemed to work. Toss in a great party and awesome scenery and you have the perfect marathon week-end.
Jeff Odell
Hi this is for Lynn. I just did 5 miles with the 1:30-30 and loved it. I had fun with your group in St. George, Loved talking with everyone. Cyndie
Posted by: Cyndie | October 15, 2008 at 08:37 PM