TOU Marathon ReHash

     I guess it's time to over analyze the TOU Marathon now. Well, maybe just report how it went so that I don't forget later. Sometimes I think of something that should be learned from an experience and move on, possibly forgetting some tidbit that may be much more valuable at a later date.
     My mileage and taper were basically what I had hoped for. My last couple weeks may have included a little too much junk food (I had some ice cream in the final two weeks, ate some cookie dough, and even had a bowl of cereal before going to bed a few times) but for the most part I felt and feel pretty good about it. My final two days went fairly well, I got enough rest and enough carbohydrates. The morning of the race also went as planned - though there was moment of doubt about whether or not I was prepared for the weather, since I woke up before my alarm sounded, due to the loud rain!
     Travis came to pick us up (my mom and I) at the prescribed time and we joined a very long line to get on the bus at the park as scheduled. The lines at the port-a-potties were a little long and we barely got our clothes onto the bus before it left - Travis says my bag was the last on the bus. The weather was beautiful which meant that it was a little warmer that I had expected, especially after the storms. So people were probably removing more clothes than they had planned so early. In that final hustle, I didn't grab a banana out of my bag for Travis and I hadn't eaten one either. We were still chatting when the gun went off, so my mom went towards the back and Travis and I went forward.
     We weaved in and out of people for the first couple of miles. The first mile was right around 8 minutes. It felt a little slow, but it was work moving around everyone. The next mile was a little better (around 7:18) - people were dropping clothes left and right. We had hoped to do the first couple of miles a little slow and then get on track for 7:17 the rest of the way. By mile three, we decided that it was time to start working together (as there was no tailwind - there should have been, and there always has been, but not this time.)
     I think that Travis lead during the even miles and I lead during the odd miles. He seemed to pick up the pace when he was in front and I worked on maintaining a heart rate between 179 and 181. We had one mile at 6:27 - which I didn't think was accurate, and later found that Sasha Pachev (10th time running TOU) felt the same about the distance not being correct in some of those miles. Nevertheless, our mile times were probably a little shorter with Travis in the lead. We developed a simple way for him to check our pace when he was in front: he stuck out whichever arm is to the side that he would be glancing back to, I then stuck my arm on that side straight out for "maintain", down for "slow down", and up for "go faster". It worked well even though I think that the first time Travis tried to check I was enjoying the fall leaves and missed his signal.
     The pace felt good and our time was pretty much on target (maybe helped by the solitary mile with a tail wind.) As we came out of the canyon it was nice to see spectators there to cheer us on. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew at that point but looked just in case. As we turned on to Hollow Road, I ran a little close to a girl who was standing a little to far into the road as I passed - her mom told her to move back. Also on Hollow Road, I ran a nice shiny black sports car off the road. Certified races are measured inside corner to inside corner, so that is the route you're supposed to run. When I saw the shiny black sports car driving toward me on a closed road, I held my ground. I didn't quite touch his mirror, but by the time I passed he was more than half off the road. I'm sure that I seemed like the jerk, but sometimes I think that closed roads shouldn't have traffic (for safety reasons, just in case a driver doesn't move out of the way of a runner.) Somebody from work suggested a Jackie Chan 'run on the car' might have been appropriate. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.
     As I passed Travis at mile 14, he said he was pooped. I asked what he wanted to do since we were seconds off pace and he said, "Go for our goal." So I picked up the pace and heart rate a bit. At mile 15, Travis didn't move ahead as quickly as he normally did. When I passed him, I tried to do it right on the mile mark to get our lap time. When he passed me, normally he did it a little sooner. It should be noted that at the 15 mile mark, we were 4 second ahead of a 3:10:59 finish!
     At mile 16 (where I had the run in with the shiny black sports car) I went ahead but quickly noticed that Travis was dropping off. It kind of seemed that way the most of the time - when he lead, he went fast, when he followed, he dropped off, but it was worse this time. I could tell that he was struggling and slowed significantly so that he could draft and I can't really say that I didn't welcome the slowed pace. We had lost 26 second during mile 16 and it seemed inevitable that we wouldn't make our goal time to BQ. People that we had passed 5 miles back started passing us, chatting it up with each other. One man kept riding by on his bicycle, giving his wife whatever she needed - very nice, but against the rules for personal support vehicles, baby strollers, roller blades, bicycles, motorcycles to be on the course. We kept trudging along. At mile 17, Travis didn't go ahead of me (apparently he had said to go on without him.) I glanced back and he was about 15 yards behind.
     Jeri Dawn, Sierra, Mialee and Nikell were at the Maverick in Nibley. At this point I was running behind a man who appeared to be in his 40's. Jeri Dawn called him a poor soul, but we traded leads a few time, I wasn't just drafting freely.     She asked were Travis was - I said "50 yards back." I had decided that I would check my time at mile 18. If I was near 2:11, then I figured that I had 8.2 miles to go and 1 hour to do it in, it was still possible. Unfortunately, my time was 2:13:18 - mile 18 took 8:10. I had more than 2 minutes to make up with the hardest part of the course ahead (not just the end, but the ascents were about to start - it's not really fair to the hills to call these ascents hills.) That meant 7 minute miles... I looked back thinking that if I could see Travis, I would wait for him. I couldn't, so I hoped that he was still moving.
     Mile 19 - 8:48 - not good. Apparently 16 miles was the upper limit of running near my lactic threshold. My calves were full of lactic acid - strange looking back, since they haven't felt sore at all, only painful until less than an hour after the race. I could tell that I was going to be coming into cramps soon, so I started eating bananas at every aid station starting at mile 13. That meant that of the three "Snickers Energy Bars" I brought, I only consumed one. I realized that I wasn't going to be qualifying for Boston, now it was just a fight for a respectable time. My legs were a little heavy and my heart a little sad - I knew that by setting our goal too high, I had destroyed Travis' time and maybe even his experience. He has always been pretty invincible to me, so hearing him say "I'm pooped!" must have been a little humbling, but he is greater still in my eyes.
     What followed was more of the same, people passing, me watching, trying to keep up, but I didn't have it. I felt like I still had energy but I couldn't get my body to use it fast enough. We all have random thoughts that seem directed at our current situation, so to say that it didn't cross my mind to stop running would be a lie, but it never crossed my mind to stop racing. Travis' wife and in-laws (McMillan's) were in Providence - cheering everyone on. I didn't expect to see anyone there, so that was an unexpected boost. Shortly thereafter, however, I succumbed to pain in my calves and walked for a minute or two - I honestly didn't know which during the race, but think it was probably only one since my time for mile 22 was only a minute more than mile 21.
     That's how the race finished - I walked a minute in mile 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26. But that isn't the whole story, it gets better and worse.
     Tyler Child (deacon in my ward) was sitting outside his grandma's house - seeing him gave me another little boost in mile 23. At this point I was running in River Heights and "My Front Porch Looking In" came on. As I got to the part, "And the most beautiful girl holding both of them..." tears came to my eyes. As the song ended, I could see Jeri Dawn at the top of the hill waiting for me - literally. What a welcomed sight - the green striped shirt and my brown hair, green eyed wife waiting for me. She ran with me to the bottom of the hill where the rest of my family had just arrived in time for her to make it up the hill.I'm not a pretty sight here, but she sure was! Mile 24 was the fastest of the last 5 because of her.
     There aren't a whole lot of pictures of the spectators, but if marathoners ran with cameras and took pictures of the scenery they enjoyed most during the race, it wouldn't be the fall leaves in the canyon, or the fish jumping in the river, or even the sun first entering the valley. No, their film would be full of photos of the people who came to support them on their 26.2 mile journey, even though they could only see them for a brief moment of the race.
     Miles 25 and 26 were full of pulsing shocks in the front and back of my quads, as the muscles attempted to cramp up, every step - 360 pulse per minute that I could distinctly feel, knowing it wasn't going to stop until I gave in. The last 5 miles I averaged over 10 minutes per mile, but just knowing people were going to be there at the end that I knew, I picked it up for the last little bit. It didn't make a dent in my time, but you can't hold back at that point, it's either run hard or cry hard, take your pick.