St. George Marathon 2009

We caught a bus at the finish line at 4:45 AM in St. George and it was 55 degrees. We got to the starting line at 5:30 and it was 40 degrees there. We sat around bonfires until right before the start. This is the smoothest run marathon I have ever raced.
Mile 1 – 7:53 I started with the 3:20 pace group. Traffic caused this to start a little slow.
Mile 2 – 7:28 By now it was opened up and I was going very easy.
Mile 3 – 7:13
Mile 4 – 6:59
Mile 5 – 7:06 GU 1
Mile 6 – 6:48
Mile 7 – 6:40 Miles 2-7 were downhill and I was still going easy.
Mile 8 – 7:33 This was the biggest hill. ¾ mile long and all that hill training paid off.
Mile 9 – 7:38 More up hills. Miles 9-12 were rollers.
Mile 10 – 7:29 I could feel my toes taking a beating. Both second toes are now purple.
Mile 11 – 7:52 GU 2
Mile 12 – 7:26
Mile 13 – 7:06 Going downhill again
Mile 13.1 – First half 1:35:45
Mile 14 – 7:27 This is the first mile where we started to get in the sun. Great weather.
Mile 15 – 6:57 Downhill
Mile 16 – 6:51
Mile 17 – 7:11 GU 3
Mile 18 – 7:16 Got a side stitch and it hung around for 3 miles.
Mile 19 – 7:39
Mile 20 – 7:20 Last water stop for me. No more water needed.
Mile 21 – 7:11
Mile 22 – 7:35 Each mile from here on I got more confidence I could finish strong.
Mile 23 – 7:30 I still fear the flameout the last few miles.
Mile 24 – 7:21
Mile 25 – 7:21
Mile 26 – 7:16 Broke my heart seeing so many people collapse this late. Just people pushing too hard.
Mile 26.2–6:44 High fiving kids till someone passed me then I turned on the jets and passed then back..
Total – 3:11:49

So this was a very tough marathon on the legs. Both uphill and down. The big jump in mileage was the big difference. 11 min PR. Still have another 12 minutes to shave off to go sub-3. Dream BIG. Post race was awesome. Fruit, cokes, Bomb pops and bread. Bag check was the fastest ever. Then you go to results booth and they see your number and instantly hand you a paper with your official finish time.