Ogden Marathon

After all the excitement of Ironman CDA last year, and Ironman Arizona a few months later - a few people decided they wanted to try to BQ at the Ogden marathon. While it all sounded nice, I was in no shape to be going for a 3:40, or even attempting any full marathon. But, invite me to cooler temps, with fun people & a gorgeou course & the half I can do.

The race really did crept up on us. Momo, fighting an injury & having several family engagements that came up was unable to join us, however I'm sure after our descriptions of the course she'll be back, and she'll get her BQ. In fact, I'm pretty sure she'll have Shane right there with her. He found his mojo, after quite a few struggles to find it.

We booked our flights for Thursday to give us an extra day in the cool temps, but most of all to celebrate Supa & Jaynee's birthdays! Yep, they were born on the same day...well, a few years apart, but who's counting?

Lindsay picked a very cute & delicious Italian restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City for us to meet at. The food was rich, but mouth watering, and the company even better.

Here's our beautiful host(s) Supa & Devin

The other birthday girl, Jaynee -and the other parent to be Benny! I think they are BOTH glowing.

Miss Speedy Pants Emily and her boyfriend Joey - I want to be like her when I grow up. Or, just borrow her legs for a race or two, that would do.


And, Carrie & her two beautiful children. They walked in after 6+ hours in the car looking like they were just made up! So cute, and SO good at this restaurant where they had to be bored out of their minds!

And, Shane & I - I made a quick move for the cheek and surprised him.

Friday, Shane turned down some invites to tag along with the Ogden Hosts. We had both been running ragged for about a month, & decided we'd sleep in & just hang out until Supa could get off work.

Once she was home we were on a mission. Post race festivities purchases needed to be made. First up, and ACTUAL UTAH LIQUOR store. Who knew? Ok, I've been told over & over, but I needed to see it for myself. The proof is in the picture! We stalked up on all the necessities for Lemon drops & were on our way to Ogden for Packet Pickups & pre-race dinner

I have to admit I was quite shocked by the expo. For a "small" race it was quite the spectacle. Lines after lines & several booths.

We headed to Benny & Jaynee's house for dinner after getting all our gear. They had offered to feed us all, plus the entire town of Ogden (or just about anyway). I can't believe I have no pictures to share of the gorgeous neighborhood. It reminded me so much of home, and where we will be this summer in CDA. Perfectly manicured yards, and flowers and kids all over the neighborhood playing, and dogs walking.

And, I got to see the beautiful house that Benny built. I must say, if his fish research ever gets boring, he can be hired out as a professional remodeler :-)

They had a local catering company bring over a VERY delicious meal. If I hadn't stuffed myself so much the night before I would have gone back for seconds. Oh wait, I did... I guess I WAS carb loading.

A special thanks to Jaynee & Benny for hosting outside. My stupid stupid cat allergies & asthma are a pain in the ass, and I really appreciate them looking out for me :-)

Shane & I spent the night at Supa-momma's house. Lindsay's mom Kristy & her boyfriend Oliver were amazing. They even chauffeured us to the top of the canyon/race start so we didn't have to ride the bus.

This story wouldn't be complete without sharing what happened on the way UP the canyon. At one point I looked up and the outside temp said 34degs. I started FREAKING OUT. Supa is gonna DIE. Shane was already plotting his revenge with the lemon drops. She told us the start would be 45degs, finish about 60. 45 THAT I can do. 34, which actually eventually dropped to 31, uhm NOT.SO.SURE.

I am a HOT racer. I have over-dressed so many times in the past that I knew better. Shorts, long bra top & gloves to start & toss. That's all I need. Well, that's all I need when it's 45 out!

But, you know, I survived - and as soon as the sun came up & 5mins into the run I was just FINE. So, supa lived to tell her story of how much she loved Shane's lemon drops!

The race was absolutely gorgeous. Like nothing I have ever seen, or raced in. It was very cool, crisp air. Perfect scenery. Really, I would make this an annual race if possible.

My goal was a 1:45. I don't know why I thought that pace. I had not been "training" per say for this race or any other for that matter. I was cycling a lot at the beginning of the year, but a new way of cycling. I was swimming with masters a lot, and I was running. I wasn't following a plan, wasn't focusing on anything specific. I didn't have multiple goals like a PR or a this or that... it was just simple. 1:45.

After Rocky Point tri, I had 3 weeks to "train" for this race. I did a few 20-25min 'tempo' runs at an 8min pace. And one 4x7min speed set. Before my last half marathon and PR of 1:48:xx, I did a 6 week speed training set for a half ironman, followed by 5 weeks of speed work for the half marathon. My long runs were faster, and I was putting in more quality miles.

Shane offered to pace me, which was good and scary at the same time. He is a RACER, and I knew he'd try to push me out of my comfort zone. The most distance I have ever run around an 8min pace is a 10k, and that brought me to near puking.

However, from what I've been told the course was FAST. Down hill, loosing about 800ft (My previous PR was also down hill loosing about the same elevation), with only 1 hill right at the beginning. I had asked EVERYONE about this stupid hill so I was way over-prepared for the worst. Which, turned out to be perfect because the hill was NUTHIN.

We started out between the 8min & 9min paces. I wanted to start slow, get up the hill & use the canyon descent to make up my time. We executed perfectly. Started out around an 8:15 pace until the hill. Took it nice & easy and slowed to about an 8:45 up it. We were both struggling to get air (who knew 5200 ft was so different than 1400? ha!) and wanted to settle in before pushing it.

We were running side by side for a bit, then Shane pulled in front of me to start the pacing. He was REALLY good. We hovered around an 8min pace until we hit the down hills & got into the 7:45 range.

Around 45mins I took my first gel. I was struggling with energy and BOY did it work. Shane sped up while I was doing my gel & I couldn't figure out why at first, until I saw him make a mad dash for a porta potty. At first I thought I'd catch my breath & back off a little bit, but instead did the opposite. The gel HIT the spot & I was feeling fantastic. The descent was steeper & I used it. I got my pace down in the low 7min per mile pace & just went with it. Passing people left & right.

It took Shane about a mile or so to catch me, which made me pretty happy :-) The next 5ish miles were pretty good. We gained the time back from the slower start & got on track for my 1:45 pace, plus a few extra minutes. I had visions of actually coming in under 1:45 by 2-3mins, but my legs were really feeling the lack of training. My knee had been hurting all week & the pain kicked in about mile 5. My hip was twinging, and by the time we got out of the canyon on to the rollers & false flat my calves were cramping.

I was HURTING. Shane was trying to get me to pick up the pace, but I was done. I was trained pretty well for a 10mile race, but 13.1, not so much.

Thankfully, I had gained enough time that my bonk & slowdown didn't ruin my goal.... I was going to do it!!

As we were heading down the finish line my garmin was way closer to 13.1 than the finish line was from us - I noticed the mile markers & my garmin were getting further and further off during the race, so I decided to hit my lap as I hit 13.1.

Garmin Time - 13.1, 1:44:30 - Finish 13.23 1:45:32 - Official timing - 1:45:29. Either way, it's a PR & a good one at that :-) I'd love to come back & do it with some better training.

After the race, Shane commented that I wasn't very excited about my PR. I thought about it for a bit. I WAS excited, don't get me wrong. I guess in the back of my head it was a little disappointing to know how far I've come, yet I'm still held back by my stupid IT bands. If I can run an 8min pace - a 3:30 marathon pace without the best training, then I always wonder if maybe I COULD hit a 3:40 BQ marathon? But, I know to do that I would only hurt myself further so for now, I will never know.

I quickly got over myself. I am so happy to be doing what I'm doing now. Limitations or not, I'm running, and that is all that matters.

Post race festivities were fantastic. Lunch & drinks with the big group. Post race race pizza and lemon drops at casa al la Supalinds, with the infamous bar-tender Shane.

It was a fabulous weekend, with amazing friends. You know when you meet people that you just KNOW will be your friends forever. Well, some of ours are without a doubt in Utah. I feel so blessed to have them in our lives. And, can't wait to see you all again in JULY!

Congrats to the Supa who proved that "bendering" in Mexico is a sure fire way to BQ in a BIG way. Who needs a proper taper? It was so cool to see her rocking down the finish line - pictures to follow :-)