A good race for me. Felt very good and strong the entire time. Even set a course record.
My St. George Marathon was a disaster. But this time, my legs felt great, which was a huge thing for me (since they felt horrible and flat during the whole St. George Marathon). I admit that I have not taken the smartest approach with my recovery after the SGM. But, I have really been upset about SGM, and hitting the roads running is the only way I knew how to deal with that frustration. Ok, enough whining.
From the gun today, the lead pack consisted of 6 runners: Jacob Howell, Ben VanBeekum, Dave Olson, Walter Brown, a 21 y/o from the southern Utah area (I can't remember his name), and me. There was an impressive headwind for the first 3 miles of the race, which made for a relatively slow start. There were several lead changes during the first 3 miles. I decided to take the lead at 3.5 miles, and I was feeling great. That mile split was 4:50. We then turned into Snow Canyon. I knew the next 3 miles were quite aided and would be fast. I picked up the pace, fully expecting the others to go with me. My mile 5 split was 4:38. I was shocked at this; it felt like 5:00 effort. I thought, "don't over-react; don't go too fast, Matt." But, I felt great, so I decided to roll with it. And, I no longer heard footsteps behind me. I knew there was a strong field of runners behind me, so I never let my guard down. Jacob Howell beat me at the Hobble Creek 1/2 Marathon in August (he put a minute on me during the last 5k), so I knew I had to be focused if I wanted to keep my lead.
I had a 4 mile split (miles 4-7) of 18:57, and a 5k split (miles 5-7) of 14:35. Probably a bit fast, and I probably paid for it a bit later in the race, but again, I felt good; so why not roll with it?
Miles 8-13 were tough. A lot of uphills and sharp turns, which certainly slowed my pace. I felt strong the entire time, though. I averaged 4:56 through 8 miles, had a 5:01 average through 10 miles, and had a 5:07 average for the whole race. I ran the last 2/3 of the race alone, which is always a bit tougher than having company.
My splits: 5:08, 5:24, 5:03, 4:50, 4:38, 4:43, 4:46, 5:20, 5:05, 5:12, 5:31, 5:25, 5:20, :44 (.15)
My garmin said 13.15 miles, as did most the other runners' garmins. This course may have been a bit long (I likely would have just broken 1:07), but I'm not concerned about this in the least.
This course is certainly aided, but it was definitely more difficult than I expected (the course description online made it sound like it was screaming the whole time). Those rolling hills the last 5 miles are tough. A lot of the race was on paved trails.
This was such a fun and gorgeous race. I'm convinced there is no 1/2 marathon anywhere in the world that has more beautiful scenery than this one does.
Many great races today! My wife, Elaina, crushed her PR by 4 minutes! Ben tore it up and ran a PR! Dave ran very well also! (I enjoyed finally meeting Dave) Rachelle also ran unbelievably well and crushed her PR! Other great performances (I'm sure I'm forgetting someone; if so, sorry): Jacob Howell, Jeff L., Spencer, Collin, Walter, and Amy Cook!
Thanks a bunch to Riley for his cheering and encouragement!
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