Ogden Marathon 2019
I ran a marathon in August 2018 but I wasn't very happy with how it went since my lower leg muscles completely failed me. I needed to redeem myself, to prove to myself that marathons are not so scary. So I was looking for another marathon to do. I've done Ogden before, the half a couple times and the full once. There were a couple reasons I was not inclined to choose Ogden. First, it's in May, which is early enough that it's pretty cold to train for. Second, the last time I did it there was a lottery drawing and it was not easy to get into. Third, the one time I did the full marathon here, my knees had problems and they hurt for years after. I don't know why. Something about the downhill or the slant of the road.
But, after looking at all my options many times, I decided it was the best one. I wanted one a little earlier so I wasn't training all summer. And my knees were stronger because of my cross training. Jen had thought the half marathon was a bit crazy and didn't think she would do a full. But then she started training with me and it didn't seem so crazy. I mean, it's kind of crazy. But not beyond her capabilities. So she signed up too. We had one other friend Gina sign up, but Gina hurt her ankle the week before the race and decided it would be best not to do it.
One other thing about Ogden is that the first two times I ran it, the weather was beautiful. The last time it rained hard the whole time and was kind of miserable and freezing. I heard that it had rained quite a few years. So really it can go either way. We anxiously watched the weather, but unfortunately it showed rain in the forecast this year too. And it was a cold spring anyway. The mountains were pretty like always but the snow up there made me nervous!
We did what we could to stay dry before the start. It wasn't pouring out there, but the ground was wet and it was actually snowing a bit up the canyon at the start. I had brought my waterproof ipod, but the line to the bathroom was long and they were getting ready to close the truck with the drop bags so I rushed out of the potty and ran to drop off my bag. 10 seconds after I handed it in, I realized I had forgotten to grab my ipod out of it. I climbed in the truck to try and find it but there were hundreds of bags and I hadn't watched where they threw it so I had no chance. No music. Oh well! I had been running with Jen a lot and I don't usually listen to music when we run so I was kind of used to it anyway.
I brought dry socks to put on right before we started, but it didn't matter. After three steps on the road, my toes were soaked. It was just going to be a wet race. The good news is that it was just drizzly / misty the whole time, not really pouring. Sometimes it would rain a bit more but it wasn't too bad. And I had the clothing for it this time. We decided the cool weather was helpful. Running in heat is hard on you.
Jen and I started out together. She had said she was going to stay with me the whole time. I told her she should run her own race and not wait for me. We were going a pretty good pace for the first few miles, except when I took my big fleece sweatshirt off and it tore out my diamond earring so I had to stop and find it in the road and put it back in. Yikes! It only took a minute but still. After a few miles I decided to slow my pace a bit because I knew I would burn out. Jen pulled ahead, I gave her the signal and she went on. Once she was out of view I didn't see her again until the finish line.
I sang Hamilton songs in my head for a few miles. Honestly, the lack of music didn't kill me. I didn't think that much about it. I was enjoying the race. Large races are fun. I like having people running all around me. I did a lot of people-watching. I chatted with people a little. I had a good time.
I took a GU Rocktane at mile 9 (recommended by my mom for the high amounts of bcaa, which I usually took in drink form on the bike but didn't have that option while running. She told me to take them as directed, which is every 45 mintues, but I didn't think I needed it until it started feeling kind of hard, which was mile 9.) And I did feel a bit better after. Then I came up on the half start line, which meant I was halfway done. There was still a bit of a party going on and it hyped me up a bit. Volunteers on the side of the road would read my name on my bib and call me by name. It was weird at first until I realized I didn't actually know them. When I was passing the half start, the time clock said 2 hours. I realized I had ran that first half at a pretty decent pace and I still felt really good. There was a hill about a half mile long shortly after that and I just went for it. I passed people walking and by the time I got to the top I felt kind of amazing. I think I felt like the hard part was over and it was supposed to be all downhill from there. It wasn't actually downhill for another four miles or so, but in my head I was there. With all my time to think, I started thinking about my marathon running friend Ali, who is super fast and qualifies for Boston all the time, who had told me she thought I could definitely beat 4 hours. I had no aspirations to even try for that. I thought I would get around 4:15. But I just wanted to beat my old 4:31 time. As I came up to mile 20, which is where the downhill really got going, I looked at my watch and realized I was at 3 hours. I had a 10K left to run and if I could do it in an hour, I could beat 4 hours. I felt good, I figured I may as well try. I took another GU, and a pixie stick style preworkout, and I pushed it. I felt really good. My muscles would get a little crampy sometimes and I had taken a few leg cramp pills and some ibuprofen. I tried to be careful with my calves and shins, using my quads more when I was feeling them. It got worse and worse as I neared the finish line but they never seized up and made me stop.
Another thing Ali had told me is that she doesn't usually stop to use the porta-potty. I had always just assumed that sometime in the 4+ hours I would have to stop. But when she said that, I decided to wait and see what happened. I needed to go just a little in the first half, but it never got worse and I was able to make it the whole time without even being miserable. Amazing!
On the last 1.5 miles I came upon the 4 hour pacer. I couldn't believe I had caught him! I passed him and said, "I caught you!" He said, "good! Now don't let me pass you." Challenge accepted. I kept up my pace and pushed as hard as my body would allow. I passed so many people in those last few miles. The last mile was the hardest. I was falling apart. I wanted to slow down so badly. But I pictured the pacer behind me and refused to let him pass.
Jen was waiting with her husband and called me over. We did it! She got an amazing time of 3:44!! She's so awesome!
After grabbing a water and a creamy, I needed to check my time. I needed to know if I had done it. Sure enough, the results showed exactly the same time as my watch, to the second. I had done it. I never thought it was possible.
My watch did have my distance quite a bit off, which made my pace look faster. I FELT like I was running those paces. Apple Watch is just a little off I guess because Jen's watch said the same distance as mine.
When I got home, I found this little trophy that Sadie had made for me. She didn't even know that I had performed so well. Or that I ran in the rain, lol. She's a cutie.
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