St. George Marathon results

October 6, 2012
     I am back from St.George already after completing the marathon this morning. Although, I didn't get the time that I had hope for, I feel good about what I did accomplish.  I thought it would be possible to run it in 3hr. 15min. if my hamstring held up for the entire event; however, that didn't happen.  I started off fine completing the first 10k at approximately 7:00 min/mi pace.  After that I could feel my right hamstring tightening up again as it has been doing lately and I was slowed down considerably as runners started passing me one after another.  Yet the still rising sun had just started shinning off the canyon walls creating a beautiful day and I realized the best thing that I could do now was enjoy it along with the rest of the run.  I stopped a couple of times to stretch the hamstring and put Icy Hot on it at  a one of the aid stations  both of which provided some relieve.  I was becoming a little discouraged when I realized that it might take me more than 4 hours to complete this race which just seemed like a long time to be out here.  Around mile 18 a group of runners following a 4:00hr pace leader caught up to me.  I decided I would try to keep up to then and see how it went.  At first it seemed really hard as if I was giving close to 100% just to keep up, which I knew I couldn't do for long.  I started talking to one of the pace leaders and found out his name was Jake and he was from Wisconsin. Cliff bar actually pays him and the other pacers to fly out here to be pacers and promote their products. He does about 6 off these a year.  I told Jake that I was trying to push though the pain and maybe salvage something out of the run.  After talking to him for awhile, I noticed that the running was getting easier. Just talking to him took my mind off the pain.  I felt I could even push harder and I sped up a bit.  I looked back, thanked Jake and told him I would keep pushing and see how it goes.  I never slowed down again and finished the race strong and with a good feeling.  Overall, I am very happy with my results.  My 3:45 time still averages to less that 8 minutes per mile and I gained about 15 minutes on the 4:00 pace group in the last 8 miles.  Plus, I proved to myself that I can sometimes push some of the pain to the side and keep running which is kind of neat.  After the run, I actually feel stronger and I am looking forward to running again tomorrow morning,  Let the training begin once again!