Race Division was 40-49 13 of 136, 71 of 985 overall 8 of 66 AG 1st half 1:39:24 2nd half 1:44:02 4:38 +split Strategy: Run no mile slower than 7:50 (except 25-26, nasty uphill kick) Stay between 7:48 - 7:35 if I feel good feel free to go 7:30, don't do the 1st half too fast, save some juice for the last 6, it's going to be hot. I knew I could run slightly better than 3:25 (my BQ time), that was my minimum goal. I felt I could beat it by at least a few minutes, really wanted, and half expected 3:20-3:21. Hitting 3-high teens, 3:18-3:19 not totally out of the question. Perfect morning, about 50°-52° First half of the race was very cool and shady. I happened to line up by the half marathon 7:37 pace group for the 1st 4 miles which is about want I wanted during the first few miles, I didn't want to start too fast and it looks like we both did, shame on the pacer and shame on me. If I would have let him go, I would have though I wasn't runing 7:37 but he never adjusted his pace. Maybe he told his group he was going to go out fast because it was down hill. Oh well, I was still happy because this pace felt incredibly easy. 1 7:20 2 7:24 3 7:16 4 7:16 5 8:05 1st mile away from the "7:37 pacer" and into Sugarhouse Park, A little slow for what I wanted, I think I took the uphill a little to slowly. 6 7:01 Way overcompensated for a 8 minute'r 7 7:42 8 7:47 9 7:50 10 7:52 11 7:16 12 7:41 13 7:59 I was exactly 3 minutes ahead of a 3:25 finish and felt strong and powerful. I was way happy and was having the race of my life. I've run enough marathons to know that this feeling does not last but I felt confident in my abilities today but still concerned about the looming heat. 14 7:47 15 7:27 16 7:34 17 7:35 18 7:41 19 7:48 Getting ready to tell myself to throw the hammer down but the hammer is curiously heavy. The "last 6" is hitting me harder than expected and catches me off guard. The heat didn't help either, it's 20 7:51 I'm happy to be still be following the "no slower than 7:50" rule but I know I can't keep it up. 21 8:10 Now I'm focused on running each mile as fast as I can, knowing I'm chewing into the 3 and a half minute "buffer" I've built up trying to hit a low 3:20. 22 8:13 Still hanging on, knowing I have a good chance at surviving sub 3:25. 23 8:07 Giving up about 15 seconds a mile is making me nervous but still feel incontrol. 24 8:06 Very happy to have maintained my "new" pace. 25 8:22 I knew I was going to give some time here, it's uphill, hard and hot. 26 8:40 Half of the this mile is the steepest of the uphill, but as soon as you crest South Temple you can see the finish line and it's a downhill sprint. .2 1:31 (7:31) I'm happy with my time, I'm confident it's fast enough to get me into Boston. I just need to decide if I want to spend the money to go. There is no way to do this race on the cheep. This race is a new PR for me, I'm happy about that but based on my 5-10 and 15K I should be faster in the marathon. The predictor tables all show I should be 3:15. This might be a good topic to put on the discussion board, it looks like I'm lacking something in my training.
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