Final Thoughts and Lessons Learned from the St. George Marathon

My full race recap is HERE. I just have to repeat that it was an AWESOME day. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and was excited beyond belief to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

The St. George Marathon is long over and I am still thrilled with the result.  My friends had mixed results, but overall everyone had a great time.  Kim hit a wall due to becoming dehydrated and missed her goal.  She still finished her first marathon, blowing me out of the water with an impressive time of 3:41. Heidi and Whitney finished their first marathons with smiles on their faces. Heidi met her goal of a sub five-hour marathon (4:50) and Whitney was grinning ear to ear at 5:29. 

But the story of the day was Kelly.  Kelly finished in 3:39!!!!! Not only did she qualify for Boston (by 21 seconds), she got 5th in her division, earning herself a very cool plaque!* I was filled with so much emotion at this news. I was SO proud. I was SO excited and happy for Kelly. I was a little surprised (she never talked about such an aggressive goal). Unfortunately, I also felt a little jealous**. I felt a little frustrated (that I had not had more faith in her and been more supportive of her “balls out” race plan).*** I was mad at myself for feeling anything but pure joy for Kelly. Now all I feel is happy for her. Unfortunately, Kelly couldn’t truly enjoy her accomplishment. Kelly is so sweet and such a supportive friend that she didn’t feel comfortable celebrating when she beat her “coach” by over ten minutes and her friend Kim by two.  Kim was pretty disappointed in her race and no one wanted to make her feel any worse.

All of us are talking about our next marathon together, but that is a post for another day.
Kelly told me after the race that she thought I left too much out there on the course. I have pondered this over and over. I know now that I probably could have run that race faster had I run the first miles faster. I know that I couldn’t have run the last half of the race any faster than I did.  But the first seven? Maybe.

In looking back, however, I have NO regrets. I ran my race plan and did what I wanted to do. I felt fantastic afterward and recovered quickly. I have a reasonable shot at getting a PR next time I run a marathon. I think that is a great place to be. I know the pain and disappointment of going out too fast and struggling at the end.  Feeling strong and having enough energy to push through that wall at the end feels WAY better than shuffling those last few miles, completely spent.

Kelly admitted that she went with her “balls out” plan because she had nothing to lose. I did have something to lose. The last thing I wanted to do was to go through that disappointment that I went through in Long Beach. Running smart was a better plan for me. Who knows…maybe next year I’ll try the “balls out” race plan.

What worked in St. George?

1. Downhill course.  While the hills were nothing to scoff at, the net downhill of the race helped me keep my speed up in the tough miles toward the end.
2. Solid pacing plan. I had plenty of energy to get through those tough, painful miles in the middle of the race. At the end, I was able to keep my pace right where it was supposed to be.
3. Good hydration plan. I decided to carry my own hydration. The weather was hot; the hottest start in race history. The start was at 5200 feet and altitude can contribute to dehydration. While there were water stations every two miles, I wanted to be able to drink more often than that. I get side stitches when I drink too much water at once.  In addition, the sports drink (available every four miles) was Gatorade.  I had been training with Nuun and wanted to stick with that. The great thing was that when I ran out of Nuun, I refilled my bottles with water and added a Nuun tablet that I was carrying. I felt no signs of dehydration despite the excessive heat combined with the altitude.
4. Great pre-race carb loading. I used an old school approach to carb loading. I ate a relatively low carb diet on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Then I switched mid-week to a high carb diet. I ate things like waffles and popcorn in addition to meals of pasta etc. and drank plenty of juice and water. We snacked constantly on the day before the race on the long car ride to St. George. Then I had a sensibly sized pasta dinner at a reasonable hour.
5. Imodium. One of the things that derailed me in Long Beach was bad tummy issues resulting in a porta potty stop. I never got my rhythm back after that. The same thing has happened in several other races. I experimented with taking Imodium before a couple half marathons this year and it worked well.
6. A positive attitude. While I was focused on my goal, I was also determined to enjoy myself. I enjoyed the fantastic view and fabulous company. It was the most friends I had ever run a marathon with****. 

Happy Running…

*She ran in the “under 40 heavyweight division.” It is great that they have this division. I do believe, however, that the guidelines for the division are WAY off. To qualify for “heavyweight” as a woman you only have to be over 145 pounds. Since when is 145 pounds heavyweight?? 145 pounds is average. In fact, it is below average for women. I would venture to guess that it is well below average. Kelly is a strong, fit athlete and I would never think of her as a “heavyweight.”
**I ran all the speedwork faster than she did. Our training was the same. Could I have run that fast??
***I never thought she would run that quickly. All the charts (RRCA, McMillan, Attackpoint etc.) predicted a slightly lower than four hour pace. Kelly is one of the best downhill runners I have ever met. I can’t keep up with her on a downhill slope. Most of the guys can’t keep up with her on a downhill. She goes for it and it does not wear her out at all. This course was tailor made for her. While there are plenty of uphill sections, they are outweighed by downhill (a net 2600 foot drop). But she pushed through and didn’t lose speed up the hills or at the end. She is awesome!
****There were seven of us that travelled from California to Utah

St. George Marathon Race Report—Marathon Redemption v2

My marathon journey has not been an easy one. My first sub-four attempt (marathon #2) was a crash and burn in San Diego. The marathon after that (marathon #3) was my “marathon redemption” in Huntington Beach. My first Boston attempt (marathon #4) was a crash and burn in Long Beach. On Saturday I had my second “marathon redemption” in St. George (marathon #6).

We drove to the race, which is about six hours away. While traveling like that right before a race isn’t ideal, it worked out well for me. I think my carbo loading was much better than it has been in the past. Normally, I am running around like a crazy woman the day before a race. That is my normal routine, which sometimes doesn’t give me time for lunch, let alone constant snacking.  Sitting in a car allowed me to snack and drink the entire time. We drank so much that we had to stop three times during the drive!

We hit the expo and then headed to our friends’ family’s home for a fun pasta dinner. Since I had been eating all day, I didn’t feel tempted to eat a huge plate full of pasta.  I had a normal portion of pasta, piece of garlic bread and dessert. It was Heidi’s birthday and Rod’s in a few weeks, so we had several types of birthday cake.  The coolest thing was that Heidi was turning 26 and then running 26.2 the next day.  It was her first marathon.
We went back to Whitney’s family condo to sleep.  Did I mention how great it is running with people who seem to know everyone in Utah? No restaurant or hotel the night before a marathon?  Such a relaxing way to prepare for a race!!

I had one moment of panic while setting my stuff out for the next morning. I had my list at home that included my Garmin.  I brought my Garmin, BUT I failed to bring the wrist band that it snaps onto. I was contemplating keeping my Garmin in my hydration belt and lamenting at this unfortunate twist added to my race plan.  Whitney brought several spools of hair ribbon and had a great idea. We tied the Garmin to my wrist! It slid around my wrist a bit, but it was better than having to get it out of my belt to see my pace.  Crisis averted!  Thanks, Whitney!

We went to bed and I was super tired, convinced I would sleep like a rock. But, alas, I laid awake for a couple of hours. I wasn’t thinking about the race and I didn’t think I was that nervous, but my brain would not turn off!  I probably ended up getting a couple of hours, but when the alarm went off at 3:30 I was excited!

We caught the bus to the start line just before 5 a.m.. The only part of the course we could preview was the rise and fall of the road. It was pitch black. You could definitely tell there were a lot of hills in this race.

Runners who have run this race before had told us to bring gloves, throwaway sweatshirts, garbage sacks etc. because the start line, at 5200 feet in elevation, is very chilly. They even had many fires built at the start line to keep runners warm. They also gave everyone mylar blankets to wrap around ourselves. But we didn’t need any of that.  It was plenty warm. I think it was already in the 60’s when we started the race. Rumor has it that it was the warmest starting temperature in St. George’s 35 year history.  Yikes.

We were ready to go! (pictured are: Adam, Rod, Kelly, Kay, Kirsten, Heidi, Whitney, Me and Kim)

We used the porta potties several times.  My plan in a big race is to spend the entire time in potty lines. Once I get done, I get right back in line. This has been a key to my best races. Once I “emptied” everything, I took my Imodium. I took one and a half pills (after playing around with the dosage at various half marathons). This was a bit of a risk considering the fact that it can dehydrate you.  However, I was carrying water and planned on drinking throughout the race.  I had no dehydration issues. Phew!

Before we new it, it was time to start! 


I had a plan. My plan involved pacing myself. We found a GREAT pacing tool online that weighted each mile based upon the elevation changes and terrain of that race. The author has recorded splits from many runners from many years. This pace band was the KEY to my successful race. I kept my splits at or under these times. It took all my anxiety over the Veyo hill away. I knew that I could slow down quite a bit up that hill without hurting my overall time. Throughout the race, I could check and see where I was and what kind of cushion I had. It was awesome.

Miles 1-7—8:38, 8:43, 8:29, 8:15, 8:32, 8:18, 8:20 My friend, Sharron, texted me a good luck wish on Friday that said, “Have a great race tomorrow! Don’t forget to enjoy the view.” That text stuck with me.  It was dark when the race started but dawn came on around mile two. The sky was a beautiful color and while the sun was hidden by the mountains for quite a while, its affects could be seen on the red rocks in the distance. It was beautiful.  I made sure that I ran with my head up rather than watching the pavement in front of me. I was enjoying myself so much. The only thing I was missing was company. I would make a comment about the scenery and not get much interaction. But that was ok. It was the prettiest race I have ever run. Had I not had a specific time goal, I would have taken a ton of gorgeous pictures.  Instead, I stole borrowed a couple from another runner who was kind enough to post them on his blog. The pictures don’t do the scenery justice.

photos courtesy of fastcory.com

I ran and clicked off the miles…one at a time.  It was amazing how fast they clicked by. Before I knew it, I was running through the little town of Veyo. The spectators were pretty sparse on the course, but when there were spectators, they were super supportive and enthusiastic. Veyo was the greatest. I high fived about twenty kids and read a bunch of great signs.  There were signs that made me laugh like “Mommy, did you pee your pants?”  and “Running a Marathon is all mental and you are all INSANE.”


I felt surprisingly relaxed. I felt good and I was really enjoying myself. At one point I looked down and saw my name. Someone had painted “Relax, Lisa, Relax! You can DO it” I knew it was for another Lisa, but I chose to believe that they were writing it for me. There was another message with the same sentiment later on in the race.  Thank you, random stranger!

photo courtesy of MarathonFoto

Miles 7-13 —9:31, 9:13, 8:50, 9:06, 8:37, 8:33 Then we hit the infamous hill. But it was more than just the steep hill out of Veyo. Once you get to the top of the hill, you get a deceptive flat section and then it continues uphill for another three miles.  The good news was that the worst of the hills were over.

I was still clicking off the miles, one by one. I was shocked how fast things were going.  As I reached for my Gu at mile 12, I realized that one of them had fallen out of its elastic strap. Oh crap!  There goes my nutrition plan. I knew I should have stashed an extra one.  I was feeling good, so I decided not to take a Gu yet and to wait until mile 13.  I figured that I could find another gel somewhere to get me by later on, but I needed to be smart about it. At one point I was looking for full, unused gels on the ground. I saw a couple, but not until I passed them and it would have looked pretty silly to turn around to pick up a discarded gel. But I knew that I would need more nutrition. I took a chance and grabbed a banana at an aid station at mile 13. It tasted delicious and did great in my tummy!

Miles 14-18—8:55, 8:15, 8:53, 8:18, 8:48 It was starting to get pretty hot. It had been warm for most of the race, but the sun was behind the mountains or clouds for much of the first half of the race.  By mile 14 the sun was out in full force.

The heat didn’t affect me as badly as I thought it would.  One thing that helped a lot was a cute little trick that Whitney shared with me.  I took some knee socks and tied them around my neck.  At one of the early water stops (probably around mile 7) I soaked it in cold water. At every water stop I poured water on the socks. They kept my neck nice and cool and I never felt overheated. It was a risk running with something I hadn’t tried before.  I figured that I could toss the $2 socks if they bugged me.

Unfortunately, it was during these long hot middle miles that my IT Band started bothering me. A LOT. I had a long way to go and I didn’t know how much worse it was going to get. I stopped at a medical tent (which were very plentiful—at nearly every water station, which were every two miles). They rubbed my knee with Icy Hot. I think I did this at mile 17.

Miles 19-22—9:46, 9:11, 8:30, 9:49  These were the toughest miles of the race. I was in serious pain. I had to stop to stretch or walk in order to get the pain on the side of my leg to ease up.

Going into mile 19, I had close to a two minute cushion on my A+ goal. I was averaging an 8:41 pace.  But mile 19 was one of my slowest miles. I hurt, it was hot. I knew my cushion was dwindling away every time I stopped. During mile 19 there was an overpass with a traffic barrier off to the side under it. It was something to lean on and it was in the shade. I didn’t check, but I may have used up a good chunk of a minute there.

My IT Band hurt as much that day as it did during the Long Beach Marathon a year earlier. Last year, it was the nail in my coffin that I couldn’t push through. This year, I was SO close to my goal. Somehow, I was able to push through. I learned, maybe for the first time, just how much of a mental challenge a marathon is. I have always wondered if I could have pushed through that pain last year, but since my goals were completely gone, I never really tried. This year, with my goal still within reach, I found the strength. This is the strongest I have ever felt in a race.

Miles 23-26.2--8:35, 8:18, 8:35, 8:37 (pace for .2 was 8:17)                           
Miraculously, somewhere around mile 23, my IT Band stopped hurting so acutely. In fact, my knee went numb. I felt nothing.  Well…I can’t say nothing. It was the last miles of a marathon in 80-degree weather. I felt all sorts of things. 

These miles had some great spectator support. The course wound through residential streets where crowds cheered me on. There were cold washcloths at mile 25 that felt fantastic. There was finally some shade and I was smiling. I knew I was going to finish within my goal. My Boston qualifying time of 3:55 was in the bag. I knew my A++ (3:48 or faster) goal was out of reach, but my A+ goal (sub 3:50) was still possible. I pushed as hard as I could.

photo proof courtesy of MarathonFoto.com


I ran through the chute with a grin on my face. After crossing the finish line, I looked down and saw that I didn’t quite make that A+ goal (3:50:17).  However, I was not disappointed. I was overcome with emotion and as I covered my face as the tears came, a volunteer asked if I was ok.  I was more than ok. Then he asked if it was my first marathon.  “No, but my first time qualifying for Boston.”  I got a few congratulations from those around me.  I have never felt so proud after a race.

Official Time--

3:50:13

overall- 1578/5735

gender- 439/2554

women 40-44- 71/367

Thanks everyone for the positive thoughts and well wishes.

Coming soon…after the race, thoughts, and lessons learned.

BQ, baby!!!!

I went to Utah and kicked some serious booty! I ran a smart race, battled the weather, pushed through some major pain and owned that marathon.

My goal was to clear my Boston qualifying time by five minutes. I missed doing that by 13 seconds. But four minutes and 47 seconds is pretty awesome. Oh, and it was a PR by over seven minutes!!!

3:50:13!!

The full race report will be coming soon.

Happy Running… (I won’t be running today, but I am walking around pretty darn happy)

Loosening my grip…

As most people do, I have been refreshing Weather.com about a million times a day for the past week obsessing about St. George, Utah on Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather outlook has steadily become worse and worse. Five days ago, the forecast was for high temperatures around 89 degrees.  As of five minutes ago, the high is predicted to be 93.  YIKES.

Yesterday, I posted on Facebook and Twitter asking for advice for running a marathon in extreme heat.  I had some good advice.  Some of it even made me laugh. Alyssa and XLMIC both suggested I run naked! Interesting thought…

Two tweets came through that really made me think:

When I talked to my husband about it, he encouraged me not to change my goal. I have been training toward this goal for six months. If you count my failed attempt last year, I have been running toward this goal for over a year.

But running in temperatures that high? In Googling “running in heat” I saw articles saying that running in temperatures over 85 can lower your pace as much as 20%.

I am not going to give up my goal. However, I am going to loosen my grip on it a bit. Last year, I was holding on to my goal so tightly that when it finally slipped away, I was crushed. It still stings. I actually have a bad taste in my mouth for the Long Beach Marathon because of it. I have looked forward for so long to running St. George, I don’t want it ruined. I am determined to enjoy this!

I will do exactly as Mason suggests: accept what the day gives me, adjust my goal as needed and, most importantly, HAVE FUN.

I don’t think there is live tracking for the race, however they are broadcasting the finish line. I will be wearing a day-glo tank top, pink visor, pink compression socks and black shorts. My bib number is 5974. Look for me! http://www.voddov.com/marathon/

I’m off to finish packing.  We leave in the morning.

Happy Running…

Training update…

I have two big items on my race calendar in the next couple of months—St. George Marathon and Hood to Coast Relay. My key race coming up is the St. George Marathon on October 1.  I was so focused on this race and felt really good about training for it.

Now, with eight weeks to go, I am not feeling quite as confident. I officially launched my business this spring and taught my first Body Back class (an 8-week boot camp program). That took two days a week away from my running, so my mileage totals didn’t increase like I would normally want them to.  Then a few weeks ago, my hip really started to bother me. It was so bad that I could barely walk. I took about two weeks off to rest it and let it heal. After rest and a great deep massage, I feel better.  My hip still feels tight, but I am stretching more and stopping when I need to.  I was pretty conservative coming back—I would rather come back slowly than risk a major injury.

Add a vacation into the mix and I am behind the eight-ball on this one. My running group has already run eighteen miles. The longest I have run during this training cycle is a half marathon in June.

But today, things started looking up. I joined Kelly and Kim on their speed work session. They have been doing sets of Yasso 800’s for several weeks now.  I didn’t go at first, because I like to keep speedwork in the second half of a training cycle, focusing on building endurance during the first half.  I decided to join them today, because I felt like I needed to keep something on schedule for this plan. and I wanted to see how I felt. 
The group is up to 9 X 800m.  I didn’t really think I could do nine.  When I did them before Long Beach, I don’t think I worked my way up to nine—maybe six or seven. I figured I would do what I could and listen to my body.  We warmed up for a couple of miles and then started on the 800’s. I felt surprisingly good!  With my goal of 3:50ish for the marathon, my 800’s should be at 3:45 or less.  The first one was 3:24*.  Not too shabby. I skipped the fifth interval, opting to stretch my hip while the others continued.  I rejoined them, completing four more.  My last interval was my fastest! We started and Kim, who is always faster than I am, seemed a bit slow on this last repeat.  I kept right with her.  With about 200m to go, I passed her, thinking she was slowing down.  When I looked down at my watch and saw 3:19, I knew that she hadn’t slowed as much as I had pushed that last one. While I still have a ways to go to get where I want to be, those eight 800m intervals gave me a lot of confidence.  I definitely felt better than I did last year while training for Long Beach. They were hard, but they didn’t kick my butt!!  Awesome!

I have a long run this weekend. I am hoping to get 16-18 miles.  Normally, I wouldn’t suggest making such a jump, but I feel good.  I ran eleven altitude-affected miles on vacation in Mammoth, which was probably the equivalent of 14 or so in terms of time on my feet. We’ll see how I feel.  I may keep it closer to 14 miles.

I am SO happy that Hood to Coast is going to break up the rest of my St. George training. I think it will help keep me from stressing too much.  I am part of Nuun’s Team 2, which has been named Nuun Platuun. I have been getting to know my teammates on Facebook (and through their blogs) and am really excited.  My van is going to be so much fun!!

I have not been really “training” for HTC. Some of my teammates have done two-a-days and three-a-days, but I can’t really do that with my husband’s work schedule.  I am hoping to get one or two night runs in over the next month, but I am pretty confident that my strong running foundation will get me through my three legs (Leg 6, 18 and 30). My mileage total is just over 17 miles.

What advice do you have for “catching up” to marathon training after an injury lay-off?


What advice do you have for a 12-person relay?  Do you train for it?  Any secret packing advice?**


Coming soon…answers to my Q&A.  It is not too late to post questions.

Happy Running…

*The 800m intervals were: 3:24, 3:27, 3:37, 3:38, 3:32, 3:34, 3:34, 3:19 (!!)
**my packing obsession has begun and my “list” is sitting on my desktop.