The race today went pretty well, in fact everything went just how I wanted it to. Hopefully the good luck today doesn't mean that Ogden is going to be a disaster! :) So we got to Thanksgiving Point pretty early because I wanted to have plenty of time to use the bathroom a couple of times (if I needed to). I was able to do just that, and in the process met Jkrong and Andrea in line, so it was cool to finally meet some people from the blog. After the pre-race routine my wife left me at the 8:00 min pace group (which is my marathon goal pace) and then went with her pace group. As I chatted with the pace group before the race started I think I scared a few of them about the course, because the pacer and I were the only ones that knew it wasn't a real easy one, especially for Utah. As the race started the pacer told everyone he was going to go out a bit fast to get some time in the bank for later in the race. I decided I would stay a ways behind him and then finish strong, and if I had enough in the tank I would sell out the last mile, and hopefully pass him. When we started it was pretty congested for the first few miles, luckily at this part of the course there was plenty of space for all the runners. As I settled into my pace I realized I was much closer to the pacer than I had anticipated, so I made sure I kept him in sight. This came in handy, because after the first 2 miles I realized my watch wasn't going to match up with the course markers today, so I have no idea what my actual splits were. When we entered into the tulip gardens the run was really fun for the next couple of miles. In fact it was my favorite part of the run. It was very beautiful. The only problem was that the path got pretty narrow, and I got stuck behind some runners for a while. I think Jake described it best when he said it felt like a Mariokart race out there today. The ups and downs combined with sharp turns and narrow pathways made for a very interesting run, especially when trying to pass some people later in the race. After the gardens we went to the golf coarse, which for the first little while was really cool. At about mile 8 we saw 5 deer run across the fairway, and the pacer made some corny joke. After a STEEP climb at this point is when I left the pacer in the dust for good. It was on one of the longer downhill stretches of fairway that I really felt good. Miles 9-11.5 were a complete grind, but not because I was tired of running, but because I was tired of the golf coarse. I did everything I could to not focus on the surroundings. When we finally left the golf coarse I felt a surge of energy and finished the last 1.5 miles on fire, at least for me. According to my Garmin my average moving pace was right around a 7:30. As I came around the last turn and saw that I had a PR secured, and knowing I executed my plan for the day made me happy. Not to mention it always feels good to fly by people at the end of a race. I finished strong, got my medal, grabbed some water and then took everything to the car and ran back in search of my wife. I found her about 2 miles back and then we finished together. I hope that the execution today will lead to similar execution in Ogden!
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