Marathon #5

I love the Ogden Marathon! That being said, why does it not love me back?! I was hoping for a PR this time...

The day was beautiful...I had a cute outfit (I was even asked to have my photo taken for Runners World Magazine!!)...I had my go-to girl, Heather, with me...I was running with a pacer named Bill...I was also running on with an injury. I felt fine and kept up with the 3:45 pacer until mile 17. Let me give you a little background...If you run a 3:45 marathon, your pace is an 8:35 mile. (Keep in mind that you have to maintain that pace for 26.2 miles). At mile 16, I was feeling tired. I felt like I was breathing hard and my hamstring was screaming!! I looked down at my GPS and saw that we were running a 7:22 pace! I hollered up to Bill that we were running too fast and he said that he was going to have us run faster when we were going down hill. I kept up the 7:22 pace through that mile, but then I was history. I had to slow it way down. My hamstring was now so tight and sore that it was hard to think about anything else. I just wanted to get across the finish line so I could be done. Heather was fighting a battle of her own (something did NOT like her stomach and wouldn't let her keep anything down) so we were both on our own! :(

I crossed the finish line at a disappointing 3:59 with tears in my eyes. Maybe the Ogden Marathon and I hold a one sided relationship. I'm considering a break up...