GTR Marathon

Wow. What a week it has been.

It's been a week now since the GTR Marathon and I'm already looking forward to next year. I had my eyes set on the course record, a speedy, yet fairly attainable (I thought) 3:49. I knew it would require a big push, but after some good training in the prior months, I felt I was ready for it. I had three goals set in the following order of importance to me: 1. Set a new course record. 2. Run the entire 26.2 miles. No walking allowed. 3. Win.

I set into a comfortable pace off the start beginning the 2.5 mile, 1,810ft climb up to the top of Fred's Mtn. I felt like I was running right at my AT. Not too fast as to not be able to recover, but at the absolute fastest I could go while still looking ahead to the remaining 23.7 miles. I hit the top in 31:30, grabbed a cup of water, and quickly began the descent feeling surprisingly light on my feet. 15 minutes later, I was on the extra 1.2 mile loop for the marathon course and I breezed through the base area at 6.8 miles in 57 minutes. I was down Mill Creek and past the Teton Canyon aid station at mile 12.5 in 1:42. Smooth. 29 minutes later, I turned off Ski Hill Rd at mile 15.8 and while I was still right at my AT, I felt that I still had enough juice to maintain the pace. I was back at the Base area at mile 20 in an exhausting 3:06 and off onto the last 5 miles around Rick's Basin with 43 minutes to spare. The effort had caught up to me on the climb back up to the base area, but I was still hanging in there. Rick's would be tough, but I had been running this loop during training in a comfortable 40 minutes so I figured I had it. Just keep things together and there'll be a 3:46 course record at the end. Nope. I was working harder than in my training, but going slower. Every time check I had created for myself during my training showed I was losing time. Big time. And then I got a side stitch. And then my hip flexors began seizing up. And there was the wall. The climb out of Rick's contained 100% running, if that's what you want to call it, but it wasn't pretty. I was cooked. Finish time: 3:55:10. 49 minutes for the last 5 miles. Woof.

Next year...