I beat my personal best by 2 minutes but was behind my goal by 25 minutes. Crap. I was on pace but my knee just wouldn't let me. I've been worried about it since it hurt after my run in St. George. I don't know how people give a mile by mile account of their marathon's They seem to blend together. It was a beautiful morning and I felt great. I started with a 9:03 trying to fight the crowd. Mile 2 was more of the same but I still managed a 8:23. I often went around the crowd during these two miles which messed up my watch. It was now .13 miles ahead of the course. That's a whole minute and a half I would have to make up. After that I tried to take a better line down the canyon. Mile 3 was 8:21. The first water stop was at the beginning of mile 4 and I can't remember if I stopped or not, but my time for that mile didn't reflect one. I ran it in 8:15. I was putting in some great splits and felt relaxed with easy breathing. It was encouraging and I was getting a good lead on my 4 hour goal. 5 was 8:30, 6 was 8:35, and 7 was 8:30. I was maintaining a fast 8:30 pace. 8 was 8:23 and 9 was 8:38. I took a hammer gel at the start of mile 10, took a water and finished the mile at 8:55. I was still hanging around 8:30 but I was starting to feel my knee. 11 and 12 were 8:50 and 8:44. I always have a hard time getting back up to speed after a walk for a water and gel. 13 was 8:51 and 14 was 8:41. I was slowing a little but I was still getting ahead of 4:00 pace. 15 was out of the canyon and a quick 8:31. Out of the canyon, you get a bunch of people cheering with signs all over the place. It gives you a bit of a boost. I took another gel and water at the start of mile 16 and finished it at 9:36. I knee was starting to ache more and I had a little difficulty getting started again. Mile 17 was 8:49 and 18 was 8:53. That was the end of the down hill and I was at a 8:40 pace. That's where I wanted to be, except that my watch was ahead of the course by .15 so instead of 9 minutes ahead I was only 7.5 or so. 19 and 20 are a steady uphill. Its brutal going into the difficult stretch. I ran them in 9:34 and 10:18. 21 flattens out but I was tired from the previous 2 and ran it in 10:15. I took a gel running into the aid station and walked in for some water to wash it down. I needed the energy and the water to have a chance at 4 hours, but I also was worried about getting started again because of my knee. I was right about my knee. The pain was horrible trying to get running again and I couldn't even stand it to try and warm it up. I walked for a while and tried it again with the same result. I knew 4 hours was out of the question I decided I was just going to quit at the end of 22. I didn't want to walk in at 5 hours. Toward the end I found that I could walk pretty fast and if I walked at a 14 minute mile I would still PR. 22 was 19:42, 23 was 14:15, 24 was 13:23, 25 was 13:37. During 26 I tried to do a limp/run and it actually worked. After a few minutes I could actually run. I wish I would have figured this out earlier. Mile 26 was 12:54. So I actually ran across the finish line, beating my person pest, set at this same marathon in '05, by 2 minutes. I'm disappointed I didn't do better but encouraged by the first 20 miles. I finished with plenty of energy, I just didn't get a chance to use it all. Congratulation to Allie for KICKING IT. She won and slashed her personal best. I met her right after she collected her cash and congratulated her. Well, here it is again. Congratulations Allie!
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