Clyde's Comeback!

STG Marathon

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Location:

St. George,UT,U.S.A

Member Since:

Apr 02, 2005

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

97th at Boston

1:09:40 Half Marathon

2:25:50 Marathon

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get healthy enough to enjoy a run again.

Long-Term Running Goals:

To be able to do it... long term. 

Personal:

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift" -Steve Prefontaine

Live your life. Take chances. Be crazy. Don't wait. Because right now is the oldest you've ever been and the youngest you'll be... ever again.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Baby Jogger Lifetime Miles: 623.95
Kinvara Lifetime Miles: 313.32
Asics TRI Lifetime Miles: 610.65
Pegasus Lifetime Miles: 520.90
Kinvara2 Lifetime Miles: 350.20
Ghost Yellow Lifetime Miles: 374.25
Kestrel Bike Lifetime Miles: 1883.75
NB- Rainbow Lifetime Miles: 57.80
Red Cumulus Lifetime Miles: 594.95
Neon Launch Lifetime Miles: 533.40
DS Trainer Lifetime Miles: 467.77
Green Pegasus Lifetime Miles: 479.75
Lunerglide Lifetime Miles: 276.70
Blue Pegasus Lifetime Miles: 528.06
NoosTri Lifetime Miles: 283.07
BlueKinvara Lifetime Miles: 216.60
Innov Lifetime Miles: 58.50
Ride Lifetime Miles: 207.45
NavPeg Lifetime Miles: 162.50
Green K5's Lifetime Miles: 88.00
Race: STG Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:31:00, Place overall: 6, Place in age division: 2
Total Distance
26.20

I'm not even sure how to start this entry. I'm inclined to say it was a "bummer" race but this was so crazy that you almost have to laugh at it. Last year I would have been disappointed if I would have run anything less that a sub 2:30- so this year after all the work and miles I've put in and I ran a 2:31- well it just leaves me speechless. The wind was horrible and the rain just got annoying. No it wasn't worse than Boston in 2007, but what was worse was the fact that I didn't have anyone to draft behind with the exception of the very first mile... so in the end it made for a worse overall race performance. 

Things were slow from the start. We hit the first mile and someone said 6 min's and I looked at the watch and it was 6 flat. Around 30 seconds slower than the plan. Then it just kept getting worse. I hit the half in 1:16:10- the plan was for 1:11 high or 1:12 mid. I almost pulled out at the half thinking "why" why even push to the end and trash the body up. What could I possibly gain? The only reason I kept pushing was because I knew I was ready for a great, hard, fast race and I thought I'd just really hammer the second half and see what happened. Well nothing really happened. I did catch a few guys at around mile 19 (Sasha, Jeff, Dave D, and Nick M- who kept having to stop and retie his shoe and eventually left me again. I pushed into wind all race at the front of the pack until the base of Veyo hill and then when I slowed down going up Veyo and the pack dropped me and a new one formed with me and the 3rd place guy and a couple Japan runners. Then they all sat back and I broke trail until 23 or so and the 3rd place guy who had been sitting on me all race went ahead and at that point I was starting to feel the effects of my efforts.

You have no control over the weather and everyone had to deal with it so I really can't be too upset about that. The thing that really bugs me is that I can always finish on this course. On the good downhill coming into town I can roll and bring it home. So today that was the only think I was counting on and then I got there and couldn't get things to move. I finished so bad today and it cost me 2 or three spots place wise.

My splits were horrible so I'm not putting them up. In fact I've been to worked up to even look back through them. At this point it really doesn't matter. They wont be helpful to me in the future for anything.

I feel bad for everyone that had to pound through the weather today, and if you were the one in the front of your little pack I feel worse for you because you were working harder than the guy 3 feet behind you. In a race you can't physically force someone to take the lead and break the wind for you.

With the exception of a few blessed runners everyone was 10 or so min's slower than goal pace. Some up to 15 and others maybe only like 8. Me personally 12. Like I said this was so crazy and weird that you really just have to laugh about it. The ironic part is the conditions didn't seem to slow the winner down too much at all. He must have eaten his Wheaties this morning. 

I may come back to this and add more later but for now this works.

(SS#2- 84.6) 

Comments
From Andy on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:03:23

Ignoring the time, I think you still hit a lot of your goals. It wasn't as cold as Boston 2007 but I think that the rain and wind were worse.

From Burt on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:11:20

Super race, Superfly. Bummer conditions, but what can you do?

From You momber one fan on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:33:16

I know you are disappointed, but you did take 6th place in a field of 6 or 7 thousand people. It's also nice to "serve" others....you were able to help others achieve their goals, they drafted off of you and really helped others. No one can control the weather. Life is not fair, it's how you handle the unfairness (of the weather, etc.) that you will be judged.

Be happy for a healthy, strong body that can take you into flight for 26.2!

From Your momber one fan on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:35:35

I know you are disappointed, but you did take 6th place in a field of 6 or 7 thousand people.

It's also nice to "serve" others....you were able to help others achieve their goals, they drafted off of you and got better times because of you taking the lead. No one can control the weather. Life is not fair, it's how you handle the unfairness (of the weather, etc.) that you will be judged.

Be happy for a healthy, strong body that can take you into flight for 26.2! Less than 1% of the world's population will ever know what it feels like to complete a marathon, let alone come in 6th place!

From Dale on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:47:14

Bummer conditions and a very good race effort in spite of it. You took the things you could control, went out and ran quite a race considering. A pretty gutsy call to push so hard in the second half.

Your ideal race will come and you're fitness will be there to have the breakout race you're itching for. In the meantime, be proud of the PR effort you gave today in tough conditions. Good work!

From Clay on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:49:50

It was so brutal out there Clyde I almost cashed in my chips! I think the conditions were what did you in kiddo, not your training, but don't fret I see great things happening in the future for you!!!

The dude that won had to be juicing, just kidding:-)

From paul on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 19:52:16

Bummer about the weather, but you RACED hard, and you placed fairly well. The fact that you were just a couple minutes off of 2nd and 3rd indicates that your fitness is there, but the weather wasn't. Looking at who beat you (and by how much), and who you beat, I think you ran pretty well.

From RivertonPaulo on Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 22:05:28

Well done, its been fun following your blog.

From MarcieJ on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 01:05:59

Today was tough! Great attitude to have, can you pass it along to me? Great job on pushing through and still ending up top 10 and a great time!

From dave holt on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 01:52:35

Clyde, you are the man. We gave it a shot. Today wasn't the day. Let's chill for a little and then get going again. And... at least we can still pin some hopes on Logan to represent the Circle well tomorrow.

But seriously, Paul said just what we said, look at who we beat and how close we were to others. Were there - the times will soon follow on a better day.

From Christi on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 09:54:10

Congrats on mighty fine race!! I think you hit the nail on the head- the conditions were laughable. If I was so off on my goal time on a good weather condition day I would've been much more disappointed. You rock!

From Tom on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 10:56:21

Clyde good job surviving out there today. As you noted most everyone had a similar day today, don't know if that provides much consolation, but the fact is Mother Nature decided to mess everything up this year and there isn't a dang thing we could do about it. Like Paul said - your fitness is there but the weather wasn't.

From Kim on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 11:58:31

Thanks for the support! I'm not going to believe you St. Georgians anymore when you say it doesn't rain down there! :o) You guys just had too many people praying for rain this year! It was actually a pretty fun experience! It wouldn't be fun if all marathons went exactly perfect!

From Mike Warren on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 12:16:45

Clyde, maybe not the time you wanted, but under the conditions pretty darn good. I am so impressed with the dedication you put into your running. With your current conditioning, maybe look for another marathon to run? Also, great job on the top 10.

From josse on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 17:35:08

You summed up my race very nicely. I keep thinking to myself I will feel better and be able to push the last half and I just wasn't ever there. It stinks that the cold and wind effected us all in this way (at least that is who I am blaming). Character builders I guess?

From Steve Hooper on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:10:50

Hey Clyde, What a tough day! I wouldn't even worry about the time for yesterday. Move on, your in great shape and all that hard work over the last year has been worth it.

How about CA International Marathon beginning of Dec?

From Paul Petersen on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:13:01

Yeah Clyde, if I can kick this shin injury, I'll probably do a December marathon. We should get some folks and go somewhere. Either Cal International or St. Jude.

From Superfly on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:22:15

Thanks everyone for the Congrats. I'm kind of in post marathon depression so the warm wishes really feel good. This really made me appreciate last years race and all the good races I've had. It's not only fun to PR and run great yourself but last year was electric with how good everyone did.

Paul- I'm not making any race or running plans right now but could possibly be talked into something down the road. California sounds cool. The International or even the LA thing Sasha was talking about would be kind of cool too. But like I said- at this moment I'm not thinking about running for a couple days or weeks...

From MichelleL on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:36:28

Clyde - Thanks for your positive post-race attitude. I needed to hear your humorous take on it. Keep laughing about it because moping isn't going to do us any good :) Its hard to go into a race with high expectations and have it mucked up, but your placing was good. It was great to hang with you a little this weekend. You're a "funny guy" as they say on Seinfeld. Thanks for the tour of the course. I saw the course better on Friday than Saturday.

I vote for PF Chang's in January. More time to recover and train on the flat.

From Superfly on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 20:40:31

Michelle- That one sounds good. In fact the Circle of Trust has had that one on the "to do list".

From cgbooth23 on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 21:42:11

tough race... you guys still amaze me having a bad day and still averaging what you do... looks like Logan had a similar experience with the weather.

From Paul Petersen on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 22:11:21

That's twice now people have mentioned LA, but I never actually heard about that idea first-hand. Did Sasha send an email or something? The problem is that it's hard to train past December in Logan; the weather just gets too nasty and the roads to slippery. We usually go into base hibernation mode by January.

From Chad on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 22:57:06

Clyde--it was a crazy day. Everyone knows you were primed to run a much faster time today, but it wasn't a day for time to matter. It was about effort, and you left it all out there. I saw you after the race, you were spent and I know that means you did all you could. Fifth place in a big marathon like this is a real accomplishment, nice job.

From James Holt on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 23:11:06

Inspite of everything you ran a great race. You guys trained crazy hard this summer and it blows to not have it pay off with the times you where gunning for. It came down to a major mental game for most of us just to keep going and I think you more than showed what your made of by sticking with it and pushing on.

From Jon on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 23:13:02

I'm up for PF or St. Jude or maybe Rocket City- I actually visit Huntsville a lot for work.

Anyways, good job, Clyde. You had an awesome race even though the times don't reflect it. I did laugh on the way out of town Sunday morning as it was cool, partly cloudy, no rain, and a slight wind out of the North- where was that yesterday???

From josse on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 23:15:29

Jon- me and Michelle noticed the same thing. Mother nature can be cruel.

From Superfly on Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 23:31:27

Jon- I know the weather here was totally amazing today.

From MarcieJ on Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 00:24:12

I thought the same thing about the weather today, it was absolutley beautiful. I also may be up for PF changs in January.

From Burt on Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 00:41:45

I know a lot of bloggers don't like to run on Sundays. Heads up for next year, I think we talked the race director for the Tucson Marathon into changing race day from Sunday to Saturday for 2009.

From Dustin on Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 11:06:45

Clyde great effort on the marathon. I know you didn't hit the time you wanted, but you still placed very high, which I was very happy to see. I really struggled with cramping and pretty much lost all focus and desire the second half. Now, I'm just ready to find another marathon and try to redeem myself before the end of the year.

From Superfly on Mon, Oct 06, 2008 at 11:33:30

Tucson has been on my "to do list" too.

From Brent on Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 21:20:09

Clyce - 1,000 wet and cold commando points for the great finishing place. Great effort on a tough day.

Stay Kool, not frozen, B of BS Rools out

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