Dallen

5 miles on the treadmill with 3 at 6:00 pace. Tried to see if I could eat "gummy" food at race pace. I can't. It's still gels for me. They taste bad, but I can get and keep them down without slowing down the running pace.

3 easy miles of running. I am a big believer in the taper. I believe that any real running the week of the marathon is only going to slow me down. A few miles here and there is all thet is need to keep me loose.

Originally I wanted to run the marathon in 2:30. It's probably not a realistic goal. I am not hoping for something in the 2:32-2:33 range. 2:30 is still a possibility, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Here's my reasoning: Last year I did Chicago in 2:39. I think it was hot enough that day to slow me down 3-4 minutes. With my current downhill running skill St George is probably 2-3 minutes faster than a flat course. My training this year is about the same as I did last year. A little more mileage, but probably a little less quality. There are always intangibles, but 2:32 seems like the "A" goal. 2:35 as the "B" goal and anything over 2:37 is a "bummer".

Weather is always a factor, and it is predicted to be windy saturday, but the hourly forecast has ideal temps in the 40's and only 5 MPH winds.

This was not my day. I nerver felt good. About 20 seconds into the race I heard Sasha yell "Dallen, you're going to fast." He was right. Unfortunately it was the only time I ran fast all day.

Before the race I wrote the split times on my arm that I needed to hit in order to run a 2:32. For the first 10 miles I was consistantly abot 10 second too slow. Once the hills ended I figured I would speed up, but I couldn't. My legs were pretty much shot when I hit the halfway point in 1:20:00. I held on hope for a negative split for a couple miles, but I knew I was doomed when my planned 5:30-5:40 miles were about 30-40 seconds too slow. I was fine going my slow pace, but couldn't force my body to go faster. Gradually slowed to 7:00 pace by the end. Finished in 2:45:20.

Analysis later, probably tomorrow.