Salt Lake City Marathon--2007

Well, marathon day came.

Got up at 3 a.m. to get ready. Picked Rick Pearmain (good friend I run with) up at 4:45 a.m.

Got to the Gateway (a shopping center in downtown SLC where the marathon ended) to park, and took Trax (local train system) up to the Olympic Legacy bridge.

Was cool--around 42 degrees.

Gun was at 7 a.m. Were a lot of runners--the 1/2 and full marathon routes are the same for 3-4 miles, and they start at the same time.

Personal goal was to meet or beat 4 hours.

Felt good at the first. We slowed our pace from last year to 9 minute miles and hope we could maintain that pace. Held back some at the beginning. No problem through 20 miles.

At about mile 21, my toes were killing me. Am sure I will lose some toenails again this year, Had to slow some. Rick went on ahead and finished in about 4 hours 3 minutes. I finished up around 4 hours 9 minutes.

Perfect weather for a marathon--couldn't have asked for better. Little or no sun and cool temps.

Overall, feel pretty good about the performance. Only improved 1 minute from last year's marathon. Had allergies.cold that kept me from training hard for 2+ weeks about 1 month ago, so think that made a small difference. Still going to shoot to beat that 4 hour mark--don't know why it is so elusive.