Ready to Go!

The St George Marathon went well again this year for three main reasons.

1. The conditions were perfect. 
2. Coach Eyestone changed my training now that I've done the previous training plan long enough.  In the past, the training I did this year would have injured me, but my body has changed somewhat over the past few years and is more prepared for marathon training.  
3. I was able to train with Jared Ward who ran the Chicago Marathon a week after I ran St. George.  He was great to have around to train with especially since Jon Kotter has moved to Salt Lake.

Jon and I went out to race at a certain pace and see how fast we could go.  We did well and got a little behind the pace as some points, but had a great final quarter of the race.  We both finished with our best times ever.  I was 2:20:53 (5:22 min/mi).  Jon was 3 seconds ahead of me.  I was fourth overall, but won the master's division (40 and older).  That also broke the course record for ma
ster's.  So, I was very happy with the day and get to do the trip to the Ibigawa Marathon in Japan again.

We're on our flight to Detroit, followed by a 13 and half hour flight from Detroit to Nagoya.  That would be awful except I have two great companions to travel with.  The good thing is there will not be a connection in Japan like the last two times.  I think we get to our final destination a little earlier than in the past.

Adam and Aaron (my brother-in-laws) are planning on running the half marathon.  I was planning on that too, but decided I might as well do the marathon to try something different that in the past.  I don't know if I'm ready for it with having to recover from St George and be ready to race again with a total of 5 weeks.  I asked Coach Eyestone about it and he said the following:

"Hey Iain, At this time in our lives I would say if something excites you and does not jeopardize your temple
recommend, then go for it!

At worst you struggle the last half and learn that 5 weeks is not enough recovery for you! At best you win the marathon and 100 pounds of rice and learn that a marathon 5 weeks out can be a great training stimulus.

Either way it should make for a great story!"

So, here we go.  It will be fun to see who is the most sore the day after the race.  Aaron has trained with cross-fit, but has not done any running.  Aaron supplemented his training with yoga ball sitting.  Adam has a good history of long races (he's done the Squaw Peak 50 miler 4 times).  He has been running, but not like he did when he trained for the 50 milers.  We're hoping energy bars and Gatorade gets us through the event.

We just had our layover in Detroit.  I was able to get to the Westin Hotel which is attached to the airport.  I asked the desk if they had a workout room.  She said yes and it would be $15 for a pass into it.  As I hesitated, she said, "I can just give you a key".  I graciously accepted and went for a 30 minute run on the treadmill and took a shower.  Now, I'm much better prepared for the long flight ahead.  Here is a photo of my treadmill view.