In the days prior to the race I had tried to get Annalise to tell me what run to walk ratio she wanted to use during the race. We had never really run together but we both knew there were going to be regular walk breaks I just wasn't sure when. I'm not sure she knew when. She had made a card with different sections of the race with corresponding ratios a few days prior but it never made it into my possession to carry (I had the watch we would be going by).
She had stated she wanted to run the first part of the course, the downhill portion out of the canyon which is approximately 14 miles, in about 2 hours. Two years ago I ran this section about that fast and paid for it dearly in the final 12 miles, so I wasn't sure if this was realistic or not, but that was the goal.
On the bus ride to the start line I asked one more time what the run/walk ratios would be and she said we'd start out walking every 6 minutes while we warmed up the first few miles.
The race began in the dark and at 6 minutes, not even to mile 1, we were walking. Even on my worst training day I've never walked after just 6 minutes, but this was the plan. Walk early and walk often. We had started with the 3:55 pace group leader, Amy, and by the end of our 30second walk we were slightly behind her. This wasn't a problem though because our running pace would be faster than her 8:58 pace she was running.
At 13 minutes we walked again (actually a 6:30 interval) and when we started to run again we were with the 4 hour group. I wasn't sure how long she had wanted to keep the 6 minute interval in effect, so I didn't call another break until 21 minutes, a 7:30 interval. Because we had run longer, the 3:55 group caught up as our walk ended.
She seemed to have no trouble with the longer run interval, so I continued to call for walk breaks every 7 minutes instead of 6. We weren't running hip to hip every step of the way, but I'd keep an eye on her when I'd get a little bit ahead and slow down as the walk break came near so that we'd start the next interval together.
At the aid station in the 6th mile I glanced back and noticed she had stopped and was walking (not during a scheduled break). No problem, I thought, it was an aid station. But it took a little while for her to get going again and she mentioned she had a stomach cramp or something. We didn't take many scheduled walk breaks after that, maybe a few, but mostly I'd stop when I noticed she had stopped.
We ping-ponged back and forth between the 3:55 and 4 hour groups and when we ran the little out and back tail around mile 7 I calculated that the 3:55 group was 90 seconds ahead. This was fine with me as I knew if we got back on our regular schedule we would chip away at that distance and be back up with them before we hit the halfway point.
Coming out of aid station near mile 8 Annalise just couldn't get comfortable and mentioned that she felt sluggish. We took an extended walk break and when we resumed, we were now playing catch up to the 4 hour group during our running intervals. But I could see the 3:55 group and figured as long as I could keep them within sight we'd be alright because Amy was running a constant 8:58 pace, slower than what we could run at if needed.
As we ran through miles 10-12 Annalise still was uncomfortable. And the 3:55 group was now out of sight because of all the turns. I knew they'd be crossing the halfway point at about 1:55 or 1:56 (Amy had told us beforehand that she was planning to bank 2 extra minutes in the first half because of the downhill).
I felt great and started to wonder if I should run my own race and catch up or stay and run with Annalise. I don't know how she felt about this because I never asked, but I went back and forth for a few miles on what to do.
The 4 hour pace group hit the halfway mark right at 2hours and we were only a few seconds behind them. Annalise's cousin was running the half marathon and she said to me to get her up to her cousin that they would run together to the finish and I could go try to finish faster. Unfortunately the half started at our 1:45 mark, so we were 15 minutes behind. Even at her cousin's goal pace of 10 minutes per mile, we would run out of miles before we would catch her. I don't know if Annalise realized this or not, but the math didn't work. At that point I decided I would run with her the remainder of the race, regardless of what time we finished with.
Gradually the 4 hour group pulled ahead and then was lost to our view on the long straight stretch up the Old Highway 91. We most.y ran together durning the middle miles (14-19) though sometimes I would get a little bit ahead and would walk through the aid stations or slow down a bit until she caught up. She was taking a much different approach to being tired than I do: she wanted to talk to everyone.
The hill in the 21st mile is the spot that busted my potential PR last year. I didn't have a prayer of running up it two years ago because I had no idea what 13 miles of downhill to start a race would do to my legs. I was running up the hill this year. I didn't care how I felt when I got to the top or what the last 5 miles would be like. We approached the hill together (along with another couple who had been running close to us for another an hour) and I took off up the hill. It burned, but it felt good. I felt like I could have kept going once I was at the top, but I walked though the aid station and kept walking for a few minutes until Annalise caught up.
I was a little ahead a mile or so later when I reached my mother-in-law and our kids and I waited there for her as well. That would be the last time I would wait for her as I was totally gassed. A combination of two and a half weeks on the road, irregular diet, and , my half-ironman triathlon the weekend before, In addition to the previous 22 miles run, was my limit. From that point on we ran together or she would get ahead. I was letting her dictate the walk breaks (which I would use to catch up to her) and we both did a good job of making sure we didn't walk too long.
She wasn't feeling like eating anything at this point and we were both just trying to finish. The last few miles ticked by and as we reached mile 25 I knew that it was a very real possibility that I wouldn't be able to keep up with her for the last 1.2 miles. We were walking together but when we were running she was running at a faster pace than what I could sustain.
As we approached the final turn and had a half mile left, I was about 50 yards behind, but hat distance was increasing. I needed her to walk or I wouldn't be able to catch up. Luckily for me, she did as she rounded the turn. I made up about half the distance before she started again and made up the rest as she walked again a minute or so later.
I don't know how she felt as we ran the last 1/4 mile to the finish line, but it was all I could do to keep up. We ran up to the finish line together, but with a few steps left I nudged her ahead of me and then got right behind her to make sure she finished first. She had run the better race, really. I was just trying to hold on. We crossed the finish line in 4 hours 17 minutes, took a picture and started the post-race festivities. When we finally came to a few minutes later, her first comment to me was "now that I know, I've got no more running tips for you and I'm not letting you do this every month."
Luckily the 24-hour rule had begun as we crossed the finish line.
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