Running A Double Marathon - What's The Worst That Could Happen?

All systems are go for running a double St. George Marathon this weekend. My brain keeps trying to chicken out but I think I'd regret it if I didn't give it a try.

My plan is to start running at the finish line at around midnight tonight. That will give me more than six hours to run up to the starting line. I assume that will be plenty of time to run the 26.2 miles to the top. With the reverse route being such an enormous climb I don't really know what to expect and I'd rather give myself too much time than not enough.

I'm going to set water, some baggies of Tailwind, and a few snacks at two points along the course to restock on my way up to the starting line. I hope my supplies are still there when I get to them. If you see a coyote running around with big glassy eyes on a sugar high, you'll know he got into my loot of Swedish Fish.

Forecast for temperature at the starting line (and toward the end of the first marathon): 29 degrees. I hope at the start line they have hot coffee. To bathe in. Eventually the sun will come up and we'll be whining that we're roasting like hot dogs that have been sitting on the little rollers at 7-11 for nineteen hours. At least the views will be awesome.

When I start to freak out about this adventure I just have to remind myself: "What's the worst that could happen?" Maybe barf orange Gatorade all over my shoes?" I can live with that.

During my first marathon ever my legs cramped up so bad that I prayed for a visit from the angel of death. A guy rubbed Icy Hot on my calves and it felt like he was rubbing them with hot curling irons. But that's okay. Here is an actual picture from that curling iron massage.

The absolute worst case scenario would be to die and have a bunch of hungry vultures around me clogging up the marathon course. The good news is that there is a funeral home right along the route.
Win!

I'm nervous and excited to see how things go. Dear St. George Marathon: me and you have a date. Tonight!

Side note: don't forget to go vote for my article at www.trailandultrarunning.com. Only two days left in the contest and the tally is close! Click HERE and go add a vote for #3. Thanks!

I Have A Favor To Ask Of You

I have a favor to ask of you. A few weeks ago I wrote an article about how trail running is like meatloaf. (Mmmmm, delicious.) That article is now a finalist in a contest to win a Scott Jurek hydration vest at www.trailandultrarunning.com.

I was wondering if you'd go check out the entries and if you like mine, give a vote for #3. Head over now because the contest ends in a few days and the tally is pretty close.

In exchange for your kindness I will provide you with a free hug and one selection from my boondoggle keychain collection. CLICK HERE to vote. Thanks so much!!

Bring On 52.4 Miles!

Five days until the St. George Marathon. I'm very excited with a moderate dose of scared. I am madly in love with tapering.

Monday, September 23rd 2013: 4 miles @ 10:09 per mile
Tuesday, September 24th 2013: Nothing
Wednesday, September 25th 2013: 10 miles @ 13:18 per mile
Thursday, September 26th 2013: 4 miles @ 10:22 per mile
Friday, September 27th 2013:
Saturday, September 28th 2013: 5 miles @ 11:49 per mile

My favorite (and by far the hardest) run of the week was Wednesday's 10 miler. I ran sections of a bunch of trails including Paradise Rim, Turtle Wall, and the Gila Trail.

This is only my second time on these trails and I saw new things that I hadn't noticed last time including this cool little red rock arch. I angled my camera to get a plethora of sun flares. (I award myself 17 bonus points for working in the word "plethora").

 Setting moon over the red cliffs:

This week I drove the course of the St. George Marathon to get an idea of what it would be like to run it in reverse. Wow, I didn't realize how steep downhill the course was until I looked at the possibility of running up it. While I was checking out the course I saw this healthy fella on the road:

At this point I think I'll go for a double St. George Marathon on Saturday. I'll start running at the finish line around midnight, run all the way up to the starting line, and then the regular marathon with my wife and a large gaggle of other friends doing the race. (My friend called this "STG to the 2nd Power.) I'm nervous but I think I'd regret if I didn't give it a try. Then I'll have three weeks to recover for the big dance - 100 miles.

We got some Booyah shirts for the race to honor my friend Braydon Nielsen. I took mine for a test run when my wife and I went running on Saturday. There are going to be lots of these shirts out on the course on race day. Can't wait to see that. (Joining me is our dog following a bad haircut. That's what you get for stealing YET ANOTHER loaf of bread off the counter Jack!)

I'm really excited for Saturday. A few years ago I helped the St. George Marathon with voice over stuff for a cool video they were making. Here is that video. You can hear me saying things like "Running is the stupidest hobby ever!" This is a great taste of my hometown race and what it's like to run a marathon.


Bring on 52.4 miles!

St. George DOUBLE Marathon???

Last year I read Brian Beckstead's race report from the Boston Marathon Double. He started running at the finish line, ran all the way to the start line, then ran the marathon. 52.4 miles to be exact. I've been intrigued ever since.

The St. George Marathon is coming up next Saturday and I'm considering trying for a St. George Double Marathon. The thought of this gives me chunky burps.

Here is the kicker. Going UP the course would be killer. Runner's World ranked St. George as the fastest fall marathon because it is so steep downhill. (Check out the pictures from my race report last year.) Losing more than 2,700 feet during a race sounds fun. Climbing those 2,700 feet first sounds daunting.

The tricky part is that once you start there is no backing out. And it would be rather embarrassing to not get to the starting line before the race starts. I think it would be a good last long run before the Javelina Jundred in four weeks. I'm not committing yet (I'll probably go back and forth a thousand times in the next eight days before the race) but at this point I'm leaning toward giving it a try.

When Things Don't Go The Way You Wanted

Monday, September 16th 2013: 8 miles @ 10:56 minutes per mile
Tuesday, September 17th 2013: 3 miles @ 8:15 minutes per mile
Wednesday, September 18th 2013: 10 miles @ 11:44 minutes per mile
Thursday, September 19th 2013: Nothing
Friday, September 20th 2013: Nothing
Saturday, September 21st 2013: 27 miles @ 15:36 minutes per mile

My friend Catherine and I had high hopes for Saturday's run. She is signed up for her first 100 miler, the Javelina Jundred at the end of next month. I'm so excited to run the race with her and we planned to get in a good long run. I invited some friends to come and join us out on the trail. We had a fun group of runners out on the trail.

A great sunrise greeted us in the distance. I am a mosquito magnet and this morning was no exception. My friend Karrie called me a running citronella candle because as long as I'm running with them, the mosquitoes will swarm me and leave everyone else alone.

There were some warning signs that it could be a rough day. I got bit by a scorpion or spider or something on Wednesday. My toe got all red and puffy trying to look like Nutty Professor. My wife said she has had patients in the hospital with stuff like that. (It's feeling much better today.) And then as we were heading down the trail my friend Amber did a Superman leap into the air and left some chunks of flesh as a souvenir on Mother Earth. Our destination was Molly's Nipple in the distance.

Catherine and I kept the pace moderate since we would be running all day and let the faster runners go up ahead. It was cool to see when they reached the top.

Catherine wanted to get some desert training to prep for Javelina and loved the view from the top.

You can see the shadow of Molly's Nipple with the sun rising behind us.

We figured we needed a jumping picture with everyone at the top of Molly's Nipple. Even though I got exactly 0 feet of air in this shot, this picture makes me smile. We were having a good time. This is myself, Amber, Nicole, Michelle, Treasa, Brooke, Liz, Shannon, Karrie, Catherine, and Shane.

Then we made the steep, technical scramble back down.

The way back was downhill and much easier and faster.

Everyone finished the 13 mile route to Molly's Nipple then headed home while Catherine and I continued the run. I showed her around the Jem Trail and some of it's connectors. This is not a horrible place to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Catherine's knee had become as grumpy as a senior citizen whose cable goes out in the middle of a Murder She Wrote marathon. It was a crazy fluke thing because she ran so strong when we did the Mid Mountain Marathon two weeks ago.

She has the kind of personality that is happy and positive even when things aren't going according to plan. I was laughing the entire time we were running.

We continued making our way through the desert but were taking it easy to keep the knee in check. These trails around Gooseberry Mesa are seriously incredible.

We got to the edge of a mesa and took a break to enjoy the view. I saw Catherine sitting there soaking things in and I knew she was feeling discouraged. Today wasn't going to end the way she hoped. We concluded that it would be best to end the run early to not make matters worse.

I felt sad for her. Catherine is a better runner than me and I hated seeing her struggling. I intimately know that frustration of having knee issues that get in the way of training plans. I've been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt. In fact I have an entire closet full of those t-shirts. But because I am so ridiculously familiar with that frustration, I have tons of experience (way more than I'd care to have) working through it. So I felt comfortable assuring her that things will work out. Things will work out. With the fitness base she has established, 5 weeks is plenty of time to recoup before Javelina, get feeling better, and be completely ready to tackle that 100 miler. I can't wait to watch as she crosses that finish line and earns a buckle.

So when all is said and done, maybe the day DID have a good ending. Granted, we didn't get as many miles as we hoped and she'll need to give that knee some TLC for a few days. But we got some good time on our feet enjoying some absolutely incredible scenery. We laughed a ton. We both spent time with our spouses on the first part of the run. We didn't throw up or meet any rattle snakes. And our run ended with a fun jumping picture. When life hands you lemons, take a jumping picture.