2013 St. George Marathon -- Matt Poulsen

2:28:45, 16th overall, 5th in age group.


I ran a PR, but that's the only positive for me today. Not a good race for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for a PR; but I'm definitely not happy with my race. I have no answers or excuses. I am frustrated and at a loss. I feel I did everything right in my preparation for this race. My legs simply did not have it today. They were thrashed, even early on. My calves were already sore after 3 miles, and I hoped that would be no big deal. I was wrong. By mile 9, my legs were done; thrashed and destroyed. I have no idea why. I was in survival mode the rest of the race. I tried, numerous times, to mentally will my legs to go faster. But to no avail -- it was not possible today. It felt like a piece of cake cardiovascular-wise the entire time; my legs were just thrashed and didn't have it.

I ran with Zak, Jon Kotter, and Iain Hunter for the first 7 miles. Our splits were conservative, but they felt significantly more difficult than they should have. I knew something was wrong. I ran a 5:53 up Veyo (which is actually a decent pace), but Zak, Jon, and Iain gapped me by ~ 10 seconds. I quickly decided that I needed to stay with them to accomplish what I wanted to. So, I caught them during the next mile. I then stayed with them for the next couple miles, but then it was over for me. I kept thinking I could keep it together and take it mile-by-mile, and I sure tried, but such was not the case. My legs simpliy didn't have it today (calves and hamstrings).

I was still in the top ten after the half, but a lot of guys passed me during the 2nd half. The screaming downhills around miles 14-18, that should have been close to 5-flat miles for me, were 5:30's and 5:40's. Something was definitley wrong.

My splits:  5:37, 5:39, 5:16, 5:12, 5:22, 5:21, 5:20, 5:53, 5:40, 5:27, 5:45, 5:40, 5:34, 5:47, 5:31, 5:28, 5:30, 5:35, 5:49, 5:51, 5:40, 5:56, 5:54, 6:06, 6:16, 6:24

1st half: 1:12:21, 2nd half: 1:16:24.  Ouch!

Currently, my legs are more thrashed than I think they've ever been. My calves are a disaster (and my left hamstring is horrible). I'm guessing I altered my stride because of my calves, which aggravated my hamstring terribly (my hamstring would not let me lengthen my stride during the last 5 miles). I'll need to be very careful during my recovery.

It's tough when you don't have answers. It makes it difficult to know what to change. For now, I won't change anything. I know I'm in much better shape than what I showed today.

This much is clear:  you ain't seen the last of me yet.