Sojourners Racing Team

Spencer Simpson - UVM

Had the opportunity to have Ben V. and Jon H. come down from Ogden and stay at my place Friday Night.  Always a blast with these guys.  Good men.  We were able to game plan and then get some sleep.
Got up around 3am and got ready.  I had taped my left groin and hip up the night before but could still feel the IT band.  Really weird that this just came on a few days ago.  I have never really had IT band problems until this inccident.  Hopefully it is nothing...right? Jon drove us down and we hopped on a nice bus(the last bus) and headed out to Wallsberg.  We got off the bus and headed straight for the Portajohn's.  The ride up was quite nice.  After a 3rd bathroom visit this morning, I felt ready to go.  Saw a lot of familiar faces before and during the starting line.  Nate Krah introduced Pete Hendrickson, a friend of his, to me and said I should run with him.  2:55 goal.  I thought that was a good idea.  Pete was on his 4th marathon and so I looked forward to working with him and running a fun race.  I wished a lot of guys/gals good luck before the start and then it was go time.  Temp was really nice but we did have a head wind.  The head wind would not be a fun one during a pivotal point on the course. 
Pete and I set out and immediately people were off.  6:20 pace the first 1/4 mile and I told him hey, lets slow down.  We did and settled in nicely.  I felt really welll.  First 2 miles were 6:41 and 6:43.  Pete and I both felt very comfortable.  Looking back I would not have changed this.  The first 7 miles flew by.  I felt really good going into the turn out of Wallsberg.
Our splits going up the 3 humps were 7:02 to 7:20.  Now during this strecth I could feel my left leg acting up.  I was really concerned that my tape job was not going to do the trick but mentally I stayed focused and worked through the pain and tightness.  There were times it went away and then times it was really bad.  There was nothing I could do thought to subside the pain at this point.  I was just going to have to work through it.  I felt like I had enough strength and mental toughness to accomplish a sub 3 goal.  I mean why not? 
The concrete beat me up pretty fast.  When we reached the half way point, I saw my girlfriend Angela and that was a pleasant surprise to see her.  I did not think I would see her this early on the course.  Nice surprise.  1:30:17 at the half.  A little slow but definitely felt great going through the half.  So much that mile 14 felt aswesome.  Pete and I had worked very well together and 'the feel' felt great. 
Amazing what can happened in the blink of a 1/4 mile during a marathon.  I hit mile 15 in 7:20 I think.  When I saw my watch, I paniced a little and told Pete, "hey, I am falling off.  you go."  He proceeded to go.  For some reason at this point, the pain was very intense in my left leg.  I could understand why my IT band was all of sudden hurting this bad.  I decided to relax.  Then Mile 16 going up the hill.  All of a sudden, we are now hitting 30 mph winds.  I could not get my left leg to relax.  The winds made it impossible to even do just this.  I knew I was in trouble.  My body was failing me and there was nothing I could do about it.  I thought about four times from miles 16-23 that I should drop out.  I was really worrried that I was going to further injure myself and that it was going to be really bad if I continued with how tight I felt.  I have never expereinced a pain like this before during a race.  I saw Angela at 17, and now 19 and 21.  At 21, I needed a gatorade.  I told her to go get me one.  The last two aid stations, the volunteers dropped the cups when I went to grab or I just could not get it right.  Frustrating.  I saw Angela at mile 23.  I grabbed the gatorade and drank about 5 sips.  It felt like a 20 lb weight.  About 100 feet from putting the bottle down, my left calf completely seized up.  I yelled very loudly and a guy that came up on me who eventually I passed again was worried I just lost my leg.  He asked if I was ok?  I was shocked at the pain.  It felt like someone shot me or bit me.  I grabbed my calf flor like 2-3 seconds and then said, "lets go you freaking $%#&^ yeah I swore.  I was pissed.  I knew my race was done at this point.  My left leg was bad.  I almost just dropped off the side of the road but told myself, "Look  you have 3 more miles. This is a joke.  Finish the freaking race."  I limped all the way to the finish and willed myself to that line.  I crossed with disgust because my training was there to go sub 3, but it just was not my day. 
I thourghly enjoyed the experience.  Another knowledege boost.  I really enjoyed seeing everyone at the finish.  Great course,  class act race director with Hyrum.  And the competition was awesome.  I will run another marathon and look forward to more training. 
Splits:  6:41, 6:43, 6:49, 6:51, 6:49, 6:43, 6:42, 7:03, 7:20, 6:49, 6:48, 7:02, 6:49, 1:30:17 1st half.
6:34, 6:58, 7:29, 7:48(wheels are falling off), 7:15, 6:58(maybe I can comback strong), 7:08, 7:15, 7:15(I am done), 7:37(yep, I am really done.), 8:18(my left calf seizes, now I am limping to the finish), 7:42, 7:30, 1:44 .2
Thanks for all who cheered me on and high fived me.  Love the running community.  Great way to start the morning.