Post-race meal choice 3/31
Friday 4/30
I got ready and left the house at 7 am, thinking I would have plenty of time to get to Heber City, UT for the packet pick-up. Once again, per the usual I stopped at the Chevron gas station to fuel up before my long road trip. With everything opening back up, the price of gasoline continues to go up!
Fuel up before trip
I rolled into the parking lot of the Chick-fil-A at Eastern and Ione at about a quarter to 11 am. Before getting into the drive-thru line, I parked in the adjacent parking lot and placed my order on the mobile app for a Cobb salad with grilled nuggets and a small unsweetened iced tea. After getting my food, I then drove up the road to the Chevron gas station to fill up the gas tank. After getting fuel, I drove further up Eastern a bit and stopped in at Sunset Park to eat my salad and use the park restroom.
Cobb salad with grilled nuggets
Pit stop in Vegas
After I was done with my meal, I hopped back on the 15 and continued heading North. Along the way, I was thinking about maybe eating in Provo before heading into Heber City for packet pick up. Prior to the trip, I totally forgot that Utah was ahead by an hour, so I was actually behind schedule! Good thing I noticed that my cellphone had automatically updated the time! Thank goodness a good portion of the freeways in Utah had a 80 mph speed limit! To make things interesting, I had to pull into a Chevron gas station in Nephi to fill up the tank one more time for the last stretch. If I had enough fuel, I would've kept going as I was cutting it close in making it on time for packet pick up before they're scheduled to close at 6 pm!
Pit stop in Nephi
I rolled up to the Charleston Town Hall just a few minutes after 6 pm. When I went inside they were already in the process of tearing everything down and packing everything up. Thankfully, I was still able to get my race packet which included my bib, swag, and race shirt. For someone that likes to get to places early, that was way too close for comfort!
Charleston Town Hall
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Swag
Tru Flask mug
When I was getting back to my car, it was somewhat comforting to see other people showing up to pick up their race packet as well. From there I drove over to nearby Midway to check into WorldMark Midway. About 3 months out, I was able to score a reservation for a 2 bedroom unit while waiting on the wait list for this property. With all of my races being canceled, I have a lot of timeshare credits to use up! This replaced my original plan of staying in Provo. Check-in was quick and the girl at the front desk was nice and friendly. I was assigned unit #5202. Parking was underground just below my unit. The unit was really nice, spacious, and more than adequate for a solo traveler.
WorldMark Midway
Check-in office
Golf course
Bedroom #1
Bathroom #1
Bedroom #2
Bathroom #2
After I got settled into my unit, I hopped back into my car and drove over to the McDonald's in Heber City to pick up my traditional pre-race dinner. I used the buy one, get one free deal on the mobile app to order 2 Quarter Pounders with cheese. I also got a large unsweetened iced tea for $1. I picked up my food via the drive-thru and took it back to my unit to enjoy.
McDonald's drive-thru
Quarter Pounder with cheese x2 and large unsweetened iced tea
After finishing dinner, I watched a couple of Rick and Morty episodes while laying out out my flat runner and filling out the COVID-19 questionnaire for tomorrow's marathon.
Rick and Morty
Flat runner
COVID-19 screening questionnaire
More Rick and Morty
Saturday 5/1
I woke up early to get ready for the race. I was able to catch a little part of the Crystal Palace v. Manchester City match as it started at 5:30 am. I was assigned wave 6 with a 7:40 am race start and a 6:20 am shuttle ride to the start line from the Walmart parking lot. I left my unit a few minutes before 6 am. I arrived at the parking lot a few minutes after 6 am, found a parking spot, and headed over to the shuttles. Before boarding the shuttle they took our COVID-19 questionnaire form. I sat near the back of the shuttle. We were instructed to not to sit next to someone unless you live together in the same household.
Morning shuttle ride
At about a quarter after 7 am, our shuttle arrived at the dirt lot where the start line was located. It was a little chilly outside, so a lot of people chose to stay on the shuttle. I went outside to use one of the portapotties as the higher elevation was causing my GI system to behave abnormally. Thankfully, it was mostly just gas.
Race start area
After watching wave 5 start their race, I went back to my shuttle. It was pretty packed with people in the aisle, so I didn't bother trying to get back to my seat. Then I heard a familiar voice call out to me. It was Joyce and she was sitting near the front. I had forgotten that she was running this race as well. Turned out that she had run yesterday's marathon and was doing a marathon double this weekend. When the start of our wave grew closer, people started leaving the shuttle and going outside. It wasn't too cold, but I had brought the mylar blanket that was given to us as part of the race packet. I didn't feel like carrying it with me for the race, so I opened it up and wrapped myself up for the short wait. They had trash barrels near the start line for us to dispose of the blanket or any other trash before we crossed the timing mats.
Our wave started promptly at 7:40 am. The first thing we did was cross over to the other side of the highway. The first 2.5 miles or so was a steady uphill climb, so I made sure to take it easy. I ended up following a girl that was running about a 10 min per mile pace. At about 2 miles in, I was feeling like I was starting to struggle with even that pace, so I pulled over and took a walk break. Once the climb was over, I was able to stretch the legs a bit and run at a faster pace. Unfortunately, I was unable to do much sustained running after reaching mile 6. The left Achilles was getting sore and my GI system was not entirely stable so to speak. From that point on, I had taken way more walk breaks than I would normally take during a marathon.
Mile 10
Mile 13
Mile 16
As I approached mile 17, the course made its first left turn onto E 3600 S St. That was followed by a right turn onto 1200 E St. Then as I neared mile 18, it was a left turn onto E 3000 S St. Then at almost mile 19, it was a right turn onto S Daniel Rd. At about mile 20, the course made a left turn onto the 189 highway. Man, that headwind was pretty brutal! I had to wear my cap backwards or risk having it being blown away! Cars and big rigs were driving by pretty fast during this 3 mile stretch. Along the way, there were various stinky road kill, so this was not a very enjoyable section to say the least. The course had us cross to the other side of the highway at W 3000 S. It was such a relief to finally make that right turn at S 2900 W and get out of that wind tunnel!
With only about 3 miles to go, I knew that I would be finishing right under 5 hours. Originally, I wanted to finish at least around 4:30 for a downhill marathon, but I was just happy to know that I would be finishing yet another marathon! Unfortunately, my legs were beginning to cramp up, so I couldn't muster up a stronger finish.
Race photo 3
Race photo 4
Somewhere near mile 24, a girl quietly passed me as I was taking one of my walk breaks. I decided to run at her pace and have her drag me to the finish line. Unfortunately, she took a walk break and I nearly ran into her. Maybe she wanted to get me off of her ass! I kept on going, thinking that she would eventually catch me again. I guess she lit a fire under my butt as I never saw her again until she crossed the finish line a few minutes after me. It would turn out that she started in the wave after mine, so even though I had beaten her to the finish line, she still beat me by about 10 minutes!
Finish line
Finish: 4:58:23
Click here for my Garmin data.
After crossing the finish line, I got my medal, followed by some post-race snacks and beverages. My friend, Joyce, was hanging out at the finish. She's such a consistent, strong runner. She finished both of her marathons this weekend right around 4 hours! She was with one of the volunteers that normally volunteers at her Calico races. I remember talking to her at one of the aid stations at the Purple Run half marathon.
Finisher medal
Post-race snacks and beverages
After I was done shooting the breeze with them, I started heading out. As with Revel races, I received a postcard printout of my results. I think that's a nice touch. I then picked up my post-race lunch box which contained the turkey avocado club sandwich that I had chosen, a cookie, and a bag of chips. After using one of the portapotties, I caught a bus ride back to the Walmart parking lot to get back to my car. After I got back to my unit and got cleaned up, I proceeded to eat my way through the lunch box while watching the Everton v. Aston Villa match. That was quite an evenly played match, but Villa was able to win with the final score of 1-2. Also that was a pretty delicious sandwich.
My results
Post-race turkey avocado club sandwich
Cookie
Turkey avocado club sandwich
I then lounged around and took a nap before heading out to Park City for a birthday dinner at Tekila Mexican Grill & Cantina. The drive over was a little over 20 mins. I parked my car at the Lower Sandridge parking lot located at 153 Marsac Ave. Parking was free at this lot and just a couple of streets over from the restaurant. The entrance of the restaurant was located at the top of a long flight of stairs. That can be a bit challenging after running a marathon! I believe the dinner reservation was for 6 pm. Since I was there a tad early, I waited outside a bit. It would turn out that about half of the party was already inside and seated. I joined them, but I didn't know any of them. I used the QR code to view the menus on my phone. I guess that's becoming the norm as an effective means of dealing with the spread of COVID-19. Since we were waiting for everyone else to show up, we first ordered our drinks, I went with an O'Doul's. I'm starting to realize that most restaurants do not have an extensive selection of non-alcoholic beers. I ended up having 2 and jokingly said that if I had ordered 4 more that they would be completely out of their non-alcoholic beers. :) Once everyone showed up, we all ordered our meals. I ordered their ensalada de la casa with steak. Man, that was a pretty dang good steak salad! During the meal we talked about the usual stuff, mostly related to running marathons. My friends talked about running their next marathon in Rhode Island and discussed whether or not they would be visiting the Newport mansions after the race. I'll have to keep that in mind when I finally run my marathon in Rhode Island as I still need that State to have completed a marathon in all 50 States. Once we were done with our food, our waitress brought out the birthday dessert for the birthday girl, Heather!
Having come from CA, what used to be a common and familiar dining experience, felt quite weird especially with having to deal with COVID restrictions for well over a year. I only wore my mask when interacting with our waitress. Although they didn't do separate checks, our waitress worked with us patiently to get that bill split between the different little groups among us. Once everything was squared away, we started heading out and going our separate ways.
Found free parking
Stairs up to Tekila
QR link for menus
Presents for the birthday girl!
Ensalada de la casa with steak
Dessert for the birthday girl!
Sunday 5/2
The drive home was going to be long, so I woke up early, packed up, and checked out at about a quarter to 7 am. With the time difference, that was equivalent to leaving at about 6 am. Originally, I was hoping to have enough fuel to get me into St George, but I did not. I exited the freeway in Beaver to get gas at a Chevron gas station. I paid at the pump and started filling up my tank. I noticed a guy came up to my car, said hi, and started cleaning my windshield. He told me that I could go inside to get out of the wind and he would finish pumping the gas for me. I checked to see if I had pulled into a full service pump. Nope, it said self service. So I asked if this was a full service station. He replied that he was only helping out wherever he could. I finished pumping the gas and thanked him for cleaning my windshield. It was pretty filthy from all of the bug splatter! It's a pity that we live in a world where we can't be too trusting of our fellow human being. Unfortunately, I've had too many bad encounters with people in general where I have to always be on my guard! Maybe I've lived in LA County for too long. The City of Angels is definitely not known for its hospitable residents. :) The stretch from Midway to Beaver took about 2.5 hours.
The next stretch from Beaver to Las Vegas took nearly 3 hrs. After exiting the freeway, I pulled into the Chevron gas station on Eastern Ave to fill up the gas tank. I then drove further down the road to eat lunch at the Jollibee in Henderson. I ordered the usual palabok fiesta with 1 pc Chickenjoy and pineapple juice. Once my food was ready, I found an empty booth to enjoy my food.
Pit stop in Vegas
Palabok fiesta with 1 pc Chickenjoy
After polishing off my lunch, I hopped back on the 15 freeway. There was a ton of traffic, but that made it easier for me to keep an eye on the Spurs v. Sheffield United match. Gareth Bale was pretty on fire for this match, scoring a hat trick. That type of offense would've never happened under José's style of management. It was nice to see the Spurs winning easily with a score of 4-0. This final stretch from Las Vegas to home was such a grind that even the downhill stretch through the Cajon pass was stop and go traffic! This stretch took over 5 hrs to complete!
So much traffic! Crawling through the Cajon pass
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