After the DNF in Wyoming, I was nervous about what DMTM had in store for me.  Last year I had trouble around the halfway point, vomited and walked most of the latter half of the marathon with twisting pain in my abdominal area.  Despite all of that, I was determined to finish this race, which is a dangerous state of mind for a runner to be in because you may risk injury to complete a race.

Back to race morning……I woke up at 430 to get stuff ready and started driving to Deadwood around 5am going through some good downpours on the way.  I wasn’t looking forward to running the full marathon in the rain, but luckily the rain ceased by the time the buses left for the start line.

The race started at 8am in Rochford with cloudy skies and temperatures somewhere in the 40’s. The conditions were almost perfect for a marathon. Today I was going to try a new race strategy. I started out running my goal pace and just keep that for as long as I could. This was my 3^rd DMTM so I was overly familiar with the course and location of the hills. The first half is gradual uphill so you don’t really feel it until around mile 20 or so. I was cruising along feeling great and really focusing on my form more than my pace. Another change to my race strategy was eliminating the use of gels and forgoing water stops until I hit the aid station around mile 16. A bit risky, but I was superhydrated at the start and base on my previous GI problems, I didn’t want to risk putting something in that would irritate things.

I was elated crossing the highpoint after Dumont, because it was largely downhill from there. I picked up the pace a little. My pace started to dwindle around miles 19 and 20 with a few rolling hills before the steep downhill around mile 20. I was able to get back into a good pace on the downhill section but I could feel fatigue building, but I love that part of the marathon. The last 6-7 miles are the longest normally and mental toughness is required to make it through. Finally, the course brought runners through Deadwood where my pace seemed to pick up again with more people cheering. I took a quick look at my watch to see that if I pushed myself, I could cross the line in under 3:40 which would be a course PR for me, so I pushed. I crossed the line in 3:39:14. I was more than happy with that given the DNF two weeks prior.

DMTM was my 14 marathon overall and 3^rd this year. Also, I would like to point out that DMTM is the only marathon I’ve run multiple times(3 total).  I think next year I’ll try the half-marathon. Now its time to get ready for the Big Horns in two weeks. 

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