Dam2Dam 10 Mile Run

We were down in SG for the holiday weekend and I found out that there was a 10 mile race in Hurricane.  I thought it would be a perfect distance to measure my fitness - being 8 weeks out from the marathon.  I new it was an out and back pretty flat course, but it ended up being A LOT tougher than I expected.  I finished first for women, second overall with a time of 1:02:57.

Brandon was there and introduced himself to me.  It was nice to see a friendly Sojourner face there.  We hung together for the first two miles.  He is coming back strong from his injury.

The first mile was on a causeway. It was pretty flat, but it was gravel. 6:16 The second mile was slightly downhill on a nice paved road (my favorite part of the race=miles 2 and 9) 6:14 There was a water stop right before the 2.5 mile and I grabbed a cup and managed to get a good swallow of water. Somewhere around there the road went from nice smooth asphalt to chip-n-seal. Uggghhh... I was wearing my racing flats and could feel the uneven surface beneath me. I was closely following a girl and I wasn't sure if she was doing the 5 or the 10. She turned around and I realized was all alone. There was one guy doing the 10 mile that had quite a lead (he ended up finishing first), but he was pretty far ahead and I could barely keep him in sight. This mile was kind of rolling. 6:13. Miles 4 and 5 were very tough. The road went from chip-n-seal to a loose gravel road. Not hard packed at all, and hard for me to find good footing. I was weaving around for a bit trying to find the best path to run on. Oh I was hating my shoe choice. It was also a gradual uphill. I was feeling extremely discouraged and my splits were starting to show it 6:21, 6:20.

At the turnaround there was another water stop so I quickly grabbed a cup and did the u-turn around the cone. I almost slid out and fell on my behind, but I caught myself and kept going. This was the turning point in my race. I was running alone, I wore the wrong shoes, the course was a lot harder than I expected... but then I started to pass the other 10 milers coming toward me and they all gave me big smiles, words of encouragement and thumbs up. I started picking them off and gained some confidence. The slight downhill didn't hurt either. 6:16, 6:17 (that's more like it!). When I could see the chip-n-seal up ahead I know I smiled really big. I couldn't wait to hit solid road again. When I hit it it felt like I went from running on a trampoline to concrete. The surface was a lot harder than I expected. 6:17. Then I hit my favorite part of the race, the smooth asphalt. It was slightly uphill, but I didn't care. 6:14.

With one mile to go I was feeling pretty good. I was tired, but the wheels weren't coming off. I tried to picture myself at the BYU indoor track doing a mile repeat, then a 1200, then an 800... When I crossed the finish line the lady didn't realize I was the female winner of the 10 mile until right after I crossed. She had some tape for me to break and was really sorry that she didn't get it out in time. I was so happy about my race. It was hard, but I ended up doing exactly what I set out to do, so I hope that means in a flatter race on solid smooth asphalt with some competition I could have done even better.


--Melody

Salt Lake City Track Club Winter Series 10k—February 11, 2012

I got a nice three mile warm-up before the race which helped calm my pre-race nerves a bit. Since the race isn’t exceptionally large, I got a nice spot on the starting line and a good start when the gun went off. For the first mile (5:45) I had a good group of people to run with, but shortly after we passed the mile mark we started to break up a bit. In mile two (5:49) we still had a pretty decent group, but after about a quarter mile it was just myself and another girl. She got a bit of a gap on me as we passed the water stop and for a brief moment I considered just letting her go, but I decided that I was still feeling strong and I could see that despite the little gap that I could still catch her. I started to reel her in bit by bit and by mile three (5:59) I had put a little gap between myself and her. At the hairpin turn I could see that the gap was just a little wider and I was able to relax and just cruise since I was in no man’s land by myself. Somewhere just before mile four (6:10) a couple of guys came up on me and I tried hard to match their stride. I managed to hang on to one and that helped to motivate me to keep pushing for the end of the race. We passed the water stop and the second guy had come up and had pushed past (I just couldn’t match his strong stride). My stomach was starting to hurt a bit, but my legs felt strong. I passed mile five in 6:10 and I was happy to see that I hadn’t slowed down again. I could see the end of the race, but it didn’t seem to bother me as much as I had expected. It was much worse in the 5k two weeks before. Somewhere in that long stretch I had lost the first guy that had motivated me to move a little faster, but the second guy had put some good distance between us. I passed mile six in 6:08 and was happy that I was getting faster despite running into the wind. I really wanted to catch the guy in front of me. My legs felt great, but my stomach was not having any of this fast running stuff. For the last .22 I managed to “sprint” 1:17. I stopped my watch at 37:21, but my official time was 37:20. I ended up first overall for the women. Only one more race in the series to go! Happy running and racing everyone!

Salt Lake City Track Club Winter Series 5k—January 28, 2012

This is a great out and back flat course (not as flat as a track, but close enough!). I ran the first mile in 5:36. It felt really good and relaxed. The second mile had a hairpin turn and once I got around the turn around I realized why the first half of the race felt so good—the first half had the slight tailwind pushing us. Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad—even though it was nicer to have at my back than running into it (it was cold despite the sunny day). I hit mile two in 5:52 and mile three in 5:54. Just before mile three, I had caught up to a couple of guys and they really helped to push me in that last little bit. As I approached the finish I saw that the clock was in the 17’s so I pushed hard to break 18 minutes, but I just missed it. My final .1 was 36 seconds for a final time of 18:00—first overall female.

I really liked the course, but the one hard thing about it is that once you turn around you can see the finish line and it doesn’t seem to get closer for a long time. I tried really hard not to think about the fact that the finish didn’t seem to get any closer and just to focus on the race, but that was hard today.

Devra

New Year’s Half Marathon—January 7, 2012

This was pretty small and laid back race. It started and finished at the race director’s home and so we were able to hang out inside his house before the start of the race—enabling us to stay warm (it was cold and snowy outside!). I did a short warm-up before the start, just to get my legs going. Just before the start the race director introduced me to Jody Benson and asked if we were trying to run a 1:15-1:20 half that day. When I left my house that morning I told myself I would be happy with anything under 1:31 or 1:30. I didn’t realize the high expectation for a fast race at the beginning of January! I started out really fast with Jody (probably a little too fast for the short warm up I did). The start was uphill and as we ran along the course I quickly noticed that we were running uphill into the wind with some snow and ice patches along the way. My shoe came untied very early on and after that I spent the rest of the race just trying to catch Jody.

After about four miles uphill into the wind we got some reprieve and ran downhill into a rolling hill section. After about 40 or 45 minutes I tried to get my Gu out of the pocket in the back of my shirt. It was really hard with gloves on, but I didn’t want to take them off because it was so cold and I didn’t want to slow down because I was vainly trying to catch Jody (I had to at least see him so I would know where to run). I finally gave up on that and rationalized that I would be just fine without it. It worked great for a while since we were running on a gradual downhill with the wind at our backs. Unfortunately, with three miles to go—too late to really make a difference—I recognized that it was a bad decision. I slowed down to a crawl on the last uphill. I was ready to be done, but I still had a couple of miles. Once at the top I knew I could made it the rest of the way. I just tried to not let the gap between myself and Jody get too wide, but I knew the rest of the way to the finish so it was hard to not let him go. I finished about two minutes back for second place overall and first female finisher. My time was a respectable 1:26:30. Not bad for a tough course at the beginning of January.

After the race I indulged in some very delicious chocolate milk, chili, bread, yogurt and orange juice. The post race meal was absolutely awesome.

Devra

P.S. This was a no frills race, so no timing chips. My time was based on my watch. Take it for what it is worth.

New Year's Revolution Run—December 31, 2011

I honestly didn’t do this race justice. I was really nervous about running a lot of miles running around a track and just going around in circles. So, I chickened out of doing my long run at the race and ran 12-13 miles (I messed up my watch so I can’t be sure how much I ended up running) with some friends before heading over to the Oval. When I finally got there and starting running the 16 laps that I ended up running I realized my mistake—but by then it was too late to really do anything about it. Were I to do it over, I would just head over to the oval and party (run around in circles listening to music and such) with all the other crazy running/walking people.

The point of this race isn’t how fast you run, but it is to run more laps than the next person if you want to win, but you can just show up and run or walk however many you want within a four hour time frame. Who knows, if you just walk around for four hours you may just surprise yourself how much you walked. I had gotten a race entry as a prize from another race (Murray Moonlight run), so I figured I should just run the race. However, after signing up I got cold feet. I didn’t realize how fun it is to run around a track with up to 250 other people—especially with all the weaving between people. It was kind of like an obstacle course, but with moving targets. Perhaps it is the competitor in me, but I also found it a little thrilling in passing so many people every lap (hence the reason I ran 16 laps, it was kind of addicting)! Of course I knew that most of the people had been there longer than me and were way ahead of me in the number of laps. Given the chance I would run the race again and I would definitely recruit others to join me. Happy New Year to Everyone and Happy Running and Racing in 2012!

Devra

Two Turkey Trots

I ran two Turkey Trots this year. 

The first one was on November 12 in Tremonton.  I love this small town race. All of my post marathon training was to try to achieve a PR at this race. It is flat, it is 100% accurate (strangely this is a VERY difficult thing to come by around here) and there are usually an ample number of high school XC boys to help pull me along. The drawback - it is in November in Utah. The weather was awful.   I decided to head up to the race anyways. I was staying at my in-laws and they only live about 20 minutes from Tremonton, so what did I have to lose? Besides, my husband offered to watch our kids and the race was only $1.The rain eased off before I got to Tremonton and I started to get a little more confidence back. But literally 1 minute before the actual start it started raining really hard and the wind started to pick up.  I was a little aggressive at the start and came through the first mile at a 5:55.  I tried hard to push through the second mile (always my weakest) but lost a lot of time. Started thinking somewhere in the third mile, "Why am I doing this?" and just tried to hang on to the XC runner just ahead of me. Saw at 3.0 miles that I could still break 19 if I kicked it in a bit. Came through at 18:52. I tried to take a risk and go out faster, and that obviously backfired. I can only hope and wonder that under more ideal weather conditions I could have done a bit better.  By the time the race was over the rain had turned into snow. It was blowing sideways. I was very wet and very cold and very much regretting the fact that I didn't bring any dry clothes to change into. I ended up wearing all the clothes I brought since it was so cold at the start. I usually race in minimal gear - singlet, possibly arm warmers, shorts/capri tights. Today I sported a hat, ear warmers, tech shirt, jacket, full length tights and gloves - and I never felt like I got warm during the race. I won a turkey for winning my odd age group (26-39), and donated it to my MIL for Thanksgiving Dinner.

The second Turkey Trot I did was the awesome Earn Your Turkey 4 miler here in Orem.Amanda and I drove over together and we met up with and warmed up a mile with Josse. One of these days I should experiment with longer warm-ups, but mentally they make me feel "tired," for faster races, so I usually stick to 1 mile. It was so warm! My husband was totally making fun of my outfit - singlet, arm warmers, capri tights and compression socks. He said I looked like a "real runner." Compliment or not? Hmmm, not sure about that one. I saw speedy Devra at the start of the race, but she was so fast, I only saw her up ahead of me after the first 100M.  I went out comfortably fast and when we got to the .3 mile marker I realized I forgot to take my Gu. Normally this wouldn't phase me, but I decided to take it anyways. I mean four miles is a lot longer than a 5k, right :) I grabbed it out of my back pocket and luckily it was already open - probably from sitting on it in the car ride over. I sucked down half the packet and kept going. First mile was 5:58. The second mile was uneventful. We started to thin out a bit and I found a pack of guys to follow. The first two girls were up ahead, still in view, but it was hard to tell how far ahead of me they were. Second mile was 5:55. The third mile I did slow a bit, but I was still passing a couple guys here and there. I came through at 6:05. I looked at my watch not long after that and the overall time said 18:58 at 3.17 miles. I was doing this at 5k pace... I was hoping I didn't burn up in the last mile. I tried to latch on to a guy that seemed to be holding his pace and as luck would have it a buddy of his joined us right after mile 3. I did my best to push hard and when we made the turn for the .2 home stretch I was ready to be done. I saw the clock ticking in the 23s and I made one last push. I came through at 23:41, a 40 second PR on the course for me. My last mile was 5:55. Immediately after the race I started to dry heave and proceeded to empty my stomach of the Gu I had sucked down at the start of the race. Once it was out I felt great. The interesting thing is that I never felt sick during the race at all.   I ended up coming in 3rd overall for women and won a voucher for a 12lb turkey.  Thanks, Runner's Corner for a job well done.

Orem’s International Thanksgiving Day Run “Earn Your Turkey” November 24, 2011

I loved this race! The course is very straight forward (very, very hard to get lost--imo) and it is the flattest race course I’ve run in a very long time. Once again I didn’t get much sleep the night before. Then, after I had gotten ready and was about to walk out the door my husband informed me that the whole family was going together and to wait while they all got ready. So, we left the house at about 7:15 and got to Orem Rec Center at about 7:45—the race started at 8:00. At this point, I was starting to feel super “lucky”. Fortunately, I had called a friend who helped me by picking up my packet. As soon as I had that in my hand I rushed through all my pre-race preparations. I barely got a half mile warm-up (I prefer a two or three mile warm-up, but a half mile is better than nothing).

As I was frantically putting on my racing flats that I decided at the last minute to wear I heard the race directors lining everyone up at the start. In a panic I ran over to the starting line, rip off my warm-ups and realized that I had lost my chip. I ran over to the starters and to tell them, but I was pretty sure I knew where it was (where I was putting on my racing flats). Fortunately, it was. I sprinted over to the starting line and hurriedly put the chip on my shoe and then stood on the starting line as they talked about something—the race course or something. I’m slightly delirious at this point, but the breather gives me a moment to relax a bit and start focusing on the race.

I had a great start and I saw Melody J. in the first 400 or so (I really wanted to just run and chat with her, but I let my momentum just take me). Within the first half mile I had company which was really nice as she helped push me through those first two miles, 5:50 and 5:47. Somewhere between miles two and three she dropped off a bit and I slowed down to a 6:00 mile three, but at that point I only had a mile to go so I pushed harder and got 5:25 for the last mile. I really should have tried to stay with the guys that were right in front of me, but I am having such a hard time being competitive with guys! Next time I will try and race them J My Garmin had mile three a little long and mile four a little short, but that is the nature of the race and running the tangents. I placed first overall (for women) in 23:04 for the four mile race. I’m super happy with that. Going into the race I was just hoping to average 6 minute mile pace. Happy running and racing to everyone out there!