It was nice to finally run the full
course of this race. Over the last several years I have paced many others for
the last few miles of this race. I usually rack up around 20 miles going back and
forth from about mile 10 to the finish while pacing. Helping others for the
last few miles of a race is one of my favorite things.
I kind of had a dream of a fast time
for this race. I was excited to run it. Thursday I realized I had not let my
legs recover enough. They just felt numb and wooden. This race was to be a “C”
race and test in preparation for the Ogden marathon in 2 weeks.
I have been working full time and
renovating our old Victorian home. So I have been getting in my running miles
every day and then also getting 4 – 6 hours of “weight training” while working
on the house. Right now it is tough, but I know by the end of summer it will
pay dividends.
I left home early enough so that I could
get on the first bus up. I like to sleep and rest as much as possible the
morning of the race. It was great to see so many friends and fellow Runner’s
Corner team mates at the start. I had created one of my custom pace bands for
the race. I was excited to maybe earn a new PR for this distance. I was glad to
have my new race team jacket as I was very cold.
I have run the first miles as the
last 2 miles of the Squaw Peak 50. It is sure different running them as a
beginning rather than end miles. At the start a group of about 10 took off,
Mike, Matt and the other fast guys. Brandon and a couple others were about 5
yards in front of me. I tried to stick to my pace and let them go in mile 2.
Mile 3 I thought I might be able to catch up and draft with them, but it was
not to be as they slowly pulled away. My paces were 5:30, 5:25, and 5:55.
After the slow mile 3 I knew the
wheels were going to fall off if I pushed too hard. I bagged my pace band and didn't look at my watch again. I went completely by feel.
Around mile 5 someone finally caught
up to me. It took him about ½ mile to pull away. No one else ever came past me
and I never caught anyone. It was a pretty lonely, solitary run. Paces for miles
4 – 10, 5:40, 5:44, 5:50, 5:54, 5:57, 6:01, 6:05.
At around mile 10.5 was the start line
of the 5k. Spencer Simpson gave me some much needed encouragement as I went
past. I knew the 1 hill was coming up and I would need some extra to get up it.
My pace for mile 11 which includes the hill was 6:12.
Now it was just the flat part to the
finish. I run University Ave. from Center to the canyon several times a week. I
know it well. I was able to push a bit harder for the last 2 miles with the
paces being 6:03 and 6:05. I even had a bit of a kick for the finish line
sprint with a pace of 5:27.
I finished with an official time of
1:16:58. That placed me 15th overall and 2nd in my 45-49
age group.
My wife was there at the finish to
meet me. I also was able to meet-up with a bunch of other running friends.
Not every race is going to be a PR
and not every race is going to go the way you want. You just need to be
prepared to take what you can and give your all, no matter what you have that
day.
"Train to near death, race, rest, repeat"
I am looking forward to the next few
races. 2 weeks until Ogden marathon. 2 weeks later is the Squaw Peak 50, and
then the next weekend is the Utah Valley marathon.
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