Going With The Flow

USA Half Marathon Championships

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Location:

Salt Lake City,UT,United States

Member Since:

May 08, 2011

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided -  
17:16 OktoberFAST 5K (10/11)
17:23 BAA 5K (4/12)
37:10 Memorial Day 10K (5/11)
1:17:03 Long Beach Half Marathon (10/11)
1:17:21 USA 1/2 Champs - Duluth (6/12)
2:49:01 Philadelphia Marathon (11/11)

Aided -
16:52 Fight For Air 5K (6/11)
17:08 Provo City 5K (5/12)
1:17:52 Top of Utah Half Marathon (8/11)
1:17:54 Utah Valley Half Marathon (6/11)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run consistently as I get back to 100% health. Stay patient!

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun training and racing.

Sub-17 5K
Sub-1:17 Half Marathon
Quality for the Olympic Trials in the marathon

Personal:

I am originally from Knoxville, TN and moved to SLC with Jake in 2010. I started racing in 2011 and had some great success before a major injury hit me in July 2012. I had athletic pubalgia surgery in May 2013...then again in Sept 2014 and am still trying to get back to my old self. Although running is my true passion, I love doing pretty much anything active outdoors - backcountry skiing, backpacking, biking, etc. 

I've been running for the Saucony Team since 2011. I enjoy representing the brand and really do believe they make the best shoes :)

I work as a Quality Engineer for BD Medical in Sandy.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Skinning Miles (1000ft ~ 2.5 Miles) Lifetime Miles: 912.35
Hiking Miles Lifetime Miles: 10.50
Total Distance
60.10
Saucony Omni 8 Miles: 10.20Saucony Mirage Miles: 7.40
Night Sleep Time: 36.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 36.00Weight: 116.00
Total Distance
10.20

AM - Workout in Seaside. 5 miles easy, then 1 mile at MP and 3 miles at HMP. Splits were 6:19, 5:54, 5:51, 5:45. Jake was nice enough to pace me on the run. The effort was hard, but I've run quite a few miles the last couple of days so hopefully 5:52 pace (sub-1:17) will be realistic for next weekend. 

Afterwards, we went to Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park to see the sights. Lots of walking! The Pacific Coast is so cool.

Saucony Omni 8 Miles: 10.20
Night Sleep Time: 10.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 10.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Total Distance
8.40

AM - Easy horsepark loop 4.4 miles. Check out Jake's blog for some great photos of the Oregon coast. 

PM - 4 miles in Sugarhouse. 

It's taper time!! Gotta find something to do with my extra time besides eating the entire pantry :)

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 116.00
Comments(7)
Total Distance
8.60

AM - 2 miles around the block. Last workout this afternoon. 

PM - Pretty hot outside! 2.2 miles warm-up, then 4x0.75 miles at HMP w/0.25 recovery jog. Splits were 4:21, 4:21 4:23, 4:21. Not too bad, but I hope that pace feels a lot easier on Saturday!

Checked out the entry lists for the Half Champs...it looks like there are about 25 women at a similar level as me (only based on PRs). It should be the perfect race to be competitive and run fast. Weather temperature looks promising at about 60 degrees and just hoping for the best in terms of wind. I will post info. for athlete tracking later this week. Getting excited!!

Night Sleep Time: 9.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 9.50Weight: 116.00
Comments(7)
Total Distance
7.40

AM - JAFA Run 7.4 miles, mostly talking about the Olympic hopefuls and standards...which has now gotten me interested in what the Oly A and B standard rules are now. Felt really good today and glad to catch up with at least two of the usual  crew. 

Anyone interested in TCBY Waffle Cone Wednesday tonight in Sugarhouse at 7pm? Jake and I were planning to go....will be fun!!

Saucony Mirage Miles: 7.40
Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50Weight: 115.80
Comments(6)
Total Distance
5.90

AM - Horsepark loop 4.4 miles easy. No motivation to work today - so anxious for the weekend! The best workout of the training cycle is this afternoon.

PM - 1.5 miles with 2 x 0.25 miles at half marathon pace with equal recovery.

Tracking info here. Below are the splits of my PR - hopefully I'll be faster than that. I only freaked out about running 18:16 5Ks....well since I saw the splits. But I've done it before! :)

5K             18:16
10K           36:31   
10 Miles     58:46        
11.9 miles   1:09:57       
Finish         1:17:03

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00Weight: 116.20
Comments(12)
Total Distance
3.10

Shake-out in Duluth.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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Race: USA Half Marathon Championships (13.1 Miles) 01:17:21, Place overall: 32
Total Distance
16.50

Race conditions: 63 degrees, 90-95% humidity, slight wind.

Leading up to the race - We have had this event on the calendar since December. As many know, I have not had the ideal training cycle for this race. It's really been a tough first half of the year in terms of injuries. As soon as I heal up from three months of unexplainable midfoot pain, my SI joints start acting up...that starts improving only to get hamstring tendonitis. Obviously, I have some work to do in terms of strength/cross training to prevent these problems. Anyways, I take it as a victory getting to the start line and being able to race.

The competition for this race was incredible. I have never been in a race with this kind of depth. Totally intimidating but exciting at the same time. I warmed up a mile or so followed by 4 minutes of marathon pace. All of us girls watched as the elite men took off 10 minutes before our race. At the last minute, I decided to wear only a sports bra as my uniform. That ended up being a smart move because it was quite warm and humid! I must admit that I'm a little nervous to see pictures :) I lined up a couple rows back from the start line.

The race - The horn went off, and there was an immediate gap between me and the super fast pack. There was a "chase pack" as well, but they were just 5-10 seconds too fast for me and only a couple spread out from there. A little disappointing because I was really hoping to be able to tuck in behind others. I came in the first 5K in 18:00 and felt pretty good - a little too fast but not bad because this part is very flat. The rolling hills started after this point.

I was keeping a pretty solid pace through the 10K at 36:15. Starting to feel the pace a bit...kept telling myself that I need to stay mentally focused to maintain the pace. The rollers on the course made it difficult to gauge how fast/slow I should be running. At around mile 8 I caught up to the (2:31 marathoner) Dot McMahon who was very encouraging and for some reason decided to pace me for a mile or so. This helped a ton because the wind seemed to be blowing significantly at this point. I went on ahead (although she ended up beating me by one second). This is where I really started to mentally struggle. The rolling hills were taking a toll on me because my splits seemed too slow and my legs were getting tired. 10 mile at 58:45. I was actually still right on pace to break 1:17.

The rest of the course is downhill to flat and I tried to take advantage of that. I felt like I was running a solid 5:50 pace only to see that the pace in the 6:05 range. I just couldn't get myself to push any harder. My hamstring started to ache at this point (Allison told me afterward that I was limping). I did my best and came across the finish line in 1:17:21. I lost quite a bit of time in that last 5K. I tried my hardest and know that I did the best I could today.

Analysis - I am very happy with my time today. Fell apart a little at the end, but that's what happens sometimes when you go for an ambitious goal. This is the 2nd best performance that I have ever had, and I can't be upset about that! I didn't feel like I "had it"...just didn't feel like I had my A game today. It's hard to get that perfect race (but it's really special when you do). I feel like I needed a little more mental toughness and endurance to really go for that sub-1:17. I told Jake that I would probably run a marathon this fall if I broke 1:17....but since I didn't, I get to chase after it again for the fall instead of the marathon! :) Probably a little too happy about that.

Overall, really glad we came to Duluth to run this race. I can't wait to come back next year. Huge congrats to Erik (Hamdog) on his new half marathon PR, DerekD for an awesome marathon, Allison (Derek's wife and my friend) for a 1 min improvement and right next to me in the half, and Jake getting 27th in the elite men's race. Now time to party!!!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(31)
Total Distance
60.10
Saucony Omni 8 Miles: 10.20Saucony Mirage Miles: 7.40
Night Sleep Time: 36.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 36.00Weight: 116.00
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