This is my second time running this race. The last time, two years ago, I ran a 21:07. For some reason I had remembered only running 21:37 but in either case this year was slower. I'm not too surprised and even though I was almost a minute slower than the last time I ran this course I was still relatively happy with the effort. I was up at 5:15am as I had to work for about 2hr before the race. Fortunately this race doesn't start until 9am. The course is interesting. The first ~2 miles are "flattish" and then up City Creek for about 1 mi. Then we turn around and blast our way all the way into Memory Grove. Needless to say I'm pretty familiar with most of the course. My main objective today was to just run into some of my fellow runners that I haven't seen in awhile and try and do something hard to start getting back into the racing/training mindset. I feel I accomplished both. I parked by the finish and then went up the hill to the start by the Capital Building. Then down the course. About 1.5 mi into my warmup I ran into Chad and JD and went back up with them to finish off the warmup. It was great getting to talk with both of them. At the start it was obvious a number of college students were in town for the holiday and there was rumor going around that Josh S was going to show up. About 2 min before the start he and Megan did make their grand appearance :). I tend to underestimate my fitness level and today was no exception. I really had no clue what I would be capable of and really just ran on feel I could have imagined running 6:30 pace or 5:30 pace. Luckily I was closer to the later. By about 1/4 mi into it the runners had more or less settled into their places. Josh was running easily and smoothly up front. Followed by three younger looking guys. Then me, Chad, and a few others. We continued to string out as we started the climb up City Creek. Mile 1: 5:59.20 HR 179 Up 156ft Dwn 59ft
The climb was taking much longer than I thought it should and I just kept hoping to see Josh coming down the other way to give me a clue of how much more to go. We made the turn around and started back down. There was the mildest of headwinds and it was a bit chilly but overall felt fine. Mile 2: 6:19.52 HR 187 Up 167ft Dwn 63ft The down is always nice and I tried my best to pick it up. My calf was still pretty tight from the cramp yesterday but the "race adrenaline" kept it from bugging me too much. Mile 3: 5:19.85 HR 186 Up 22ft Dwn 221ft Being an out and back course it is nice to have the other racers cheering you on going down, it always lifts my spirits. As far as the race went I was more or less just running hard. 4th place was out of sight and I didn't hear anyone immediately on my heals. Mile 0.84: 4:18.64 HR 185 (5:09 pace) Up 49ft Dwn 221ft Total 21:57.21 Pace 5:43 HR 184
I was glad that I was still able to continue to accelerate down the last section. Goes to show I still was holding back a little too much early on. But with the type of goals I had for today I'm not too surprised. After the race I got to talk briefly with JD, Josh, and Megan. Then had a bit more discussion with Albert W. (who didn't race today but I enjoyed hearing in person about his Chicago race) and Chad as we went to get our warm-ups. Then I cooled down back the way the race went but without the climb up City Creek. All and all a good experience. I would have to say that the discussions with people outweighed the race for me this morning though. Now just cooking for dinner as we are having our first stay at home Thanksgiving dinner.
| 