Pardon the length of this non-race race report but I had a great time and wanted to get it all down.
I have been feeling good so I decided to give this race a whirl to test out the hip/glute/back and see what I could muster without doing any harm. I drove down with Scott and Fritz. It was a really fun trip for me as both guys are all class. We stayed in Green River at one of the finest $27 hotels around :). Microwaves, a fridge, and cable TV were the highlights in a pink room with 70's bedspreads. Next to my bed was a little 2 foot high pink door. I wondered if one of us would be missing in the morning but fortunately we were all safe. We were all off to bed early and got a good nights sleep. It really was a good place and it was nice to save some cash. We were off to the race at 6:00am. Drove down to Moab and picked up our stuff. We had time to rest a little more in the car before the buses loaded at 7:30 to take us up for a nice long wait before the 10am start. We met up with Kevin before loading the buses.
The conditions were very good. I have heard horror stories about the wind and sun at this race in the past. I think it was a treat to get a relatively cool morning with overcast skies and a small headwind. It was very cool to have Justin Park find us as we were waiting for the race to begin. Having a good group of people together made the time pass quickly.
We warmed up with a jog to the bag drop and then Kevin and I ran back to the port o potties to take care of last minute business. At the start line I ran into my old high school friend Elton who was convinced that I am an elite runner. I quickly corrected him and told him that I only chauffeur elite runners :). Saw many familiar faces including Trent Jensen who is a friendly nemesis of mine. We go back and forth at races and it was hard for me to tell my ego to shut up so I could run no pressure. My race plan was pretty simple: do not race, run a few miles easy, speed up a bit if it feels good, and possibly run it progressive. A couple minutes before the gun I wished the guys well and then moved back into the crowd and got my Ipod ready (that's right, I ran with music to further keep in non serious mode). The gun went off and I started out easy. I wanted to be right around 7 minutes for the first mile but about a 1/4 mile in Trent ran up beside me haha. We ended up running the first 5 miles together and formally met and talked. It was really cool to get to talk to him, a good guy for sure. 1-5 were 6:28, 6:26, 6:17, 6:09, 6:08. A little faster than I wanted but I felt good so I went with it. At this point I told Trent that he should cut my dead weight and go :). So he opened up a good gap over the next mile and I figured I would just do my thing. I felt really good going over the rollers on the course which I think is partly from the stairmaster and weights the last 8 weeks. I tried to run the tangents instead of tucking in behind people and should have just stayed with Trent because we were both picking off the same little groups of people as we went along. His gap had actually gotten smaller as the race went on. The hill at mile 10 was a good one and my legs began to get tired. Strange feeling having plenty of lungs but tired legs. Definitely not enough running miles the last while but I was having fun and still passing people. 6-10 were 6:12, 6:13, 6:18, 6:17, 6:27. The last 3 I wanted to pick it up but instead I just kept with it and kept thinking "do no harm". I slowed up on the last mile and then picked it up a little again during the last little push through the chute. I saw Justin cooling down as I was coming in and wondered how everyone did. The last 3 were 6:16, 6:21, and 6:39, with a 6:11 avg in through the chute. I am happy with the result given the 8 week "layoff" and even happier that I held up in one piece. I banked some confidence that Boston won't be a death slog and that I should be able to run a relatively respectable marathon there.
I'm super excited that Scott, Fritz, and Kevin ran so well and were that close to each other. We did a little cool down together and then I did the social thing while they got the rest of 20 miles in together. We spent the next few hours hanging out with Kevin and Aimee at a good little eatery and then at the camp site where Scott and I snuck in a nap in the car. The ride home went by way too fast with some excellent stories by everyone. Super thankful to travel and run with such great friends and people. I'm excited to try and keep this little momentum going over the next four weeks and soak in the Boston experience.
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