Well this was kind of just for fun. I didn't taper at all for the race. In fact I was on a 100-mile week with 20 miles the day before. So I wanted to run it but just as like a tempo training run. The race was at 6,800-6,950 feet of elevation. The course wasn't fast by any means and it was out and back. Slight uphill the first .5 then .5 of downhill, then .5 uphill again- followed by the same backwards all on a freshly loose graveled road. Other than that it is very beautiful there and would point anyone in that direction for a good weekend in Southern Utah. So I warmed up with just over 5.5 miles around the out skirts of town then made my way over to the start. 1. 5:31- Because of the way the course rolls I knew this would be the fastest mile so I pushed the start and felt good. 2. 5:44- Harder mile as you climb up to the turn around on the gravel. Same effort as the first mile and still feeling good. As I turn around I see the second place runner around 2 min's back and so I just kind of start coasting. 3. 6:08- You climb the hard hill in this mile and I wasn't in a hurry to get away from anyone so I tried to stay loose and wanted to push the last .5 from the top of the hill to the finish. I did run that section faster but not too much. Just felt good running in my hometown. 5:47 pace per mile for the race. Fun race. IMHO I would have put together a different course to showcase the area a little more. It was actually a pretty good effort with what I'd done earlier this week and on the elements of the course and elevation. Had I been rested I could have maybe gone 1 min 30 seconds faster. On a flat course at lower elevation a little faster than that. Did just over 4.5 miles after the race to get to 13 on the day and 100 for the week. I'm happy with my training this week and glad to see the improvement from one week ago. Starting to shake out the post-marathon garbage that my body goes through. Two good weeks of training before the week of the Bryce half. Then it's time to rock and roll and see where I'm really at. | 