Today I wanted to run the Canyonlands Half Marathon course in Moab so I had my Dad drop me off up the canyon near the start. I say near, because I couldn't find it driving up the canyon in the dark. I decided to start at mile marker 13 so that I would get 17 miles or so back to the hotel. My goal was to run 7:00 miles and shoot for a 1:31-ish half-marathon pace. I wanted a long tempo run to see where my fitness was at. I started out WAY too fast as it was cold and slightly downhill and I was trying to warm-up and settle into my pace. About a 2-1/4 miles into it, I found the official start line (15:00 on watch) so here I go. I did pretty sweet from then on with regard to my pace. I was right on 7:00 miles the entire canyon. That was a beautiful canyon to run through as the sun comes up. Not much of a shoulder to run on, but very few cars to contend with. I felt good through ten miles, but from then on I had to fight to stay on pace. I started to slip a bit (5-10 seconds off each mile). I came out of the canyon in exactly 1:31 total time (13 miles). I ran on highway 191 to 500W and followed that south to 400 N and ran east to the park at the end of the road. I didn't care about the pace as much once I left the canyon and ran closer to 7:30's. My time at the finish line was 1:46:25 (15.2 miles ~7:00 miles ave). (1:31:25 half-marathon). I stopped at the park for a drink but the water was turned off. I then continued at an easy pace back to the hotel. I measured this on Google Earth to be 1.4 miles in 10:45 sec. Overall, this was a great workout for me as it simulated marathon pace over a measured course. I did not have the forsight to bring GU or stash water on the course and that really affected me. I didn't sweat that much as it was cool, but I know that dehydration and fuel was a major factor in the run. My muscles and joints also hurt around the same point too. Total Time: 117:10 Ave HR(15.2): 164 Ave HR(1.4): 154 | 