Canyonlands Half Marathon.
I met up with the Ragnar crew and we road down in what they call the "Chariot of Sweetness" (COS). Those of you that ran Del Sol will know what I'm talking about- the decked out orange van with sirens and the like. Dominique was the hookup on that, obviously. So it was Dominique, myself, Andrea, Johnny, Jason, Alicia, Cortney, and Bill. I can go into some detail on the race for each of them, as we have all supported each other this winter and we are intimately familiar with each others' accomplishments. But first- the race report.
We arrived at the expo in style. I was driving and having fun with the sirens. I used the whistle call a lot and got a ton of stares. Inside the expo was filled with the usual Locomotion volunteer crowd- they have some deal where they get in the race each year if they volunteer. I heard from more than one source that this race was easier to get into this year, so it's either losing its popularity or the supply of other races in UT and CO has increased during the spring. The only other race I really wanted to run in March was the Buffalo run, and that's a trail race, so who knows. Anyway, I talked to Kris L a bit- his knee has recovered from last year and he is getting back into racing now. He was going for a nice even 1:45. I also went over to the Salt Lake Running Company tent and talked to BJ Christensen for minute. I knew he would be a force in the race, since he came in second last year. We talked about the store he works at (Runner's Advantage) being sold to Salt Lake Running Co. I have some mixed feelings about that. I'm glad Stan could unload that stress off of his plate, but I will miss running Salt Lake Fit out of that store and meeting so many people in the running community.
On to the race. We were staying in Green River 'cause the hotel is nice and cheap, and they don't force you to stay 2 nights. We met up with Natalie and her husband John (who was there for support) and went down to the race.
Good signs at the start- cloudy at the start and cool. We knew we would be racing in the '40s, which is really ideal. Tracy C, Miriam, Christina, and Marie met up with us at the start, so we had a pretty solid crew of 13 to hang out and pass the time with. It was cold, but it didn't feel colder than last year. Again, the cloud cover was a blessing. I mentioned that I wanted to break 1:20, as that was my personal course record and time the previous year. It seemed attainable after the good training I had put in, even though the traveling was messing up my diet and sleep a little.
I noticed a few fast running bloggers at the start, but only recognized Logan F from his picture. I would later meet Walter and Cody and put a couple names to faces. My friends had all met Walter before through some training runs during the week at the Olympic Oval, but I've missed those due to my travel schedule. Andrea mentioned that we should hook up because he's pretty fast but not completely out of my league. Kind of like the difference between Chris Pope and me- pretty comparable runners to the point where we can train efficiently together. Anyway, had I met those guys before the race, I would have talked to them and tried to keep up with Logan and Walter's pacing (before Logan took off). As it was, I ended up being a couple minutes behind at the end and I had a little left.
Mile 1: 5:45- I was surprised at how many people ran out in front of me at the start. Some were obviously way over their heads. I held back and was satisfied at the mile split.
Mile 2: 6:10- Still not warmed up completely, the course leveled out and I lost what I gained in the first mile. No problem. Feeling good.
Mile 3: 6:05- Both achilles were causing me some pain, but I was running through it, hoping that I would warm up and the pain would reside. I was right.
Mile 4: 6:00- Feeling better and strong, I headed in to the middle section of the race and started passing those that I knew were over their heads.
Mile 5: 5:55- Feeling good, and making sure I was under 30 minutes for 5 miles. Nice and smooth.
Mile 6: 5:55- I grabbed a vanilla cliff shot at the aid station, which proved to be a bad idea. I forgot my cliff shot at the start, so I wanted something to give me some extra energy. Unfortunately, this was hard to choke down and I spent the next 3 miles coughing. I fell in pace behind Ben Kadlec and we maintained that for the next 5 miles.
Mile 7: 5:55- This would have been faster, but I started getting a bug in my chest and I couldn't figure out what was up with my breathing and coughing. It happened right after the cliff shot. Weird.
Mile 8: 6:05- Not feeling as good with my breathing, but my legs felt good.
Mile 9: 6:10- This was probably the low of the race. I knew the hill was coming up, and Ben K was putting a little distance between us. Some guy came by on a bike that he knew and gave him encouragement. I was just trying to get over the bug in my chest.
Mile 10: 6:05- Started turning it around. The downhill after the hill worked out the issue in my chest, and my toes felt good. They were starting to feel a little numb over the previous 2 miles, but the downhill got the circulation in there again.
Mile 11: 6:00- Started feeling even better. I thought I could start picking it up. Ben and I approached Cody and Brad P, so we got in a pack of 4 at mile 11. I noticed Cody's fast running blog shirt, so I wanted to ask him what his name was- so I could put a name to the blog/face. We exchanged a few sentences, and I mentioned that I was feeling good. He told me to make a move. I agreed.
Mile 12: 5:40- Picked it up. It felt really good, but I was too far behind Scott S to catch him. Someone yelled out that I was #17, which seemed right. I think I had been down around #40 in previous years, but this was a better day and my endurance has improved.
Mile 13: 5:55- Just holding on at this point, but everything was fine. I cruised in when I saw that breaking 1:18 wasn't going to happen.
After I finished, I grabbed my bag and went out to see my friends come in. I didn't see Esther, but I heard she came in at 1:29. Impressive. I saw Natalie at about 1:36. I thought I would see Bill and his crew sooner. I finally saw Bill and Alicia at 1:42, and I knew Dominique and Andrea were right behind. I thought it must have been a bad day for them. Well, I was right. I saw Dominique at about 1:45, and she said something really bad was going on with her foot. Andrea was literally right behind her, so I asked her if anything was wrong. She said no. That was a small relief. I ran around to the food area and talked to Andrea. She said Dominique was in the medical tent. So I went in there and got the scoop. It wasn't good. We wheeled her out in a wheelchair and propped her up in the van. I wanted to do something, but there really wasn't anything I could do to make it better. We found out the next day that yes, there was actually a fracture in her foot, and she ran most of the race on it. | 