Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Deseret News 10K

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Location:

Provo,UT,

Member Since:

Apr 07, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K - 17:11 (Cougar Run)

10K - 34:35 (Deseret News)

15K - 57:33 (Utah Running Club)

1/2 - 1:22:26 (Mountain View Trail)

50K - 4:22:31 (Sapper Joe)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub-2:45 at Saint George Marathon

Win the Antelope Island half marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'd like to run the Angeles Crest 100 at some point. And I'd still like to go sub-4 at a trail 50k. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912

Personal:

<iframe height='160' width='300' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912/activity-summary/184689bbf831149f2053e60709730c07651232d3'></iframe>

<iframe height='454' width='300' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912/latest-rides/184689bbf831149f2053e60709730c07651232d3'></iframe>

I was a competitive cyclist for years. In 2009, after racing in the Tour of Utah, I decided I had plateaued as a cyclist--I could continue to improve, but I wouldn't break through to a new level. So, I started looking for a new challenge.


I thought that challenge would be mountain biking, but I'm a terrible bike handler. I married Catherine in January 2010 and a couple of weeks later I entered the SLTC Winter Training Series with her. A couple of weeks after that I decided I'd like to run ultras, so I signed up for a couple of 50Ks to get started.

Those first races came and went, with varying results. I was looking forward to running more and possibly pushing into the longer distances, but I injured my knee in June 2010 and I've never been consistently healthy since.

I started law school in August 2010, which meant less time for training. In June 2011, Baby Elliott was born, which meant even less time for training. But she's worth it. 

Baby Nora joined us in October 2013, with the same effect on training as Elliott (who, incidentally, is no longer a baby). 

I (finally) finished school in April 2014 and now I'm an evil corporate lawyer in Salt Lake. I have no illusions that I'll ever get back into the shape that I once was, but I'm perfectly at peace with that. I still have many goals to accomplish and many years in which to do it. 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: Deseret News 10K (6.2 Miles) 00:38:23, Place overall: 98, Place in age division: 12
Total Distance
6.20

I've only run this race once before. The other time was two years ago as I was just coming off of a knee injury. But even with the injury, I was in much better shape and had been training much harder for much longer. As a result, I took the race pretty seriously and was pretty nervous as we lined up for the start. 

This year I had absolutely no expectations at the start, and as a result I felt remarkably relaxed. I guess the lesson is that the secret to inner peace is to lower your expectations. It's hard to be disappointed when you set the bar low enough. 

Anyway, the start was terrible as usual. Too many people and not enough road. Things thinned out early enough, though, and I ran into RAD as we ran along Foothill.

I tried really hard to settle into a sustainable pace, and I think I did a good job. I never felt like I was going so hard that I was going to explode, and my pace was relatively consistent throughout the race. But after about two miles my lower leg was killing me. I think it has something to do with not running much at all and then going out and hammering sub-6 miles down steep paved roads. By the end the pain was so bad that it was definitely slowing me down.

Despite the challenges, I finished just over 38 minutes, which I consider respectable, considering my training over the past year or two.

We hung around for a while and met several FRBers and saw Fritz win the marathon. We also ran into one of my old cycling teammates, Dave Clinger, who apparently is a runner now. (Google him sometime--he's one of the more interesting people I've ever met.) I hadn't seen him for about three years, so it was good to catch up briefly, and I was very glad to see that he seems to be doing well.

Anyway, the race wasn't really a triumph, but it was a fun experience, and we'll probably be back again in a year.

EXCHANGE OF THE DAY

Race announcer: "Those are some interesting shoes. What are you running in?"

Sasha: "CROCKS!!!!!"

MR10 (1) Miles: 6.20
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Rob Murphy on Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 19:53:11 from 24.10.249.165

Yeah... why Sasha doesn't have a paid sponsorship from Crocs I'll never know. Not sure what the record is for a marathon in Crocs but it can't be much faster than 2:34!

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