my makeup may be flaking

Went down to American Fork today to run a Memorial Day race. Given that this was one of 26.2 running company's "Platinum" races I thought there would probably be some good competition. I had pretty low expectations as I had planned on doing a low key half marathon today that got canceled.

I saw quite a few runners with 26.2 running co. singlets at the start so I figured I probably wouldn't be competitive. The 5k and 10K started together and so I was content to let the pack get away a little at the start. After about 800m, Brandon Hebbert flew by me and went to the front of the pack. He looked strong and I could only hope he wasn't running the 10k.

Right at the mile (5:11, it was a bit short) I was starting to catch up to some people when the 5k and 10k split. Suddenly it was just Brandon ahead of me (by over 20 seconds). I started to cramp up a little and feel a bit nauseous. Glancing back I saw 3 or 4 people within 20 seconds of me so I knew I had to keep pushing.

The next couple of miles were uphill and I slowed down quite a bit (5:32 and 6:04). These miles were both slightly short by a few seconds and the slowdown was mostly due to the uphill. I reached mile 3 (2.94 miles) in 16:48. The course tool said I should be at 17:08 here based on my finish. That meant I lost 20 seconds in the next 2 miles (which included a steep down and a steep up). I was feeling fairly nauseous still and also my shoe came untied. I was also out of sight of both first and third place now so I had entered more of a tempo mode.

In the last mile I picked up the intensity a little but I didn't feel fantastic and there were now a lot of people to weave in and out of. In addition a lot of the 5k runners from the lead pack were now doing a cool own going back along the course and getting in my way. Even though they could see me coming I was forced into oncoming traffic a couple of times. Maybe I needed to be wearing one of those neon green singlets the 26.2 guys had. Anyway I achieved my goal of a sub 34. The course was certainly short but this was probably off set by the hills.

This was a free race which is awesome and I wasn't too concerned that the course length was off. Allie and I split the $25 coupon to Costa Vida that Seth Wold handed to her for her efforts.

Woke up with a little bit of a scratchy throat today. That combined with my allergies led to a certain amount of misery. I felt a bit better after my AM run but then worse after teaching (ahh, chalkboards).

I had been planning on a four mile tempo run but 45 seconds into it I decided to just slow down as I wasn't feeling good at all.

AM Woke up feeling sick again. Definitely sick, not just allergies, and this made me feel better. I waited until after teaching to run.

PM Two loops of Sugarhouse Park with a short detour to Allie's new place.

Wow, what a race!

I was just hoping to use this race as a confidence booster because I've been having trouble with my half marathons.

The start of the race was a little bit of a mess. There was a guy mumbling ready set go and that seemed to be a good indication for me to start. Riddle me this race director. Why have chip times if you aren't going to have a timing mat at the start? I hate it when races do that.

I'm not sure what my first mile was because I didn't start my watch in time but I think it was something around 5:35. This didn't feel very fast (it was a bit downhill) but no one was around me. Mile 2 was 5:41 and and I took a glance behind me to see that there was one guy trailing after me. After 3 miles there was a turn off Wasatch Blvd on to a pedestrian bridge. I managed to find it because I had reviewed the course before hand. Yes there were a lot of volunteers, yes I asked them if that was the right way to go, but none of responded to me.

Anyway on the bridge I could see there was one guy about 30-40 seconds behind me and I was starting to feel kind of crappy. Mile 3 had only been a 6:11 but that was ok because it had a pretty big hill. Mile 4 was 5:46 with several sharp turns. Miles 5 and 6 were the worst for me. My legs were starting to seize up and we were making these interminable turns through this neighbourhood (a lot of up and down). I did 5 and 6 each in about 5:55-6:00, which was more a function of the terrain than me slowing down.

I knew I was going to get caught from behind but it took him so darn long. Mile 7 had more climbing before finally getting to some nice downhill and I did 5:46. Mile 8 had a ton of down but did include a big uphill. This is where I finally got passed by the eventual winner,even though that mile was 5:17 for me. My legs were seizing up like crazy at this point and there was just nothing I could do about it. The next couple of miles were straight downhill and should have been super fast but evey step was painful for me. Somehow I was managing to stay just about ten seconds back.

I got to ten mile in about 57:30, the lead now up to maybe 20 seconds. This race ended in Sugarhouse park. The course had done some sharp turns so I briefly lost sight of 1st place. There was a sign pointing me left when I got to the inner road so I followed it and started to run downhill. It was then that I saw 1st place guy (and the lead cops) had gone the OTHER way. I cut through the grass to get back on to the correct course. Then before I knew it I was finishing, about 30 seconds back of the leader.  Despite going the wrong way I had managed a sub 7:30 final 5k, but amazingly it wasn't enough to catch the leader.

It was a tough day, but it ended up being a huge PR for me.

Seriously though. This was ridiculous. This race was terrible I'm guessing around 11.2 miles and then the people at the finish line acted like it was my fault.

I'm annoyed at this race for a couple of reasons. 1st) they did a terrible job. I payed $60 which should be enough to ensure some kind of competence. 2nd) I don't understand why I keep crapping out in all of my recent half marathons. I tried my best today, but that doesn't even remotely resemble what I am capable of on a "good" day. I know this because last weekend my 10K didn't feel this bad and I was running faster over terrain that was just as hard.