The short of it- This race blew. My hardest effort yielded my slowest time. The Slam is not conducive to fast times, this I know. Three weeks is not enough recovery time if trying to run fast. However I felt like I held back a bit at Ogden 3 weeks ago and did not want to feel that way at UVM. So I started with a good, strong but realistic and sustainable effort. I felt great for 7 or 8 miles. Then came the hills, no worry. But with the hills came a horrendous head wind that lasted through mile 20ish. I think this messed with my pacing more than I realized. I kept trying to find runners to tuck in behind but never found anyone at a pace such that we could take turns and work together. I was passing and being passed until I was out of the canyon and out of the wind. By that time I was spent. The final miles had a nice down grade and could have been fast but my legs were shot. It was all I could muster to only lose 5 minutes in the final 5 miles. I did get to run with some encouraging runners, which helped. At mile 20 Smooth was there screaming for me (bet she had no voice left by the end of the race). THANKS SMOOTH I really needed the encouragement! I talked with Rhett and Kelli before the start. Both went with the 3:05 pace group. Unfortunately I passed both before the half. Kelli was seriously sick and I do not understand how she finished! But there she was in the finish coral- true grit! I need to read Rhett's blog and see what happened to him. Hopefully he did not get hurt. Wind aside, I have mixed feelings about this course. Provo Canyon is beautiful but running on the highway is not a good way to see it. There is a lane closure in the canyon but cars are still zooming by and concrete with wake-up bumps is not an ideal surface. Not a great race for me but it could have been way worse. One more under my belt and half way through the Slam. :) 1- 6:59 2- 6:56 3- 7:05 4- 7:11 5- 7:10 6- 7:13 7- 7:06 8- 7:53 9- 8:08 10- 7:13 11- 7:22 12- 7:52 13- 7:36 14- 7:27 15- 7:28 16- 8:06 17- 8:10 18- 7:45 19-7:35 20- 8:01 21- 8:03 22- 8:30 23- 8:26 24- 8:45 25- 8:49 26- 8:26 | 