Run fast

Ran from 9th east straight up 33rd south to Wasatch Blvd.  Took Wasatch out to the mouth of the canyon and then meandered my way back through Holladay.  Felt pretty good and didn't get too sore.  6:40 pace.

16 x 400 with 15 secs rest at East High.  I finally got to the running group at 5:45. 

6:40 pace

4 at 5:45

3 x 800 at 5:15

1 x 1600 at 5:15

1.5 at 6:45

Total average 5:50

6:45 pace through Holladay.  Probably doing nothing tomorrow.

I like running in the rain.

Pre race warm up.

I went into this race with the goal of breaking 2:30.  I barely pulled it off, although it took more effort than I would have liked.  At the start line I only recognized BJ (not easy to miss) and Steve Anderson and a couple minutes before the race Jeff (jtshad) introduced himself to me. Except for them I really had no idea what other competition would show up.  The race got off on time and I soon found myself trailing only BJ, who got off to a blazing, sub 5 minute start.  I have no idea how he ran so fast, considering that he did a sub 10 hour Ironman two weeks ago. Compared to last year I was doing well through the first few miles but I still felt that those mid 5 min miles were taking too much effort.  I backed off slightly at around mile 5 because nobody was around me and I knew I needed to conserve more if I was ever going to hang on at the end.  After I got out the canyon I started to got into a decent rhythm and by mile 10 I passed BJ's relay partner.  Now I was all alone in front and solely responsible for blocking at least 20 cars who were stuck behind the pace car.  I got through the half way point in about 1:13, about 1 minute faster than I had expected.  I was feeling fairly relaxed at that point so it seemed very realistic that I could run a sub 1:17 second half and get under 2:30.  My optimism lasted until I had to climb that hill at mile 14.5.   I tried to hold back but  I still think I ended up pushing too hard because my legs never felt the same.  A relay runner caught me at the dam, fortunately he was only a relay runner.  After the dam is where I was planning to put in some fast miles to make up to foreseeable breakdown at mile 23.  I managed close to 5:40s from 18-23 which basically left me having to run around 6s to get sub 2:30.  Somewhere in there I passed Allie at an aid station.  Thanks for the cheer and I apologize for not taking your water or giving a high five.  It was one of those, "oh sh**, I have five miles left" moments.  Fortunately I survived those last 3 miles which included a few tunnels, dodging and weaving through runners, and 2 foot rollers that felt like hill sprints.  

Overall I felt good about the race and I was especially happy that I didn't finish in 2:30:01.  My Garmin was obviously on the fritz during the first few miles.  I promise I didn't run a 5:57 first mile. 

5 miles around Camden, SC. I probably sweat more during the run than I did at the Ogden Marathon.

5 miles at 5% incline and 6:56 pace.

4:35, 85 miles, road with a cycling team around the point of the mountain, through American Fork, over South Mountain and back on Wasatch Blvd.

Around 1:45.  STEEP!