Philippians 4:13

I decided to go ahead and run the Mesa Falls Half this morning and just see how bad the abductor felt.  Got up and out the door at 5:45 to drive to Ashton, ID.

Once there, I stopped it to get my bib and bag and heard that Gray was going to run...sweet!  Stopped in at the breakfast area and said hi to some friends and saw Tyler LeBaron was running the half as well (2:30 at STG last year).   The HM course starts at 5760 feet, ends at 5260 feet so we are at elevation!

Hit the facilities a few times and got on the bus and rode up with Saige (for sure the winning woman).  Hit the PoP one last time, ran a warm up with Tyler then got to the start...but no Gray! 

At the gun Tyler and I were running well down the trail part (miles 1-3, approx. 350 elevation drop) at about a 5:35 average pace passing lots of marathoners.  I was running easy and breathing easy but I felt the abductor a bit though not bad, this would stay the same throughout the race.  After running into the campground we have a flat mile or so then start into the hill that climbs pretty fast and continuously til mile 7 (climb about 300 feet).  Through here I let Tyler take the lead a bit and just ran very controlled and easy to save it for after cresting the hill.  Tyler had been breathing very heavily since the start and I was wondering how far he would last.  Average up the hill around a 6:30. 

At mile 7, we top off and hit the downhill rollers so I start to see what Tyler has left in the tank and push the pace up a bit.  We hit mile 8 at a 5:33 and just past here is a hill at which time Tyler indicates he can't hold the pace.  So I maintain the effort to ensure he would not catch back up and run the next 2 miles in 5:42 pace (downhill about 250 feet).   It was fun to have the company but good to break the competition a bit and start to go for the win.

At mile 10, my intestinal issues start to show up and I slow a bit as I am fighting the need for a PoP start but make it through mile 11-13 at 6:00 pace (mostly flat).  The home stretch is a bit long (0.22 on my GPS probably due to my bad tangents).  Chat for a couple of minutes, see Tyler finish then run to the PoP.

At the finish, I see the RD and he says congrats.  RD says he heard we were neck and neck at mile 7 and said he put his money on the young guy (since I had told him about my injury and Tyler had told him that he was going for the CR).  I guess I proved that old guys can still race well. 

Cooled down for about a mile back and forth to my truck and stuck around to get some food and chat with other runners then headed home for family time and chores.

Splits: 5:22, 5:40, 5:44, 5:55, 6:27, 6:46, 6:16, 5:33, 5:42, 5:43, 6:05, 6:00, 5:55, 1:15 (0.22M).