Philippians 4:13

Utah Valley Marathon

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Location:

Idaho Falls,ID,USA

Member Since:

Apr 21, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

2007 St. George Marathon 2:32:06 (marathon PR)

2014 St. George Marathon 2:32:45 (close to old PR...7 years later!)

2014 Boston Marathon, 2:39:00, 298th OA, 8th AG, 1st Idahoan

2013 Lake Lowell Marathon, 2:48:34 (Course Record), 1st Overall (#6)

2012 Boston Marathon, 2:43:26 (HOT!!), 114th OA, 9th Master OA, 1st Idahoan

2010 B&A Trail Marathon (MD), 2:40:18, 1st Overall (#3), Master's Course Record (still!)

2010 Mesa Falls Marathon, 2:48:55, 1st Overall (#4)

2009 Pocatello Marathon, 2:37:22, 1st Overall (#2)

2011 The M.A.D. Marathon, 2:55:14, 1st OA (training run) (#5)

2006 Teton Dam Marathon, 2:50:48 1st Overall (#1)

2015 Hood to Coast Relay (195 miles), 1st Masters Team (6th OA), 19:59:57, 6:03 avg pace for the team

2008 Ragner Relay Del Sol (182 mile relay) 1st place team 17:04:37, 5:38 pace avg for the team

50,000 lifetime miles from spring 2000 to October 2019.  Computer logged 50,000 miles from Jan 2005 to September 12, 2020. 

Logged (on computer) 49,802 miles (2 x circumference of the earth) in ~5,700 days (8/23/20)

Logged (on computer) 24,901 miles (circumference of the earth) in 2,889 days (11/29/12) http://jeff.fastrunningblog.com/blog-My-alarm-went-off-I-got-up-eventually-/11-29-2012.html  

Short-Term Running Goals:

Keep on running, enjoy it for the sake of running, relax and enjoy life...de-stress.  Stay fit as I enter retirement in < 4years.

No racing, retired.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Keep running until this old body says no, running for fun.

Personal:

 I started running competitively in 2005 and ran my first marathon in 2005. Now retired from competitive racing.

Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer;

answer me, for I need your help.
Protect me, for I am devoted to you.
Save me, for I serve you and trust you.
You are my God.
Be merciful to me, O Lord,
for I am calling on you constantly.
Give me happiness, O Lord,
for I give myself to you.
O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,
so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord;
hear my urgent cry.
I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble,
and you will answer me.  - Psalm 86:1-7

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Miles:This week: 16.00 Month: 157.50 Year: 484.55
Runs With Moxie Lifetime Miles: 12491.60
Vibram Five Finger Bikila Lifetime Miles: 137.80
Saucony Xodus 2011 Lifetime Miles: 982.61
Saucony Fastwitch White 2019 Lifetime Miles: 1960.23
Saucony Guide Yellow 2019 Lifetime Miles: 1187.00
Brooks Launch 6 Red 2020 Lifetime Miles: 2227.00
Zoot Solana Tigers Lifetime Miles: 877.00
Nike React Infinity Black Flyknit 2021 Lifetime Miles: 960.90
Nike React Infinity Blue Flynit 2021 Lifetime Miles: 602.00
Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 38 Lifetime Miles: 667.00
Race: Utah Valley Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:41:40, Place overall: 8, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0026.200.000.0026.20

Quick update:  2:41:40ish, 8th overall, 1st in AG.  Disappointed with my time (didn't even hit C Goal of sub 2:40).  Course not as fast as I thought.  Calves started to have issues early (4M) and my last 5M was a death march. 

More later.  Ok here is later...

Walked to the bus pickup with Kory and Bill M and met up with MattK (from the Blog), Walter and his friend Scott.  Nice ride up to the start.  Only had about 40 minutes to wait.  Got ready and saw lots of FRB'ers at the start then we were off.

Ran steady with Walter from the start.  The front pack of 4 guys took off about mile 2, followed by Sasha and Jeff (Steve A joined them shortly as well) and Kory was running just back of us for most the race (until he passed us!).   Steady and easy on the rolling downhill out of the canyon.  It was a beautiful running day and nice scenery.  However, about 3 miles in I could start to feel my left calf tightening and I mentioned it to Walt at mile 4.  So here we are, me and my calf and Walt and his cold congestion trying to run fast, quite a pair.  We are hitting our splits ok (averaging about 5:50ish) coming down the canyon.  Lots of mileage on concrete (which sucked, it was very hard and we could both feel it). 

Hit mile 10 at 58:35ish feeling ok (calf still tight, Walt having issues with his congestion still).  Start to get into Provo and all the turns start!  This was actually a real pain in the butt.  Hit half at 1:17:22 (a little behind now) and Walt has to duck into the portapotty.  I see Kory coming on as we run an S-curve (the first of many sharp turns)!  Still a slight downhill but feeling mostly flat. 

We run into town and get away from the highway (by running behind a strip mall, how scenic!) and onto the Jordan River Pathway.  Now the curves and dips really start as we wind along the river and duck under roads via tunnels...momentum sappers!  I start to see Steve A at mile 16 and can tell he is slowing (as am I..my average pace is now moving from 5:50 closer to 6:00 all the time, yikes!).  I tell myself to stay patient as there is a lot of race left and my calves are still tight, no need to implode trying to catch Steve.

At mile 18, I am coming up on Steve and he stops and tells me he is done.  I wish him well and marshall on knowing that Kory is coming on.  I am running in 7th, but the legs are weakening and the calves are preventing me from pushing with full power on the kick.  I only took 3 gels during the race (at 7M, 15M and about 19M) but I don't think any more would have helped.  I am walking the line between trying to maintain a decent pace and not pushing too hard so I don't crash even more and cramp up hard.

At mile 23, Kory catches me and we run together for a stretch.  He is such a strong finisher I try to stay with him but my legs don't respond (still no power) so I just try to keep him in sight.  At mile 25M I see him weaving all over the road (is he going to fall?  no, he is just trying to be a good friend and pull me along!) as he looks back to try and encourage me to come up...not in the cards.  He puts nearly a full minute on me in the last 3M, great job Kory!

As I enter the mall parking lot, I just start to push with all I have...since I missed my A, B and C goals I think maybe I can get 2:40:32 for a third time...nope.  As I hit 26M, I run as hard as I can to the finish and cross the line pretty pissed off at myself. 

Overall an ok race but disappointing in the time and my fitness.  The course was not nearly as fast as I thought it would be (Sasha told me this right before the race, he was right).  Still have some tweaks to do in my training to try and get back in the 2:30's in a future race.  Focus on more "big workouts" and long intervals, more hills and more fast finish long runs (including at least 2 20+ milers) before the next marathon.

Splits:  1-6:09, 2-5:39, 3-5:52, 4-5:54, 5-6:10, 6-5:45, 7-5:39, 8-5:47, 9-5:47, 10-5:43, 11-5:51, 12-6:08, 13-6:00, 14-5:51, 15-6:02, 16-6:09, 17-6:14, 18-6:18, 19-6:21, 20-6:29, 21-6:28, 22-6:35, 23-6:49, 24-6:34, 25-6:42, 26-6:41, 0.2 (0.34 on garmin)-2:08.

 

Saucony Tangent 3 Miles: 26.20
Comments
From MichelleL on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 12:51:24 from 71.35.250.200

Hey, it was nice to cheer you on, sorry you didn't hit your goals, but hey at least you can run :) You still looked cheerful at 5.5 miles!

From Bonnie on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 13:30:19 from 75.164.110.212

Sorry about the off day Jeff. I am impressed that you had the fortitude to keep going when things went awry so early on.

From MarcE on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 13:30:49 from 24.155.140.8

A 5 mile death march to the finish and still went sub 2:42, not too shabby. Congrats on your 1st place AG award. Not only are you speed on the course, but you were the first to post a race report for UVM!!

From Holt on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 13:37:22 from 75.169.89.6

Got to love the crawl to the finish! That's alright, you'll be up and ready to crank out some good stuff next time.

From josse on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 13:45:57 from 70.193.180.227

Funny my last 6 were a death march. Great job!

From Burt on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 14:03:14 from 98.167.151.26

Ha! I was going to say that's how Josse described hers. Can't wait to hear the rest of the details, even if you weren't happy with the outcome it will be something we can all learn from.

From Dallen on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 14:18:59 from 76.192.187.131

The elevation profile looks great, but it's tough to run those last flat miles after getting beat up by the early downhill. Same problem as the TOU marathon.

Chalk it up as a learning experience.

From Sam Dean-howard on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 15:08:59 from 90.212.41.56

Sorry to hear it didnt go as well as planned Jeff, well done for hanging on in there on the death march I know how that feels It makes you a stronger runner for future racing...

Your pain threshold has deffo had a shake :-)

From Kelli on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 18:22:58 from 71.219.76.64

Sorry you were not happy with your time! I heard many rumbles about this course not quite being what people expected! Rest up and the next one will be better!

From JimF on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 19:42:13 from 68.58.15.32

I know that you didn't hit your goal but it is another solid marathon and you seem to be able to consistently run good races. On the right day and right course you will nail a good one...

From Maurine/Tarzan on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 21:35:58 from 97.117.76.29

I think a lot of us struggled after getting off the parkway section. Great job on the race.

From Adam RW on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 22:32:45 from 98.202.223.65

For dealing with 22 miles of calf issues I would say great effort!

From Jon on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 22:51:16 from 75.169.139.27

Tough race today, Jeff. But you're doing 5 marathons this year, so we'll chalk this up as your mulligan. Still, you did a 2:41 despite a death slog.

From Little Bad Legs on Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 00:43:58 from 24.216.235.183

Nothing quite like a death march to finish off a race, eh? Way to keep with it despite the challenges that surfaced early on.

From Bill Mandler on Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 10:32:24 from 24.119.13.42

Jeff,

Nice job on the race. I agree that the course is tougher than it looks with all the turns and the steep hills at all the tunnels. I think those constant up/downs probably did me in.

From Kory on Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 11:44:17 from 209.181.83.234

I was trying to encourage and get you to follow me because that's what friends are for. I don't need to be competitive when I want to push someone else to help me push. I was hoping if I picked it up that would bring the motivation and give you one last push. You did great Jeff and hit the Half Way in perfect fashion.

From Ashbaker on Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 12:05:34 from 98.98.182.198

Jeff, The parkway sucks as a running course. You did pretty well I think. I enjoyed meeting your family also. See you next time!

From Dave S on Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 17:09:28 from 4.254.231.85

Way to be tough. 2:41 on an off day is impressive.

From Barry on Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 20:53:00 from 75.174.16.168

Jeff,

I think you did awesome. Some times things don't go our way, but that is the best time to learn something. Now the question is what did you learn?

From mattk on Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 23:37:02 from 69.169.164.230

I think missing all of your goals was about par for the course yesterday! Seems most everyone didn't hit them. Nice race, and it was good to meet you and your family.

From Mark on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 09:41:33 from 168.103.223.128

Quite impressive for a death march. Great job on toughing it out. You've paid more dues and are now set up for an awesome next race! Also, big congrats on 1st place age group.

From richborget on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 09:49:01 from 67.77.148.152

Wow, you are impressive! I am still hopeful that I can improve and reach my current dream of 2:45. First, I have to break 3 again.

From Dan S on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 10:22:51 from 204.134.132.225

Way to tough it out with a bad calf, which was probably aggravated by running on concrete. It sounds like this course was more of a bear than expected. That is still a very respectable time. Great job!

From Neil on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 14:08:33 from 164.165.24.5

You probably don't want to hear this but congrats for grinding it out like you did and competing your arse off to still finish in the top 10 of a loaded field. Very impressive.

From argentinerocket on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 17:24:30 from 74.9.147.114

First in your age group and 8th overall sounds fantastic to me! Plus you got to hang out with all those fast guys and gals! Congratulations and quit pouting, you did great! :)

From jtshad on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 17:42:42 from 204.134.132.225

Thanks everyone. Overall it was still a good race, I just set my sights high and didn't quite get what I was shooting for. A good learning experience and fun time running/talking with friends.

Thanks, Rocket, no more pouting!

From Superfly on Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 09:34:14 from 208.117.127.110

That is still a great effort even though things weren't all working well for you. A top 10 finish is never bad.

From Robert on Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 19:14:10 from 71.32.163.35

Sorry this is a little late, but great job finishing this one in the face of adversity. You made the best of it and that's all you can ask of yourself.

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