Running

Marathoning is a sickness.... I have learned never to swear off a race because I always end up doing is again. Great job, mental toughness comes with practice and racing. It will come back:)

I think you ran well. I would try some easier long runs to give yourself more recovery--- I was recently told "there is no such thing as overtrained, just UNDER RECOVERED. It will all happen with taking things easy on some MLR. Oh and try throwing your watch out : D once in a while :D. YOU WERE STILL IN FRONT OF ME.

Nice job gutting out the race after the legs were shot Jeff. Hope you can find that perfect balance of training and rest and nail the next race.

Jeff! You need to give yourself more credits! You ran a great race especially coming off a high mileage week!

Good assessment on your downhill strength and readiness for DNews! Go for it! :)

great job, jeff. check out those sub-6 splits! nice work.

in regards to your training, i would suggest throwing in a few more faster miles at the end of some of your runs -- maybe try running 1-3 miles at race pace a couple of times a week. this way your mind and your body will be more familiar and comfortable with the pace on race day.

hopefully it works out for you to run des news. i always swear off that race when i am running the last mile along 800 south, but there is just something about that race that is highly addicting. good luck with your training over the next few weeks.

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the comments.

Allie-I'm sure I've asked you this before, but when you get a minute I would love your opinion on the best way to run DesNews since you probably know that course better than anyone. For example, if I run it I'm going to shoot to come in just under 3 hrs, but where would you suggest to try and hit the half? Do I try and fly down the steep downhill and then just hold on once out of the canyon? Would love your thoughts when you get a minute. Thanks.

jeff - as you know, des news is a tricky course, and can be very deceiving. the number #1 rule that i have for this race is to start slowly. it is very easy to fly down those steep hills in the first few miles, but there is a good chance that it will come back to bite you on foothill boulevard at mile 20. the last two years i have started the race very conservatively. i just tried to focus on running smoothly because i was very much keeping the brakes on in the first few miles and you don't necessarily want to brake too much because it can mess with your form. just try to run conservatively but still focus on keeping a smooth stride. i ran 6:05 and 6:06 for miles 2 and 3 in 2010 and 6:04 and 6:07 in 2009. my overall pace for those races was 6:35 - 6:40. this illustrates just how fast those miles are if i am feeling like i have the brakes on at 30 seconds per mile faster than race pace. everyone goes out fast and it's hard not to follow suit, but you have to remember that the more tearing you do to your quads in the first five miles, the more painful those last five miles are going to be. use the first few miles to warm up -- just relax and let everyone sprint by you. i'm telling you, most all of them will come back if you hold steady and be patient. the same thing seems to happen every year, even with very experienced runners. bill cobler once told me that "the race begins at the zoo" and i totally agree. if you can make it through those first 14-15 miles without destroying yourself, you will have the advantage. i went through the half in 1:25:47 in 2009 and 1:26:xx in 2010. even though i went through the half nearly a minute slower in 2010, i finished the race 2+ minutes faster, and i felt stronger at the end of the race in 2010. you have to save your legs for the little undulations on wasatch, followed by the (seemingly) flat portions of foothill (it's net downhill but it never feels that way). i would say that aiming for anything from a high 1:26 to a low 1:28 for the first half will give you a great shot for the sub-3.

it is not clear yet whether i will be able to run this year, but i haven't given up on the idea. if i can get in three decent weeks of mileage and go into the race confident that i won't re-break my leg, i will run it. if that is the case, i would love to start out with you and pace together for the first few miles. i will probably be running 3+ hours if i am able to run it at all, but i think we could help each other on those first few miles to keep the pace in check.

Thanks, Allie. That was very helpful. If you do end up running I would love to run those first few miles together. I'll be in touch.