My whole goal today was to try and break 1:20:00, which in all reality I haven't come that close to (1:22:03 at Hobble Creek, 1:22:4x at this race last year). I knew I was going to have to go out under 6 min pace and bank some time for the uphill miles at 7 and 8 and I also knew there would be a chance I would blow up. But I had to try, right?
| Mile |
2012 |
2011 |
2010 |
2009 |
| 1 |
5:38 |
6:07 |
6:06 |
6:13 |
| 2 |
5:56 |
6:07 |
6:09 |
6:11 |
| 3 |
6:05 |
6:09 |
6:23 |
6:18 |
| 4 |
5:53 |
5:54 |
5:56 |
6:05 |
| 5 |
6:06 |
6:22 |
6:31 |
6:23 |
| 6 |
5:53 |
6:17 |
6:23 |
6:22 |
| 7 |
6:20 |
6:47 |
6:49 |
6:39 |
| 8 |
6:27 |
6:46 |
6:45 |
6:42 |
| 9 |
6:08 |
6:15 |
6:50 |
6:16 |
| 10 |
6:11 |
6:19 |
6:28 |
6:24 |
| 11 |
6:10 |
6:26 |
6:33 |
6:23 |
| 12 |
6:20 |
6:24 |
6:45 |
6:48 |
| 13 |
6:05 |
6:18 |
6:37 |
6:45 |
| 0.1 |
0:52 |
0:35 |
0:52 |
0:39 |
Started off way fast, but I felt good. Within a couple miles there was already a pretty big gap between me and the people behind me. Basically just cruised down South Fork and then hit the trail. About this time, one of the bandit runners from BYU who was doing this as an easy training run got up to me. He did not want to run alone, and this actually really helped me out. From the beginning of the trail down to Bridal Vail we clipped along pretty good (6:06 and 5:53) and he definitely helped keep the pace honest. The two guys in front of us started coming back a to us a bit, but they were holding strong. He then clicked into gear and took off and I was pretty much by myself the rest of the way. The uphill sucked, but I got through it faster than I ever have. Was able to get back into a rhythm after the uphill, but I was starting to hurt. It was basically a matter of getting to the next aid station, walking for a second, and then getting going again. Hit mile 10 at 1:00:41 and knew I was in position to go under 1:20:00, but wasn't sure if I could hold on. Apparently I walked a bit more than I should have at the aid station during mile 12 based on the split. Held things together pretty good the last mile. Actually hit 1:19:55ish on my watch when I got to 13.10, but I must not have run the tangents good enough. Overall, I'm ecstatic with my result. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be able to run this fast (even on an aided course, although this can't be as aided as Hobble Creek or the Halloween Half or some of the others around here). There were about 5 people ahead of me who ran the course as bandits. This is a great gauge of where I'm at right now, especially compared to prior years. Really happy with the improvement this year, but just want to continue to get faster. The bad news is that my body feels like it's falling apart the last week and I'm probably going to have to back off the running over the next few weeks and hope my knees get better (they were fine during the race, but I'm sure the rest of today and tomorrow they will give me problems).
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