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Location:

SLC,UT,

Member Since:

Apr 28, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PR Table and Notable Races

Marathon:
2:21:12 (Chicago); 2:20:41 (CIM)

Half Marathon: 1:05:45 (Long Beach)
10K: 30:03 (Portland)

All race results:
2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016

Personal:

   

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AM - 14.2 miles @ Snowbasin, see below...
PM - 6.3 miles easy w/ Andrea then added a little more on.

Ran the XTerra Nationals course at Snowbasin this morning. The "21K" is actually a bit over 14 miles, as I expected (its not quite realistic that linking 2 trails would come out to an exact half marathon!). Andrea ran the first loop w/ me, which is ~6 miles of rolling but rocky singletrack. I didn't necessarily love this section, and rolled my ankle several times. The second loop goes up towards Sardine Peak on a very smooth trail. Its about a 3 mile relentless climb up to the top, then comes back down on some huge switchbacks, which are also very run-able. Then you have a steady gradual climb over the last mile back to the finish. Overall, the total elevation gain is probably between 2000-2500 feet (profile and map below).

Now I have a decision to make... whether or not to actually run this race. One on hand, its a fun course and I think I could put some major hurt on people from the 7-10 mile marks, there is incredible prize money, and honestly I feel like I can win this race. But on the other hand, its 2 weeks before the Long Beach 1/2 Marathon, which is a much more important race for me. I'm not sure how many times I can go to the well this fall. The 2500 feet of downhill scares me, and I can't imagine the winning time being faster than 1:20-1:25, so its extra time on the feet.

The competitor in me wants to do this race and just crush this course, but the coach in me (who already told Andrea she probably shouldn't race it), knows I'm probably better off just saving it for Long Beach.

From September 2011

 

Comments
From Fritz on Mon, Sep 05, 2011 at 19:04:04 from 97.117.67.53

Tough call but I think you could still win it, which would be pretty sweet, and if you took it easy for a few days be ready for Long Beach. But if you do think the downhill will takes its toll no reason to risk it. You have trained too hard not to give your goal races your best effort.

From Rachelle on Mon, Sep 05, 2011 at 19:29:54 from 66.7.127.115

Nice run! I am a running newbie so I have no solid advice. But if it were me and I though I could win it I would definitely race it. :)

From Russ on Tue, Sep 06, 2011 at 11:24:25 from 74.114.3.253

If you rolled your ankle "several times" on a training run, what might happen during a race with good prize money on the line? That would be my biggest concern (if I were fast, but I'm not) would be getting hurt just as the fall race season begins.

From Jake K on Tue, Sep 06, 2011 at 11:34:15 from 155.100.226.53

Russ - part of the problem is that I was looking around a lot... in a race I probably would be a lot more focused... but still, you are right, getting hurt like that would be a devastating blow to me. Its hard to back out of the race, but my other goals are just too important to risk anything running this one.

From Paul on Tue, Sep 06, 2011 at 12:09:25 from 24.10.141.104

You can run this race next year. But you can't qualify for Trials next year.

From Jake K on Tue, Sep 06, 2011 at 12:12:04 from 155.100.226.53

Paul, exactly.

I had a sketch of what my training would look like if I kept XTerra in there, and then took it out and put in the workouts I'd do instead. The latter scenario is the better scenario by a wide margin. The decision has been made :-)

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