Drove up to Ogden to do my workout along this course (up and down, 18 mile run with 8 mile tempo at the end). The plan was to start at Lincoln and 30th, a mile further than the finish and run up the course, so that my 8 mile marathon goal pace tempo had 4 downhill and 4 flatish miles. However, Lincoln and 30th seemed a tad seedy, so I parked closer to the finish, planning to still run the end of my run to Lincoln and 30th, but I miscalculated my run so ended up with 5 canyon miles and 3 flatter miles (mile 18-26 tempo). It was fun to cheer on the halfers. Saw TylerS, Beth, Josse and Ericka. Cheered on almost constantly, saying "You look sassy" or "switch into downhill gear" as I got to the top of the canyon. Got alot of "you are going the wrong way!" I had planted water up the canyon in two places last night, but lost one bottle so did bum some water on the course. Had a gu while going up the course (at about mile 5-6 in my run) then a 5 hour energy shot right before my tempo started (at mile 10). Drank the shot while running easy, hard to chug down without some going down the chin, but it was good practice. Stomach handled it well. I hoped to be 6:00-6:10 down the canyon and 6:20 out of the canyon. Splits were 6:03, 5:59, 6:00, 5:58, 6:01, 6:16 (some downhill but not as steep), 6:23, 6:13. My seventh mile was so hard to keep pace. First it was hard to care. I told myself I had to practice caring even when tired. Then you are on the river trail, where it is narrow and crowded with casual halfers and rolly. I survived it ok and was able to adjust gears in the last mile and cut under 6:20. 6:07 ave pace for the tempo. Felt really good and proud of myself. Then walked the course backward, looking for top marathoners. Saw Stephanie take it, close to her prior record. I walked a runner with a bad ITB in. She was running for her brother (her whole family was) who passed away a year ago from cancer and was a marathoner. She was nice to talk to, and she jogged in the last two blocks, a real trooper. Again really enjoyed cheering in all halfers. I kept yelling at them in their last mile that I wanted to see some vomiting at the end, to give it their all. Got some good response from that. Not the traditional "good job", though I did plenty of that too. | 