I really enjoy this race. It is challenging and I don't expect a pr, but I find it quite enjoyable. I hoped to finish somewhere close to my time of 3:10:00 from last year. This did ultimately happen and if 19 seconds is not close, then I don't suppose I know what is!
My splits last year were: 1:37:30 & 1:32:30. I figured that if ran conservatively in the first half, then I'd have a good chance of pulling off a negative split comprable to last year. This year I yielded splits of 1:35:26 & 1:34:53. Not much of a difference, but I did feel good enough to enjoy the second half. When I reached mile 22 my time was around 2:40. I realized that I'd need to run below a 7:00 pace the final 4.2 miles to pull in near my goal time. (In consideration of a couple aid station passes, and a few turns the course makes, which would ultimately cost me some time) Fortunately enough; Foothill & South Temple have some good downhill and my Garmin showed between 6:45-6:55 at at few glances.
I had some great conversations with many other runners at the start and finish, the usual support of my wonderful wife, and my mother surprised me by dropping by. It was an all around enjoyable day.
I felt really dissappointed with my performances at Ogden & Utah Valley, so I have since ramped up my training. I guess any runner can attest that it's all a matter of fine tuning to discover what works best for the individual. I had put in plenty of long distance runs, however, I have needed more speed work/Tempo runs. I really believe this is why I have had a dreaded crash in the late miles of recent races.
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