It was as cold in St. George as anywhere else. I warmed up with Logan for a mile before the race and was trying to figure out if I was going to wear track pants or shorts. At the start I stripped off the shorts and kept on my two warm up shirts. I had know idea how I would feel but I knew I wouldn't push it. I was planning on a good tempo with no pressure to race. I stuck to my plan very well.
I took off with Jose Martinez for the first couple of miles. The pace was around 6 minute pace and felt quite comfortable. We were joined by three others for a couple of miles and clicking along at 6 minute pace or just under. At about 4.5-5 miles we were directed to go the wrong direction by some spectators. About a block up the road a volunteer told us we had gone the wrong way and that we had to go back. Jose and I went back and the other three kept going. We went back around the park and added on extra just to be safe. I didn't care since I wasn't "racing". Before the mess up my Garmin was reading the mileage as about .2 short of the markers and after we went back it was treading almost .2 more than the markers. Around mile 6 I lost Jose and was on my own for the rest of the race. I really didn't see another runner until mile 10 on my way back. At times I wasn't sure if I was on course or not, because I had done zero research on the course since I didn't plan on killing myself. It felt like a fast training run out in an area I didn't know, kind of relaxing though. I kept my pace under 6 minute pace the whole way, which was great with my 9 minute mile training I have been doing. I finished the race in a time of 1:17:57 and a 5:51 for the average pace for the 13.27 miles, or whatever was on the Garmin. Most people actually ran short (12.9 something)and would need to add on a minute, but I ran too far back and back tracked an extra quarter mile, and could take off about one minute. My time would have probably been about 1:17:00. The three guys in front of me probably ran about 12.7 miles! I felt good and felt like I could have went at least a couple of minutes faster, so I must not have lost as much fitness as I thought I had. I was glad I went down, and also glad to see that I can still hang sub 6 minute pace. Last year I started running about this time and never hit that kind of shape until April or May.
I cooled down for a mile by myself and and about two miles with Logan, Ted, Michelle, and Hal Amos.
All of the team did very well, and so did the rest of the bloggers, we were pretty much dominant. The course was good with a lot of easy rollers, and could be a very fast course. I thought they could have had it marked better in several areas though. Steve and the store did a great job with their portion of the race, and the awards. It was fun to have everyone there and to hangout afterwards. (Tangent-207 miles) (Omni- 288 miles) | 