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Canyonlands Half Marathon

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Location:

WA,

Member Since:

Feb 10, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

I was an 800/1500 runner in high school and college, with PRs of 1:55 and 4:08. I've run as fast as 16:15 for 5k and 1:20 for a half, but my bests in recent years are 17:07 5k (Dec. '11), 37:40 10k (Jan. '12), 1:23:49 half (Sept. '08), 2:53:12 marathon (September '10), and 4:45:06 50k (March '10).

Short-Term Running Goals:

Late 2015/2016 races: 

— Seattle Soltice 10k (Dec. 19)

— Nookachamps half marathon (Jan. 16)

— Toyko Marathon (Feb. 28) 

Personal:

I'm an editor at a newspaper in Bremerton, Washington and head coach of the Bremerton Jaguars youth track and field team.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Total Distance
32.50
Total Distance
3.00

Easy recovery miles, short version of the 11th St.-Shore Drive route. Took the dog with. I was running 7:40 pace but then we had to pause to smell every third tuft of grass in the sidewalk, so the pace seemed a little balky the rest of the way in. No hurry though. Felt fine, loosened right up. 24:04 total. 

Got to go find a race report from the Del Sol guys now.

supernova -- 187 

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Total Distance
4.00

Sprinkling outside this morning, I went to the Y. Four on the treadmill, took awhile to get my legs interested in what was going on but once I settled in I was moving along. It just seemed to take awhile. First mile at 8, others at 7:30; 30:45 total. I spent more time stretching than I usually do, I think my legs need that this week to be nice and fresh for the weekend in Moab.

supernova -- 191

Comments(3)
Total Distance
5.00

Five easy treadmill miles, first one at 8 and the rest between 7:15-7:25. 38 minutes exactly. I took yesterday off, felt rested today and cruised along. I'm really anxious to run on Saturday, today's my last day of work for the week and I fly to Utah tomorrow afternoon.

The treadmill has a television on it, so I watched 20 minutes of Brett Favre highlights. Welcome to the Aaron Rodgers Era, Paul. Go Bears.

supernova--196

Comments(1)
Total Distance
4.00

30 minute run on the Burke-Gilman trail. Race warm-up, that's not the exact distance but it's not far off. 

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Total Distance
3.00

A few pre-race miles up the dirt (kind of) road leading uphill from our cabin. Uphill at 6,500 feet or whatever takes a little toll on a sea-level guy. I realized the race might not be as easy as I imagined. But nothing hurt, and maybe less oxygen in the brain was going to mean I wouldn't feel myself fall apart as early. Always positive at this blog. The place was beautiful though, and I was happy to be there and ready to run. 

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Race: Canyonlands Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:24:15, Place overall: 38, Place in age division: 5
Total Distance
13.50

Here's the long-awaited race report: 

Woke up on the perfect Moab morning to run: cloudy skies, chilly but not too cold, Ben not making the upstairs stink too much. I was pretty excited. We headed up on the bus and were dropped off way early in true Moab 1/2 fashion. Cody, Ben and I and another friend hung around for awhile, then finally stripped down 30 minutes before the gun and jogged up to the start. I was wearing the FRB jayvee team jersey (the t-shirt instead of the singlet). The start was more crowded than I remember in the past, no room to really warm up. So the jog to the start was really it. We had a tailwind so I figured the first mile would get my legs in gear. They needed it after freezing up at the start. With the threat of altitude effects I planned to go out conservatively but stay in striking distance of 1:25. I felt confident I'd be under that and had that race plan in my head.  Finally, we were off.

Splits, and a little analysis:

6:13 -- First mile is downhill and with that tailwind, so I knew I'd be fast. 300 yards in I was warmed up, and glad I hadn't kept any extra clothing on. The Brian Sell mustache was plenty. I hit that split and eased up a bit.

6:34, 6:34, 6:34 -- Three remarkably consistent miles, if a few seconds slow. I would rather have been under 6:30, but like I said I was running conservatively. Those three clicked right by though, hardly even felt them and passed a lot of people. I think that kept me from pushing, since with little effort I was moving through the pack.

6:23, 6:31 -- Better miles here, I was still feeling fast and kept moving up. I was pretty pleased at this point, especially since at miles 6 (the 6:31, I had hit my watch a few steps after the mile marker).

6:13 -- This mile was a few seconds short, but it was also one with a slight hill. I had two people in sight on the hill so I caught them and left them. It was ambitious, but I like to do that to people who start too fast. Makes me feel like a big man. I was feeling good about the 1:25 goal at this point.

6:23, 6:21, 6:20 -- Now I knew I had locked in a 1:25, and had thoughts in my head of really turning it on for the last third of the race. I really felt good going up the hill around mile 8.5 or whatever, especially remembering how it had killed me in Moab races past. It was a blessing not to deal with the sun or heat at this point. Like I said, couldn't have asked for a better day. I thought through whether or not 1:20 was possible, but decided not to burn it at that point. I felt good, but just wasn't confident enough of my fitness to take a risk like that.

6:35, 6:39 -- Miles 11 and 12 are why I'm glad I didn't surge too early. I caught the women's leader and tracked her for awhile here, thinking I'd draft and then take off the last mile. But she really held me off and my legs were dead at that point. I wasn't exhausted, but didn't have much get up left. By the 12 marker I felt like I was just holding steady, especially since it's on that mentally draining stretch of highway into town.

6:48 -- The last mile-point-one wasn't too bad, considering my legs (especially the quads) were beat down by that point. I held a steady pace, extended the kick into nearly the full last mile and even moved up one more place. The women's leader had pulled away by 150 yards or so, I lost touch with her and couldn't make it up. Maybe if I would have actually heard Paul yell "Mustache it in" at me I could have done it. Even though I still don't know what that means.  

Final chip time of 1:24:15, and I was pretty pleased with that. Great day to run, my best experience at Moab. I'm afraid to go back because my expectations are so high. But a wonderful time, good to run with Cody/Ben/Paul and meet a few other bloggers, and that half time gives me real confidence a sub-1:20 is on the way this season.

Oh, and we ate brugers afterward. Oh did we eat brugers.


Comments(6)
Total Distance
32.50
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