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Smithfield Half Marathon

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Location:

Fort Collins,CO,

Member Since:

May 15, 2003

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)

Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.

Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.

Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

  Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall.

Personal:

1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5

 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony Trail Shoe Lifetime Miles: 247.50
Hoka Clifton Lifetime Miles: 491.50
Saucony Type A6 Lifetime Miles: 186.50
Saucony Zealot Lifetime Miles: 478.75
Saucony Kinvara 6 Lifetime Miles: 433.50
Saucony Kinvara 6-2 Lifetime Miles: 358.75
Brooks Pure Connect Blue Lifetime Miles: 337.25
New Balance Trainers Lifetime Miles: 314.50
New Balance 1400 Racers Lifetime Miles: 65.00
Brook Pureflow Lifetime Miles: 99.50
Race: Smithfield Half Marathon (12.9 Miles) 01:09:22, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
2.500.0013.000.000.0015.50

Long day, so I'll try to keep this short...

Ran the Smithfield Half Marathon today. Got up at 4:30AM, had some coffee and oatmeal for breakfast, read a little bit, and then drove around Smithfield setting up yard sale signs (our church had a big yard sale & block party today, right after the race). Got back home at about 5:45AM, used the potty, and then raced down from my house to the Smithfield Rec Center, about a mile.

Had a couple minutes before the race started, so got to use the bathroom again, and then it was time to go. I love local races that I can run to from my house. So much easier.

This was the inaugural race, and I am pleased that Smithfield is putting on a half. With only the TOU Half, Cache Valley was overdue for another, and will certainly accommodate it. The course is tough though, not your prototype cream-puff Utah downhill screamer. This is truly "Not Yo Mama's Half" (the actual race name). It is a loop course with over a thousand feet of cumulative ascent and descent. But it's all very pretty, with a mixture of farmland, city, and canyon running.

I eased into the race with a 5:40 first mile on the slight downhill, and nobody went with me. Kept that same ~5:40 pace on the next two uphill miles. And then dipped under 5:30 for miles 4, and 5 past the golf course, which were net downhill. I was feeling pretty good, and enjoying the run. These are all routes that I run on every day, but it felt especially good to run it early in the morning, and with flats and a singlet.

Miles 6-8.5 were going uphill in the canyon. I was surprised to maintain a 5:30/mile pace, although markers may not have been great. Hit the turnaround at Mile 8.5, took some gatorade, and then started down.

The downhill really clicked, and the rest of the miles were sub-5. I passed the entire field going the other way (about 200 runners), and we all exchanged "good job" to each other. Kind of fun. This race truly had a small-town feel to it, and I like it. Very laid-back.

Got out of the canyon after Mile 11, and was still feeling good, and had a net downhill to Skyview, with the exception of the last quarter mile, which is up. As I was checking my watch during the last couple miles, I realized that a low-1:10, or even sub-1:10 was possible, which surprised me. My initial goal was to break 1:15, given the difficulty of the course, but halfway through I figured I was get around 1:12, but now it was looking even better.

As I neared the finish, it didn't quite measure up. Sure enough, mile 13 was something like a 4:20 mile, and then the 0.1 was about right. So I ended up at 1:09:22, but the course was short by at least 35-40 seconds, maybe more. Maybe every mile was short, who knows. They measured it with a garmin this year, but maybe they'll use a bike or a jones counter next year. It's all good. Fun race, and I'm glad I ran it. All in all, city of Smithfield did a great job on the first-year event, and I hope to see it grow over the years. Good prizes too.

Ran home, and then set up and ran the yard sale the rest of the day.

Splits: 5:40, 5:41, 5:41, 5:26, 5:12, 5:28, 5:31, 6:15, 5:06, 4:51, 4:41, 4:49, 4:45, ?


Saucony Type A Miles: 15.50
Comments
From Rob Mantz on Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 22:36:32 from 24.10.140.149

Great job Paul. It was a fun run. Good seeing you screaming down the hill while I was going up :). Thanks for supporting the race!

From Dan on Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 22:51:27 from 24.209.83.20

Even at 35s short, that is sub 1:10 on that course. Well done Paul, as always, always great to read your race reports.

From Jake K on Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 23:42:12 from 67.177.21.60

Nice run Paul. Definitely seems like a course that requires a lot of strength. Way to crush it... hope the yard sale was just as successful!

From Jon on Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 23:43:04 from 98.71.131.245

Nice job, Paul. Was 2nd place within a mile of you?

From allie on Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 01:10:45 from 24.10.191.18

great job, paul. sounds like it was a really fun race. makes me miss cache valley...

From Holt on Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 12:57:32 from 71.213.88.46

Local hero!

From Steve on Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 15:29:06 from 209.235.31.148

I really wanted to run that race too. There are just too many choices! That is an amazing time. I have run that course a few times, not easy. See you at the TOU Half.

From Seth on Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 23:37:12 from 75.169.118.44

Sold run on a tough course. Nice work!

From Scott Ensign on Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 00:21:15 from 67.40.116.68

nice job Paul. I enjoyed reading Jason's write up on the race in the HJ news too. He and the newspaper do a great job covering the local running scene. Maybe if I can stay in shape next summer I will run this one, it looks like it was fun.

From Superfly on Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 14:34:30 from 74.211.21.81

I just want to run the race so I can get a shirt that says not your mommas half. Then on it some kind of funny graphic. I'll leave that up to your imagination.

Good job on supporting the little, local stuff even though your basically world class.

From Paul on Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 14:46:06 from 24.10.141.104

The little local stuff is basically how I got into running. Can't ever leave that.

The shirt for the race was actually pretty nice. And I forgot to mention that I won camping grill, grill tools, a Visa gift card ($40), a magazine subscription, a free entry for next year, some candy, paint supplies, a paint tool bag, and some bead necklaces. AWESOME! You know what I got from running Boston? Jack Squat!

From Jake K on Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 14:48:03 from 155.100.226.53

Now THAT is a cornucopia of treasures!!!

From Superfly on Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 15:10:03 from 74.211.21.81

LOL... that's a list and a half of loot. How did they ever mix a grill, a visa and paint supplies into a prize. Nice. That's more prizes in one race than I've pulled in over my entire running career:)

From Paul on Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 15:22:47 from 24.10.141.104

It was all just local sponsors. They had Zions Bank (the visa card), a paint store, a Fresh Market (grill stuff), Bluebird Candies, etc. Sometimes the little local races have the best prizes because they can get so many community sponsors to donate, and they don't have huge overhead costs because they're not renting cops, closing roads, and throwing a big party at the finish line.

From Burt on Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 15:37:01 from 206.19.214.144

Wow Paul. That's amazing.

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