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Bacon Strip 10-miler

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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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Race: Bacon Strip 10-miler (10 Miles) 00:54:31, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
5.000.0010.000.000.0015.00

Did a small local race this morning, the "Bacon Strip" 10-miler. The Bacon Strip is a well-known training route on the dirt county roads east of town. It is rolling hills the whole way, which gives the dirt roads somewhat the appearance of bacon. The first half is harder than the second half, as there is about 200ft of net climb over the first 4.5 miles, but then runners are treated to a net drop over the last half (although the whole thing is rolling up and down). On top of that, today there was a prevailing headwind for the first half, and tailwind for the last 5 miles. It was pretty cold today, in the mid-30s, but not bad for race performance. Pretty good for racing, actually.

I didn't expect anyone to run with me during this race, and that's how it panned out, as I led from start to finish. I felt really good the whole way, even on the uphills, probably one of my best overall races of the year. I wore long sleeves, which covered my garmin, and I managed to go the whole race without checking my watch or looking at any splits. That was the way to go, and I just ran by feel, and had a pretty fun tume doing it. Plus, finishing and looking at my splits afterward was a little bit like Christmas (hopefully no lumps of coal though). I especially felt like I was moving really good on the second half, which was WAY easier than the first half due to the wind and net downhill.

 My final time was 54:25, so just under 5:30/mile. This exceed my expectations, given the difficult reputation of the course. My mile splits ended up being 5:51, 6:01, 5:42, 5:47, 5:42, 5:15, 5:14, 5:10, 5:10, 4:48. The longest downhill was on the last mile, so that was a fast one. The whole thing felt great though. Enjoyed bacon and coffee at the finish line. This was a great "old school" race. No timing chips, just bib tags on a board, very grass-roots, and fun, friendly local event.

Brooks Green Silence Miles: 15.00
Comments
From Jake K on Sat, Oct 06, 2012 at 17:28:04 from 67.177.11.154

Nice run Paul. Smoking on that last mile!

From Burt on Sun, Oct 07, 2012 at 01:10:40 from 72.223.86.148

Great job! I was going to be sorely disappointed if there wasn't any real bacon in this race.

From Andrea on Sun, Oct 07, 2012 at 11:42:50 from 67.177.11.154

Congrats on the win!

From Hamdog Alum on Sun, Oct 07, 2012 at 22:02:05 from 71.87.124.223

I love those kinds of races. Nice race and finish.

From Superfly on Mon, Oct 08, 2012 at 08:03:26 from 74.211.21.81

Yeah the last mile was a bomb. Hopefully you and Seth could eat some bacon after the race?

Good job man!

From Paul on Mon, Oct 08, 2012 at 08:23:07 from 207.224.39.118

Thanks all.

No, I didn't bring my family, so Seth didn't get any bacon (it was pretty cold out...didn't want to subject them to that).

But we all enjoyed the bacon-flavored popcorn that I won as a prize. Well, the kids enjoyed it; it made me kind of sick to my stomach. That stuff was nasty.

From Superfly on Mon, Oct 08, 2012 at 08:26:08 from 74.211.21.81

Bacon flavored popcorn? Sounds like something you'd use to fish for catfish.

From Jason D on Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 15:41:58 from 24.1.80.94

Great race, Paul. That 4:48 must have made a good, final gift under the Garmin Christmas tree. I envy runners with such sense of pace.

From MichelleL on Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 19:11:03 from 168.70.21.27

A fun read, as always. Glad you didn't get coal, but bacon flavored popcorn is just two steps away from that, isn't it?

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