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Denver Rock and Roll 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: Denver Rock and Roll Marathon (26.219 Miles) 02:26:42, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.8026.200.000.000.0027.00

Finish

Ran the Denver Rock and Roll Marathon to cap off my fall racing season. It was a very good race for me, and I felt great the whole way, rare for a marathon. Ended up winning by almost 15 minutes, but I did have half marathon runners to pace with for the 1st half of the race at least.

I really liked the course...ran through a lot of great neighborhoods and parks in metro Denver. Lot of turns, which I actually liked (I hate long straight-aways). Lot of rolling hills, especially the 1st half, combine that with the 5280' altitude, the course is very fair. I wanted to respect the hills and the altitude, plus the fact that I did not train nearly as hard as previous marathons, so paced the race conservatively.

A lot of the mile markers were off, but I'll add  my mile splits later. According to the race tracking, I was 17:06 at 5K, 34:33 at 10K, 55:44 at 10-mile, and 2:06:06 at 23-mile. Ended up at 2:26:42, which is 5:35, so I think I paced it pretty even. I did not catch a half split, but I think I must have been in the low-1:13s.

With 3 miles to go, I wanted to lay the hammer down at bit, as the last 3 miles would be downhill, but every time I tried to increase my stride, my calves would go on the verge of cramping up, so I just had to lay back and stick with the status quo. Other than the calf cramping, my body felt great. Breathing was really good too...wasn't sure how a loop marathon at altitude would go, but it wasn't too bad. I think the last non-downhill altitude race I've done was Park City in 2005...

Weather was beautiful, cool and overcast, with no wind. The sun came out right after I finished, which was perfect timing. Crowd support was pretty good, and the whole route was on closed roads, which of course is great. So I'd definitely do this race again, although probably not next year or anything.

I'm definitely greatful for the win...it's always good to get through a whole season healthy and to get a good peak at the end. Even though the race wasn't that competitive, it was still Colorado's largest race, so the media was making kind of  a big deal about it...I had 4 microphones and a camera shoved in my face withins seconds of finishing...kind of funny.

I'll do the Fort Collins Thanksgiving 4-miler next month, but other than that I'm done for the year. Goals for next spring/summer are to work on my 5K/10K, try to break 15:00 in the 5K, and then do a fall marathon before getting ready for LA in 2016.

Mile splits: 5:01, 4:53, 6:39, 5:47, 5:33, 5:30, 5:54, 5:07, 5:24, 5:53, 5:09, 6:15, 16:30 (13-15), 5:04, 6:07, 5:03, 5:43, 5:37, 5:45, 5:32, 5:55, 5:40, 5:41, 5:40, 1:10.

(as you can see, most of the splits were off!)

Saucony A5 Flat Miles: 27.00
Comments
From Kendall on Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 09:45:08 from 208.187.252.62

Wow. Congrats on the win!

From Jon on Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 10:01:29 from 107.203.52.135

A win by 15 minutes? Now you're just rubbing it in! Just kidding- congrats on a good win.

From Jake K on Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 10:06:24 from 159.212.71.17

Really nice cap to an excellent year.

What did you think of the race organization? Competitor group seems to be hated by a lot of people, but I think they do a pretty good job with their races. Cool that they supported USATF Colorado in the 1/2. And they definitely get you a lot of local publicity!

From Jason D on Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 11:47:58 from 68.80.27.222

Congratulations, Paul. You've had an incredible year.

From Cody on Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 12:26:09 from 107.0.33.130

Congrats Paul! Nothing like trying to not pass out at the finish line with a camera in your face. Awesome!

From josse on Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 17:14:13 from 71.199.39.138

Great job!

From jtshad on Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 14:12:15 from 107.17.76.3

Congrats on the win and a great finish to the racing season! You are an inspiration.

From Andrew Anderson on Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 05:24:18 from 70.208.80.44

Nice victory. Bummer you didn't have better competition for such a large event. I was in downtown Denver the day of the race. You definitely had beautiful weather, albeit a few degrees warmer than I would like for a full marathon.

From Paul on Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 06:47:08 from 75.166.13.66

Thanks everyone.

Jake - I thought the race was really well-organized. Really like the course layout. Won a decent amount of money. So I have no beef with Competitor.

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