Today was an interesting day. I did a Big Workout within the Top of Utah Half Marathon. I've been wanting to run the TOU Half for awhile, but figured I needed a workout more than an all-out race, so I decided to combine the two. The other idea was to add "race day magic" to a workout, which would make the workout a lot more fun and easier to complete. My Big Workout today was: 4 miles @ MP (2 minutes recovery) 3 miles @ MP (2 minutes recovery) 2 miles @ LT (1 minute recovery) 2 miles @ LT (1 minute recovery) 1 mile @ LT The course layout for the TOU Half is a good one. The first 7 miles or
so are a gentle downhill in the canyon. The next 3 miles flatten out a
bit, but are still a gentle (but imperceptible) downhill. There is a
relatively long uphill through Millville from Mile 11 to 12 or so, and
then gentle downhill to the finish in Providence.
Weather was absolutely perfect. I mean perfect. 50 degrees at the start line, with promise of a tail wind coming out of the canyon. If the weather is remotely like this for the TOU Marathon, people will qualify. To warm up, I ran from my house to the busing area (about 1.75 miles). We bused up to the start line up Blacksmith Fork, and I did some more jogging and got my porta-pot stops in. Ready to go. They started the race right on time. My workout/race went as follows: Workout Segment
| Mile
| Split
| Comments
| 4-mile @ MP
| 1 | 5:13 | out a bit fast
| | 4-mile @ MP | 2 | 5:16 | settled in
| | 4-mile @ MP | 3 | 5:15 |
| | 4-mile @ MP | 4 | 5:16 |
| 2-minute recovery
| 0.35 | 5:52/mile pace
| faster than expected
| | 3-mile @ MP | 1 | 5:10 | starting to get tailwind
| | 3-mile @ MP | 2 | 5:09 | this is fun
| | 3-mile @ MP | 3 | 5:10 | tremendous fun
| | 2-minute recovery | 0.33 | 6:00/mile pace
|
| 2-mile @ LT
| 1 | 5:05 | Hollow Rd
| | 2-mile @ LT | 2 | 5:09 | Hollow Rd/Hwy 165
| 1-minute recovery
| 0.16 | 6:08/mile pace
|
| | 2-mile @ LT | 1 | 5:09 | Hwy 165
| | 2-mile @ LT | 2 | 5:37
| Millville; uphill; yuk!
| 1-minute recovery
| 0.23 | 6:15/mile pace
| 1:25 rest
| 1-mile @ LT
| 1
| 5:00
| nice downhill
|
The first 10 miles of the workout/race was quite a bit of fun, and I felt fantastic. The cool morning and downhill start really made things fast, and then picking up the tailwind on my second MP interval made it feel like some sort of weird video game. 5:10 was effortless in those conditions. I was having a ball, and the MP sets went great. The first LT 2-mile interval went very well, and I held a good pace. The second LT 2-miler was a bit harder, mostly because of the long uphill through Millville. This was the only point during the workout where I felt like I was struggling. By the end of the uphill, I managed to find a good rhythm, and hit 5:25/mile pace, but the first half of that mile was a lot slower. I knew I had a downhill mile to end the workout/race with, and I was looking forward to it. I waited to the race's official 12-mile mark to start my last interval, which gave me a little bit extra rest. I ended up running the last 1.1 at LT to compensate, and was happy to hit 5:00 pace for it. So that was my workout. The race itself was interesting too. I was a bit ahead of Logan during the first 4-mile MP interval, but I could hear him, so I figured he was just 10 meters behind or so. When I eased up for my 2-minute recovery, Logan went by, and looked as though he wasn't working at all. I was inwardly cheering for all my friends to hit big PR's, so I was happy to see him zoom by. Logan pulled away a bit on my recovery, but then when I started my next interval I really didn't close on him at all, so I knew he must be doing 5:10's. I hoped that everyone else was enjoying the tailwind as much as Logan and I. This trend continued for the rest of the race, until Logan's fatal wrong turn: he would pull away on my recoveries, and I would gain nothing on the intervals. In fact, I think he was pulling away on the intervals as well. By Mile 10, I was so far ahead of my own schedule, that I thought breaking 1:10 would be probable, and Logan was a good minute ahead. He clearly had 1:08 in the bag. The left turn into Millville was around Mile 11. Logan was so far ahead of me that I didn't see him miss it, but did see him up around Main St. I was a little confused, as there was no volunteer at the corner, but I was pretty sure the turn was at 100 W (it is for the marathon). Plus the sun was directly in my eyes, so I couldn't see the course markings. I actually slowed down a bit and looked behind me as I entered the intersection, and then saw the marking to turn. Logan was too far away to yell at, plus I was breathing too hard to yell, or talk for that matter. And I sure couldn't catch him. I figured he would turn at Main St., which would give him the same distance, and all would be good. Alas, this was not the case. I finished the race, and started asking everyone where the winner was. I seriously thought he was just that far ahead of me. Everyone looked at me as though I was hallucinating. "You're the winner, you idiot." I was pretty bummed, because Logan had such a sweet PR going. I ended up about 10 seconds off my own PR, which I was quite happy with. Had I tapered, worn flats, and raced all-out, I think sub-1:08 would have been in the works. But that was not the goal today. Jon, Cody, and Walter all got sweet PR's, and I was really stoked for them. Big things coming at TOU and St. George for all those guys.
Cooled down with the guys afterward, sat around for awards (didn't win anything in the prize drawing, and then ran home. 21 miles total for the day, capping off a 104-mile week, my first 100-mile week since 2004, and my most mileage in a week ever. 6 more weeks until St. George. 4 weeks of good, hard, quality training. Every week of training gives further opportunity to grow stronger and get faster. (Burn: 242 miles)
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