It's late right now, so the short report will suffice for now. Ran 1:06:05 at the UVM Half. Took 2nd place to Seth Pilkington. I was proud to hang with him so long. We had a pack of 5 people at two miles, a pack of 4 people through 5 miles, then it dropped down to 3 of us through 8 or 9 miles, and then Seth finally finished me off with less than a mile to go. I tried a surge or two with about 5K left, but they were pretty weak and I couldn't get any separation. Our times would have been about 20s faster, if not for a little course issue at the very end, more on that in the full report. Felt really good the whole way, almost too good. Lack of turnover got me in the end.
Full Report: Stacy, Seth, and I drove down to Provo on Friday afternoon. Outlook for race-day looked grim: rain, more rain, and then some rain. Oh well, that's the story of the year so far. We found our way to the expo, then checked into our motel on the northwest side of BYU campus, and then met the StG crew for dinner. I love the social aspect of racing, and it was nice to catch up with people at dinner, and also at the finish line after the races. Went to bed around 8:45PM, and Seth wound down relatively quickly and allowed us to get to sleep by 9:30PM or so. He didn't wake up during the night either. Wish I could say the same for myself. When I am in "race mode", I never need an alarm clock because my body keeps waking itself up. I never get nervous, but my body certainly anticipates a race. I was waking up about every half hour during the night, anticipating it being time to get up. Finally, I did get up at 3:14AM, so I indeed did not need the alarm, which was set for 3:15AM. I brewed a pot of coffee, and ate a banana and the random sports bars that was with the goodie bag (think it was Snickers Marathon bar, or something). I had another banana later before I got on the bus. Drank 2 cups of coffee, which was very good quality for a motel. Caught the StG-mobile (Tahoe) and hitched ride to the busing at 3:45AM. Hyrum had asked me to take the VIP bus and talk to the other runners on the bus, which I agreed to do since he was nice enough to comp my entry. That bus did not leave until 4:30, so I did my warmup from the mall, and jogged about two miles. Our bus left at 4:30AM, and there was only about 10 people on it. It was kind of nice actually, and I chatted with Lindsey D., MaryAnn S., and some of the other runners, and generally relaxed. Halfway up we found at that one man was supposed to be on the marathon bus. So when we got to the start line, I jumped out and grabbed a volunteer, who offered to drive the man to the start. But MaryAnn was also able to flag down a marathon bus, so the guy ended up getting on that instead. Long story short, at this point there was not a ton of time to the start. But that is exactly why I did my warmup early. I dedicated my remaining time to standing in line for the portapot, which was quite a substantial line by now. The race could certainly improve on its portapots and staging area. But it's all good. Only a one-star race, but it was high-quality and I was all set afterward. I did some strides at the start line, and was feeling good. My training had been good the last month, and I fully expected to go well under 1:07, and probably under 1:06 too (despite Sasha's predictions). I figured that if I could run 1:06:42 at the TOU Half last year, while being out of shape (running less than 60 mpw), then I should certainly be able to challenge 1:06:00 after some 90 mile weeks, even if the course is a little slower. I had expected Jeff and Hayden as my top competition before the race, but was surprised to learn at dinner the night before that Seth Pilkington was running too. At the time, I figured that eliminated me from contention, but as I mulled it over later that evening and on raceday morning, I figured I had to at least put myself out there and race him. I've attempted the same with Teren in past races, and although I never came out on top, I at least would surprise myself a little and have fun with the challenge. Plus, who knows what kind of shape Seth was in? If he was out of shape, or doing the race as a tempo run, or in a poor mindset, they I would have a legit chance. Weather conditions ended up being quite excellent despite my concerns during the week. The rain had temporarily let up, and temps were in the low 50s, maybe upper 40s, which is perfect. In the rare times I could sense a wind, it was usually in a favorable direction (tailwind). So as long as the rain held off, it would be about perfect, other than perhaps an occasional slippery spot in the road. But I figured that Ryan Hall broke the American record in similar conditions, so perhaps a little rain wouldn't hurt either. It ended up just sprinkling occasionally for the first few miles, then steady rain for the middle miles, and then dry for the last few miles. Other than getting soggy, and some chaffing, I don't think the rain hurt me much, and was actually quite nice at times.
The race started about 15 minutes late. I wasn't surprised, since I figured that sync'ing the marathon start and the half marathon start would be kind of difficult. So 15 minutes isn't too bad, plus it allowed the sky to lighten up a little bit. It was sprinkling here and there, but the air felt good. It was finally time to start, and they counted down from 10, and then fired the gun. I wanted to get out quick, and apparently so did everyone else. We had a pack of 5 for the first two miles (me, Jeff, Aaron Metler from St George, Seth Pilkington, and some other guy I didn't know who turned out to be Brad Osguthorpe). The first mile was mostly downhill with one little uphill (I think). We hit it in 4:55, which felt brilliant. Ted was there reading us splits, which was nice, and he continued to do so until Mile 8 or 9. I knew from previous workouts that 4:55 feels pretty good on a downhill, and I intended to sustain this pace in through canyon at least. The second mile had a substantial hill that showed up in the elevation profile, so I was expecting it. We covered it in 5:16. Still feeling good, and ready to start ripping on the downhill, now that the main uphill was behind me. After two miles, Aaron decided the pace was a bit much, and he packed off, leaving us with a remaining pack of four runners. (Aaron went on to finish in 1:07:36, which is a massive PR for him, great race). And rip the downhill we did. Mile 3 was 4:41, and felt like walking. I commented that it was either short, or we're really moving. In looking at the race afterward, it turned out to be the latter. Followed it up with a 4:50 for Mile 4. Just haulin'. Great downhill stretch.
By now I was in a major groove, a sweet rhythm. In my races this year, none of them catered to my main strength, which is hitting a pace and sticking it with a good rhythm. Yes, I am a rhythm runner, not a strength runner, not a surging runner. Indy was just too windy to find that groove until it was too late, and Law Day was too hilly and too twisty to find that special cadence. But so far UVM was perfect, and I found myself stuck in effortless 4:5x miles. It was a great groove.
For the first few miles, our pack dynamic involved Seth and Brad doing most of the leading, and Jeff and I on the trail legs. There was no wind to speak of, so drafting was not a factor, but I was happy to tuck in and try to hit decent tangents. The shoulder of the road had these annoying rumble-strips, and I was a little concerned about all the concrete, but mostly I just focused on keeping the pace and feeling smooth. Mile 5 was 4:58. Right around here, Jeff started dropping back a little bit. I encouraged him to close the gap, but he continued to drop off, so I set my attention solely on Brad and Seth. They both looked really strong, and neither was breathing hard. But then again, neither was I. Mile 6 was 4:56, and our cumulative time was 29:39. Probably about 30:40 for 10K or so, which is cool (my track PR is 30:45, and my downhill PR is 30:27 from Des News). With just three of us in the pack, I was putting myself out front a little more, and not just tucking in. Wind conditions were still good, although we'd hit a small headwinds once in a while.
Mile 7 was 4:53. My legs and lungs were still feeling absolutely brilliant. I held off the urge to make some sort of move; it was way to early, and I made a pact with myself not to do anything until after Mile 10. Plus, Brad and Seth were still looking effortless. Somewhere in here we left the canyon and got into the valley, but still on a nice downhill. I was starting to seriously believe that I would not only break 1:06, but would also break 1:05 (a secret pre-race goal of mine). Alas, that was the final sub-5 mile we ran. Mile 8 was 5:00. Mile 9 degraded to 5:04, although I still felt very good. Somewhere in here Brad suddenly dropped off. It surprised me a little because he looked so good, but with four miles to go it was a two-man race between myself and Seth Pilkington.
After Brad dropped, the pace actually slowed quite a bit. I think the reason was three-fold. 1) the downhill was flattening out; 2) legs had some fatigue from the downhill pounding; 3) I think both Seth and I relaxed a little once it came down to just two people, plus I knew we had sub-1:07 and then time bonus in the bag. The last few miles almost felt like a waiting game, just getting ourselves in striking range of the finish. Mile 10 was 5:11, the slowest split of the day. I started feeling a little frisky and antsy, and threw a couple test surges to try to push the pace a little. Seth responded to each one with little apparent difficulty, and after that I was content to sit and wait for the race to play itself out. In retrospect, I wish I had surged a little harder and longer, and made a better attempt to win the race right here. But that's how it went down. Mile 11 ended up at 5:04, so a little bit faster to reward my efforts. Mile 12 was 5:10. It felt like I should still be sub-5 pace, as my lungs were still feeling easy, but my legs were getting heavier, and the turnover and spunk didn't seem to be there (for some reason, hmmm). After we hit the 12 mile mark, Seth finally played his card, he gained about a second of separation on me before the overpass hill with 0.75 miles left. I ground up the hill, and managed to keep the gap from growing too much, and then worked the downhill as well as I could. But the gap widened, and I could tell that Seth had me beat, both physically and mentally. At this point I was looking mostly forward to finishing the race, and keeping it close and respectable (not a good mindset, by the way). We made the turn into the mall, and I knew we were almost there. He was still pushing hard, and I was still chasing, but not closing at all. He probably had 3 or 4 seconds on me. Saw the 13 mile marker, and the split was 5:07, which was good given the overpass hill. Only 0.1 mile to go, but then the unexpected happened. There are two turns in the whole race course. The first was into the mall at mile 12.5, and the last was into the finish, at mile 13.0. This last turn was not marked (that I could see anyway), and there was not a soul present to inform us of it. Seth ran on by the turn. I paused as I started to go by, and realized that it looked suspiciously like what should be a final turn. How else would we finish? But there was nobody there...a bit confusing. Confusing enough to make me hesitate long enough to see someone sprinting toward me waving his arms and yelling. I literally stopped and yelled, "is this the turn??". "YES!" was the response. Seth was still on his current (wrong) path, but in yelling distance. I yelled at him once, with no response, and then again, louder (I am not much of a yeller, especially after 13.0 miles at 5:00/mile pace. This time he heard me, and I waved him back to the correct course. He came back, and waved him in, past me, and then we both ran into the finish line for the last 0.1 miles. Seth officially was 1:06:05.0, and I was officially 1:06:05.9, but it reality he had 3 or 4 seconds on me.
So that's what happened. The whole sequence of events took just a few seconds, so it was a lot of split decisions. But if I could do it again, I'd do it the same way. As far as why I'd give up an easy win like that is simple: it would not have been a real win. True, I would have come in 1st place, but I would not have won. I love competition, and I love winning. I love them both too much to win in such a fashion. The plain truth is that Seth had me broken and defeated, and he deserved to win the race. It would not have been right for me to be standing on the podium in front of him. It is not acceptable for a race this large or of this caliber not to have the course marked and not to have a volunteer out there, so I don't view it as "tactical error" either. My only wish was that I could have run faster and competed better, but Seth was the better runner this day. Furthermore, Christ, who I claim as my Lord, said "In everything, do to others what you would want them to do to you." (Matt 7:12), and also "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." (Matt 9:35). In other words, to put the needs of others above my own, and to be a good neighbor, and to serve others. I feel that if I had gone on to "win", I would have actually "lost", and it would have certainly been a hollow victory. I did not want an asterisk by my placing, nor did I want to describe my race as "First place, but...". So for all of those reasons, it was a pretty easy decision. I had a fairly similar situation with Logan Fielding at the TOU Half in 2007, and I wished it could have gone down differently (Logan took a wrong turn, and I went on to "win" the race). So yeah, official time was 1:06:05, but my last 0.1 was 53s. Usually I cover the last 0.1 in about 30s (or under), so I imagine we both would have been around 1:05:40 if not for the mishap. But I'll just have to break 1:06:00 at the TOU Half later this summer. I think UVM and TOU Half are pretty similar in speed. UVM might be slightly faster, but it's hard to say. I'm thrilled about this race. I knew that I could run in the 1:06:00 range, but it's always exciting to go out and execute. And it's simply an awesome feeling to run that fast for that long, and to match strides with people that I really respect and view as my superiors. I don't know what kind of shape Seth is in, but I have never come close to running his times, so it was great to compete against him to the end, and have a shot at winning. I don't know Brad at all, but apparently he had run 29:3x at Des News, so I was happy to beat him. And after the pounding Jeff has given me at our last couple head-to-head races, it felt good to beat him too. ;-) Any given race, you just don't know the outcome until you run it. And Jeff and I really could probably switch off every race. This race just happened to be my turn. After the race, I chit-chatted with folk for a little while (again, nice to see people out there and catch up). Then I cooled down by running back to our motel, about 4 miles. I didn't realize how shot my legs were until I did my cooldown. Ouch! Hamstrings were especially shot.
Next race is the Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run 15K on July 3. It's a fun local race, and I look forward to seeing how fast I can run 15K. I'm definitely looking at trying to go sub-46:00, given that it's a net downhill. And then I will do the Des News 10K in July 24. Huge 10K, with huge competition. Goal of sub-29:30. And I actually plan to do a 6-week 10K training cycle, to see what kind of shape I can get into, and to break up my training before I go into the final 12-week stretch of marathon-specific training. I just hope that I can continue to find time and desire to train hard. This is difficult at times for me. But races like UVM help me get pumped and keep the fire burning, at least for another few weeks. | Mile | Split | Cumulative Time
| | 1 | 4:55 | 4:55 | | 2 | 5:16 | 10:12 | | 3 | 4:41 | 14:53 | | 4 | 4:50 | 19:44 | | 5 | 4:58 | 24:42 | | 6 | 4:56 | 29:39 | | 7 | 4:53 | 34:32 | | 8 | 5:00 | 39:33 | | 9 | 5:04 | 44:37 | | 10 | 5:11 | 49:49 | | 11 | 5:04 | 54:54 | | 12 | 5:10 | 1:00:04 | | 13 | 5:07 | 1:05:12
| | 13.1 | 0:53 | 1:06:05 |
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