Today was The Other Half near Moab, UT. I ran this race last year, loved it, and wanted to come back in better shape and in better health in order to really attack the course and see what I could do. I like this course because it is very beautiful, and it is also quite challenging, as there are lots of hills during the second half of the race. The first half of the race is along the Colorado River in a canyon, and just has some small rolling hills, so is fairly fast. In the second half, the landscape opens up into Castle Valley, and there are a series of large and rather unrelenting hills. Thankfully, there are also some nice downhills on the lee side of each uphill, so that makes it manageable. The final hill ends around Mile 11.5, and then it's a very fast downhill into the finish. Course profile is here.
Last year I won the race and ran 1:14:02, despite having a shin injury and not running for 2 or 3 weeks before the race. It was an excellent race given the circumstances, but it left me wondering how fast I could run the course if healthy. Also, the course record was a low 1:12, and I knew I could get that if things went well. So my goals for the 2009 race were (in ascending order of difficulty): - Win
- Run faster than last year (sub-1:14)
- Break the course record (sub-1:12)
- Break 1:10:00
- Set a PR (sub 1:08:12)
- Break 1:08:00
I knew the first 3 goals were pretty likely to happen, goal #4 was also a good possibility if the hills didn't eat me up, and goals #5-6 were fairly unlikely, but why not dream a little? My parents flew in from Indiana last week, and all 3 generations of Petersen piled into a rental SUV (Forester not big enough), and headed down to Moab on Thursday. We hiked around Arches and Canyonlands and generally ate terrible during Thursday - Saturday. So it was a fun time, but not the greatest pre-race activities (good for the mind and soul, but not the body). Fortunately, Sunday (race-day) was a yet another beautiful day. Chilly in the morning, but not too cold, and not a cloud in the sky. No wind either. I got dropped off at the middle school in Moab, and then they bused us all out to Dewey Bridge, about 30 miles from Moab, along the Colorado River. Ate 2 bananas and 2 larabars for breakfast along the way, also had a couple cups of weak coffee. Did the usually pre-race things, like chit-chat, stay warm by the fire, and potty stops (2-star race). I warmed up intermittently about two miles along the main road, and also up a dirt road to the side. Did a couple strides, but nothing much. At the start line, I knew Bernie Boettcher but did not recognize anyone else. Due to its proximity to the fall marathons (TOU, StG, Denver, Chicago, etc), the lack of prize money, and also the fact that it's a Sunday race, this race is usually not the deepest in terms of competition, since most regional-class Utah runners do not run it (in fact, only 4 of the Top 10 were from Utah this year). I don't know the Colorado runners well, but I imagine most of them ran the Denver event, which is the same day. Interestingly, 2/3 of the participants this year were women. The point is, I expected to take out the race pretty hard, and not have anyone try to go with me. The race started right on time (it's very well organized), and I took it out quickly, as I planned on doing. Sure enough, by 100m I was by myself and couldn't hear anyone behind me. Fortunately, I would have the beautiful landscape to keep me company the whole race. It was a beautiful Sunday morning in God's creation.
A side note: once again I was without a real sports watch. Seth had hidden my watch before TOU, and I couldn't find it, and then I forgot to look for it before leaving to Moab, so I ended up having to choose between my everyday watch than won't take splits, or my honkin' huge beast of a Garmin. Once again, I chose the split-less watch. I was able to remember my first 5 or 6 mile marker times, but after that it is foggy. I do not have the memory for numbers that Sasha does. Anyway, I hit Mile 1 in 5:05, and was feeling great. This got me pretty excited and I thought maybe a PR was possible. After all, if one 5:05 mile felt this easy, why not 12 more? Obviously, that's kind of a silly thought, but it was my thought nonetheless. Mile 2 was the reality check, and I went through in about 10:25 (5:20 split). That would be too much damage to recover from for sub-1:08, but sub-1:10 still looked okay. Mile 3 was at 15:37 (5:12). Mile 4 was 20:48 (5:11). Mile 5 was 25:57 (5:09). Mile 6 was 31:08 (5:11). So after 6 miles I had established a really good rhythm, and was feeling strong too. I was averaging about 5:11/mile, which is pace for sub-1:08...but I knew I would have to spot myself more than that to account for all the hills in the second half. But maybe I could defy physics and physiology, and not slow down on the hills? By Mile 6, the course opens up to the gorgeous scene of Castle Valley, and the hills begin. The first hill during Mile 7 is not too bad, with a downhill recovery, but then all of Mile 8 is uphill, and not an easy uphill at that. I lost track of my running time in here, so I can't remember Mile 7 at all, but it was probably in the 5:20-5:30 range. But Mile 8 was the deal-killer: 5:57 for the split. I remember that quite clearly, thinking that just a little bit slower and I would have been over 6:00. At this point I knew that I had lost all of my padding from Mile 1-6, and sub-1:10 was in serious jeopardy. It was also getting a little warm by now, and I was dumping water on me at every aid station (and drinking water too). I don't remember what Mile 9 was for split. I don't know the Mile 10 split either, but my running time was 53:24. Doing the mental math, 53:20 is exactly 5:20/mile, and 5:20/mile is pretty much 1:10:00 for a half marathon, or slightly under. So I was on the cusp of keeping Goal #4, if I could just stop the bleeding. Thankfully, the biggest hills were done, and if I could just keep 5:20 or faster for the last three miles, I could do it. Easier said than done, at that point in a half marathon. I don't remember my Mile 11 or 12 splits, but they were close enough to 5:20 to keep me encouraged. But definitely no faster. I was hitting the downhills as fast as I could at this point, to try to get back time. The final hill ended around Mile 11.5, and I was greeted by the drummers, who are always good for a boost. And then I hit the downhill, 1.5 miles and into the finish. I hit Mile 12 at around 1:04:25. I knew to get 1:10 at this point, I would basically need a 5-minute mile plus a sprint to the finish. I was already flooring it at the 12-mile mark, but tried to floor it even more. It was a great downhill, perfect gradient. With about a half mile to go, I made the only turn on the course, into the Sorrel River Ranch, which serves as the finish line venue. The Sorrel driveway is still going toward the river, and is therefore downhill, but only slightly so. I tried to keep the pace as hard as I could go, ignoring the blisters, chaffing, and other discomforts associated with racing this distance. But my legs were responding, so I kept rolling. I turned the final corner and could see the finish line clock, and saw that I would get 1:10 pretty easily. I got to break the tape (always fun), and ended up at 1:09:50. So I met goals #1-4. 2nd place was about 1:17, and 3rd place was 1:19. It took me quite a while to catch my breath. After most half marathons, I can get my breath back pretty quickly, but this one felt more like a 5K. I worked really hard the last couple miles, and it was fun to push myself that hard. I love the feeling of being in shape, challenging my body to work hard, and having my body respond. There is no feeling quite like it. I'm quite happy with this race. Given the terrain, I feel that it was as good as some of my other half marathons this year. Not a breakthrough or anything, but I wasn't looking for that, just a good way to cap off my year. I suppose that I can say that it is a PR for non-aided altitude course, and the first time I've broken 1:10 on a non-aided course in Utah. So there you go.
Afterward, we hung out at the finish for the awards. It's a really nice spot, at Sorrel River Ranch, and it even had a playground for Seth. The first place prize was a really nice laptop bag with stuff embroidered on it, the bag also had some race merchandise in it, like a stocking cap, socks, water bottle, etc. I can always use socks. We drove back home after the awards, with a stop in SLC to drop off my parents at a hotel near the airport (they fly out Monday morning). Seth only cried for a solid hour. Ha. Turned out he was sitting in a huge mess in his diaper, so I don't blame him. Car trips with babies are always fun like that. As far as what's next, I expect to jump in a local 5K in a few weeks to see what I can do, and also do a local Turkey Trot 5K later in the month with Seth in the stroller, but I am pretty much through for formal training and races. Until next year.
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