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Utah Valley Marathon

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Location:

Orem,UT,USA

Member Since:

Apr 03, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

HS/COLLEGE:
mile: 4:56, 2 mile: 10:21 (1978)
marathon: 2:52 (St. George 1982)
OLD MAN (20+ years later):
5K: 19:53 (Nestle/Art City Days 5K 2007)
10K: 39:55 (Spectrum 10K 2008)
half marathon: 1:26 (Hobble Creek 2008)
marathon: 3:07 (St. George 2007)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get back to a BQ marathon time (currently 3:40).

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun running, keep fit, and fight middle age spread. Run consistently and injury free. Maintain a healthy balance between running and other life priorities. Encourage my ever-aging running buddies to keep running so we can continue to share runs on the trail instead of rocking chairs.

Personal:

Blessed to be married to Karen for 30 years. We have six children (4 daughters/2 sons) ages 16 to 30, and one wonderful granddaughter.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Altra Instinct 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 83.50
Altra Lone Peak 1.5 Lifetime Miles: 21.80
Saucony Guide 7 Blue 2 Lifetime Miles: 376.95
Saucony Fastwitch 6 Lifetime Miles: 200.05
Saucony Guide 7 Black 1 Lifetime Miles: 271.15
Race: Utah Valley Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:50:00, Place overall: 112, Place in age division: 11
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
0.000.0026.200.000.0026.20

Last year I ran the inaugural UVM in 3:30 and finished 13th overall and 2nd in my AD. This year I ran the UVM in 3:50 and finished 112th overall and 11th in my AD, and I'm happy about it.

As I mentioned in my blog earlier this week, on Tuesday I heard about a possible opportunity to get a free entry via a sponsor, and by Thursday I was in. I really wanted to run UVM again this year, but with the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay the following Friday/Saturday I didn't want to beat myself up too badly. The free entry allowed me the luxury of treating it as just a long training run...no pressure to run fast.

I'm happy about 3:50 because it shows that I kept to my plan to run the race at a slower pace. I won't mention that, like some other bloggers race reports described their last 5-8 miles, from roughly mile 20 on felt a little like a death march. In other words, I was no longer running a slower pace by choice.

I was running a slower pace by choice at the beginning. In fact, I decided to be one of the last runners to start and run from the back as a new experience. (I love chip timing.) I decided to make a last minute pit stop and the race actually started while I was still sitting in a portapotty. I wasn't worried. I finished up and just walked to the starting line. I almost delayed too long (2 minutes 45 seconds). Just before I crossed the start they yelled to a few runners behind me that they were about to pull up the timing mats.

I forgot to turn off the auto-pause on my watch, so the following splits do not include a 1+ minute potty break about mile 9 (ran into Canyon View park restrooms, much needed, wouldn't have made it much farther), and a stop to talk with Tom Lee at Geneva Rd. (he had to drop out because of a bad migraine...dang!...and he's been running so well...he can't seem to get a break in a marathon).

My mile splits were roughly: 9:20 (easy start, uphill), 7:59, 7:32, 7:54, (passing people, downhill), 8:39 (uphill), 8:04, 8:11, 8:04, (still passing people), 8:45 (pit stop), 7:56 (out of the canyon), 8:21, 8:41, 8:21, 8:21, 8:42, 8:44, 8:42, (slower on the level, but still a pretty steady pace), 8:52 (talked to Tom, met Larry on his bike who rode with me the rest of the way - unplanned, unexpected, much appreciated - as you can see from the following splits I was quickly running out of gas), 8:47, 8:54, 9:04, 9:12, 9:38, 9:36, 9:27, 9:44, 7:45/mi for 0.2 (I was pleased to have enough juice left for a decent kick; similar to Ogden last month I simply willed myself to the front of the group of 5 or 6 runners ahead of me - one still barely beat me).

I enjoyed talking with a number of friends/runners after the race...after I downed about 6 cups of Gatorade. The day seemed really humid, especially at the beginning. My glasses kept fogging up the first 8 or 9 miles. Although I hydrated well during the race, I think I was slightly dehydrated by the end.

My chief goal was to leave my body in good enough shape to recover in time for the Ragnar Relay on Friday/Saturday. I'm optimistic that I met that goal. I have a little soreness in my left foot/ankle (which has been there for many months), but I soaked my legs in our above ground backyard pool (which is still really cold since the weather hasn't been hot) and I feel pretty good...good enough to agree to some mall shopping with Karen and the girls this afternoon. I think Verdon (a relay teammate), who was watching his son in the marathon, was a little surprised to see me run by. He good naturedly (I think) yelled that I was supposed to be tapering for the relay. When I saw him at the finish and told him I ran 3:50, he seemed confident that I had not overdone and could recover. Like I said, I'm optimistic. I feel pretty good. I ran the Ogden marathon last month 14 minutes faster than today's marathon and felt like pushing my training again by the following Wednesday. Time will tell.

Last year I ran the 1st UVM because it is in my backyard, I wanted to support it, and I thought it would be cool to say 10 or 20 years from now that I had run every one of them since it started. The goal is still intact...2 down, many to go.

Saucony Tangent Miles: 26.20
Comments
From Kelli on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 18:52:44 from 71.219.76.64

GREAT JOB sticking with your plan and enjoying the run!!! And to manage mall shopping afterwards, what a GUY!

Good luck at Ragnar! What leg are you running?

From josse on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 18:55:00 from 70.192.52.91

Great to see you up at the start and way to go.

From jtshad on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 20:28:58 from 12.187.226.152

Nice run, way to stick to your goal and meet it. It was great meeting you. Good luck at Wasatch Back!

From Maurine/Tarzan on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 21:49:31 from 97.117.76.29

Great job on the race. Good luck next weekend.

From Jon A on Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 15:55:28 from 76.27.81.31

Great race! Impressive to read about you sticking to your plan. I find it very difficult to stick to the plan on races. Good job!

From Tom on Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 11:53:38 from 137.65.56.4

Paul - great to see you as always. I really miss the noon work runs back in the day when we had such a great group or runners at Novell.

With hindsight it's obvious I would have been far better off to hang back, cross the timing mats with you just before they pulled them up, and have a great training run. But who knows, maybe the migraine would have bit me regardless.

Thanks so much for being so willing to drop everything during your race to talk to me when I was loopy and pretty much do anything I would have asked.

Hope you have a ball at WBR, I'll be thinking about you guys this weekend while we're hiking Mount Takao and pondering the view of Mount Fuji!!

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