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Hobble Creek Half 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: Hobble Creek Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:37:29, Place overall: 170, Place in age division: 5
Easy MilesThreshold MilesMarathon Pace MilesTrack speed mileageHill mileageTotal
0.7013.100.000.000.0013.80

The results aren't much to brag about, but I got what I deserved...dang it. My performance was way down from the past few years:

Mile
2007
2008
2009
2010
1
 6:376:19
6:06
6:31
2
 6:206:15
6:31
6:35

3
6:17
6:17
6:41
6:50

4
6:17
6:17
6:08
6:50

5
6:28
6:31
6:51
7:08

6
6:20
6:28
6:53
7:08

7
6:33
6:17
7:19
7:42

8
6:30
6:04
6:48
7:53

9
6:44
6:45
7:21
8:03

10
6:59
7:03
7:17
8:47

11
7:14
7:05
7:48
9:12

12
7:10
7:13
7:35
8:08

13
6:53
7:02
6:57
7:33

.1
0:41
0:40
0:36
?

13.1
1:27:02
1:26:14
1:30:52
1:37:29

As you can see, at no point did I have any chance of equaling previous years, and it went downhill from there.

First, it really bothered me that the race started 38 minutes late on a day forecasted to be in the mid to high 90's. It was light enough to see well by 6:00am, light enough to read a book by 6:30am, the race wasn't scheduled to start until 7:15am, and it didn't start until 7:53am. I think they need to move the start time up to at least 6:30am. At least then when it almost inevitably starts late, it will be closer to 7:00am than 8:00am. But that said, everyone had the same conditions so I can't use that as an excuse.

The reason I didn't run any faster was because I haven't been training hard enough to run any faster. I've focused on long, slow distance this year to get ready for my ultra marathon in June and pamper my PF, knee, and hip pain. I've stepped things up a little the last month or so, but then then I missed a long run to help at YW camp and only ran once the next week while on a family vacation.

In the race, I felt okay about running a little slower the first few miles. I knew my training was down and I hoped by not going out to fast I might last a little longer. No such luck. I just kept getting slower and slower, getting passed gradually but steadily by a host of runners.

With two miles to go I had slowed to 9:12/mi pace. About that point I saw a man about my age try to pass me. I decided I could do anything for two miles and decided to test my mental fortitude and hold him off to the finish. He tried 3 or 4 times to pass me over the next mile, but I eventually pulled ahead enough that I couldn't feel him behind me anymore. I kept pushing and passing people clear to the finish. It was a good thing, because there were three runners in my age division who finished 6 seconds, 7 seconds, and 21 seconds behind me. I would have finished 8th instead of 5th. The 4th place runner, Hal Amos, was 10 minutes ahead of me.

 

 


Saucony Tangent Miles: 13.80
Comments
From Tom on Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 20:30:13 from 67.199.180.90

Nice job hanging tough those last couple of miles Paul. As you've noted, your training has been down this year, you've been battling injuries, and the race started very late on a hot day. With all those factors in play I think you still did pretty good, especially for an old guy! ;) Plus it's always nice to make Hal a happy guy!

From scotthughes on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 14:39:58 from 209.33.211.3

Good job on holding them off. I was running and never once looked at my Garmin. I thought I was running a decent pace and just focused on running relaxed. Once I got to mile 11 I looked and the Garmin had died. I pushed a little harder and started passing people and that felt good. Say A guy that I felt like I needed to pass because he looked my age...sure enough. I passed him and beat him by 15 plus seconds, then I see that his chip time was better and he beat me anyway. He was 9th in the age group and I was 10th.

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