Well, I certainly didn’t set out to hit a near PR, I just
wanted to see what my legs would do. I couldn’t even remember after I saw my
time if it was a PR or not (I didn’t know seconds, only 44). I’ve heard PR’s
are only good for 2 years, so I guess a near match 2 years later isn’t too bad.
Not to mention this course certainly isn’t as easy as Des News, it’s still a
good downhill course – until mile 3 J
Best part of the race was that I got on the first bus and
got a fresh porta potty at the start! That has never happened to me, you gotta
revel in small victories. Rode up with some fun girls and got to visit with
Brent and Sylvie for a minute before a short warm-up. I did .6 up the canyon
then turned around and came back down. Oh man, I knew then I was gonna love the
downhill!
After the warm-up I found Matt, Brooke, Teena and Ryan. I
was happy to have finally found them! I was getting worried I wouldn’t get to
see them before the race. We dropped our bags and then headed to the start with
just minutes before the start.
I just kept up with the crowd the first mile, and true to
form I didn’t check my garmin for speed or distance – I just ran what felt good.
The first three miles were just amazing and I felt strong even on some of the
rolling uphills…then we hit Ivins. The hills really weren’t hills much at all,
but after the strong drop downhill the flat made turnover quite a bit harder.
At one point I thought about how slow my pace was, but I told myself “no one is
passing you, so everyone is slowing pace. As long as you keep with the crowd and don’t get passed you have NO reason
to get down on yourself!” I was able to hold strong and then we hit the final
downhill push which I knew was a turn onto Main St and then just the .2 to the finish.
On the downhill I had a couple catch me and just pass me.
Well, I’d had enough – I was going to keep up with them/her and then push to finish.
There was also a girl in front of me I’d been reeling in for about a mile and I
was going to beat her! Well, these 2 ladies (the guy from the couple dropped
back at about .2 to go) certainly had a push too. I tried and pushed out all I
could, but we all crossed the finish in one big group! After seeing the
finishing results I wish I would’ve pulled out just a little more push…just a
little! 10 seconds faster would’ve taken me from 7th place to 4th place – within shooting
range of the podium in my AG is AMAZING for me! Oh well, I really don’t feel
bad about it and as the day draws on my legs are telling me they left it all on
the road!
AP: 709
Splits: 6:21 (thank you downhill!), 7:15 (realizing I need
to back off a bit to survive), 7:06 (cruising on), 7:21 (honestly surprised
with the uphill encountered here), 7:31 (the worst/slowest uphill for me), 7:39
(flat and bad brain talk, but brought myself back), 6:15 for the last .2 push
to outrun those ladies!
I was pleasantly surprised to see the 44 on the clock! Teena
came in just behind me and after exchanging short stories and seeing Matt’s
amazing finish time we took off back to grab Brooke and Ryan. I ran Brooke in
and my legs were so shot I couldn’t keep up with her on her surge to the
finish! Had a great chat with everyone as we grabbed some goodies, drop bags
and saw results then Teena and I took off for 7.5 cool down miles @ 9:13AP
Got a nice tour of Ivins and then ran the last 3 miles of
the course again, and those ‘hills’ really weren’t all that bad the second time
around! Teena was still running strong, but I’d pooped out and she had to drag
me through those last couple, but I certainly don’t regret it! What a wonderful
morning, the wind stayed away until the cool-down miles and I had great company
during the race and cool-down. Now I get
to spend the rest of the weekend veggin’ out with the family, I just wish it
was WARM!!
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