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Mesa-Phoenix Half Marathon

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Location:

South Weber,UT,

Member Since:

May 09, 2012

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Personal Records:

800 Meters 1:50.14 (Track-BYU)

1500 Meters 3:42.07 (Track-Stanford) Likely the best race of my life; converts to a 3:59.85 Mile

5000 Meters 14:20 (Track-Stanford)

8000 Meters 23:53 (Cross Country-Pre Nationals Iowa)

10000 Meters 29:57 (Track-Stanford)

Half Marathon (Mesa-Phoenix Half) 1:05:11

Marathon (St George) 2:16:09

Short-Term Running Goals:

2017 Races:

Mesa-Phoenix Half - 3rd Place 1:05:11 PR

Ogden WRC 10-Miler - 1st Place 55:46

Provo City Half - 1st Place 1:06:33

Ogden Marathon - 2nd Place 2:25:46

Long-Term Running Goals:

My main goal is just to stay healthy.  I was injured every year in my college career except for one.  I would like to reverse that trend and always stay injury-free.

 

Personal:

I am a family man.  I am married to my beautiful wife Amy (who also ran at Weber and is quite the runner).  We have four beautiful daughters named Evelyn (6 years old), Hannah (4 year old), Nora (2 year old), and Iris (5 months).

Twitter handle: @RunnerRiley7

Instagram RunnerRiley7

I am supported by Brooks

I am a Generation Ucan elite athlete

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Salomon Pro Wings 2 Lifetime Miles: 161.10
Brooks PureCadence 5 Lifetime Miles: 101.85
Brooks Adrenaline 17 Lifetime Miles: 161.85
Brooks Transcend 4 Lifetime Miles: 219.45
Brooks Ravenna 8 Lifetime Miles: 225.10
Brooks PureCadence 6 Lifetime Miles: 188.10
Brooks Launch 4 Lifetime Miles: 107.50
Brooks Glycerin 14 Lifetime Miles: 101.47
Brooks Hyperion Lifetime Miles: 92.13
Brooks Caldera Lifetime Miles: 31.10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
293.404.7031.001.75330.85
Hoka One One Constant Miles: 28.30Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 64.80Altra Provision 2 Miles: 6.20Brooks Adrenaline 17 Miles: 63.40Brooks Ravenna 8 Miles: 61.20Asics GT 2000 3 Miles: 8.40Brooks Pure Cadence 4 Miles: 31.75Brooks PureCadence 6 Miles: 35.40Salomon Pro Wings 2 Miles: 11.10Brooks PureCadence 5 Miles: 10.30
Weight: 153.72
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.300.000.000.0015.30

AM: 10 miles easy on the treadmill due to the poor air quality, avg pace 7:42/mile.

PM: 5.3 miles easy on the treadmill, avg pace 7:28/mile.

Hoka One One Constant Miles: 10.00Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 5.30
Weight: 153.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.800.000.000.0016.80

AM: 10.6 miles easy on the treadmill, avg pace 7:10/mile.

PM: 6.2 miles easy, avg pace 7:11/mile.

Altra Provision 2 Miles: 6.20Brooks Adrenaline 17 Miles: 10.60
Weight: 154.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.700.000.000.0016.70

16.7 miles with Bryant and Dave in East Layton where the air quality was, get this...green, avg pace 7:17/mile.

Brooks Adrenaline 17 Miles: 16.70
Weight: 152.20
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.000.000.0013.50

13.5 miles with Ben, Dave, and Matt in East Ogden, South Ogden, and the Terrace, avg pace 7:04/mile. Just enough to hit 100 miles on the week.

Brooks Ravenna 8 Miles: 13.50
Weight: 153.40
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.400.000.000.0015.40

AM: 12 miles easy in Clearfield & Layton with Ben and Dave in easily the best weather morning of the new year so far, avg pace 7:11/mile.

PM: 3.4 miles shakeout on tready, avg pace 7:11/mile.

Asics GT 2000 3 Miles: 3.40Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 12.00
Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.950.951.951.7519.60

AM: 15-MINUTE PROGRESSIVE TEMPO & 6X90 SECOND HILLS

Ben, Bryant, Jason, Moss, and met up on a rainy morning for a workout at Walmart in South Ogden. We warmed up just over four miles and then ran the tempo. I ran 5:24/mile for 5 min, 5:08/mile for 5 min, and 5:02/mile for final 5 minutes. We jogged to the bottom of Glassman and then the hills. I ran a 5:11/mile avg pace, which on Strava is 4:15/mile Grade-adjusted.

PM: 6.5 miles easy on tready, avg pace 7:17/mile.

Hoka One One Constant Miles: 6.50Brooks Pure Cadence 4 Miles: 13.10
Weight: 155.20
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.100.000.000.0016.10

AM: 10 miles easy in Clearfield & Clinton with Dave, Ben, and Jason, avg pace 7:37/mile.

PM: 6.1 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:29/mile.

Brooks Adrenaline 17 Miles: 10.00Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 6.10
Weight: 153.20
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.200.000.000.0010.20

10.2 miles in East Layton with the birthday boy, Benny Van, and Dave in light rain and upper 40s, avg pace 7:23/mile. I was pretty sluggish and tired this morning.

Brooks Ravenna 8 Miles: 10.20
Weight: 155.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.153.754.750.0018.65

WORKOUT: 20 MINUTES MARATHON PACE & 25 MINUTES HALF PACE

I met Bryant at Farmington Station at 5:00 a.m. for our workout. It was unseasonably warm at 54 degrees. We warmed up north on the rail trail for 40 minutes and then did 20-minutes at 5:21/mile, 5 minutes rest, and then 25 minutes at 5:14/mile. I was supposed to have a fast finish on the 25 minutes but instead I was 5:11/ mile pace thru 20 and then bonked and tried to stop the bleeding and ended on the 5:14/mile avg pace. A bit frustrating. Bryant ran it very well at 5:09/mile.

Brooks Pure Cadence 4 Miles: 18.65
Weight: 153.20
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.100.000.000.0011.10

11.1 miles easy with Taylor on the Ogden River Parkway, avg pace 6:51/mile.

Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 11.10
Weight: 152.20
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.500.000.000.0018.50

AM: 12 miles easy on a chilly morning down on the Weber and Ogden River Parkways, avg pace 7:40/mile. Winter morning temperatures made their comeback this morning after a brief and glorious hiatus over the last week!

PM: 6.5 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 6:54/mile.

Brooks Adrenaline 17 Miles: 12.00Brooks PureCadence 6 Miles: 6.50
Weight: 152.80
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.350.000.000.0011.35

11.35 miles easy with Dave and Ben in Layton, avg pace 7:26/mile.

Brooks Ravenna 8 Miles: 11.35
Weight: 155.20
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.100.006.200.0019.30

AM: 10x1K W/35 SECONDS REST

I met up with Ben, Dave, and Jared at Kent's. Jared and Dave did 5 miles warm-up with us and then Ben and I did the workout. I felt awful on the warm-up, yet pretty dang good on the workout. I ran the first 9 reps in the 3:03-3:09 range with a 3:06.8 avg which is 5:01/mile avg pace, and then cranked the last rep in 2:51 or 4:36/mile pace.

PM: 6.3 miles easy in my neighborhood, avg pace 6:39/mile.

Hoka One One Constant Miles: 6.30Brooks PureCadence 6 Miles: 13.00
Weight: 155.80
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 recovery miles with Ben, Dave, and Jason, avg pace 7:44/mile. A lot of the run was spent giving Jason a hard time about liking the Warriors for all the same reasons he hates the Cavs.

Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 10.00
Weight: 153.20
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.003.000.0018.00

PROGRESSIVE LONG RUN

I ran in the early afternoon from my place, avg pace 6:14/mile. It was a progression run from 7:10 down to 5:20 pace. I ran up Adam's Ave Toll, along Glassman to Country Hills, up to the Dee, and then back along Old Post, Combe, and 89. I pushed the hills pretty good.

Brooks Ravenna 8 Miles: 18.00
Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.100.000.000.0011.10

11.1 miles on the BST north of Ogden Canyon, first 7 with Taylor, avg pace 7:44/mile.

Salomon Pro Wings 2 Miles: 11.10
Weight: 153.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

10 miles easy on the Ogden River Parkway with Trace, Ben, Manny, and Dave, avg pace 7:31/mile. I felt surprisingly sluggish this morning.

Weight: 153.80
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.300.002.000.0010.30

10.3 miles easy with a two-mile pickup toward the end with Dave and Jared, avg pace 7:00/mile. We also ran into Jason on Gordon Ave. I did the two miles on the Rail Trail on a slight uphill in 9:57.9 (5:06/4:51).

Brooks PureCadence 5 Miles: 10.30
Weight: 154.20
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.100.000.000.0010.10

10.1 miles easy in East Layton with Dave and Ben, avg pace 7:29/mile.

Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 10.10
Weight: 154.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.150.000.000.008.15

8.15 miles easy with Ben, Jason, and Dave, avg pace 7:23/mile with 5x30 second strides.

Brooks Ravenna 8 Miles: 8.15
Weight: 154.40
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.005.00

5 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:14/mile.

Brooks Adrenaline 17 Miles: 5.00
Weight: 152.20
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Race: Mesa-Phoenix Half Marathon (13.109 Miles) 01:05:11, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.800.0013.100.0015.90

MESA-PHOENIX HALF MARATHON

My goal for the spring is to run a fast half marathon time on an honest course. I've been building toward that goal since late-November and Ben, Bryant, and I have laid the foundation necessary to really ramp up our training and attack a good half marathon (under the tutelage of Stazza himself aka Irish Homer Simpson). We're really just starting into the more specific phase of the training block, but Ben and I wanted to run a half marathon before the end of the block to shake off some rust and stay race ready. Phoenix is awesome this time of year and we figured it'd be a great race to start the year off with. Also, I haven't run faster than 1:07.30 on a half marathon course that is "olympic-trials qualifier" eligible. With having a goal of running sub-1:05 (and maybe even sub-1:04) later this spring I figured it was a tall task to skip steps if you will in between 1:07:30 and sub-1:05. What I mean is the fitness may be there, but mentally it is difficult to convince yourself you can make that big of a leap and have the confidence to run the faster pace early in a race. So, I figured if I hit a good time (I was thinking 1:06) at Phoenix on an eligible course, it would give me additional confidence moving forward that I can run 1:04.

So, Ben, Ken, and I headed to Phoenix. Ken was there to hang out and have fun. He's had some back issues and hasn't been able to run, but I think this weekend motivated him to take the necessary steps to be able to get back out training again. Ken drove us to the start line and warmed up with us. We were able to give him our warm clothes at the last moment to stay warm, which was nice as it was only 39 degrees, which for Mesa is a bit on the cooler side. My goal was to start around 5:05/mile pace and see how I feel and judge and go off of that. At the start I saw Mike Hardy and Ben Bruce. So, I knew it was going to be a tough race to win.

Bruce took off fast right off the line. I moved into second after 400 meters or so and Mike was just behind me. During mile 2 Mike suggested we take turns leading/drafting. It seemed that the wind should've been a slight tailwind or at least crosswind, but for some reason it did feel a tad windy and I figured every second we can shave off will matter. So we traded leads and you did notice a difference in effort when you were drafting opposed to leading.

I wasn't sure of how fit Mike was. He certainly wasn't in 65/66 minute shape last September at Huntsville Half, so it took me a turn or two drafting before I stopped worrying about making sure he was hitting pace when he led and trusting not only his pacing but his fitness. It was clear after a few turns he was every bit as fit as me and this was going to be very beneficial to work together.

Around 10k in we noticed we were reeling in Ben Bruce. We got to within 5-6 seconds of him by mile 8. At mile 10 he looked back, saw us close, and then proceeded to run basically a 14:40 closing 5k! Haha. It was impressive to see.

Throughout the race I kept checking my breathing and tried to stay in tune with how my body was feeling. Each mile that went by with another mile at 5:00/mile pace was encouraging, but also a bit of unchartered territory. My mind kept saying "Ok, ok this is fine, but let's make sure we can handle this pace before thinking of doing anything that might make us blow up". So I was pretty content to keep rolling off low 5:00s/high 4:50s. Then at 10.5 miles Mike started moving. It was as if he mentally thought to himself that it was now or never if he was going to break 65 and get the time bonus. It took me a few seconds to respond. He got a gap, and I luckily made the decision quick enough, before my body made it for me and slowed down, to respond and go after 64:xx. What was there to lose? I had never been this close and it was worth it to give it a shot.

Mike and I both closed very well with him keeping that 4 second gap essentially the rest of the way. I looked up toward the end and saw the finish line, looked at my watch and saw 64:30, I pushed hard, looked again and the line looked still 30-40 seconds away and my watch now read 1:04:40. I pushed for another few seconds and then realized it just wasn't quite going to happen. I crossed in 1:05:11, a new PR (and faster than any downhill Utah course I've run). Ben Bruce won in 1:04:33 and Mike Hardy was 2nd in 1:05:07. I was pretty happy with the result, it was on the very high end of what I thought was possible on the day (I had thought 1:05-1:07 was the range the race could fall in, as it was hard to determine my fitness). Ben finished 6th in 1:09:40, a good strong race for him and it bodes well for his half marathon times moving forward.

Splits: 5:02, 5:01, 5:00, 4:58, 4:57, 4:59, 5:01, 4:57, 4:56, 5:04 (49:58 at ten miles), 4:54, and 10:18 for the last 2.1 which is 4:51/mile pace.

Brooks PureCadence 6 Miles: 15.90
Weight: 0.00
Comments(13)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.700.000.000.0015.70

AM: 10.2 miles easy with a large group of guys in a snowstorm, avg pace 7:53/mile. I was really feeling Saturday's race; legs were just tired!

PM: 5.5 miles easy on the tready, avg pace 7:34/mile.

Hoka One One Constant Miles: 5.50Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 10.20
Weight: 154.40
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.100.000.000.0014.10

AM: 9.1 miles easy with Ben and Jared in East Layton, avg pace 8:06/mile. I'm still quite fatigued from Saturday. It's just going to be easy recovery pace for a few days.

PM: 5 miles easy on tready 7:24/mile.

Asics GT 2000 3 Miles: 5.00Brooks Adrenaline 17 Miles: 9.10
Weight: 153.80
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
293.404.7031.001.75330.85
Hoka One One Constant Miles: 28.30Brooks Transcend 4 Miles: 64.80Altra Provision 2 Miles: 6.20Brooks Adrenaline 17 Miles: 63.40Brooks Ravenna 8 Miles: 61.20Asics GT 2000 3 Miles: 8.40Brooks Pure Cadence 4 Miles: 31.75Brooks PureCadence 6 Miles: 35.40Salomon Pro Wings 2 Miles: 11.10Brooks PureCadence 5 Miles: 10.30
Weight: 153.72
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