Everything Counts

Morgan Valley 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

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

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

Sat, Jul 28, 2012

Race: Morgan Valley Marathon (26.53 Miles) 02:43:32, Place overall: 2

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
20.00	6.53	0.00	0.00	26.53

MORGAN VALLEY MARATHON

I had a plan to use this as a good, quality distance and as a trial run on trying to nail down in-race marathon nutrition. I've had bad experiences of running out of fuel in marathons, so I wanted to use a small, low-key marathon to practice taking in more calories.

I had a great support crew this morning who drove the whole way and gave me water and gatorade every few miles which was sweet.

My plan was to run 20 miles very conservative and then use the last 6.2 as a tempo. In short, I executed that plan perfectly. The course is very honest. It's a loop course with rolling hills, you gain and lose 600 feet over the race; and the elevation is just over 5,000 feet.

I ran the first few miles with Bryant Jensen who planned on running a bit faster than I planned so once he was ready to get rolling at his faster pace I was on my own. We were in 2nd and 3rd place for quite awhile.

I had to take a whiz on mile 6 and I had to take two additional pits stops along the way. The stomach was just not cooperating AGAIN. Everytime I was about to pass the second place guy, I had to stop for a pit stop. These last two stops were during miles 9 and 13.

I finally caught the second place guy right as I started my 6.2 mile tempo during mile 21. The last 6.5 miles felt awesome and I had plenty of fuel to finish strong.

We were midirected in the second mile and from mile 2 on my watch was consistently beeping .25 miles before the marker. The cops had taken us down the half marathon route and it adding an early quarter mile.

So my official time was 2:43:32 I think; my watch had me at 26.2 miles in 2:41:49. And my moving time (minus the three potty stops) was 2:41:24 for the 26.53 miles. So, I was stopped at breaks for like 3 minutes.

Overall, I feel good about this. Clearly, it was easier to not bonk when you run conservative for 20 miles, but it's nice to feel awesome the last 6 miles of a marathon.

Splits (potty break miles marked with *): 6:40 6:22 6:19 6:11 6:14 6:30* 6:05 6:06 6:48* 6:01 6:12 6:21 7:29* 6:04 6:07 6:09 6:15 6:16 6:07 6:03 5:43 5:52 5:47 5:46 5:37 5:28 and 2:50 (5:21 pace) for last .53.

Garmin report: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/203989053

Oh and the highlight of the week was I tied my weekly mileage all-time PR at 72 miles.

Saucony Fastwich (Green) Miles: 26.53

Weight: 0.00

Comments

From Andrea on Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 13:34:28 from 67.177.11.154

Nice workout/race! That's a very solid time on an honest course. Good to work on the nutrition - it's such a huge challenge to get it right!

Congrats on the tied all time mileage PR!

From Fritz on Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 14:07:02 from 65.100.192.74

Great job! The 26th mile being your fastest must have felt great. I think this was a good one to get under your belt and it should help a ton when you decide to race a full again. I am tentatively planning to join you at St. George.

From Jake K on Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 14:15:09 from 67.177.11.154

Very nice Riley! That's a quality effort on that course. Should be a good confidence booster for you going into the next "real" marathon race

From Kelli on Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 14:39:39 from 67.172.235.55

72 miles, 3 potty breaks, 20 conservative miles, and then a second place finish??? WOW, nicely done!

From scottkeate on Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 17:52:53 from 71.199.4.146

Prefect! Nice to get that sense of being strong the last 6 miles. That's a respectable time on an honest course. When you get the stomach thing figured out, you're going to be leathal! Well done!

From Steve on Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 10:26:34 from 66.87.64.53

Honest course means real? It's always a shock to my system when I run some rolling course with zero elevation somewhere outside Utah. You get used to these. Thats a great run on a course like that!

Time for a 100 mile week..

From RileyCook on Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 12:31:32 from 65.130.72.198

Thanks everyone. It does add some confidence. My legs feel great today, not very sore at all. I think I need some more downhill training. This course was not a downhill course and hence my quads held out fine and aren't at all sore. In previous marathons it's always been my quads that cramp up a lot. So I plan on getting some long runs in on downhill courses to prepare for St. George.

Fritz, you tentatively planning to "join" me at St. George simply means I will have fun chatting with you before and after you break 2:20 and kick my butt!

Steve, I would love to hit a 100 mile week, but I have "glass" legs that break easily. So I will have to take it slow trying to get to that milestone. We'll work on trying to hit 80 for now!

From Superfly on Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 20:07:29 from 74.211.21.81

Solid training run. Smart to take a low key race and try to figure out your system. Hope you can nail that because when you do you'll be dropping bombs.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 21:09:42 from 69.28.149.29

Riley:

Congratulations on the first marathon finish and overcoming the wall. I should have checked your mileage graph earlier, but better late than never. It, of course revealed what could likely be the root of your marathon struggles. Not enough weekly mileage. Just up it gradually, and your marathon will be much stronger. I would suggest something like this - next two weeks 65, then 70, 70, 75, 75, 80, and then hold it at 80. Taper minimally. Make the speed workouts milder if you need to tolerate the mileage. Knowing your overachiever personality, perhaps make them milder even if you do not think you need to. Avoid long tapers - 3 days is usually enough for the marathon, no need to taper for the half unless it is the most important half of your life. Do not get too excited about mileage, though - too much of a good thing too soon can be disastrous, but I would say 80 right now is a nice safe number that gives plenty of benefits.

From RileyCook on Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 18:17:43 from 65.130.72.198

Thanks for the advice Sasha. I had a plan in mind on mileage and it very closely mirrors what you've recommended. So, that's good to know I'm on the right track and approaching the mileage appropriately. I appreciate your insight.

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