What ever it takes!

Timpanogos Half Marathon

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesRob's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20102011201220132014201520162017
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Lehi,UT,USA

Member Since:

Apr 29, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

2009 Provo River Marathon, 4:04:38

2009 Provo Canyon Halloween 1/2 Marathon, 1:27:22

2010 Ogden Marathon, 3:04:39

2010 Deseret News Marathon, 2:51:36

2010 Provo River 1/2 Marathon 1:19:01

2010 Top of Utah Marathon 2:52:24

2010 Just Cuz 1/2 Marathon 1:17:36

2011 13.1 LA 1/2 Marathon 1:19:43

2011 Timpanogos Half 1:16:51

2011 Treadmill Marathon 2:49:26 (pr)

Short-Term Running Goals:

2:45 Boston.

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Elliptical Trainer 2017 Lifetime Miles: 107.00
Treadmill 2017 Lifetime Miles: 454.20
Race: Timpanogos Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:16:51, Place overall: 5, Place in age division: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.005.108.000.0013.10

I’ve spent some time thinking about how I feel about this race and how I performed and have come to the conclusion that I’m thrilled with how I did.  My goal was a 1:15 but that was a completely arbitrary number that I pulled out of the air and I really had nothing to back up being able to do that.  Second goal was a PR, so hey that’s always nice to meet some goal, beat my ½ Marathon PR by almost 1 minute.

 

Slept OK last night, better than staying in a hotel somewhere with the entire family in the room, so having the race 10 miles up the road from my house was very nice.   Woke up at 3:00 am got ready, drove to Ryan Jonson’s house to meet him at 4:00, but I showed up 30 minutes early,  I Sat in his front yard stretching and jogging up and down the street for 30 minutes while I waited.

 

We drove to the buses got on what must have been an early bus cause it was the nice LaBus with nice seats,  The start area was kind of a mess, didn’t seem big enough for everyone there, I only got one shot at the Porta Potty, that worried me a little bit but I actually ended up OK.

 

The race was suppose to start promptly at 5:40 am, 5:40 came along and they announced that we still were waiting on a few busses.  Lot’s of grumbles from the crowd, I actually don’t mind waiting around a bit, plus it was still pretty dark at 5:40 so I think the road could have been dangerous in the dark, the only thing I was upset about was that I didn’t go to the bathroom one last time while waiting, but when your lined up on the front row you don’t really want to leave.

 

Lined up with Ryan.   The only “fast” person that anyone really recognized was Justin Park (I think that’s his name, he ended up winning), the gun went off about 6:00 am I would guess, I didn’t have my watch set to time.  I figured from the race report of the American Fork ½ that there would be people taking off at sub 5:00 pace but everyone was going pretty slow, I know cause I was in second position at about ¼ mile.  There were 6 of us in the lead group and everyone was very chatty, that bothered me cause I was thinking how hard it was to even breath and these guys were chatting about the weather.  Justin and another guy finally split away and took the lead, Ryan and 2 other guys started a little group of 3, and I created my own group of 1 about 50 yards behind them.

 

I was actually hitting my splits right around how I had thought I should,  5:30 – 5:40 pace,  kept questioning if that was the right pace, didn’t really know if I should go faster and try to catch up to Ryan, or go slower and save myself a little bit.  But all and all I felt OK, breathing was a little heavy but I was hanging in there.  I was really enjoying the canyon but kept telling myself it was going to get bad out of the canyon, at around mile 7 I passed one of the guys from the pack of 3, we chatted some, kept alternating position but eventually he fell back.  That gave me a little bit of confidence to know that I had actually passed someone,  this put me in 5th overall, I seriously questioned being able to hold that position for 5 more miles but kept pushing through.  Once I reached the bottom of the canyon I could tell the heat would be an issue.  Heat over all other things is my nemesis, every race I’ve every done I just completely crash as soon as the sun comes up.  I’m not sure what I need to do to get over that, I’ve struggled with heat exhaustion as long as I can remember, whether it’s riding bikes, running or what ever.  Anyway, it got hot, and humid.  Then I got to the trail by the Golf course, I had no idea there were up hills on this course, I should have rode it on my bike or something.  That first hill, I seriously thought I was going to collapse, my calf started to tighten up and I realized then that 1:15 wasn’t going to happen even though I was still on pace to do so.

 

I switched from race mode to survival mode at around 8.5,  I was planning on this happening around the 10 mile mark but I was still happy I pushed through as hard as I did for that long.  I don’t remember a whole lot threw here, I passed a few of the full Marathon people, and passed 1 person that I thought was maybe one of the guys ahead of me but I couldn’t remember.  At 11.5 I got passed by someone, I tried to keep up but he had kicked into a different gear, and then at 12 a friend of his met him and paced him the rest of the way, I didn’t have a chance.

 

Turned the corner at 13 feeling pretty dead, but my wife tells me I always look slow coming down the home stretch so I decided to speed up and bit and put on a show for the kids, ran all the way across the street to high five my kids (they love that) and then I was done.

 

So the only thing I’m really mad about this race about is that somehow they really jacked up the timing, Ryan and I weren’t even on the printed result sheet so we went and complained, They had manually written my number down in 5th place but didn’t have Ryan at all (he finished 3rd overall at 1:13:59)  eventually they said they found both of our names in the computer with chip times (1:16:51 for me) but they weren’t on the official results sheet.  They tried to give Ryan’s 3rd place prize away to someone else, but he went and complained and they fixed it, they did end up giving my age group plaque to someone else and told me they would make me a new one and send it to me.  I’m not sure how they made such a mess of it,  I only new 3 people, Me, Ryan, and Allie and somehow all of our results got messed up.  Allie took 3rd overall but they tried to give it to someone else.  I think she was angry and left before all that anyway.

 

All and all, a good race, not quite as “easy” as I had imagined, I wish I would have ran the last 7 miles earlier cause I wasn’t expecting all those hills and turns at all.  Based on the fact I have been out with a stress fracture all summer and only been running for 4 weeks I’m very pleased with the result.  Who would have thought I could come back and get a PR that soon after recovering from a stress fracture.  Pretty sure I have a 1:15 in me but I don’t have any other races set until St. George Marathon due to work conflicts with all the other races coming up.

 Distance Time Avg Pace
   
 1 5:26 5:26   
 2 11:09 5:43   
 3 17:00 5:51   
 4 22:44 5:44   
 5 28:08 5:24   
 6 33:33 5:25   
 7 39:04 5:31   
 8 44:47 5:43   
 9 51:08 6:21   
 10 57:26 6:18   
 11 1:03:37 6:11   
 12 1:10:10 6:33   
 13 1:16:24 6:14   
 13.1 1:16:52 5:28   
 Total 1:16:52 5:53   
 

Saucony Progrid Kinvara Miles: 13.10
Comments
From RivertonPaul on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 15:38:25 from 63.228.197.251

Rob, that is great considering how seriously you have been injured. I hope that this is a nice confidence booster in your staying healthy (I know it is tough for you to hold back in your workouts) in your build up to SGM.

From Teena Marie on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 15:51:10 from 67.2.79.18

WaHoo!!! This is GREAT news!!! So happy for you!!! :)

My favorite parts:

"I created my own group of 1 about 50 yards behind ... "

" ... my wife tells me I always look slow coming down the home stretch so I decided to speed up and bit and put on a show for the kids ...

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!

Congratulations. :)

From Kelli on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 16:47:20 from 71.219.99.3

WOW, quite the report! Nice job on the race and I love that you sprinted it in for the kids, very cool!!!

I stayed for the awards and I was so confused because I knew Allie had been 3rd and they did not call her name. I SAW her cross the finish line, but started thinking maybe I had been delirious! I wonder what happened with the results? They had ZERO results for the marathon, couldn't even find them. We all (well, about half of us) hung around waiting, but nothing. We did not even get a mention in the awards ceremony, not a one of us. Kind of sad.

I am rambling, sorry, BUT I have the same issue with heat and I have since I was a kid. I get heat stroke easily (which is nice in a way because it has always gotten me out of yard work.) I have read up on it a lot to try to figure out how to not faint, get nauseous, etc but basically I have learned that some people will just always struggle. Maybe we are two of those people. ;o)

From Rob Murphy on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 17:19:08 from 98.202.141.17

Congratulations on the fine time. You're back!

From Carina on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 17:23:45 from 204.15.86.83

Great race Rob, You totally rocked. It was fun to see you finish so strong, I looked up and was like hey, there's Rob!!!

From RAD on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 17:33:51 from 76.27.16.189

Excellent race Rob! I guess your TM at the gym doesn't need me going so slow anymore...I'll give it back :)

What a wonderful way to PR just coming back from the SF. Shows what an amazing all around athlete you are! Sorry about the awards - sounds a little hookey to me!

good luck in the remaining weeks till SGM!!!

From allie on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 17:37:32 from 24.10.191.18

nice work, rob. i am happy the race went well for you today and that you are back at it again!

i had no idea there was a mishap with the timing. the only reason i left early was because i wanted to take a nap :)

i'm sure they will get it sorted out eventually...

From Rob on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 17:38:39 from 204.15.86.95

Paul- thanks for coming back from the dead to respond to my report :) I'm hoping if I get anything out of my injury it's how to control myself better.

Teena Marie- I'm glad I could make someone smile.

Kelli- That really sucks about the Marathoners. I didn't think about it until you mentioned they didn't even say anything about it. Lame.

Rob- Planning on going for that 1:15 in Just Cuz. Will you be there with me?

Carina- I'm really glad I got to see you and your infamous dance. You really love a good race don't you? Thanks for cheering for me.

From Rob on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 17:42:18 from 204.15.86.95

Hey Rad and Allie, You must have responded while I was in the middle of typing. I didn't not respond to you on purpose.

RAD, You can use my treadmill anytime you want.

From Steve Piccolo on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 17:43:41 from 67.2.46.110

Great race! Glad I didn't stick around long after.

From Walter on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 19:34:27 from 24.2.69.110

Great Job Rob! Just like I told you! I think mile 2-3 has a flat spot there because I was just under 5 my first mile and then slowed to 5:30 for 2 miles then got several 4:50's in a row. That is such a cool course! Great job!

From Rob on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 23:32:43 from 204.15.86.95

Thanks Walter, Sorry I forgot to mention that I got my race strategy from you. Thanks for the advice, I wish you would have warned me about the last 7 miles. But then again maybe it was good you didn't

From Walter on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 23:42:15 from 24.2.69.110

I didn't really give you race strategy. I just told you how I ran It and you did it the same! You're an animal!

From Dragonvulture on Mon, Aug 01, 2011 at 01:18:01 from 67.41.183.211

Great Race! Nice to have someone to chase down for miles. I'm sure after you have some more time back from your injury 1:15 will be yours.

From Smooth on Mon, Aug 01, 2011 at 19:33:56 from 67.2.116.101

So HAPPY for your PR after your sf! GREAT performance and confidence builder for SGM!!!

It was so cool to watch you fly by in the canyon!

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Recent Comments: