I didn't really know what to expect coming into this race after having run the Skyline Marathon just last Saturday. I honestly would have been happy with 6th place. My main goal today was to pick up some circuit points. But, as the week went on I was surprised at how fast my legs were recovering and by yesterday I was convinced that I was recovered and could run a solid race.
I woke up at 3:40 so I could leave my house at 4:00. So it was another early Saturday morning. I've had a lot of those this summer. I warmed up 3.75 miles and did 4 strides for a a total of 4 miles before the race. I was very please with the weather as I had thought we were going to get dumped on. I saw a lot of familiar faces at the start line and was amazed at the amount of elites that were there. My target pace for the first 6 miles was 5:00-5:05. Jason went out quick from the gun and I packed it up with Jake and Fritz for the first several miles Fritz and I caught up to Jason at about 5 I believe and I was feeling good so I just tried to keep it rolling. I actually felt better from miles 5-9 than I did for miles 1-4 which I thought was odd. I could tell by the sounds that I was slowly building a gap, but when we turned at the Maverick to go up the Millville hills I turned to look back and swore under my breath when I saw that Fritz and Jake weren't as far back as I had hoped. I tried to work the hill hard but when we had to turn up again off of what I thought was the final straightaway, that killed me mentally. Jake eventually caught me at the crest of the hill. I stayed with him for maybe a whole 10 meters and then turned and said good race and then gave up on winning and tried to concentrate on holding off Fritz. I barely managed to hold off Fritz in the end and held on for 2nd place.
Including the Ogden Marathon, I have run 7 races since the Ogden Marathon. In 6 out the 7 I have taken 2nd place. The one exception being a 1st place finish in the Ute Stamped Fun Run in Nephi so that one doesn't really count. There seems to be some invisible barrier that I can't seem to bust through. No not really all of the guys that have beaten me are very legitimate runners and I haven't felt bad about a single one of those 2nd place finishes.
After leading for much of the race I really would have liked to win today, but I really feel blessed to have taken 2nd in such a deep field especially coming off of a very difficult marathon last week. Although, I must say that I believe that the trail races are easier to recover from than the road marathons. It has been a lot of fun to be running at a high level again. I just hope I can continue for a while longer before having any serious injuries.
Miles splits: (Disclosure this was using the auto lap on my watch and my watch usually measures miles about .02 miles short)
5:08, 4:58, 5:03, 5:00, 4:52, 4:51, 4:49, 5:01, 5:02, 5:02, 5:04, 5:36, 5:08. So while those show a little faster than what they really were, it is pretty clear by looking at them where I lost the race.
Hats off to Jake he ran smart and solid like always.
Cooled down 2.1 miles with Jake, Fritz, Jason, and Coyle.
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