This was my third year running the Buffalo Run 25k, but my first as a SLC resident. This is the race that made me fall in love with Utah. There was something about the mountains reflecting off the water that made me want to move here. I didn't know what to expect for this race. I've increased my milage a bit the last few weeks and my hamstrings and left plantar have been chronic problems. I started off in the middle/back of the pack and tried to stay controlled going up the climbs. As soon as we hit the downhill, people started flying by me. As we approached the switchbacks, I realized that I felt pretty good and that I was passing a lot of people back. After we hit the aid station on the return, I saw a SLCTC running buddy up ahead, and gradually worked to catch him. I caught him on the last real uphill and then focused on trying to finish strong. I tried to dip down below 9s, but my hamstrings wouldn't have it. I really thought I was going to beat my time from last year (2:45 something) by several minutes, but I hadn't even reached the fence and my time was already slower. This year the start/finish was moved over near the parking, and I wasn't happy about the running up the gradual incline to the finish. I pushed a little so that I didn't get out kicked by a guy with his dog and finished in 2:48:49. After the race, I got a massage where I was informed that basically every part of my body was tight (calves, hamstrings, itb, hip flexors, adductors) That probably explains many of my problems. The altered start/finish added some extra distance to the course, so it's likely that my pace was slightly faster than last year even with the slower time. My Garmin read 16.6 for an average pace of 10:11 (I stopped it 20 seconds or so after I crossed the finish line). The stats from my Garmin can be viewed here. It's clear that I really need to work on my downhill running if I hope to take any large chunks of time off next year. I feel like my uphill running was better than in previous years and I walked very little this year. I'm starting to regret signing up for Ogden, I'd rather run trails right now.
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