Utah Valley Half Marathon

This was an A race I've been prepping for since early February after the unhappy ending of the winter training cycle. Leading up to this race I was running just about everyday, only taking 2-3 days off from running per month. After PR'ing on the tough Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon course in late April, I felt confident that I could run much faster on this course. The goals were PR (sub 85:28) and sub 83 minutes.

Ashley and I spent Friday night at the Provo Marriott, which is about 2 blocks from the finish. They charge 10 bucks for internet access in your room. Lame. It's probably for the best, though, as we would have likely stayed up later than necessary needlessly surfing the web. After 4.5 hours of sleep, I got up at 2AM to put my face on and get ready to rock. Ashley only had to walk out of the hotel Saturday morning to catch the bus to the marathon start. I walked the 1.5 miles to the shuttles for the ride to the half marathon start. It was actually kind of nice, and definitely a unique experience, to walk through downtown Provo at 3:30 in the morning.

I got to the starting area almost 2 hours before the 6AM start, which finally came around. My legs were feeling OK after a 3 mile warm up and some strides. With the exception of running with Allie Moore for miles 3-4 (before she dropped me big time), I ran alone. Jennifer Hughes caught up to me around mile 10, and we ran together until she dropped back at the last aid station for water in the last mile. Having her there definitely pushed me those last few miles. I was psyched to cross the finish line in under 83 minutes and ring the PR Bell. Ding dong, I accomplished my missions. I never felt great. But, that's only because I'd never run that fast over that distance. Along the way, I think I PR'd at 10k by about 5 or 6 seconds. I hit 15k in just under 59 minutes, which makes me feel better about the abysmal Winter Series 15k earlier in the year.Ashley crushed the Boston Qualifying time, running 3:21 in her first road marathon. Rad.

Splits were 5:59,6:15,6:27 (this mile had the only proper hill on the whole course until the little bump at mile11), 6:20,6:01, 6:10, 6:14, 6:13, 6:18, 6:27 (just slow on this stretch), 6:29 (small climb this mile), 6:16, 6:20, 71sec for the last .2.Garmin said 13.2 miles, but it schized out a few times in the canyon. Chip Time: 82:35, good enough for 3rd M35-39 and 29th OA.

Next up is the Murray 5k, and then Des News 10k. I'm just doing races on the Utah USATF circuit but am on the lookout for other running projects in the mountains or on the roads.

Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon 2013

Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:25:28.2	13.11	6:31
1	6:21.8	1.00	6:22
2	6:25.9	1.00	6:26
3	6:16.7	1.00	6:17
4	6:19.5	1.00	6:20
5	6:35.7	1.00	6:36
6	6:37.4	1.00	6:37
7	6:22.2	1.00	6:22
8	6:47.8	1.00	6:48
9	6:37.8	1.00	6:38
10	6:35.5	1.00	6:36
11	6:45.5	1.00	6:46
12	6:39.8	1.00	6:40
13	6:22.9	1.00	6:23
14	:39.8	0.11	6:02

11th overall, 1st M35-39

Jogging in Paris

B and I recently got back from 5 days and 5 nights in Paris. The trip was amazing, and I made some significant progress in getting over my aversion to flying. I even managed to lose weight on the trip.