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Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run 15K

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Location:

Fort Collins,CO,

Member Since:

May 15, 2003

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)

Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.

Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.

Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

  Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall.

Personal:

1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5

 

 

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Race: Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run 15K (9.32 Miles) 00:47:50, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
9.700.009.300.000.0019.00

Ran the Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run today, a rare 15K race. I got up a little before 5AM, ate breakfast, and then grabbed my flats and jogged down to Carson's house for about a 2-mile pre-warmup warmup. Then we all carpooled with Carson's brother and sister, and one of their friends.

Got to the start line around 6:10, so plenty of time. We warmed up by running two miles up the canyon, and then back down, so 4 miles total. Perhaps it was too much pre-race running (6 miles total), but I needed the mileage more than the race.

Weather was pretty good. Nice and cool at the start line, maybe around 50 degrees. Didn't see any wind while driving up the canyon, so I was not counting on the famous Blacksmith Fork tailwind. Oh well. Managed one good portapot stop, and then it was time for the race to start. Narnia did not exist this year. Actually, the two portapots were there, but the race portapots were not in front of them, so they were exposed for the whole world to see. The magic was gone. But I used them anyway.

They actually started on time, which was great compared to last year. They were really ready for the crowd this year. I took it out pretty hard the first mile. My top-tier goal was to run around 46:00, which would be 15:20 per 5K, and about 4:57/mile. A tough goal, but I split pretty close to that at Utah Valley!

First mile was 4:58, but I knew it wasn't happening. Was working too hard and breathing too hard. The little tiny rollers in the canyon felt like big hills, and the downhills didn't feel big enough. My running felt uncoordinated, like I was lumbering rather than smoothly gliding. In other words, I was feeling pretty flat. But from taking it out hard, I was by myself from the gun, and it stayed that way to the finish.

I thought perhaps it would get better, but the race rolled by pretty much the same the whole. I mean, it wasn't terrible or anything, in fact it was pretty decent, but my last race was UVM, so I think I was expecting to feel like that again. Mile 2 was 5:04, then 5:06 for Mile 3. 5K was probably about 15:40.

Miles 4-6 were more of the same. Still on the downhill, but indeed we did not get a canyon wind today. In fact we picked up a slight headwind by the middle of the race and stayed through the end. Nothing major, but you notice it when you're trying to race into it. 5:06, 5:02, and 5:14 for Miles 4-6. Not sure what happen on Mile 6, probably the headwind picking up. 10K split was probably about 31:40. Waayyy slower than UVM. I think I've decided that Provo Canyon is quite a bit faster than Blacksmith Fork, though.

The end of mile 7 is the big hill of the course. Tried to work the hill, and hit 5:19 for the split. The first bit of mile 8 is uphill too, and then it's pretty flat. 5:22 for mile 8. By now I was out in the sun, but thankfully it stayed quite cool out, and was still great temperatures for racing. Mile 9 is downhill, with a really sweet downhill at the end of the mile as you approach downtown Hyrum. 5:09 for Mile 9. Then the last 0.3 to the finish was 1:29, as I tried to pick it up some.

My "official" finish time was 47:50. The timing mat was not turned on yet, so we used one of the race official's watch time, which matched mine pretty well. So it's all good. I definitely expected to run faster and to feel smoother, but I'm grateful to win the race, and to break 48-minutes, which is a nice barrier at the 15K distance (3xsub-16 5K's in a row). So it was a course best and a 15K PR, and a win. Gotta take it! Josh Steffen was 2nd and Kevin Dickey was 3rd. Carson was 4th. Official times were kind of mixed up for the top people, so hopefully everyone kept a watch time.

After the race I cooled down another 4 miles with Carson and his brother Todd. We ran up the course, and about 12 different people told us, "Hey, you're going the wrong way!" Each person thought they were being original. I usually told them that we had to go back because I left my windows down. The cooldown gave me 19 miles total for the day.

Stayed around for the awards and the raffle. I didn't win anything in the raffle, but the prize for 1st overall was a very cool pottery bowl. It's extremely huge. Not sure what I'll do with it, but it's unique and one of the nicer prizes I've won.

So it was a beautiful day and a nice day to race. Met some new people, saw a lot of bloggers (especially at Scott's pre-race BBQ yesterday, which was a great time), and got a little sun. A successful Saturday.

Comments
From Burt on Sat, Jul 03, 2010 at 21:01:45 from 68.225.214.248

Sounds like Nan, allie, and Rooster should have joined your carpool. If I remember correctly from last year, you had more of a succesful Saturday last year with Narnia and the raffle. Awesome job on the 3 consecutive sub 16's. That's incredible.

From Cody on Sat, Jul 03, 2010 at 21:06:50 from 174.52.244.185

Sweet Race! Was there any doubt? Too bad about Narnia. The magic is gone....

From Aaron Kennard on Sat, Jul 03, 2010 at 23:30:10 from 174.23.217.230

Nice to meet you Paul, and nicely done on a killer time this morning. It was fun driving up and seeing you all alone at the front...nobody else in sight, even the cops hadn't made it to block the traffic yet...it was like everyone was out to just watch you on your morning run. Good stuff.

From Lindsey Dunkley on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 01:43:09 from 75.169.150.228

Another amazing race, your an inspiration! Great job!

From Scott Ensign on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 12:43:26 from 71.35.225.195

nice race Paul, and another nice article in the paper with you and Nan featured:

http://news.hjnews.com/sports/article_ece55834-8733-11df-90ae-001cc4c03286.html

thanks for the ride back too!

From steve ash on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 12:45:03 from 64.134.236.60

Paul as always another great performance. Wish I could have been there.

From JD on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 13:12:15 from 32.176.32.252

Fast race! Congratulations on another win!

From Walter on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 13:52:29 from 206.53.147.162

http://www.hjnews.com/photography/2010/07/03/blacksmith-fork-freedom-run-15k/

Great run Paul! I thought if share this from the local newspaper up here in Logan on you, Nan and Josh for doing such a great job. I wished I couldve competed with you. I knew I'd hurt myself!

From Superfly on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 14:04:43 from 216.169.65.224

Good job man. Usually for me if form is bad in the first mile it doesn't get better during a race. My wife told me yesterday that my form looked horrible at the end of the 5k and it started bad too:)

From Dave S on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 17:58:12 from 4.254.227.217

Great job! Congrats on a pr even though you weren't feeling it. Also congrats on another great picture and article in the HJ.

From Seth on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 18:22:08 from 75.169.128.56

Nice job, you make running fast sound so easy. Keep up the great work!

From Jon on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 20:45:58 from 75.169.143.32

Excellent work, Paul. Especially impressive is how little you slowed down on the mile 7-8 uphill- very nice.

Hopefully we can do High Creek next weekend!

From Holt on Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 22:02:09 from 75.169.90.161

Very nice job Paul - you are really letting it all pay off for you. Keep it rolling.

From James on Thu, Jul 08, 2010 at 17:30:39 from 174.23.38.167

Awesome again!

From Sean Sundwall on Sun, Jul 11, 2010 at 12:41:23 from 98.247.29.158

Nice job Paul. I noticed yo will be running the Monmental marathon in November in Indy. Natural place to finish your career. I may be running that one as well.

From Paul on Sun, Jul 11, 2010 at 14:41:08 from 174.27.219.36

Sean - there may be a few of us from Utah out there. Should be a decent field, but still winnable.

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