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Deseret News 10k

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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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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
63.300.000.006.200.0069.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

Scheduled day off. No soreness from Draper Days, and just a little fatigue. I think I will recover well for Des News 10K and look forward to some stiff competition. Should be a fun race.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
5.000.000.000.000.005.00

Easy 5 miles on Planet Loop and 4x100m barefoot strides in the grass at LHS. I can still feel the 5K a little bit, but otherwise feeling pretty good.

(Adrenaline orange: 435 miles)

Comments(6)
Race: Deseret News 10k (6.2 Miles) 00:30:27, Place overall: 5, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
9.800.000.006.200.0016.00

Deseret News 10K this morning. James and I drove up last night and stayed with Chad (thanks Chad), who is 5 minutes from the start. Sasha joined us later that evening, and we all had a good visit. I slept pretty well.

I got up a little before 5AM, downed a Clif Bar, and we drove over to the start, arriving at about 5:20AM. I hit the portapot, then we found Cody and warmed up about a mile. Changed into racing flats, but then I had to use the portapot again. This time the line was too long. Fortunately, I ran into Mike, and he showed me the secret portapots of Red Butte Gardens. We ran over there and got more warmup in. 2.5 miles warmup total. I was feeling decent.

The race started a few minutes late, but not too bad. At the dark start line, it was hard to tell who was there, but I just assumed "everyone" was there, and then some. I was hoping for a deep, strong field, and one of my goals was to hook up with a large pack and get dragged to a fast time and competitive finish. I was also expecting there to be quite a few fast high school runners, due to the "high school challenge" or whatever it is. Today, the more bodies out there, the better. I wasn't so much concerned about circuit points or even overall place, but was more interested in sheer competition and working through some the "drive" issues I've had lately in 5K's and 10K's.

As expected, the field got out hard at the start. Teren, Trever, and a Kenyan (Richard Kimeli) got off to a blazing start and vanished into the dark within a few seconds. Another Kenyan (Simon Sawe) headed up a chase group. I was content to start the race in 20th or so and pick my way through the crowd during the first mile. By the time we turned onto Foothill, I was in 10th or so, and tailing a large pack about 15 meters ahead of me. Simon Sawe had broken away from the chase pack and was slowly moving up. I made the move to catch the pack and was absorbed. First mile was 4:38. Fast. Now to hang on.

The second mile was also a strong net downhill, and pace remained torrid. Our pack (which seemed to consist mostly of high school runners) remained mostly intact. Sawe continued pulling away. I noticed that pace was very quick on downhills, but slowed more than I expected on uphills. Hopefully I could use this later on in the race. Second mile was 4:38.

Mile three slowed quite a bit, partially I think to some uphill, but also due to the pack seeming to relax. I just stayed tucked in. One or two people dropped. We now had about 4-5 people. Sawe still way ahead, but also a figure in white (who I thought could be Trevor) had noticeably fallen off the lead pack, and seemed to be coming back. Seeing this, I urged the pack on, saying that we can catch him. Third mile was 4:57. 5K split was very close to my PR. I thought I had it in the bag after two miles, but oh well.

During Mile 4 I started hurting quite a bit and was wondering if I could really finish this thing out. But I think the pack was thinking the same thing, and no one made any moves. Again, I stayed tucked in and let other people do the work and drag me along. Inertia. By the end of the 4th mile, our "pack" was down to just 4 of us (two high schoolers and another old guy like me). Trever still coming back, but very slowly. Sawe catches Trever. Teren and Kimeli are way way ahead. Mile split was 4:53.

During Mile 5, the course turns south and flattens out a bit, but is still a nice gradual downhill. In some ways, this mile was easier than the steeper miles. My world of hurt is ever-expanding, and by the end of Mile 5, I'm making pre-death wimper noises, typical for late in a race. No one else is wimpering, but no one is breaking away either. Stay tucked in, stay with the pack. Mile splits was 4:57.

Last mile. I'm out of gas, but so is everyone else. One strong move would have broken me, but no one makes it. The older guy drops, now it's just me and two high schoolers, one from Oklahoma and one from Utah. The crowd from the parade route are cheering for the Utah guy (Jaren Ward). We make the final turn and head up the hill toward Liberty Park. As expected, it feels like the Matterhorn, even though it's really nothing. Pace slows to what feels like a crawl, and I go with it and relax a little. Save it up for a kick. Despite the slowing, the Oklahoma kid drops. Now it's just me and the Utah kid. My goal for this race was to dig deep, something I have not done lately. Now it is time. But I am also in wimpering pre-death mode, which conflicts with digging deep. The high school kid could have broken me with a strong surge at any time, but instead he suddenly drops the pace with a quarter mile to go. I take advantage, turn the corner and go around him, starting my kick. At the next corner (the final left turn) a guy (a coach?) is yelling at the kid behind me, "Go, go! Only 100 meters left!!" "How much?" the kid yells back. "100 meters!!". The last thing I needed was some fast-twitch young guy smelling the barn and showing me how little speed work I've done, so push myself into overdrive and finally dig into that well of anaerobic sprinting that's been eluding me lately. I finish all-out into the chute, holding off the competition by several seconds. Mile 6 was 5:21 (yuk!). Last 0.22 was 1:03.

My final time was 30:27, and I placed 5th overall. Results are HERE. The guy ahead of us was indeed Trever, and I was pleased to come within 16 seconds of him. He was coming back the whole second half, but very very slowly.

I was very happy with this effort. I wanted to stay with a pack, and was able to do so, and hang on despite pain. Usually everyone else is hurting too, so if you can just stay with them it can come down to a kick and whoever wants it more. It was gratifying seeing each person fall off the pack one-by-one, and was definitely happy to beat all of the prep and pre-college runners. They added a lot to the field and I was glad the race had them.

I initially wanted to break 30:00, but now I realize that goal was based off the course I ran in 2003. This course was a bit different, and I think it was slower. In 2003, there were several people under 28 minutes. This year there was no one even close. Based on my effort and my peer group performance, I think this was my best 5K/10K effort of the year. It is an 18-second PR from my best track time. However, I am not sure how it really equates to a track at sea level, but I'm happy with both the time and the placing.

Mostly, though, I was happy with the tactics, not letting the pack go, and making myself hurt when it mattered. Very good race. Now it's time to get serious about marathon training!

Cooled down with James, Cody, Chad, and Adam.

PM - after work I ran 2 very easy miles to get the blood flowing after an afternoon of sitting. Felt pretty good.

(1120: 93 miles)

Comments(12)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
10.500.000.000.000.0010.50

Decided that sleeping in would be better for my body than running this morning. So I slept in. In the evening I did some jogging with the dog, then drove out to First Dam and ran up to the River Trail. Met Jon at the climbing lot, and then we went a bit past Spring Hollow and back. Pace was easy. My calves were pretty sore from the race, and my quads were a little sore early in the day, but I didn't feel them at all during the run. Calves felt better as the run went on. Very humid today; felt like I was back in Indiana, except there was no one wearing cutoff t-shirts and swearing at me as I ran by.

(Cascadia: 247)

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
9.000.000.000.000.009.00

AM - canal trail loop plus a block with the dog. 7 miles. Quads feel fine, but calves are still a little sore. Better than yesterday though. 7:54/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline blue: 263 miles)

Nice writeup in Dyestat.com about the prep race for Des News:

http://dyestat.com/?pg=reg6DeseretNewsJunior10K2007-Deseret-News-10k

PM - 2 easy miles with the dog.

(Adrenaline blue: 265 miles)

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
12.500.000.000.000.0012.50

AM - About 4 miles in Seattle with my college buddy and ex-teammate Pete. I hadn't seen Pete in about 4 or 5 years, so it was really nice to run with him again. We ran around Green Lake, and there were about 200 other runners and walkers out there. 70 degrees. Ahhhh.

PM - 8.5 miles with Dave. We ran a little bit on a nice trail outside of our campground, and then and out-and-back on Leg 32 of the Northwest Passage Relay course (Smugglers Cove road on Whidbey Island). Very rolling hills, but lots of oxygen for me. We averaged about 10:00/mile on the trail, and 7:00/mile on the roads. 70 degrees. Ahhhh.

(1120: 105 miles

Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
16.500.000.000.000.0016.50

Today was running partners by committee. Dave and I headed out from our campground and started running Leg 34 of the NWP course. Exch 33 was right at the campground turnout. After a couple miles a runner caught us. We asked if he wanted company, and went with him. Dave turned off just a little bit later, but I continued with the runner, who was on the Blister Busters team. We got to talking, and it turned out that we had actually talked on the phone a few months ago, as he was interested in getting a quote for course maps for a race he was thinking about starting. Small world! Our pace was around 6:50/mile for the 6-mile leg, which worked out well for me.

The Blister Busters handed off at Exch 34, and I continued running with their guy. He was a little slower, about 8:00/mile, but we had some nice conversation and we were both happy for the company. The leg was about 4 miles long.

Their last runner was a bit faster, and we held 6:50-7:00/mile pace for the final 6.5-mile leg. This guy was a high school geography teacher, so we "talked shop" a little bit, discussing GIS (among other less nerdy things). When we got near the finish line, I backed off and walked it in, so that I wouldn't confuse the volunteers. 16.5 miles for the day, with 4 different running partners. 7:26/mile average pace.

Sea level was nice, and the last part of the course is very beautiful. So much oxygen...The course was very rolling though, and fairly challenging. Did I mention it was 70 degrees? Ahhhh. I look forward to doing the whole course next year.

(1120: 121)


Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
63.300.000.006.200.0069.50
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