Top of Utah Half Marathon today. I had been approaching this race wanting it to be a big effort, as it will be my last real race before the marathon in November, and also it’s an excellent course with excellent competition with excellent weather. You don’t want to pass that up. Training since Des News has been good. Lots of miles and lots of marathon-pace running. However, I knew that our baby due date was pretty close to this race, so I didn’t want to get too wrapped up in thinking about it. But our baby came on Thursday night, we were all home on Friday night, and I was granted permission to run today, provided that I came straight home!

Not a ton of sleep the last two nights, but given the circumstance not terrible either. Probably about 5 hrs each night. But I was fairly fatigued from all the running around and from coaching Stacy through the delivery. Not really physically tired, but more of the nerves being shot. What Sasha calls “neural fatigue”.

Got up around 5AM, and ate my breakfast of oatmeal with brown sugar, vanilla yogurt, and cut-up peaches. Orange juice and coffee for the road. Drove into Providence and got a sweet parking spot on the street that would give me a quick exit right after the race.

Got on one of the earlier buses, shuttled up, used the potty, and then warmed up about two miles up the canyon and back. Took another potty stop. No Narnia this year, but I did get in the fastest line. I considered using another set of hidden toilets, which are pit toilets about 300m down the canyon, but by doing so I’d be risking my life my running on a road with no shoulder with buses going in both directions. Decided it was too dangerous, and more of a Mordor than a Narnia, as far as hard-to-find magical places go.

They miraculously started the race very close to on time. I really don’t know how they shuttled 2300 runners up the canyon, and then backed everyone up to the start line, and only started a few minutes behind schedule. My only guess is that Kris Sidoway (RD) is a taskmaster. She is wicked good with that megaphone.

I knew who my competition would be beforehand, from looking at the online start list. The favorite to win would be Patrick Rotich, the Kenyan who’s been training in Provo this summer. Also there was Teren Jameson, two-time defending champ and course record holder. If I slipped up, then Steve Shepherd would be there to teach me a lesson. He’s a former Weber State runner (I think), whose had some strong showings at the Hobbler Half and Des News 10K this year, among a few other races. But I had beaten him head-to-head at Des News. Patrick had beat Teren head-to-head at several races this summer, and Teren had beaten me head-to-head at a couple races this summer. So we seemed to have a pecking order, although I wanted to overthrow. I like the half marathon distance, and I like my home course, so I wanted to let it rip and see what happens. Although Teren is much speedier and more talented than me, I’ve been putting in a lot more miles, so I figured this longer distance was my only chance to beat him this year. Patrick seems to have been racing himself into better and better shape over the summer, but I’d be willing to spar with him here in Logan. So hopefully it would be an interesting and fast race. Weather was a little warm (high 50s), but a favorable canyon wind (although not very strong).

The race started, and as I expected, both Teren and Patrick got out hard. Patrick took the lead from the gun. I wanted to keep contact from the beginning, and caught up to Teren during the mile, with Patrick a few seconds ahead. Steve Shepherd joined our pack to make three. First mile split was 4:51. I wanted 4:55’s down the canyon, so a little fast, but I’m willing to take some risks on this course.

Teren and I ran side-by-side for the next mile and eventually started closing the gap on Patrick, who was not running tangents very well (he actually got a lot better with tangents as the race went on). Steve remained on my trail-leg. Mile 2 was 5:00, the slowest split during the first 8 miles.

We caught Patrick near the end of the second mile, or maybe the beginning of the third mile. The pace felt hard to me up through now, and then it started getting really crazy. Kenyan runners are known for their crazy surging, and Patrick did nothing to dispel this notion. For the next 4 miles, we would catch him, pass him, and then he’d blitz and pull ahead with a gap. Teren made that worse by surging hard on all of the bigger downhills, and pass Patrick. Then Patrick would pass him back when it flattened, and eventually I would catch both of them. I’m not much of a surger. Steve Shepherd dropped pretty hard during the third mile.

Mile 3 was 4:56, Mile 4 was 4:51, Mile 5 was 4:45, Mile 6 was 4:49. 29:14 through 6 miles. Youtch! But I was feeling good, despite all the games. We had a tailwind for these miles. It was not a huge canyon wind, but it extended up the canyon more than usual, although it did not persist much on Hollow Rd. So definitely a helpful wind, but did not aid things as much as some other years. Probably worth 40s over the duration of the race.

After 6 miles, we near the end of the canyon, Patrick had gapped Teren, and Teren had gapped me by little. Eventually I worked my way up to Teren, and ran alongside him for a little while, but then surprisingly dropped him soon thereafter. Mile 7 was another 4:49.

After the 7-mile mark, we got onto Hollow Rd. Hollow Rd is still nice downhill, more gradual, but just as fast, perhaps faster due to the evenness of the gradient. Patrick had maybe 10-15s on me on Hollow Rd, but he was certainly not coming back. I was hoping he would slow on the hill at Mile 10, but in the back of my mind I remembered that it’s usually me that dies on that hill. My pace slowed a little on Mile 8 to 4:54, but still where I wanted to be!

Mile 9 is still all on Hollow Rd. It’s a speedy section, but I could feel my pace slowing. This mile was 5:04 for me. Patrick was running faster than that, evidently. I could feel my wheels starting to fall off. Too many sub-4:50 miles earlier, which was a bit out of the zone I’m trained to run in.

During Mile 10 we exit Hollow Rd and run on Hwy-165. Still a very mellow downhill, but close to flat. 5:05 for this mile. Well, if I can at least hold this pace, it will still average out to a huge PR. 49:09 for the 10-mile split, which is on pace for well under 1:05:00. I’m hoping that I will magically bound up the 1.5-mile long hill coming up in order to do this.

Miles 11 & 12 are the hardest in the race. The first half of 11 is still flat, but then we start going up. All of Mile 12 is uphill, and then it crests, and Mile 13 is a net downhill to the finish. As I feared, I slowed even more on Mile 11, to 5:14. But Patrick wasn’t pulling ahead anymore, so he was evidently hurting too. I laid an egg on Mile 12, though, with a 5:31 split. We were on the grid system now, and I could see that Patrick was about 2/3 of a block up from me, which is about 25-30s.

We finally crested the painful hill (but not soon enough) right after Mile 12. I tried to get my legs under me, but there was nothing there. It looked like Patrick was pulling away again this last mile. When I looked at my watch at Mile 12, I also realized that I wasn’t going to break 1:05, which was a bit of a kick in the pants, after thinking it was a certainty just a couple miles ago. But it’s hard to pull out that kind of time while plunking a 5:14 and a 5:31 as successive splits. Those really threw it off. But I bore down and did the best I could. I finally got some turnover near the end. Hit Mile 13 with a 5:12. I’ve done it faster other years, but I’ll have to take it. Again, too many too-fast miles early on.

Last 0.1 was 30s. Official time was 1:05:38, good for 2nd place overall. It would have been the course record, except I got beat. Patrick Rotich won with 1:05:10, Teren was 3rd with 1:07:35, Steve Shepherd was 4th with 1:08:37.

After I finished, I literally kept jogging, and grabbed my bag, and then headed to my car to take off back home in order to not be a deadbeat husband and father. I had arranged for Walter to pick up my prize money at the awards ceremony, so we’ll all see how honest Walter is now with 150 bucks! (thanks Walter!). Hopefully he won something good with my bib number in the raffle. I stopped in Logan to get gas (almost empty), and then realized that I grabbed the wrong clothes bag when I opened it up to grab a dry shirt, and there was women’s clothes inside! Turns out the bib number on the bag was one number different that mine, and the last name was Petersen. Bah. So I drove back to Providence, put the wrong bag back, and grabbed mine. Ended up bumping into a lot of people and chit-chatted too much, my quick exit and early return home was ruined. Still got home at 9:15AM, but I would have been 8:30AM had I not needed to turn back. Oh well. Stacy still loves me. Took Seth off her hands and cooled down with him in the stroller when I got home.

I’m happy with this race, especially given the what an eventful week it was. I felt sharp; although I paid for an aggressive early pace, sometimes it’s worth it to give a hard pace a shot. This time is an aided half marathon PR for me, beating my UVM time by 27s, and beating my last year’s TOU Half time by 64s. Moreover, I finally got my sub-1:06, which is a nice stepping stone. Now I just need to stick the last few miles and get a sub-1:05. But it was a nice race amongst other nice races for the year, and does not discourage me from thinking I can get the marathon qualifier.

I’ve had a nice string of half marathons over the span of 2009 and 2010:

• Indy Mini, May 2009 - 1:08:35 (unaided PR)
• Seattle RnR, June 2009 - 1:08:12 (unaided PR)
• TOU Half, Aug 2009 - 1:06:42 (aided PR)
• The Other Half, Oct 2009 - 1:09:50 (unaided, altitude PR)
• Indy Mini, May 2010 - 1:08:05 (unaided PR)
• UVM Half, June 2010 - 1:06:05 (aided PR)
• TOU Half, Aug 2010 - 1:05:38 (aided PR)

These are all consecutive half marathons, so it’s cool to PR every time I race (although I probably shouldn’t count The Other Half…). I’ve also had two 15K PRs and a 10K PR during this time span. So it’s been a great couple years, and I’m very thankful and blessed to be given this second lease on running, after thinking it was all over a couple years ago.

No more races until Indy in November. It’s just a lot of miles and a lot of workouts for the next two months to prepare for the marathon.

Stacy, Seth, and I drove down to Provo on Friday afternoon for the Utah Valley Half Marathon. Outlook for race-day looked grim: rain, more rain, and then some rain. Oh well, that’s the story of the year so far. We found our way to the expo, then checked into our motel on the northwest side of BYU campus, and then met the StG crew for dinner. I love the social aspect of racing, and it was nice to catch up with people at dinner, and also at the finish line after the races.

Went to bed around 8:45PM, and Seth wound down relatively quickly and allowed us to get to sleep by 9:30PM or so. He didn’t wake up during the night either. Wish I could say the same for myself. When I am in “race mode”, I never need an alarm clock because my body keeps waking itself up. I never get nervous, but my body certainly anticipates a race. I was waking up about every half hour during the night, anticipating it being time to get up. Finally, I did get up at 3:14AM, so I indeed did not need the alarm, which was set for 3:15AM.

I brewed a pot of coffee, and ate a banana and the random sports bars that was with the goodie bag (think it was Snickers Marathon bar, or something). I had another banana later before I got on the bus. Drank 2 cups of coffee, which was very good quality for a motel.

Caught the StG-mobile (Tahoe) and hitched ride to the busing at 3:45AM. Hyrum had asked me to take the VIP bus and talk to the other runners on the bus, which I agreed to do since he was nice enough to comp my entry. That bus did not leave until 4:30, so I did my warmup from the mall, and jogged about two miles. Our bus left at 4:30AM, and there was only about 10 people on it. It was kind of nice actually, and I chatted with Lindsey D., MaryAnn S., and some of the other runners, and generally relaxed. Halfway up we found at that one man was supposed to be on the marathon bus. So when we got to the start line, I jumped out and grabbed a volunteer, who offered to drive the man to the start. But MaryAnn was also able to flag down a marathon bus, so the guy ended up getting on that instead.

Long story short, at this point there was not a ton of time to the start. But that is exactly why I did my warmup early. I dedicated my remaining time to standing in line for the portapot, which was quite a substantial line by now. The race could certainly improve on its portapots and staging area. But it’s all good. Only a one-star race, but it was high-quality and I was all set afterward.

I did some strides at the start line, and was feeling good. My training had been good the last month, and I fully expected to go well under 1:07, and probably under 1:06 too (despite Sasha’s predictions). I figured that if I could run 1:06:42 at the TOU Half last year, while being out of shape (running less than 60 mpw), then I should certainly be able to challenge 1:06:00 after some 90 mile weeks, even if the course is a little slower. I had expected Jeff and Hayden as my top competition before the race, but was surprised to learn at dinner the night before that Seth Pilkington was running too. At the time, I figured that eliminated me from contention, but as I mulled it over later that evening and on raceday morning, I figured I had to at least put myself out there and race him. I’ve attempted the same with Teren Jameson in past races, and although I never came out on top, I at least would surprise myself a little and have fun with the challenge. Plus, who knows what kind of shape Seth was in? If he was out of shape, or doing the race as a tempo run, or in a poor mindset, they I would have a legit chance.

Weather conditions ended up being quite excellent despite my concerns during the week. The rain had temporarily let up, and temps were in the low 50s, maybe upper 40s, which is perfect. In the rare times I could sense a wind, it was usually in a favorable direction (tailwind). So as long as the rain held off, it would be about perfect, other than perhaps an occasional slippery spot in the road. But I figured that Ryan Hall broke the American record in similar conditions, so perhaps a little rain wouldn’t hurt either. It ended up just sprinkling occasionally for the first few miles, then steady rain for the middle miles, and then dry for the last few miles. Other than getting soggy, and some chaffing, I don’t think the rain hurt me much, and was actually quite nice at times.

The race started about 15 minutes late. I wasn’t surprised, since I figured that sync’ing the marathon start and the half marathon start would be kind of difficult. So 15 minutes isn’t too bad, plus it allowed the sky to lighten up a little bit. It was sprinkling here and there, but the air felt good.

It was finally time to start, and they counted down from 10, and then fired the gun. I wanted to get out quick, and apparently so did everyone else. We had a pack of 5 for the first two miles (me, Jeff, Aaron Metler from St George, Seth Pilkington, and some other guy I didn’t know who turned out to be Brad Osguthorpe). The first mile was mostly downhill with one little uphill (I think). We hit it in 4:55, which felt brilliant. Ted was there reading us splits, which was nice, and he continued to do so until Mile 8 or 9. I knew from previous workouts that 4:55 feels pretty good on a downhill, and I intended to sustain this pace in through canyon at least.

The second mile had a substantial hill that showed up in the elevation profile, so I was expecting it. We covered it in 5:16. Still feeling good, and ready to start ripping on the downhill, now that the main uphill was behind me. After two miles, Aaron decided the pace was a bit much, and he packed off, leaving us with a remaining pack of four runners. (Aaron went on to finish in 1:07:36, which is a massive PR for him, great race).

And rip the downhill we did. Mile 3 was 4:41, and felt like walking. I commented that it was either short, or we’re really moving. In looking at the race afterward, it turned out to be the latter. Followed it up with a 4:50 for Mile 4. Just haulin’. Great downhill stretch.

By now I was in a major groove, a sweet rhythm. In my races this year, none of them catered to my main strength, which is hitting a pace and sticking it with a good rhythm. Yes, I am a rhythm runner, not a strength runner, not a surging runner. Indy was just too windy to find that groove until it was too late, and Law Day was too hilly and too twisty to find that special cadence. But so far UVM was perfect, and I found myself stuck in effortless 4:5x miles. It was a great groove.

For the first few miles, our pack dynamic involved Seth and Brad doing most of the leading, and Jeff and I on the trail legs. There was no wind to speak of, so drafting was not a factor, but I was happy to tuck in and try to hit decent tangents. The shoulder of the road had these annoying rumble-strips, and I was a little concerned about all the concrete, but mostly I just focused on keeping the pace and feeling smooth.

Mile 5 was 4:58. Right around here, Jeff started dropping back a little bit. I encouraged him to close the gap, but he continued to drop off, so I set my attention solely on Brad and Seth. They both looked really strong, and neither was breathing hard. But then again, neither was I.

Mile 6 was 4:56, and our cumulative time was 29:39. Probably about 30:40 for 10K or so, which is cool (my track PR is 30:45, and my downhill PR is 30:27 from Des News). With just three of us in the pack, I was putting myself out front a little more, and not just tucking in. Wind conditions were still good, although we’d hit a small headwinds once in a while.

Mile 7 was 4:53. My legs and lungs were still feeling absolutely brilliant. I held off the urge to make some sort of move; it was way to early, and I made a pact with myself not to do anything until after Mile 10. Plus, Brad and Seth were still looking effortless. Somewhere in here we left the canyon and got into the valley, but still on a nice downhill. I was starting to seriously believe that I would not only break 1:06, but would also break 1:05 (a secret pre-race goal of mine).

Alas, that was the final sub-5 mile we ran. Mile 8 was 5:00. Mile 9 degraded to 5:04, although I still felt very good. Somewhere in here Brad suddenly dropped off. It surprised me a little because he looked so good, but with four miles to go it was a two-man race between myself and Seth Pilkington.

After Brad dropped, the pace actually slowed quite a bit. I think the reason was three-fold. 1) the downhill was flattening out; 2) legs had some fatigue from the downhill pounding; 3) I think both Seth and I relaxed a little once it came down to just two people, plus I knew we had sub-1:07 and then time bonus in the bag. The last few miles almost felt like a waiting game, just getting ourselves in striking range of the finish.

Mile 10 was 5:11, the slowest split of the day. I started feeling a little frisky and antsy, and threw a couple test surges to try to push the pace a little. Seth responded to each one with little apparent difficulty, and after that I was content to sit and wait for the race to play itself out. In retrospect, I wish I had surged a little harder and longer, and made a better attempt to win the race right here. But that’s how it went down. Mile 11 ended up at 5:04, so a little bit faster to reward my efforts.

Mile 12 was 5:10. It felt like I should still be sub-5 pace, as my lungs were still feeling easy, but my legs were getting heavier, and the turnover and spunk didn’t seem to be there (for some reason, hmmm).

After we hit the 12 mile mark, Seth finally played his card, he gained about a second of separation on me before the overpass hill with 0.75 miles left. I ground up the hill, and managed to keep the gap from growing too much, and then worked the downhill as well as I could. But the gap widened, and I could tell that Seth had me beat, both physically and mentally. At this point I was looking mostly forward to finishing the race, and keeping it close and respectable (not a good mindset, by the way). We made the turn into the mall, and I knew we were almost there. He was still pushing hard, and I was still chasing, but not closing at all. He probably had 3 or 4 seconds on me. Saw the 13 mile marker, and the split was 5:07, which was good given the overpass hill.

Only 0.1 mile to go, but then the unexpected happened. There are two turns in the whole race course. The first was into the mall at mile 12.5, and the last was into the finish, at mile 13.0. This last turn was not marked (that I could see anyway), and there was not a soul present to inform us of it. Seth ran on by the turn. I paused as I started to go by, and realized that it looked suspiciously like what should be a final turn. How else would we finish? But there was nobody there…a bit confusing. Confusing enough to make me hesitate long enough to see someone sprinting toward me waving his arms and yelling. I literally stopped and yelled, “is this the turn??”. “YES!” was the response. Seth was still on his current (wrong) path, but in yelling distance. I yelled at him once, with no response, and then again, louder (I am not much of a yeller, especially after 13.0 miles at 5:00/mile pace. This time he heard me, and I waved him back to the correct course. He came back, and waved him in, past me, and then we both ran into the finish line for the last 0.1 miles. Seth officially was 1:06:05.0, and I was officially 1:06:05.9, but it reality he had 3 or 4 seconds on me.

So that’s what happened. The whole sequence of events took just a few seconds, so it was a lot of split decisions. But if I could do it again, I’d do it the same way. As far as why I’d give up an easy win like that is simple: it would not have been a real win. True, I would have come in 1st place, but I would not have won. I love competition, and I love winning. I love them both too much to win in such a fashion. The plain truth is that Seth had me broken and defeated, and he deserved to win the race. It would not have been right for me to be standing on the podium in front of him. It is not acceptable for a race this large or of this caliber not to have the course marked and not to have a volunteer out there, so I don’t view it as “tactical error” either. My only wish was that I could have run faster and competed better, but Seth was the better runner this day. Furthermore, Christ, who I claim as my Lord, said “In everything, do to others what you would want them to do to you.” (Matt 7:12), and also “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” (Matt 9:35). In other words, to put the needs of others above my own, and to be a good neighbor, and to serve others. I feel that if I had gone on to “win”, I would have actually “lost”, and it would have certainly been a hollow victory. I did not want an asterisk by my placing, nor did I want to describe my race as “First place, but…”. So for all of those reasons, it was a pretty easy decision. I had a fairly similar situation with Logan Fielding at the TOU Half in 2007, and I wished it could have gone down differently (Logan took a wrong turn, and I went on to “win” the race).

So yeah, official time was 1:06:05, but my last 0.1 was 53s. Usually I cover the last 0.1 in about 30s (or under), so I imagine we both would have been around 1:05:40 if not for the mishap. But I’ll just have to break 1:06:00 at the TOU Half later this summer. I think UVM and TOU Half are pretty similar in speed. UVM might be slightly faster, but it’s hard to say.

I’m thrilled about this race. I knew that I could run in the 1:06:00 range, but it’s always exciting to go out and execute. And it’s simply an awesome feeling to run that fast for that long, and to match strides with people that I really respect and view as my superiors. I don’t know what kind of shape Seth is in, but I have never come close to running his times, so it was great to compete against him to the end, and have a shot at winning. I don’t know Brad at all, but apparently he had run 29:3x at Des News, so I was happy to beat him. And after the pounding Jeff has given me at our last couple head-to-head races, it felt good to beat him too. Any given race, you just don’t know the outcome until you run it. And Jeff and I really could probably switch off every race. This race just happened to be my turn.

After the race, I chit-chatted with folk for a little while (again, nice to see people out there and catch up). Then I cooled down by running back to our motel, about 4 miles. I didn’t realize how shot my legs were until I did my cooldown. Ouch! Hamstrings were especially shot.

Next race is the Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run 15K on July 3. It’s a fun local race, and I look forward to seeing how fast I can run 15K. I’m definitely looking at trying to go sub-46:00, given that it’s a net downhill. And then I will do the Des News 10K in July 24. Huge 10K, with huge competition. Goal of sub-29:30. And I actually plan to do a 6-week 10K training cycle, to see what kind of shape I can get into, and to break up my training before I go into the final 12-week stretch of marathon-specific training. I just hope that I can continue to find time and desire to train hard. This is difficult at times for me. But races like UVM help me get pumped and keep the fire burning, at least for another few weeks.

Warning: long, boring race report. Read at your own discretion. I had free time to burn on the airplane, so got a little bit too wordy.

I arrived in Indianapolis on Thursday evening. Stayed with my sister and her family, and got to hang out with my niece and nephew, which was nice. On Friday, my parents came over, and my dad and I went to the expo and checked into my hotel room. Then we went out to eat at TGI Fridays, and I ate way too much. After dinner, I went back to the hotel room by myself and just hung out. My assigned roommate was a fellow named Scott Schmick. Turns out that he was a former DIII runner as well, a UW LaCrosse alum. He now goes to MSU for grad school. We shot the breeze for a few hours, until it was time for bed. Seemed like a good guy, fun to talk to, and we had similar PR’s and goals for this race and for the marathon as well. Plus it’s always fun to play the name game with other former DIII runners.

Saturday morning I got up at 5:30AM, in preparation for the 7:30AM start. I usually like about 2 hours to eat, digest, and fully wake up before a race. Ate a banana, an apple, and a Lara Bar, and brewed some coffee. At 6:40AM, I headed down to the street and jogged over to the NCAA Headquarters, which served as the elite staging area. We got the comfort of an indoor facility, plus nice bathrooms and a gear drop. I warmed up with Scott and his teammates from Lansing, about 2 miles. Felt pretty sharp.

And the weather…gotta mention that, as it would be a big factor. Temperature was in the upper 40s. Perfect. Skies were overcast. Perfect. No rain or threat of rain. Perfect. Wind was 20 mph out of the west, with 30 mph gusts (based on tv reports). Imperfect. Hey, I guess you can’t get perfect conditions all of the time (or even most of the time), can you? To have a great race, several things need to happen:

• Great training
• Great health
• Great competition
• Great course
• Great temperature
• No wind
• Little or no precipitation
• Race-day magic

If these factors do not all align, you can still have a very good race, but not that perfect race (we only get a few of those over a lifetime).

Out of these factors, I had decent training (but not great). My health was good, finally. Competition would be there. The course is magnificent. Temps were perfect. Precip was perfect. Wind was very bad. Race day magic yet to be determined. Fortunately, it is a loop course, so I would not have to face a direct headwind for more than half the race (less than that actually). The wind was coming out of the west, and the race primarily goes west to start (headwind), then north a little bit to the track (crosswind), then a loop on the speedway (all directions), and then the route comes back east the last 4 miles to finish (tailwind). If I had a pick a wind direction, I’d much rather start with a headwind, and then finish with a tailwind, than the other way around. At least I would have the wind at my back at the point of the race where I’m the most tired and broken, and could face the wind while fresh. So I was hopeful to still have a very good race.

Anyway, that’s my tangent on race factors and on wind. About 15 minutes before the race start, I headed down to the start line, did few strides, and then waited for the race to begin. 35,000  people run this event, but you can’t see beyond the first few rows behind me, so I just accepted that fact on faith.

They started the wheelers, and then the runners’ start was 5 minutes later. I lined up on the inside curve, knowing the race started by curving left. All the Kenyans (about 8 total) lined up on the right. Sure enough, when the gun went off, I found myself running next to my roommate Scott, sharing the lead. That was fun, for about 30 seconds. Then I started feeling the wind, right in my face. I was quite happy when the pack of Kenyans finally merged over, and I quickly tucked in.

My strategy was this: since it was windy, I anticipated the race would be slow and tactical. I would simply tuck in behind the pack, let everyone else do the work on the first half of the race, and then I would take off and blitz the field the final 5 miles, for the easy win. It sounded good in my head.

The first mile went exactly to plan – 5:16 for the split. Very slow, very good. The wind would tire these Kenyans down soon enough. Then the plan went awry! The pack of Kenyans ran a 4:50 straight into the wind. I did a 5:04, and felt like I was standing still. And that was it, race over as far as Top 10. The pack was just gone. Gone. It was quite a site, and a quite a humbling feeling to get dropped so hard by “real runners”. It’s the difference between real elites and whatever the heck I am. My hotel roommate Scott and another American runner were working together a few seconds behind the lead pack, but they were fast getting dropped too. I was a 5 seconds behind those two, and gapping with every stride. There was no one behind me. And I ran most of the rest of the race like that, until around Mile 9. No man’s land, not a good place to be on a windy day. But I would try to make the best of it.

The rest of this race report should be less detailed, as there is much less to say. Basically it became a battle of me vs. the wind, and just trying to get to the tailwind section of the course in one piece.

Mile 3 was 5:23. This was a bit discouraging, although frankly I was surprised that it was even this fast. 16:18 for 5K. I knew that the route would turn north soon, and I would get a cross-wind rather than a head-wind, so this thought kept me going. Sure enough, we turned north at about 3.5 miles, and the cross-wind felt beautiful. The hard gusts still knocked me back at times, but it was still much better. 5:13 for the Mile 4 split.

The course turned west again, and virtually all of Mile 5 was straight into the wind. Hit 5:27 for this mile, my slowest split of the race. 26:24 for 5 miles. The encouragement I felt at Mile 4 quickly turned into discouragement. I came into this race thinking I could break 1:07, but would I even break 1:10?

But despite the hardships and discouragements, I actually didn’t feel too bad. Frankly, I’ve been beaten up by the wind far worse in previous races (Great Salt Lake Half in 2007 and Striders Half in 2009 were far worse). And holding sub-5:30 didn’t seem too bad given the conditions. Again, I’ve done far worse in the past. I’ve found that virtually any runner can “fake it” in pristine conditions, but hard conditions (wind, rain, hills, etc) always reveal gaps in fitness and weaknesses. So that fact that I felt strong after 5 miles of dealing with the wind probably meant that my training had some substance. I suppose our hard winter and equally hard spring helped condition me to run in adverse conditions, moreso than others years. Typically I wilt in bad conditions, as I am more of a rhythm runner than a strength runner.

The route turned north on Mile 6, and even had a short east section with tailwind. Very short, but it hinted at what was to come. 5:10 for the Mile 6 split. Then 32:43 for 10K. I was getting sick of this yo-yo pacing, and it was hard to gauge what kind of time I was headed for. I was still assuming here that I wouldn’t break 1:10. Still nobody near me, either ahead or behind. I just kept trying to push. Calves and hamstrings were getting tight, but that is normal, and I still felt decent.

I entered the Speedway at the end of Mile 6, and began the 2.5 mile loop on the race track. This portion of the race was tedious last year, but I liked it better this year simply because going in a loop made the wind vary, which was interesting. Mile 7 was primarily going north, and then west on the first curve. 5:23 for the split, not great. Mile 8 was mostly going south on the backstretch, so a crosswind, somewhat better. 5:20 for Mile 8.

At point I’m still thinking sub-1:10 is a stretch, but I also knew the best part of the race was coming (the part with the tailwind). Much of Mile 9 I had tailwind, around the second curve, and then out of the speedway. As I left the track, I could feel a couple runners coming up behind me. Both good and bad; it’s not good to get passed, but perhaps I would have people to run with and push me to the finish.

Hit Mile 9 in a 5:10. Let the yo-yo pace continue. The two guys behind me caught me, and one guy passed me. I pushed to stay with him, and ran behind him for about half a mile. The other guy never passed me, but he was still there. Hit 15K in 49:03. Mile 10 was a 5:05. That’s more like it! 52:34 for 10 miles (5:15/mile pace). I now realized that I would certainly break 1:09, and might beat last year’s time. Having a new goal gave me a lot of encouragement. My hamstrings and calves were yelling at me, but the tailwind helped a lot and my legs still had a little pop in them. Perhaps if I could keep running sub-5:10, I could salvage a somewhat respectable time.

The guy who passed me eventually dropped me, but I was still holding off the second runner. Still running east with the tailwind. Mile 11 was 4:58. Dang. Made me feel better about getting dropped, as the other guy must have been under 4:55. I know realized that I had a slim chance of breaking my PR of 1:08:12. I almost couldn’t believe it, with how up and down the race had gone so far. I kept pushing hard, trying to run more 5-minute miles…

And succeeded mostly. The route turned south-southwest, and I had a favorable cross-wind, other than some random gusts. Hit Mile 12 in 5:03. Kept pushing. The runner ahead of me was still pulling away (dang, he’s moving!), but the runner behind me was still…behind me. The route turned east again and the last 1.1 was with the tailwind. Tried to put the hammer down. A PR seemed very possible, perhaps even sub-1:08, if I could finish with a 4:5x mile?

Mile 13 split was 5:01, and then I took it on in. 27 seconds for the last 0.1. Finish time was officially 1:08:05, good for 12th place overall and a 7-second PR. I had no idea of my placing the whole race, other than knowing that I was well out of the Top 10. I ended up 62 seconds out of 10th, and the money. (10th place was actually my hotel roommate Scott, 50 second PR for him). So I placed similar to last year, but unlike last year, I wasn’t really close to the Top 10. The competition was very good this year, with higher-caliber Kenyans than last year, and good local runners too. I think last year was actually an outlier, with slower times than usual, and this year was more normal.

If you had told me a week before the race that I would fail to break 1:08, I would have been really disappointed, and probably threatened to quit running. I was that sure of my fitness. But under the circumstances, I have to take what I can get, and I’m pleased to come out with a PR, after running that many miles over 5:20 during the race. I was pleased to be able to push through, not give up, recover from getting slapped in the face with wind, and still have enough spunk and pop to be able to take advantage of the tailwind at the end and finish strong. I think other years (including last year), I would have been broken, and just limped in. So the race was a success in all those regards.

My one regret was not being able to pack it up with a group. I wish I could have run with the two runners ahead of me (although I would have had to push hard early on to keep up). Or I wish I had gone out slower and packed it up with the runners behind me. Being able to trade miles while going into the wind would have been invaluable, and would have conserved more energy for the second half of the race.

At the same time, I’m forced to acknowledge that I’m not “there” yet. Even if I spot myself a full minute for the wind (which I think would be liberal), I still need much improvement before I’m a quality-enough runner to hit that sub-2:19 mark. Am I in sub-2:22 shape? Probably. But sub-2:22 is a long ways from sub-2:19. I really wanted to see 1:06:xx at that finish line to give me the confidence that 2:19 is possible. I do still think it’s possible, but I need to improve. I need to get faster, to get stronger, and to get even better at running in adverse conditions (may have to deal with bad conditions during a marathon, after all). The wind today definitely hurt, but it was not a killer to those who were truly fit, judging by the finish times. A truly fit runner will just plow through the wind, heat, rain, hills, or whatever else the day throws at them. A less fit runner will feel adverse conditions much more.

Looking forward, I’ll take a week of rest, and then get back to it. Will probably go back to the bread-and-butter of long tempos, while trying to increase my mileage up to 90mpw. We’ll see where that gets me for Utah Valley Half, my next key race. The downhill will aid times at UVM, but my goal there is more oriented toward competition rather than time. But I need to be fit enough to compete with ferocity.

Results are HERE.

Avid reader Jon has posed the question as to why I have not updated the blog in over two months, despite apparently having much to post about. Well, several factors are at play:

• Heavy load at work (recession, what recession??!)
• We are selling our house (hard to type with paint and caulk all over my hands)
• I’d rather see my wife and kid than write a blog post (fatherhood does change things)
• Lack of literary inspiration (I get dumber every day)

Well, my wife and son are in Michigan for another day, work happens to be slow right now, and the house is clean and perfectly staged, so that clears most of my obstacles, other than my dumbness, but I’ll just have to work with that.

In any case, it’s been an eventful couple months in my world of running and racing. After running 1:13:10 in the snowy windstorm that was the Striders Half Marathon, I was able to ramp up my training, get some quality workouts in, and prepare somewhat adequately for the 500 Festival Indy Mini Marathon. Weekly mileage leading up to Indy was 36 (missed two days from being sick), 72, 69, 55 (race week). I got a few decent workouts in, but kept it pretty simple: just some tempos, fartleks, and mile intervals.

Indy turned out to be a perfect day: great temps, no wind, and a very flat, fast course. I ran some of the early miles too aggressively for my fitness level, but managed to stay steady during the second half and keep all miles under 5:20. The race yielded a huge 50-second PR of 1:08:35.

The only downer was that I ran most of the race in 10th place, then got passed around Mile 10/11, but then closed hard on another runner who was dropping back, but could not seal the deal. I got outkicked, ended up 11th, and lost out on $100. Now, I can almost care less about $100, but it’s more about what the money symbolizes. It represents the value the race puts on a certain placing. 10th place is worth $100, and 11th place is worth nothing. In addition, the depth of money always drives the depth and competitiveness of the field. If I place in the money, it means that I out-competed my peers, and perhaps even some people faster than me. So for me, winning money indicates that I competed well against the field, and it is competition against others and against myself that I seek.

Unfortunately, when analyzing the Indy race, I feel that I did not “want it” enough. I think I could have beaten my competitor with a decisive surge with 600m left, but did not have the inner drive to make myself hurt enough to do it. I’ve found over the years that kick is always there, it’s just a matter of engaging that extra gear.

Other than that, Indy was a great race, and a nice breakthrough. It was nice to get a half marathon time that I knew I was capable of. The race itself was well-organized, and by far the biggest half I’ve ran (35,000 people). The course was not terribly pretty, but was insanely fast. I thought running on the Speedway would be really cool, but that part ended up being the most mentally difficult, and rather grueling.  The track doesn’t look so big on TV, but it takes awhile to run a 2.5 mile loop at 12mph, rather than driving at 200mph. You can read my full race report HERE.

Immediately after Indy, I had targeted the Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon for my next key race. I wanted another half marathon PR attempt, I wanted it to be at sea level with good competition, and I wanted it to be someplace fun. Seattle was perfect, and I have several good friends in the area who I could visit. In addition, when I contacted the race management, they were very gracious, and I was able to obtain an elite spot in the race. Perfect!

In terms of training after Indy, I decided it would be wise to regroup, and spend a few weeks in base-building mode. In the past, I’ve been caught in the trap to “keep the ball rolling”, and do hard workout after hard workout, and race after race. I ended up re-building a base for the rest of May. Mileage during this phase were 60 (recovery), 72, 60 (sick for a day), and 71. Typical workouts were “slow” long tempos, and fartleks.

The “slow” tempo is something that I introduced for the first time, and I ended up really liking it, and I think it helped build aerobic fitness. Basically the idea was to do a 11-12 mile progression tempo, but not ever push the pace too hard. I would start at 6:15/mile and end up around 5:45-5:50/mile. I would pick a pretty flat, easy course, and focus on just hitting a good rhythm and feeling good. I figure hills are great, but you need to learn to run strong on flat before you can run strong on hills. In other words, focus on the bare foundations of running…which is running. It’s simple, but effective. I also like fartleks during this kind of base phase, as they are good workouts, yet are not too stressful on the body or on the mind, since there are no time goals to hit.

Beginning in June, I kept the mileage about the same, but ramped up the intensity. “Slow” tempos were replaced by MP and LT tempos. Fartleks were replaced by intervals at CV or LT pace. I also added more strides and 30-second hill charges after workouts to work on economy, form, and turnover. My June weekly mileage totals were 73, 37 (sick for half the week),  70, and 58 (race week). All of my workouts were really good, although no single run was longer than 16 miles (no need for a half marathon!). Each week my interval workouts and tempos were really strong and consistent, and gave me a lot of confidence, despite not racing since Indy.

The end of June finally rolled around, and I was excited to finally fly out to Seattle. The flight was short, the hotel was great, and I was able to meet and chew the fat with a lot of great runners and other people at the hotel. Along with getting to know several current elite runners, I also got to meet Todd Williams and Ed Eyestone, who work with the race management. A lot of good conversations, and I soaked in all the knowledge I could, plus they were all just really fun people.

You can read a full, very detailed account of my race HERE. In a nutshell, once again, weather was perfect with great temperatures and little wind. The course was more difficult than Indy, with several large hills, but still had enough speedy sections to get a good time. Indeed, I ended up with a 20 second PR over Indy, and ran 1:08:15, good for 5th overall and 3rd American. Moreover, I will end up with a hefty chunk of change for this placing, which vindicates my Indy experience somewhat. So I left with very positive vibes.

Some races you get a PR, but not a great placing. Other races, you place high, but the time stinks due to weather or topography. And sometimes you get both, and those are great days. I did have a goal of breaking 1:08 at Seattle, but I think I ran as well as I could given the course and the fact that I was all alone most of the race. Perhaps at Indy that effort would have been under 1:08, but I will have to wait for another day and another course.

And lastly, one week after Seattle I jumped in the Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run, a local 15K on July 4th. This race is pretty low-key, with a net elevation drop (although is at elevation). I’ve been wanting to do it for a while. Seattle was obviously still in my legs during the first few miles, but eventually I worked out the kinks and rattled off a pretty good race and took first place. Like most people, I rarely race the 15K distance, so a new PR was ripe for picking as well, and I got it with a time of 48:14 (or so…the timing chips were wrong, so I used my watch time). The full race report is HERE.

Now it’s time for a little breather. I feel like I put in a series of good training cycles, and now it’s time to rest, lower the mileage down to 40-60 mpw for a while, and then rebuild a good base.

A couple years ago, I thought I had it all figured out. Marathon training was simple: just do 2 big workouts per week (15+ miles), an easy long run, and fill the rest of the days with easy doubles until I hit 100+ miles for the week. It was a formula that took my marathon time down from above 2:30 to under 2:20. And I expected it to work into the future.

Getting hit with ankylosing spondylitis (A.S.) has changed everything. My body’s old limits are no longer valid, and the disease has imposed on me new limits. Through trial and error (most error), I’ve figured out that if I go over 50-60 miles/week, I start to break down. Mostly it’s the tendon injuries that sideline me.

I had been holding out hope that I would be able to at some point resume my old high-mileage training, and get back to marathons. But just recently I’ve finally accepted the fact that A.S. and marathoning don’t mix, and my condition will likely prevent me from ever running how I used to again. Yes, it was a bit of a sad realization, but it was actually more liberating than anything. Once I accepted that as a fact, I felt like a weight had lifted off my shoulders, and I was free to look at and pursue running from a different perspective. The pressure of being what I once was is gone, and now I can look forward to running becoming something new.

Clearly hard marathon training is now out of the question, but I had proven this past year that I could still successfully train for and run quality races at the 5K through half marathon distance. So that is where my focus will now lie. If anything, it’s getting back to my roots, as I was a 5K/10K specialist long before I had even dreamed of running a marathon. I’m excited at the prospect of the shorter distances, of different types of training, and of potentially even setting new PR’s that I’ve neglected over the last several years.

So in essence I need to relearn how to train. I had figured out marathon training, but now I need to figure out 5K/10K training, and specialize it for running with A.S. with the training load I can handle. For now, the centerpiece of my training will not be running, but the elliptical machine. I’ve found over the last year that it is possible to get an excellent workout on the elliptical, and my heart rate elevates to levels similar to running while on the machine. When I push hard on the elliptical, I often get my HR up to near 180, which is 90% of my max. Seems good enough for most types of training!

My new staple elliptical workouts are 10×3-minutes hard, with 1-minute recovery, and 2×15-minutes hard, with 5 minutes recovery. These are designed to simulate CV and MP workouts. As I get stronger on the elliptical, I plan to extend the time of the “tempos”.

Perhaps the best aspect of cross training is that since there is no pounding, I can recover faster and work out more frequently. Rather than doing 2 hard workouts per week, I will be able to do 3 hard workouts per week. I firmly believe that I can achieve a high state of fitness from cross training like this, and that it will translate to good races.

Of course I will need to run too, but for now I’m just doing 2-3 miles/day on the weekdays, and a 9-miler or so on Saturday. Once the weather warms up, the snow melts, and I get more daylight to work with, I’ll add a second 4-5 mile run with the jogging stroller in the evenings after work. Adding doubles will give a total running volume of 45-50 miles/week, along with a cross training volume about 5 hours/week. This cross training volume I convert to 30 “miles”, based on the approximation of 10 minutes on elliptical = 1 mile running (Jack Daniels suggests 1 unit of cross training = 2/3 unit of running) . So the end result will give me up to 80 “miles” per week of total training volume, which is certainly sufficient to run some nice 5K/10K/half marathon races.

Some of you readers (assuming I still have readers) may wonder, why isn’t 70-80 miles/week good enough to run a marathon? Simple: I’m not doing any long runs or big workouts. Everything is short and sweet. A huge part of marathon-specific training is geared to adapt the body to handle of pounding and fueling of a race longer than two hours. It is that type of training I’ve determined I can no longer handle. No more 20-milers, no more huge tempo runs or interval workouts, no more runs over 60 minutes in duration. Dropping those kinds of runs, I believe, will keep me healthier, but they will also prohibit me from really doing any race longer than a Half.

So marathons are out, but other races are in. And I’m excited about it. I feel like it’s a fresh start and a new challenge. And is this to say I won’t ever run a marathon again? No, it’s just saying that I won’t ever train for a marathon…in the near future. I could easily see myself taking this training plan, adding one longer run (16-18 miles), and then jumping in a marathon for fun. But it would have to come at the end of the season, and would have to be dialed back with lowered expectations.

But who knows what the future will really bring? I’m just grateful for everyday out there I have to run and be active. I look forward to trying to PR at the Indy Mini Marathon in May, and to perhaps running the USATF LDR Circuit again this summer.

Kind of a miscellaneous blog posting today, but I’m in the mood.

So what’s going on in my neck of the woods? This past Saturday I ran my first 5K in well over a year. I won the Top of Utah 5K with a time of 16:17. It was a fast loop course, and supposedly certified (although I could not find it in the USATF database). I was hoping for under 16 minutes, but I’ll take it. It was a weird race though; I never felt like I was straining, and kept pushing the pace, yet I had no speed. All of my mile splits were within 3 seconds of each other, I hit a slight negative split, and I felt like I could have kept going for 10K. So although I was not happy with my leg turnover, I was pleased with how strong I felt. 5K’s usually hurt a lot more. My full race report is here.

Next up is The Other Half, a half marathon in Moab on October 19th. I would like to break 1:12 on this rolling course. My 5K time alone gives me a thumbs-down that I can actually do this, but on the other hand I don’t think my solo 5K effort is representative of what I can do in a half marathon (where my lack of burst won’t be as big of a hindrance). Furthermore, I feel like my training is just hitting stride. After a couple weeks in the mid-60s, my mileage for the next 3-4 weeks will be in the mid- to upper 70s, and perhaps will hit 80. This includes two big workouts per week as singles (14-16 miles), a Saturday long run, and easy doubles the rest of the days. Standard fare, but tried and true. I’ve found that racing success is largely a function of training time. Stringing together many consecutive weeks of consistent mileage and solid workouts will yield fast times when it’s time to put on the flats. It’s not a glamorous concept, but very true.

This weekend I will be captaining an aid station at the Bear 100, our local 100-mile ultra run. The race starts at Logan Dry Canyon and traverses through the Bear River Range all the way to Bear Lake, Idaho. I am in awe of ultra runners. I have no aspirations (or delusions) of joining them, but enjoy serving them at the aid stations. This year, my station is at Richards Hollow (Left Hand Fork of the Blacksmith Fork). It looks like it will be a beautiful day, and my wife and 2-month old son will be coming as well.

I enjoy the aspect of volunteering, simply because it shows the other side of races, and allows us to give back to the race and to other runners. As a competitive runner, I usually do nothing but take, take, take from races. Volunteering helps me counter that consumer-ish attitude (and also helps me appreciate volunteers more from the races I run!). If you’ve never helped direct, administrate, or volunteer for a race, I highly recommend doing so. It will make you look at races completely different, and you may be less likely to complain the next time something at a race irks you.

Back in June I thought this year for racing would be a complete wash. In fact, I did not know if I would ever run competitively again, due to the plethora of arthritic ailments brought on by Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.).Fortunately, things have turned around for me a bit, to where I’ve been able to run again, and even get into some semblance of shape.  I am not pain-free yet, but am “good enough” to train and do some speed work too. My key challenge was to learn how to manage the A.S., which I have done so far through diet and occasional use of the NSAID meloxicam. Right now I am taking 2-3 meloxicam (brand name: Mobic) per week, and that is enough to make me feel pretty good when I get out of bed in the morning.

Thanks to eliminating all starch in my diet (the “No Starch Diet”, which will be a blog topic of its own soon), the pain in my hip, SI joints, and low back stiffness have basically disappeared. The swelling in my foot and stiffness in my neck (particularly in the mornings) is all that remains, and that is what I take the meloxicam for. If the diet continues to work over time, I hope to eliminate all NSAID use completely.  But for now I’m thankful that I’m taking it a few times per week rather than everyday. I’m sure my stomach will thank me as well.

So despite a horrid first half of the year, I’ve been salvaging a short racing season after all.  I’m not nearly in the form I was last year, but I’m still having a lot of fun, and thankful to God for the opportunity to run again. On August 2nd, I ran a local 10K (for $5!), and placed 3rd with a time of 34:55. I was quite happy with this considering that I had about a month’s worth of training at 30 miles/week at this point (plus the birth of my first child three days prior).

My second race of the year was August 23rd, the Top of Utah Half Marathon. I won this last year, so it was a little humbling to be completely out of contention, but I still enjoyed myself immensely, taking 6th overall with a time of 1:12:12.  Mileage was around 50 mpw at this point, with some speed work.

After a week of recovery from the half marathon, and then missing some time due to sickness the following week, I’ve finally boosted my mileage again, and will be sitting around 65 mpw for awhile. I’ve managed to catch a little bit of the old fire, and have the desire to train again, and to excel in races. This fire had been missing for awhile. I’ll reach 75-80 mpw in the next couple months, which I never thought I’d would even want to do again.

Upcoming races include the Top of Utah 5K on September 20th, The Other Half on October 19th, and another local 5K (The First Dam Run) on November 1st. The Other Half is a half marathon in Moab, and is a fairly big race. It is a challenging, rolling course, with no elevation drop (rare for Utah). The course record is a low 1:12, and I’ve made it my “season goal” to break that record. If I can run 1:12 or faster on that hard course, and if I am reasonably pain-free, then I will consider continuing to up my mileage and running an early December sea-level marathon, most likely St. Jude.

Several people have tried to convince me to run St. George, but I am not for several reasons:

1. I have nothing left to accomplish there, other than to win. I cannot win this year with the training I have done. Therefore I will not traumatize my body for no good reason.
2. The injury risk is too high on that course with the amount of training I’ve done.
3. By deferring a marathon for two months (December vs. October), I will give myself training time to race a much better quality marathon.  True, I could probably break 2:30 in my current condition at St. George, but I gain more by training longer (uninterrupted), and running under 2:25 on an honest course like St. Jude.

Much of this is speculation right now, but that is where my thinking and heart are at. St. George was tempting simply because I really enjoy being at the race with my friends and peers. But to actually race it would be a bad idea. Plus, I’ve always wanted to run The Other Half, which is reportedly a beautiful, challenging course.

I do not know what the future will bring, but I have enjoyed the races I’ve been blessed with doing already, and look forward to running more.