A Balance, Redefined

Top of Utah Half Marathon

Previous WeekRecent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesAdam RW's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageMonth ViewYear View
Graph View
Next Week
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Vestavia,AL,USA

Member Since:

May 31, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon Top 10 Finishes: 7 Bridges ('15), Utah Valley ('13), Salt Lake City ('08), Top of Utah ('07), and St. Louis ('04). Ran around the equator (24901.55) in 4,388 days.

Personal Records
Marathon 2:39 (SLC '08)
1/2 Marathon 1:12.30 (Provo River, aided '08)
10K 34:16 (Track, sea level '00)
10K 33:15 (Des 10K, aided '08)
8K 25:32 (Crack of Dawn, aided '13)
5K 16:44 (Track, sea level '00)
5K 16:07 (Running of the Leopards, aided '12)
 

Short-Term Running Goals:

NYC Marathon November 3, 2019 done 

London Marathon October 3, 2021 done

Tokyo Marathon March 3, 2024!!!

And my largest challenge to date, raise $20,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my cancer survivorship and in memory of those lost to blood cancer...
DONE! $26,403.70

https://pages.lls.org/tnt/al/london2021/awende

Long-Term Running Goals:

Enjoy being a Masters Runner.

Get under 3 hours one more time...

Personal:

Grew up outside Chicago and joined the blog while I lived in Salt Lake City. Now living outside Birmingham. I am married with two daughters. Wife thinks I'm crazy for doing marathons. And yes I am crazy I'm a scientist for a living...

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 331.25
RM 090416 Lifetime Miles: 136.06
Saucony Type A Lifetime Miles: 200.18
Nike Vaporfly Pink Lifetime Miles: 122.22
Saucony Ride #37 - Black Lifetime Miles: 56.50
Saucony Ride #38 - Neon Lifetime Miles: 53.50
Saucony Ride #39 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 59.50
Brooks Launch #38 - Grey Lifetime Miles: 65.25
Brooks Launch #39 - White Lifetime Miles: 57.50
Brooks Launch #40 - Blue Lifetime Miles: 54.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
71.500.000.000.000.000.000.0071.50
Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 20.00Adidas Adistar (flats) #2 Miles: 10.50Saucony Compression Socks 1&2 Miles: 30.50RM 090416 Miles: 10.06Saucony Fastwitch Miles: 25.00Brooks Launch Blue #3 Miles: 10.00Saucony Rides #9 Miles: 6.00
Night Sleep Time: 46.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 46.00Weight: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.000.000.000.006.00

Well it is nice to sleep in but does make getting everything done tough. Another great family day. After an easy morning and church I worked a couple hours and then to the zoo and a picnic dinner at a local park. After some more chores and work in the evening did a late run to the SugarHouse area and back.

Avg. 8:16 HR 135

Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 6.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
10.500.000.000.000.000.000.0010.50

This was a workout I had planned since the 3X5K two weeks ago. I wanted to do something very fast to build the confidence for those first miles this Saturday. So I did a 3Xmi workout. This was the FireHouse mile and two Memory Grove miles. I had planned a fourth but I had not brought my headlamp and I didn't want to push my luck as the last repeat was very dark as it was.
A picture says a 1000 thousand words so I will leave these images do my talking for me. All I can say is that this is one of 7 times in my life I have recorded a sub-5 min mile! I think I am ready for Saturday...


 


Adidas Adistar (flats) #2 Miles: 10.50Saucony Compression Socks 1&2 Miles: 10.50
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
14.000.000.000.000.000.000.0014.00

AM: I was a bit concerned about my run this morning. After my workout last night my calves were sore coming down the stairs. However, they felt pretty good. I think the extra sleep the last few nights has helped. My run in this morning was a combo of the SugarHouse loop and Mid-campus commute. Overall some very nice weather. Air quality still not great but the temp was good.

9mi Avg. 8:18 HR 155

PM: This has been a better week than last week. Both in and outside the lab. Still a lot to do but focusing on what I can do versus what I need to do. Makes a big difference. Did an evening loop toward downtown with John.

5mi Avg. 8:31 HR 130

RM 090416 Miles: 10.05Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 9.00Saucony Fastwitch Miles: 5.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.000.000.000.0010.00

Starting a wind down for the race. So only one run today. Made it a longer one down to Liberty Park and then over through Memory Grove to work.

Avg. 8:52 HR 156

Brooks Launch Blue #3 Miles: 10.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
5.000.000.000.000.000.000.005.00

AM: Early work day, so commute run. First green air quality day in a long while...

2.5mi Avg. 10:30 HR 126

PM: Commute run home.

2.5mi Avg. 7:20 HR 148

Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 5.00
Night Sleep Time: 5.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 5.50Weight: 0.00
Comments(7)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.000.000.000.006.00

A&W commute run. Looking forward to tomorrow...

Avg. 8:31 HR 142

Saucony Rides #9 Miles: 6.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Race: Top of Utah Half Marathon (13.12 Miles) 01:15:30, Place overall: 9, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
20.000.000.000.000.000.000.0020.00

EXTENDED EDITION: I have had a moment to get back into the routine and wanted to add a few more notes to the race report.

Today was the day to get back to the racing scene. I had built this race up a lot in my head since Des 10K. The 3X5K and 3X1mi workouts the last couple weeks had my hopes up. I went into this race thinking I could run anywhere from a 1:20 to a 1:12 and hoping for a 1:14:38 which is the target for a 2:40 marathon by Sasha's course tools. 

On Friday Jake picked me up after work and was kind enough to let me join him, Andrea, and his parents for the drive up to Logan. We then stayed with Scott E who was kind enough to let us stay at his house. His and his family’s kindness, generosity, and trust were very kind. Allie even joined us for a late night discussion after dinner to wind things down before the race. The dinner Karen provided was the perfect carbo-loading. Thank you to all of you.

Got to sleep relatively early. And up a little after 4am, two Saturdays in a row with the early rise. Scott drove Jake and I down to the start and then the bus ride up the canyon during which time I had good chat with Scott. It was a bit cold for my liking after getting out of the bus but great for racing. Had a great time talking with a number of people I haven't seen in awhile including Albert and Clyde whom I did my warmup with. During the warmup I even briefly saw Demetrio and Carol, two people I used to do a lot of my workouts with when I first moved to SLC.

We then all got to the line and I saw even more people I hadn’t spoken with in awhile, Ben, Walter, and Steve and met a few new faces from the blog including Riley and a slew of others I’m sorry I am not naming. The gun went off after a misfire and everyone was off down the canyon. A group of about 5 guys took off, led by Jake. Then there were about four of us including Walter and Clyde. We had a good chat and by about mile 2 I moved a little ahead and them. I could see Albert and Steve but did not want to go out too fast. This was another guy in blue top and did go after them but more or less I was on my own from mile 2 on.

I heard footsteps coming up behind me and was expecting to see Walter. Instead it was Will, someone I had not met before. We exchanged pleasantries and I tired to stay with him. At about this time I heard my name and was happy to see Cody cheering us on. Will continued to move and I tried to put a move on him but he responded and left me but not broken. Cody’s cheering helped keep me moving. My pace quickened while running with him and even though I couldn’t hold on he helped me gain momentum to pass the blue top guy. This was a good pass because unknown to me blue top guy ended up finishing third in my age group. From there on out I was on my own and more or less just struggling with my own head and the knowledge of the mile 12 hill. I went with him and together we passed blue top guy Mitch, who ended up third in my age group. The rest of the run I was in the same place.

It was great to see Andrea at the finish cheering us into the chute and enjoy all the discussion after the race. There is a lot to be said about the atmosphere and camaraderie around racing events, especially with the FRB team! A number of people had great races and I linked to a few of them at mention of their names.

Had a great cooldown where I met even more people and had a good discussion with Clyde about St. George and Ben about this marathon plans and potentially pacing together for the full marathon.

Overall, this was a good run. It was my 10th half marathon and 4th fastest. So overall a great experience. I did hold back a little in the early miles and I think that allowed me to finish stronger and not be too beat up. In retrospect I think my initial goal time was a little ambitious and considering my training the last three years this is a much better showing than I first gave it credit for. Just not close to my 2009 showing. The prediction for the full is a 2:41:51 and I am still struggling about taking Ben’s offer and shooting for the just under 2:40 pace or going in with a 2:45 in mind. I will wait and see how I recover and how the next two weeks go. I am not opposed to having both in mind and playing it by ear until the gun goes off…

For “even pace” I compared my splits to the course tool and found the following.
Mi 1 +2s; Mi 2 -10s; Mi 3 -7s; Mi 4 -9s; Mi 5 -23s; Mi 6 -17s; Mi 7 -7s; Mi 8 +4s; Mi 9 +10s; Mi 10 +20s; Mi 11 +11s; Mi 12 +14s; Mi 13 +10s; and +8s
So obviously even for a 1:15:30, my extra pace with the downhill in the canyon did not equal my loss on the streets of Logan. Probably due to my much lower base going into this race. Which does raise some red flags for the marathon as far as pace selection.


RM 090416 Miles: 0.01Saucony Fastwitch Miles: 20.00Saucony Compression Socks 1&2 Miles: 20.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(13)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
71.500.000.000.000.000.000.0071.50
Brooks Launch Orange #2 Miles: 20.00Adidas Adistar (flats) #2 Miles: 10.50Saucony Compression Socks 1&2 Miles: 30.50RM 090416 Miles: 10.06Saucony Fastwitch Miles: 25.00Brooks Launch Blue #3 Miles: 10.00Saucony Rides #9 Miles: 6.00
Night Sleep Time: 46.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 46.00Weight: 0.00
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: