Well here goes again

Hobble Creek Race Day

I meant to get this in sooner but I have just been so swamped.  Race day sleep hours 5.2 hours body compostion.185.2 lbs 9.9% - 17.0% BF.  Very Hydrated and felt like I had ate very well previous day. 

Arrived at buses early enough had to park and walk half a mile.  Road down with a friend and chatted nervous chatter the whole time.  Got off buses and walked nearly .85 miles to start lines.  Potty breaks on the way and as soon as we arrived we got in line for outhouses cause they were shorter than port a potty’s.  Felt a little nerves but felt way less bloated then Provo River half.  I left my friend to warm up while she waited for outhouses.  Hydrated took inhaler energy drink and we meet by the starting line.  Race was delayed couldn’t find anyone we knew I shed my warm-up paints and ditched drop bag. Right Achilles didn’t feel near as tight Ibuprofen must half worked well I have been taking more ever since just trying to get handle on this so it isn’t a problem for St. George. 

Ready to race and heart rate is still really calm kind of surprising like 84 BPM.  When the gun sounds it takes be 7 seconds to reach start and I punch my watch as I cross the start.   My foot pod Monitor reads 12.2 miles for the whole race actual 13.1 half marathon so the rest of the times are off memory or are by the watch and need to be extrapolated out.

The first minute and a half my heart is so slow my HR is slowly climbing.  It is so packed and I can’t find anywhere to move to.  We go about 300 yards at 9:00 minute mile pace then things take off.  My heart rate is only at 114 at the 1:25 mark.  About this time things really pick up nice.  I feel a slight chill and my long sleeve shirt is on over my racing tank.  Things start picking up more at 3:00 I am at 160 BPM and I am feeling great not even thinking about the rear wheel.  I hit the mile one marker at 6:36 on my watch I feel great think this is great because of the slow start and things are starting to separate more and more.  When my watch hits 7:11 it says I have gone a mile so I just forget about it from this point on as far as distance and enjoy the ride. HR average 1^st mile only 146

Mile two comes up at 12:54, which means I was right about 6:18.  I am a little worried I am going to fast but I figure with the amazing drop I am experiencing I am doing fine.   HR average on the watch shows up at 166 when I hit 13:57 on the watch. 

Mile three comes at about 19:18.  I ran the number in my head and figure 6:26 average not to bad maybe I should be laying off a bit. HR average 167 when the watch hits 20:45 and I register mile 3.  It seemed like the watch varied from mile to mile but I was dropping anywhere between .88 per mile to .94 less towards the end on the flat.  I am starting to heat up a little now and I start thinking about shedding the extra shirt.  Few people are passing me and I am not passing many either or being passed for that matter.  I am watching my 1/10-mile splits which they have marked wonderfully and falling in love with this canyon, which I have never been to before in my life.  The downhill is great not too much and enough to get me excited at first. 

I am continuing to cut every corner I can about a 1/10 of a mile out from mile for I start to pull of my shirt.  I use it to wipe down so I won’t be cold and throw it at the mile 4 marker.  Nailed it but I never saw that shirt again and believe me I looked.  Hit mile 4 at about 25:54 or a 6:36 mile.  At 27:47 my watch signals 4 miles HRA 168.  With the extra layer off I feel cool but the drop isn’t as step the road keeps turning every ¼ mile or so and I cut corners with it.  I think that was bugging a guy behind me but I guess that is his problem.  I am loving this course.  32:32 Mile 5 comes up about a 6:38 mile.

Now I am flipping through my watch trying to figure out how far I have dropped and how long this continue at 34:39 my watch rings that I hit 5.  Apparently a little bit closer on that one.  I finally hit my first few little up hills they are so tiny but still noticeable and that reminds me my bad Achilles doesn’t hurt but I am weary of it.  Especially after the huge Charlie horse at 11.25 on the Provo River half two weeks prior. With all this in mind and the hill not quite as step I slow down some more and I hit mile 6 6:42 later at the 39:14 mark.  I remember thinking if I had pushed it easily could have had a sub 40 10K.  Actually drink some sugar stuff that they are passing out and throw some water down my back and hands.

HR average is 167 as I hit 6 on the watch at 41:35.  I hit the half way mark at 43:18.  I extrapolate it out and think that I am well below my 1:29:59 goal and figure things are going well.  I have a little more up hill and drop mile 7 in 6:59.  46:13.

Working on Mile 8 I am glad things are well over half way.  From this point forward I am passed only 3 more times.  I am thinking about a negative split but still trying to stay focused on every step.  Mile 7 was the flattest yet and I am happy to see bigger declines on mile eight.  Mile eight is a much steadier decline then mile 7 especially on the second half.  I reach the eight-mile marker at 6:40 and 52:53.  A little later my watch punches mile eight at 7:16 and 56:01.  I am starting to think it is a half a mile off.  Now I have started to pass a few people I wonder if they train as much as I do or if they aren’t doing enough and just are gassed.  It seems to be a bit warmer.  As I am passing a couple folks I make two word comments nice stride, nice heal strike, you run like a deer, looking strong, we’re doing great, It seems like when I pass people they immediately are slow down.  I hope they don’t feel bad.  I know sometimes I don’t like being passed but when I do I just remind myself to run my race not theirs.

A lady asks me how fast we are going and I say we should hit 9 at 59:00 three minutes later we do hit 9 it is in a bit of an uphill stretch and I pass it at 59:18 a 6:25 mile and she passes a few seconds later.  At 1:03:21 my watch hits 9 and my HRA is 170.  Maybe I did pick up the pace a little.  Now the course is really flattening out.  Mile 10 comes up quickly 6:44 and 1:06:02.  I am think about the past don’t want the Achilles to tighten up so I am afraid to push it to hard but I feel like there is plenty of gas in the tank.  Come on it is only a 5k to go.  The aid stations are great and I am taking advantage.  I see these five people up ahead of me and I think I will pass them before the end.  At 1:10:51 my watch punches 10 and I am a lot closer to 11 so I am not paying to close of attention HRA 168.  Right about this point is the biggest up hill of the course a 45-foot climb I slowed as I climb.   I am starting to pick up the pace again cause I feel like I can go all day.  I start to wonder if I am being lazy but I am still worried about the right wheel coming undone.  At the 6:50 mark I go past 11 miles 1:12:52 and a long while after the watch punches 11 at 1:18:13 HRA 172.   After curving through a neighborhood and passing the aid station I am happy when I finally pass mile marker 12 at 6:55 and 1:19:47.  I keep counting of the seconds of the people in front of me.  I pass two pretty quick and then I see the three guys that have been close to each other.  At this point I start reeling them in cause I have decided even if I mess something up I will still finish strong enough.  At 12.5 I am right by these guys I pass one and 40 seconds later pass the other two simultaneously I could tell they were together when I was about 2yards in front the one guys says should we chase this guy down.  Another couple yards ahead his buddy responds with no will catch him in the last 100.  No way I think I am football player not a runner and if you are going to pass me it is because you will out run me but nobody is going to out kick me.  It has been longer then I can remember since I have been out kicked in the last ¼ mile for any kind of middle distance.  I see one lady in front and I think why not.  The whole time I am remembering how stiff I got after Provo and do I really want to pass one more for the cost.  It didn’t matter I never caught her. 

She was the 10^th female I was the 35^th male 45^th over all 1:27:17 to finish I hit 12 on my watch at 1:25:31 at my HRA was 176.  The last little bit took my HRA 179 my official time was 1:27:24 but I think that was all the delay in the start.  I was pretty pumped even gave a scream 10 seconds after finishing.  I almost made the top 4% and I felt like I improved but this course had to be the most friendly I have ever run for any distance and that includes flat 5k at sea level.  Plus it was beautiful.