The KodaFit Blog

This is going to be a quick report…  I’m working on a report of the Red Rock Relay though, and that one will more than make up for the lack of fluff here.

The Top of Utah Marathon is held each September in Logan,Utah.  About a month before though, they hold a half marathon on the same course.  I missed early registration unfortunately, but a friend of a friend ended up being unable to make it, and so I took his place on race day.  Sidenote -Before you chastize me…  We tried everything we could to contact the RD for a week prior.  And I ran with full ID and my cell phone on me, just in case.

Packet pickup was race morning, and while extremely busy it was well organized.  Buses took us up Blacksmith Canyon to the start which was cold and crowded, but like packet pick up they appeared to have anticipated the crowds and things like needing to visit the port-o-potty prior were no problem at all.

They ended up having a record turnout, and as such the race was pushed back a little to handle the additional bus trips up.

I hung out at the start with a friend, and we positioned ourselves well back in the pack.  I prefer to pass than be passed, and I also prefer to have people in front of me to try and keep my pace down for the first few miles.

The race started and off we went down the canyon.

If I may share a pet peeve here…  This is the second half marathon I’ve done, and then second time I’ve run into this problem.  If you are a 50+ year old lady, and like to walk events like this with your friends, I think the world of you.  However, with that said… No matter how flashy your walking sticks, how brightly colored your camel bak and how snazzy your workout pants…  If you are walking, you really need to start at the very back of the pack!

In both races, these ladies have lined up with the 8 minute mile pace group, and then spread out across the road in a spandex covered wall of voluptuous bottoms which is impenetrable to all who which to pass.

Back to the race though.  I kept my pace down for the first couple of miles, planning on picking it up around mile 7.  The plan was to try and run a sub-2 hour half.

Around mile 6 though I noticed that my pace had sped up more than I had planned, and in mile 7 it increased even more.

I was feeling good though, and decided to go with it and see what happened.

The course is predominantly run down the canyon, and then moves into the suburbs with a mile or two of reasonably flat running, and then a nice little uphill section for the final mile or 2.

My pace kept increasing, all the way to the end, and for the most part I felt great at least when I wasn’t running uphill, but even then I was able to hold it steady.  The final half mile is a gradual downhill, and you can see the finish line and the hoards of people surrounding it.

Right as I crested the final hill, I ran by a lady who was puking on the side of the road.  I yelled something about “Are you OK?” but a combination of knowing that I would rather hide in situations where I’m the one puking, and glancing at my Garmin to discover I was going to blow my previous PR of 2:02 away and I kept running.

According to my Garmin, the race was a little under a quarter mile longer than 13.1.  It could have been all the dodging to get around the old lady pace line, or just some inaccuracies in the process of measuring the route by satellite.

That aside though, I ended up finishing in 1:53:16.   8 minutes and 54 seconds faster than my previous PR!

All in all - a great race, and while it’s not on my schedule for 2010, I’ll definitely be doing it again in the future.  Perhaps as a precursor to the full Top of Utah marathon.

read comments (1)

On Saturday I tried out my first trail race, and my third half marathon.  My second half marathon is still on my to do list of races needing to be reported on, but I figured since that list keeps growing, I’ll just go ahead and do this one while it’s fresh in my mind.

The Mountain View trail is a single track trail on the east side of Antelope Island.  If you read this blog often you likely know that the island is a favorite place for me to train.  This was the first time they’ve held this race, and it was organized by Jim Skaggs, race director of the annual Buffalo Run on the same island.

Jim does an excellent job organizing races - at least in my opinion.  It’s hard to know exactly how to describe his organizational style though…  He has a great sense of humor which is reflected in the race description and accompanying legal documents, and while everything is organized exceptionally well, it still keeps the small, almost family like atmosphere.  I’m not sure if this is Jim’s style or if it reflects upon the ultra-running community, or if it’s a bit of both, but I like it.  I like it A LOT!!

Packet pickup was the day before, and we got a nice long sleeved tech running shirt, featuring the race logo, and a small back of electrolyte stuff, some ginger chews and BioFreeze samples!

The race logo is of a bison chasing down a runner - I was hoping that irony wouldn’t let this happen during the race however, but more of that later!

The race was scheduled to start at 9am, and I arrived on the island at about 8:30, which gave me a chance to meet up with friends and socialize a little.  Chuck, who is part of the Desert Sharks Tri club, and a fellow Rockin’ Roller from Red Rock was there, ready for his first half marathon, as was fellow Shark and avid trail runner Dave!  I also got to chat a little with Joanie, one of my lunch time running buddies from work, and my adopted mom (Which I’ll cover in my Top of Utah race Report!)

In the pre-race meeting, Jim talked about how he had only expected 50 runners or so, and there we all stood, a band of 125 runners all eager to get going.  I saw regular road runners, trail runners, triathletes and a couple of dogs.  We were quite the diverse group.

9am came quickly and it was ready to start.  The start was right at the Elephants Head Trail head, and headed through the White Rock campground, before heading up and over the island, and then along the Mountain View Trail to the Garr Fielding Ranch.

My race plan was going to be fairly simple.  I wasn’t sure if I’d get a PR, but I wanted to be close.  My plan was to start slow, and turn it on at the end.  Negative split was the name of the game, and I was going to play it hard!!

And we were off!!   I started at the back, and was grateful to find plenty of space between people through which to move.  The first half mile felt wonderful, and I felt like I had a good comfortable pace going.  Checking the Garmin, I noted that my pace was about 8 mins/mile and my heart rate was already over 160.  To put this into perspective, my half marathon PR is based on a pace of 8:35, and my heart usually hangs in the low 150’s for a running race of this distance.

Need to calm down Mike!!!

The next mile or 2, took us uphill.  I was still passing people and felt strong on the hill.  I’ve been working on hills for Silverman next month, and so this was good!  Halfway up, I got passed by a guy with an interesting gait.  He wasn’t going much faster than me, and so I tucked in behind him, increased my pace, and followed him up the hill.

After climbing for a little more than a mile, we crested a hill, and began a very rapid descent back down the other side.  It started off well, and then we had a short section of bush whacking through an area which had seen many bison walk through and leave some precarious holes.  It was like walking through a mine field, and the guy I was chasing kept asking if I wanted to pass.  I was grateful to have him in front.  It slowed me down, and let me take it a little easier.  Probably good since at least 1 other person twisted a knee in that area.

We hit the trail, took a sharp right, and it was now a straight shot to the ranch.  I’d slowed a little and my average pace was now holding at about 9 minutes a mile.  Time to increase it a little, which the guy I was following did, and for the next 2 miles, we ran together at about 8:30 a mile.  I think I was pushing him a little harder than he would have liked, but on the plus side, he was helping me run conservatively.

At mile 5, the trail got a little wider, and so I passed him, and took off.  I passed a couple more people prior to mile 7, and then began a short climb up the the Frary Peak parking lot.  On the way up, I hit 6.55 miles - Half way!  And my time was a couple of seconds over 58 minutes.  Looking good!  Time to pour on the gas.  Right before the aid station at Frary Peak though, I got behind 3 runners.  They were moving along well, but not quite as fast as I wanted to be going.  1 stopped at the aid station and I followed the other two through.  Half a mile down the trail, I found a wider spot and blew by them…  Settled back down into my rhythm, and was just getting it down when I found myself behind another runner.  That slowed me for another half mile, before I got by her, and then just as I was finding the groove again, my shoe lace came undone…

The worst part of the shoelace thing, is that I meant to double knot them right before the start, and I forgot.  I tied it without losing any ground to the runners behind me, and was off again.  It hurt, but didn’t take long to get running again.  It was about this point, that I heard the sound of trotting on the road, about 50 yards to my left.  I glanced over, and there came a large bison pull, galloping? down the road.  I’m always amazed at how heavy they look, and yet they can bound along on their thin little legs, almost bouncing.  Actually I say one actually bouncing last week - just weird.

The bison continued, and disappeared off into the grass on the other side of the road, still running.  I was hurting now, and it was getting hot, but I was still in control.  Minutes later the same bison reappeared, crossed the road and made a bee line for some runners ahead of me…  Uh oh…  My thoughts about the race logo came back…

I’m sure everyone involved was nervous, likely the bison too, but he crossed the path between two groups of runners, and then started grazing peacefully.  Phew!!

I passed through the final aid station and began the final 2 or 3 miles.  I can do this!!  And then lace #2 came undone.  I got it tied quickly, but getting up again and starting to run was really hard.  My legs were tight, and I couldn’t get my pace right.  In addition, I started losing ground on the girl I was chasing down in front, and I noticed people behind me getting closer as well.

I struggled through miles 11 and 12, and as I began 13, figured I could give it all I had for the final mile.  I caught and passed the girl in front with much huffing and puffing and then bore down and gave it all I had for the finish.  Thankfully, I had my Garmin counting the miles, and I had a good idea of where the ranch was, because until you hit 50 yards to go, you can’t see it.

I tried to sprint the last 50 yards in, but I honestly don’t think I moved any faster.  I finished in 1:56:10, which meant the first and second halves were within seconds of eachother.

My wife and kids were there to meet me.  My oldest son playing official photographer!  Chuck was there too, having rocked his first half in 1:47 and some change!

I felt a mix of nausea, likely caused by a clump of phlegm which had been in my throat most of the race, and total and complete fatigue.  I love finishing a race with nothing left in the tank, because I know I gave my all, rather than thinking I could have gone faster.

Finishers all got a pretty cool coffee mug, and the owners of Striders cooked up some delicious hotdogs and hamburgers for all participants and their families.  It was great to sit out on the grass with family and friends and reflect on the race.

Joanie and Dave both finished the race as well, as did 110 other runners.  Congrats to everyone who made the distance!!

Final thoughts on the race.  It’s an easy course in that it is fairly flat, but by flat I mean, no major hill climbs.  It’s never really flat, since you’re constantly on a slight grade, either up of down, and you spent a fair amount of energy concentrating on the path ahead to avoid rocks and bison turds!

I got my first blister in a race too - just a couple of small ones on the inside of my right foot.

I’d do this race again in a heart beat though.  It was well organized and the scenery was great.  I do like the half distance on a good downhill for some help with speed, but it’s always good to mix it up a little.  I’m actually thinking of registering for the 50k they do out on the island in March, and maybe the year after, I’ll give the 50 miler a go!

read comments (1)