Speed only kills if you don't have it!

Provo Canyon 1/2 marathon

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Location:

Riverton,UT,

Member Since:

Jun 19, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Short-Term Running Goals:

 2022 Running Goals:

Stay fit and healthy.  Run a decent Boston and St. George marathon.

 

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Keep fit and stay semi-competitive as long as I can.

 

Personal:

I have a wonderful wife and son and we live in Riverton/Herriman Utah. I am a high school teacher, and head coach for cross country and track at Mountain Ridge High. 

 

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Race: Provo Canyon 1/2 marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:13:46, Place overall: 5, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.0013.100.000.0017.10

Interesting race today!  Curt called me last night at about 10:00pm and asked if I could help with busses in the morning, I said sure!  I went up with the first buss and showed them where to turn around, and then then stood up the canyon for an hour turning busses around.  It was actually pretty nice, because I was a mile away from the starting line, with a potty all to myself, and I just warmed up running down to the starting line.

I didn't feel like running today and actually wanted to stay at my wife's family reunion, but I was glad I ran.  I saw Chad at the start and wanted to run with him, but a mile into the race when I was all by myself I figured he had started late or something.  Dave and Sasha took off like crazy at the start, and Mike Dudley followed them.  Another guy was in between them and me.  I sat in 5th place the entire race and that is where I finished. 

The splits were off half of the time so I quit paying attention, especially after I saw four 6 mile markers (I think the third one was right).   When we turned up the road to Bridal Veil Falls the 4th place guys cut the turn around by a good half a block, I don't know if he knew that I saw him or not.  No one was there to keep people honest.  On the way down I saw someone turn around in front of me at the mile 7 marker, I was getting annoyed by now!  But that guy ended up being Steve Ashbaker, and he was running bandit, so it didn't matter.  I caught up to Steve and asked him to run with me since I had been running alone for most of the race, and he did.  Steve ran with me for just over a mile and a half, and told me some of his story for the last couple of months, glad he did.  Around mile 9 he dropped back and I was all alone again.  I cruised down the canyon feeling pretty good and knowing I was really close to my goal pace.

Everything went well until the last couple of miles where you run through a bunch of parking lots.  I went the wrong direction twice!  The first time I only lost about 10 seconds, but the second one just before 13 miles was the killer.  I came out of a parking lot and started running to the south where the old finish was, I got about 15 seconds in that direction and realized I had goofed.  I turned around and headed back, then started to doubt myself again.  Lucky for me Steve came along and was heading in the right direction, so I turned back around and headed into the finish area.  I was mad at first, but now it is rather funny!  At least I didn't get left behind at the start like Chad and Adam W.!  I finished with a time of 1:13:46.  My PR is 1:13:41, but if you cut out my screw ups I ran about 1:13:00ish, and I would have been right where I wanted to be for my goal.  Oh well, it was a good race for me.  I felt really strong and could have gone further, probably another half to make it a full.  Maybe it is the getting up at 4:00am thing, but I was in marathon mode today, and think I could have ran good in a full marathon this morning.  I ended up 5th overall and 1st in the age.  I was also pleased that I ran as fast or faster today, with my screw ups, as Sasha's winning time last year.  Good solid race for me!

(Tangent-168 miles)

Cooled down with Chad and Adam afterward.  Everyone ran well today, but especially Dave and Sasha.  Dave ran awesome, probably his best race ever, if I could be so bold!  And Sasha probably had one of his best, if not his best, performances in a half ever too.

Comments
From Paul Petersen on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 19:12:04

Way to go James. Too bad about the missed turns, but you know what you have in you. You are running the TOU Half, right?

From James on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 19:22:54

Paul,

I don't know if I will or not, but my wife and little sister are. I really wanted to do Hobble Creek, but it looks like I will be up here. Maybe I'll pace Logan or Jon for the second half or something if I don't do it.

From Chris Rogers on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 22:53:17

James,

Great race! Looks like you're definitely headed for good things at St. George. Even though you didn't get a PR, you know it was definitely worth a PR effort, which should help you in a month and a half at SGM. I need to get my rear in gear so I can hang with you!

From Cody on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 22:57:51

Nice race! Too bad about the course mishaps. I am sure you would have preferred to get the PR, but a PR effort is nice too. You are having a great year. Keep it up.

From Dave Holt on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 23:33:25

Hey, sorry I missed you at the end. I cooled down with Sasha and then had to head out. Good race. Although a PR is always great, it is great to say that you're so close when so many stupid things went wrong (not saying you're stupid! Just the course markings and such...) Thanks for the positive remarks. I'll see you down at SGM. No Hobble for me, x-country season takes all my Saturday's for awhile now.

From brent on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 23:38:45

I thought there were 3 five mile markers and 3 six mile markers. Just kidding. Great race considering the mishaps. The good news, your in great shape for the next race. This is a typical Curt race, change the course each year with no one directing the runners. All in fun, great attitude.

From Jon on Sun, Aug 12, 2007 at 01:45:16

Good job on the race. And I'll always take a pacer...

From David on Sun, Aug 12, 2007 at 17:09:11

Nice race, I'm real impressed with that time. I had some serious course issues this weekend up here, so I'll commiserate with you.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Aug 13, 2007 at 17:03:56

James:

I am just about to post the official results, but I need to do some editing to the chip times. First, with Mike Lewis - was he actually at the start, how much lead did he have on you before he made an early turnaround, and can you recall the exact location of his actual turnaround and describe it the best way possible, as well as provide an idea of how much time he cut off? Also, your official time is listed to be exactly 1 minute slower than what you are reporting (1:14:48, from which I am going to subtract two seconds, as it appears the chip timer was started 2 seconds early). Mike Lewis is listed as 1:13:25 (minus 2 seconds after I correct it, so 1:13:23). If you were indeed 1:13:46 clock time with no adjustments for the wrong turns, you would have seen him at the end, and he would have most likely passed you during one of your wrong turns. Can you explain the discrepancy?

Are you aware of anybody else in the race who turned around early?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Aug 13, 2007 at 17:07:00

Also, if you remember any of your splits, even the wrong ones, that would help too. Most particularly, the 10 mile and the 11 mile.

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