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Utah Valley Half Marathon

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Location:

Salt Lake City,UT,United States

Member Since:

Sep 14, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

52 marathons, Overall winner 15 times, PR 2:20:25 at St. George 2013, Kona Ironman 2002, Zero DNF

2016 Races

Personal:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
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Elliptical Lifetime Miles: 1295.72
Stairmaster Lifetime Miles: 3252.63
Rowing Machine Lifetime Miles: 335.05
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La Sportiva Vertical K Lifetime Miles: 78.50
Nike LunaRacer +3 Lifetime Miles: 129.20
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Nike Pegasus 31 Light Blue Lifetime Miles: 640.75
Altra Lone Peak 2.5 Lifetime Miles: 99.50
Nike LunaRacer V3 Camo Lifetime Miles: 76.02
New Balance 890v4 Lifetime Miles: 41.25
Nike Pegasus 33 Lifetime Miles: 12.00
Race: Utah Valley Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:09:44, Place overall: 4, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.0013.100.000.000.0016.10

First off, congratulations to everyone who raced today.  There were some incredible performances.

As for me, it's hard to say how I really feel about this race.  I thought I would be on today and I wasn't.  My goal was a ~1:07 and I wasn't even close.

I struggled immensely in the early miles which has been a trend for my last few half's.  This time, however, I don't think I went out too fast and I didn't exactly have an excuse (SLC I had 30 miles in my legs in 2 months and Provo I used as a training run).  I should be able to run 5:10s down a mountain.  Apparently I can't, or at least not today.  Mile 3 about killed me and I was on the brink of a meltdown, which officially has never happened in my 12 years of running. Fortunately the running gods didn't want to break my confidence completely so they gave me back some fast miles for 5 and 6.  From there I was in survival mode and did everything I could to get in a rhythm and hold off the oncomers who I could have sworn were on my heals the entire time.  Unfortunately Kyle Perry must have hit a bigger wall than me because he came back into my sights at about mile 10 which gave me much needed motivation to keep up my pace. I didn't quite catch him but at least having someone to chase kept me focused through the finish.  What I don't understand is why I was suffering as much through 3 and 4 as I was at the end.  This just doesn't make for an enjoyable race. :)  What's done is done so now to what's next.

From my Plans and Goals post,  After Utah Valley, "I plan to spend the summer season doing some damage to the local track (I might have to jump the fence) with the hope of simply getting faster and setting 5k, 10k, and half marathon PRs.  I have never specifically trained for the shorter distances because I never raced in high school or college, but I suspect that by doing so I will see big improvements in my marathon.  The end goal of it all will be to set a PR (sub 2:22) at Chicago in early October.  I admit, of course, that the OTQ is my ultimate objective but that goal will have to be kept in my head for now."

Basically what it comes down to is no more dinkin' off.  More miles (slower and faster) are needed.  Simple as that.

Time Distance Split time Split pace Elev. chg.
0:05:09 1 5:09 5:09 -45
0:10:16 2 5:07 5:08 -25
0:15:48 3 5:31 5:31 25
0:21:08 4 5:20 5:21 -80
0:26:13 5 5:04 5:05 -122
0:31:18 6 5:04 5:05 -94
0:36:32 7 5:14 5:15 -57
0:41:48 8 5:15 5:15 -66
0:47:05 9 5:17 5:17 -58
0:52:29 10 5:24 5:24 -51
0:58:03 11 5:34 5:34 -13
1:03:28 12 5:24 5:24 -77
1:08:48 13 5:20 5:21 -1
1:09:45 13.17 0:56 5:30 -14

Nike LunaRacer V2 Miles: 13.10Nike LunarFly Miles: 3.00
Comments
From allie on Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 01:13:54 from 24.10.191.18

sorry about the struggles today, but i think you held on quite well, especially considering you weren't feeling it in the early miles of the race.

i like your plan moving forward, and i think that sub-2:22 at chicago is well within your reach.

From Superfly on Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 01:15:11 from 74.211.21.81

Good job man. Your a racing machine. Keep it up and don't sweat having a bad race. You just busted a great one at Ogden only a few weeks ago.

From Teena Marie on Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 01:32:23 from 67.2.101.26

I'm telling you ... you need to do your TM trick!!! :)

Sorry that you struggled, but man alive, that is still wicked fast!!! ESPECIALLY considering your hardcore win 3 weeks ago! :) :) :)

I am looking forward to seeing how your new plan of attack pans out.

Here's to your upcoming sub 2:22! :)

From Little Bad Legs on Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 01:40:05 from 68.186.75.3

Still an impressive time. Go get that OTQ in Chicago!!

From Seth on Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 11:15:16 from 75.169.118.22

Nice work holdin on when you didn't feel 100% You're racing has been incredible considering all the cross training you've done compared to actual running. You still have serious potential!

From Jake K on Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 11:39:34 from 67.177.21.60

I think you should feel pretty good about bouncing back so quick after Ogden. Without the chance to build up much of a base for that marathon, it probably took more out of you than you realized, and you ran damn well there! We should definitely so some training together this summer, now that we know that we are essentially neighbors!

From Jon on Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 14:02:07 from 74.177.77.120

Bummer, man. I think Jake is right about recovery from Ogden- no worries about this race. Still a fine time.

From Paul on Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 15:39:49 from 24.10.141.104

Sorry you had a harsh time. It can be hard coming back only 3-4 weeks after a marathon. Good job on keeping your head on finding ways to stay motivated late in the race. That's a big deal.

From Chad Robinson on Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 01:34:24 from 208.110.158.185

Fantastic race Fritz, and nice job keeping your head in the game despite your body protesting. Have some quality summer training so you can nail it at Chicago.

From Steve on Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 10:04:43 from 76.27.106.132

Great race! That was a fast crowd. Glad I'm taking some time off.

From David on Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 17:41:25 from 174.52.182.34

Way to push through the pain! Unfortunately the pain was there. Good race though. I think you could do awesome with shorter distance races. I am doing the opposite going from those to longer ones. Good luck!

From Adam RW on Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 15:09:05 from 155.101.152.123

Fritz,

I'm sorry today did not live up to expectations. It was great talking to you some after the race and I think overall your plan to hit the track and work on the speed will come back to help you in these longer races.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 19:28:57 from 192.168.1.1

Fritz:

You do have a 1:07 on this course, but some buttons need to be pushed right for it to happen. One, post-marathon it is common to experience a suppression in neural drive for a couple of months. So you can run long and slow, and you can run short and fast, but not long and fast. So half marathon often suffers the worst. Two, it is difficult to run a half at 5:10 pace when you've recently struggled to run a 4:55 mile. The mile needs to be somewhere in the 4:35-4:40 range.

Be careful with the track as it can introduce odd injuries due to imbalances. 100 meters is OK, occasional time trials are OK, but as far as the actual training is concerned, I would prefer measuring out a straight stretch on the road and doing it there.

The first question to answer is if you can crack 60 in 400, and if not, fix it.

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