Today I ran the first and hopefully last (marathon is way better) DesNews Half Marathon which was my first real road race since Canyonlands in March. Finished 3rd overall behind Brett and Riley but I felt good about the effort and was especially happy to be back racing and getting to see the gang of local runners. Five years ago today I ran the DesNews 10k in 39:35 one day after finishing my last round of chemo at Huntsman. So I am also grateful to be healthy and running faster than I did then (aided by a few more red blood cells).
I woke up at 3:30 and on my way to Rice Eccles I stopped by the trusty 7-11 that is open 24hours. Sadly they didn't have any coffee prepared which makes no sense because I don't know what else someone would be buying at 7-11 that early in the morning. I reluctantly settled for the ice coffee that would full of energizing caffeine and sugar. Boarded the bus and arrived at the starting area at 4:25, 95 minutes before the start. In hindsight I should have gotten a ride to the start and slept in for another hour. For the next 45 minutes I laid on the asphalt and my shoe served as a surprisingly good pillow. Then chatted with Kevin and Brandon and few other familiar faces until the race started.
Went out with Riley and Brett but after ½ a mile I backed it off a bit but still went through the first mile in 4:40, a bit too fast. From there Riley and Brett slowly inched away and I ran the next 6 miles down the canyon at right around a 5 min pace. At the bottom of the canyon Riley and Brett were about a minute ahead but it was encouraging to see that their lead wasn’t growing. My momentum really slowed as I turned onto Foothill and I ended up finishing that mile (#8) in a relatively slow 5:21. At that point I was concerned that I had gone out too hard but fortunately my legs came back on yet another downhill and finished the next mile in 5:05. From there I just tried to hold on, keep my form and not fall apart before the last mile. Seeing Amiee on her bike down South Temple was also a good distraction. My goal was somewhat accomplished as I felt like I still had some strength going up 9th south but I still finished that mile in 5:30, which I guess isn’t a complete disaster. It was great to see Scott and Spencer on that last stretch and fun to try to outkick a 10K’er probably 10 years older than me who was wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt.
Overall I would consider the day a success mostly because I didn’t reinjure myself and I set a very aided half marathon PR. It was also great to catch up with Brett, Rob, Mike, Matt (who doubled today after a big exam), Kevin, Collin, Kassi and Melody after the race.
Splits: 4:40,4:56,5:03,5:05,5:05,4:59,4:58,5:21,5:05,5:21,5:20,5:19,5:30
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