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Deseret News 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
Bike Lifetime Miles: 8003.27
Elliptical Lifetime Miles: 1295.72
Stairmaster Lifetime Miles: 3252.63
Rowing Machine Lifetime Miles: 335.05
Swimming Lifetime Miles: 14.97
Treadmill Lifetime Miles: 1111.92
Saucony Kinvara 2 Grey Lifetime Miles: 994.29
Saucony Kinvara 2 Blue Lifetime Miles: 528.18
Salomon SpeedCross III Lifetime Miles: 263.03
La Sportiva Vertical K Lifetime Miles: 78.50
Nike LunaRacer +3 Lifetime Miles: 129.20
Nike LunarLaunch Lifetime Miles: 319.30
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: Deseret News Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:24:31, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.0026.200.000.000.0026.20

Set PRs for 5k, 10k, half marathon (all extremely aided) and barely for the marathon (30 seconds better than Ogden).  Early splits were probably not a recipe for a perfect race but I couldn't help but take advantage of the cliff like terrain.  Ran with Jon Kotter through 17 then started feeling it in the quads.  Started gaining on him again at around 20 but he maintained the gap when we hit South Temple.  Last mile I gained another 100 yds so I finished about 30 seconds back.  If only my sister had a GU at mile 24. :) He ran a smart race for a first timer and I am sure he has the OTQ in him with a little more experience.  Now I get to go to work.  Oh boy.  I will post a full report later. 

Nice job to the 10k'ers, James for 3rd in the marathon and anyone else out there taking a pounding in the marathon.

Short race report:

Woke up at 1:50, took a shower and had some toast w/pb&j and almond chocolate milk for breakfast.  Arrived at Rice Eccles at 3:15 and boarded one of the first busses.  Arrived at the top of Big Mountain a little before 4 so I there was 1.5 hours before race time.  I was still extremely tired because I didn't fall asleep until 11 the night before so I found a spot to lay down in the dirt and weeds.  Relaxed there for the next hour.  At 5 I made my way to the warm up tent, visited the porta potty then did a quick jog down the road.  I ran into James, Rob and Jon Kotter (my new friend for the next 17 miles) at the start line.

We were off at exactly 5:30. Jon Rosswog jumped ahead at a blistering pace and Jon and I went with him.   I wasn't watching my splits but I knew weren't going slowly.  In hindsight and after looking at my first 4 splits (4:45, 4:40, 4:44 and 5:00) I think these early miles cost me a minute or two in the end but it was still fun.

Rossy let us go at mile 2 or 3 and then it was just me Jon running shoulder to shoulder until mile 17.  I know Jon could have gotten out ahead at certain points but I think he was smart to let me set the pace, a pace that was probably a little too fast for me in the early miles.  

Miles 7 & 8 up Little Mountain were difficult but I wasn't too concerned because I would be able to recover on the downhill.  Jon and I passed James and Rossy as we reentered Emigration Canyon after the short out and back up Burr's Lane(?).  We probably had a 3 to 4 minute lead.

 At the half way point was the first time I looked at my watch.  Slightly to my surprise it read almost 1:09 flat which was a new half PR for me.  At this point I was still feeling good so I didn't see any reason in slowing down.  The rest of Emigration felt smooth and it was nice to finally see the condo towers on the horizon at about mile 16.  Mile 17 included the short uphill and then the downhill through Bonneville golf course.  Jon and I both agreed that we would rather be golfing.  As the road flattened out on Wasatch Drive my legs really started feeling heavy and I knew I would have to let Jon go if I was going to have a chance to finish strong.  Jon waved for me to catch up but I couldn't respond so he slowly got out in front.  By the time we turned around on Thunderbird drive he probably had a 300-400 yard lead.  Fortunately the newly paved Foothill Drive felt considerably better and I noticed that I inching my back as we crossed Sunnyside Drive.  At that point I thought I had an outside chance of catching him especially if was going to hit the impending wall.  To Jon's credit I think he picked it back up at bit as we started down 5th south and then South Temple because I noticed that my progress was stalled.  

At mile 23 I think he still had a 300 yard gap and he didn't appear to slowing considerably.  I saw my sister at that point and asked for a GU but she didn't have one.  What the?  She already feels bad enough so I won't say anymore about that. :)  As I turned left on 3rd East my hamstrings started to really tighten and I had to shorten my stride on the downhill.  Jon was still holding strong and I wasn't closing quickly so my hope of catching him started to fade.  The last leg up 8th South actually felt good after all of the downhill and that is where I really started gaining on Jon.  Unfortunately it was too little too late and he finished 30 seconds ahead. He definitely ran a smart race considering this is his first marathon since 2003.  What's ironic is that even though I have more experience I think I was the one who didn't pace it right and it turned out to hurt me in the end.  Still a fun and challenging race and it was great getting to run with such a strong runner, who is also a very nice guy.  It's guys like this who make it difficult to despise BYU. :)

Time Distance Split time Elev. chg. Distance Time
0:04:45 1 4:45 -360    
0:09:26 2 4:40 -374    
0:14:11 3 4:44 -430   1st 5k 0:14:40
0:19:12 4 5:00 -221    
0:24:32 5 5:20 -91    
0:30:11 6 5:39 75   1st 10k 0:31:23
0:36:28 7 6:16 139    
0:42:27 8 5:59 -47    
0:47:36 9 5:08 -221    
0:53:09 10 5:32 -125    
0:58:17 11 5:08 -147    
1:03:28 12 5:11 -193    
1:08:46 13 5:18 -148
  Half 1:09:18
1:14:05 14 5:18 -96    
1:19:23 15 5:18 -133    
1:24:44 16 5:20 -89   5k 0:16:29
1:30:10 17 5:26 -128    
1:36:07 18 5:57 20    
1:41:52 19 5:44 -49    
1:47:36 20 5:44 -72   10k 0:34:28
1:53:47 21 6:10 53    
1:59:19 22 5:31 -191    
2:05:10 23 5:50 -78    
2:10:54 24 5:44 -161    
2:16:42 25 5:47 -100    
2:22:43 26 6:00 -6    
2:24:31 26.33 2:00 15   Last 10k 0:36:58

Nike LunaRacer +2 Miles: 26.20
Comments
From jtshad on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 15:20:20 from 204.134.132.225

Great job, congrats on the PR and second place finish. Sounds like you ran a strong race on a tough course.

From Burt on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 15:21:48 from 206.19.214.144

Congratulations on 2nd place and the PR! Man, that's fast!

From Superfly on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 15:54:45 from 74.211.21.81

That's a really good race on a what's said to be a nasty course. Your the real deal this year man. Keep it up! I'm pulling for you to get your qualifier.

From allie on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 15:57:26 from 24.10.191.18

way to go, fritz. you looked great out there today. i thought you were going to catch jon when i saw you guys on foothill -- sounds like you made up even more ground after that. impressive running by both of you, and an excellent time on that challenging course. congrats on the PR and 2nd place. have fun at work...

From Adam RW on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 16:07:02 from 155.101.152.123

Fritz, I think I saw you at ~21 mi. That is a great race and a PR is a PR even if only by a second much less 30! It would have been nice to break into the double digits for wins but that will have to wait for the next race. Nice running!

From Rob on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 16:39:18 from 206.71.84.68

Nice job. Don't you get freaked out when you run a 5K PR the first 3.1 miles of a marathon, or do you just know your body so well by now that you know you won't blow up?

From Rob Murphy on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 16:39:56 from 98.202.141.17

Great job out there today Fritz. You are one gritty, determined competitor.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 17:05:38 from 192.168.1.1

Congratulations!

From Steve on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 17:44:24 from 209.235.31.148

I agree with Superfly, you are the real deal. Great race.

From Kelli on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 19:45:41 from 71.219.99.3

Very solid race---setting all of those PR's while running a tough marathon is quite impressive. You looked awesome at the finish line.

From Jon on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 21:14:38 from 98.71.138.170

4 PR's in 1 day- nice work.

From fiddy on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 23:14:28 from 174.23.140.68

See my comment in the paper. I predicted a 2:27-2:28 for you. On the other hand I shouldn't be shocked by this kind of thing anymore.

2007 Seafair

2. Fritz 2:41:27

5. Fiddy 2:52:48

Difference 11:21

2011 Des News

2. Friz 2:24:31

3. Fiddy 2:35:22

Difference 10:51

I'm closing the gap!

From Lily on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 23:18:28 from 67.199.178.210

Nice going. You are definitely THE MAN! Love it!

From Jake K on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 11:03:51 from 69.131.218.205

Great run Fritz! Now rest up and we can start hitting some long runs to build towards nice, flat, sea level marathons this fall!

From Fritz on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 13:39:06 from 65.116.116.6

Thanks everyone.

Rob - I didn't look at my watch until half way but I did know those early miles were super quick. I just run based on perceived effort but in hindsight it's apparent that my aggressive first half took a tool in the end. Would my total time be faster if my half came in at 1:10 or 1:11? Probably, but it was still fun to run fast down that mountain.

Allie - At that point I also thought I would catch him. I am a little disappointed that I didn't make it up in the last 2 miles but the way my legs feel today I think I gave it what I could.

James - I think it's better that I didn't read your comment in the pager. :) If we keep cutting our times like this every 4 years we will be in good shape.

Jake - I am running Chicago so that will be the big stage for me. A week of recovery from this then I will be back at it.

From Rossy on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 15:45:35 from 167.138.234.19

Awesome race and congratulations on the PR Fritz! Plus, the start was so much fun!!! Those first few miles were great turnover training for future races (I read that Soviet marathon runners would do this type of workout--running down mountains--to increase their speed/turnover). It was nice talking with you with you and good luck with the recovery!

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 17:08:31 from 192.168.1.1

Some more thoughts. I would say this is a higher quality performance than Ogden. My predictor says that Ogden and DesNews are equivalent, and I would say that they are at least equivalent. DesNews may actually be slower. I've averaged about a minute or two slower on the current version of the DesNews course, which started in 2006. So we have positive evidence for the response to higher mileage so far.

From Teena Marie on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 21:14:38 from 67.2.126.85

LOVE the new pic! :)

Congrats on yet another amazing race. How in the world you went to work afterwards is beyond me!!!

Oh yeah, one more thing, I hope you don't mind but I went bragging at school today telling all my classmates about how "my good friend" kicked some major trash at D-News! So ... if anyone asks, we are like best friends now!!! :) :) :)

Seriously, congratulations! :)

From Becky1 on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 12:07:18 from 76.23.13.133

Congratulations!!!

From Fritz on Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 17:47:47 from 65.100.192.74

Sasha - I think DesNews could be faster but I would need to get in more extreme downhill training. Without doing that I agree that DesNews is a bit slower.

Teena - I already tell everyone we are best friends.

From Holt on Sun, Jul 31, 2011 at 20:46:19 from 71.213.88.46

A belated great job Fritz!

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Aug 01, 2011 at 14:23:25 from 192.168.1.1

Fritz - those were exactly my thoughts when they moved the course to start at the top of the Big Mountain in 2004. I did enough extreme downhill training to be able to run St. George all out without being sore. But it did not seem to help with Desnews. I have been running times that never touched what I could do in St. George, and I would get so sore that I had to ride a bike the next day sometimes. What is interesting is that in a training run I could run race pace from the start to mile 16, and not be sore at all. So I am thinking what does you in is the last 10 miles, even though that is is not the steepest grade, after you've been prepped by the first 16. Perhaps it is not even the downhill, but the uphill around 18 and 21 that you happen to reach in a tender state, followed by more downhill to seal the damage.

Also note that we've had some very decent African runners (2:13 ideal course caliber) try this course, and all they could do was 2:19 (2004 was a short course, does not count). I suppose they could go as fast as 2:16 if they trained specifically for this type of course, but to go faster, they would need to be in better shape across the board.

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