Deseret News 10K Results

10K Finish Line

I love the Deseret News 10K. Even if it's typically hotter than comfortable and the aid station water comes from a hose (if you're even lucky enough to have water provided that year), it's so much fun to run an early race along the parade route.

This race is held every Pioneer Day (July 24th) in conjunction with a 5K, half marathon, and marathon. I have always and will always choose the 10K since 6.2 miles isn't a race distance you see too often, and the 6:00 AM start allows me to get to work on time. :)

I didn't want to push hard in this race since I had the Timpanogos Half three days later, but I do always set a goal going into a race. Since last year I ran the 10K in 53:00, my goal was to simply break 50 minutes. I finished in 49:37 (7:59 min/mile).

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon Results

Bryce Canyon was the first time I covered a sub-2:00 half marathon. As pacers we have to be able to run at least 10-15 minutes faster than our pace time, but even though my PR is in the low 1:40s, I've always kept it super conservative and opt for the 2:00+ groups. No more. I realized I needed to stop playing it safe and actually use these half marathons or marathons as more of a training run, rather than a leisurely outing.

Bryce Canyon was a beautiful and quite easy course. My friend Crystal and I teamed up to lead the 1:55 group with the American Flyers Race Pacers. We came in a bit fast (1 minute ahead of schedule), but we had a blast! Troy and I spent the rest of the weekend hiking through Bryce Canyon National Park. So fun! I know I say it almost every post, but the Bryce Half is a race I'd love to attend again!

American Fork Half Marathon Results

I had three goal races going into 2013: break 1:45 at American Fork, break 1:40 at Timpanogos, and qualify for Boston at Big Cottonwood. June 15th was my first chance to see how my months of hard training translated on the race course.

I've ran American Fork twice before. In 2011 I finished the course in approximately 2:03; in 2012 I ran a 1:53. It's safe to say I'm familiar with the course. During my training runs, I'd visualize where I was going to push my comfort levels, and how I'd tackle the small climbs on the parkway. I was a little nervous going into the race, but overall I felt confident in my training.

Mile splits 1-6:

8:33

8:11

8:06

7:34

7:06

7:06

The race didn't start well. I lined up with the 1:45 pacer with the plan of following him until the last mile or two and from there pushing for my sub-1:45. The gun went off and thousands of runners funneled down the narrow one-lane road. This is where I'm going to take a second to gripe. Runners, if you want to approach a half marathon as a leisurely, catch-up-with-my-girlfriends stroll, great. But for heaven's sake, do not start the gab session while toeing the line with the guy who's running a 5 min/mile. As you can tell by my splits, my first mile was incredibly slower than every other mile because I was swerving, tip toeing, and not-so-subtly asking walls of ladies to let me through. If this happens at my next race, I've resolved I will have no problem red rovering myself right through the ladies who think it's appropriate to walk four abreast on a very narrow course. 

During the chaos of the fist mile, I lost sight of my pacer. It took me three miles to finally break away from the crowds and find my running stride.

I pushed my pace as hard as I knew I could without hitting that possible burnout zone.

Mile splits 7-13:

7:25

7:42

7:52

8:07

8:03

8:07

8:08

By the time we exited the canyon at mile 9, I was shoulder to shoulder with my pacer again. The course becomes more flat at this point as runners wind around the golf course. I continued to focus on leg turnover, and hydrating at each station as the course became hotter. 

About 11 the fatigue started to hit. That's when I had to take the mental component up a notch, and remind myself what I was aiming for. I kept telling myself I had already ran eleven miles on pace, what's two more? 

I finished with a time of 1:43:22! I hit my first goal!

Utah Valley Marathon Results

My second marathon pacing experience was the Utah Valley Marathon. The combination of pacing at Provo City and the fact that I've ran Utah Valley twice before made me feel 100% confident going into this race. I opted to stick with the 5:00 group again--I want to pace another marathon or two before I start moving my way up the time spots.

Mile 18. Still loving the journey!

I must admit I had a less than stellar experience at Utah Valley last year, which is one of the motivators behind running it again this year. This year was a perfect race! The weather held up, I had an amazing group of experienced and newbie marathoners stick with me, and I felt strong the whole 26 miles. 

The Utah Valley Marathon made a slight tweak to the last 6 miles of the course. Now when runners enter Provo, the route follows the east side of University Avenue instead of the west side. It's amazing what a difference such a small change can make! This provided quite a bit more shade when the temps started to become uncomfortably warm. A+ for the change, Utah Valley!

Rocking my Utah Race Pacers gear

I finished with an overall time of 4:59:03. About a quarter mile out, I saw I was going to be a bit early, but truth be told, I was ready at that point to call it good. Five hours is a long time to be running in the sun! Though I could have been a little closer to that five-hour mark, I'm incredibly happy with this year's event. I can tell marathons are becoming much less physically and mentally taxing, and dare I say pounding out 26.2 miles is almost becoming easy?!

I look forward to running the 2014 Utah Valley Marathon as either a racer or pacer!