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!