Second Wind

Snow Canyon Half Marathon

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Location:

Las Vegas,NV,USA

Member Since:

Jan 13, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

1600M - 5:51 (Corp Challenge 2009)

5K - 19:38 (Tule Springs Stake 2009)

10K - 42:30 (Spectrum 2008)

Half-Marathon - 1:28:23 (Fontana 2009)

Marathon - 3:29:28 (St. George 2008, Monsoon)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Train well enough to run a BQ 3:15 marathon.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Continue to train well stay healthy and enjoy running for many years to come.

Personal:

Married with 4 children ages 8-14.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00
Asics 2170 Grey/Green Lifetime Miles:						448.80
Asics 2170 Grey/Green 2 Lifetime Miles:						25.10

Sat, Nov 17, 2007

Race: Snow Canyon Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:45:12, Place overall: 70, Place in age division: 8

Slow miles	Fast miles	Total Distance
0.00	13.10	13.10

What a great day for a race!! Took the buses to the starting line, waited in line for about 10 minutes for one of the 3 POPs available at the top. (not sure how you plan a race and have only 3 POPs for so many runners. Luckily we made it through the POPs before the start of the race and then we were off to the starting line.

My goal for the day was to go sub 1:40, but having never run the course I really didn't know what to expect. So we were off down through the canyon and man it was steep. That first mile was way way way too fast for me 5:45. I tried pulling back a bit but the second mile was still way fast at around 6:20. Close to mile three is when I started to feel like I was going to die with stomach cramps and side aches. When we got to the dirt section of the course I started to feel the effects of going way too fast in the early miles and had a hard time maintaining any sort of decent pace. My legs were already feeling fatigued by mile 5 and I was ready to give up and die right there on the road. But I kept going and eventually the cramps subsided but the fatigue never did and I just couldn't find the strength to pick up the pace. I don't know if it was the first two miles that killed me or the higher mileage training I have been doing lately that is causing me more fatigue. Whatever it was, it didn't help me enjoy this race today at all. I was able to hang on for a 1:45:12 finish and was able to hold off a late surging pack of runners closing on me quick. Missed my goal of 1:40 but I am still satisfied due to the toughness of this course with its steep downhills and steady uphills and my dumb strategy for the first 3 miles. I would like to attempt this race again with a different race strategy to see how it turns out.

Complaints:
No aid station at the 5.5 mile turnaround. (had my gel in hand just waiting for water to wash it down only to find there was no aid station)
Lack of adequate POPs at the starting line.

Compliments:
Great scenery.
Perfect weather and time of year for a half marathon.
Fair finishers medals and T-Shirts considering the cheap $35 entry fee.

Comments

From Clay on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 11:14:24

Jeff, good job of hanging on, and some races are like that, you just don't know what to expect. I think any race you finish injury free is a good race, keep up the good work and good things will continue to happen. Be safe out there.

From Andy on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 11:36:45

Good job. Sometimes it's good to go out faster than you normally would just to test your limits.

From josse on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 23:47:35

This was not a record breaking course, so I think you did great. And the finish was a killer.

From Mark on Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 11:16:46

Those first few miles were pretty impressive. Too bad it wasn't a 5K, you would have had a PR. Whether or not it was dumb you can definitely say you gave it your all.

From Dave Holt on Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 12:49:29

It's not your fault you went out so hard; it's the huge drop. The Spectrum 10K used to run that route when I was younger - and in 10th grade I had a mile PR at about 4:55 and then ran that race and hit the first mile at 4:40. My buddy and I just looked at each other and said, "Holy crap!"

From Lybi on Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 12:58:14

Wow, tough situation--can't believe there was no water at the aid station. Maybe you ran out of fuel? Great race, congratulations!

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 13:08:42

Read my comment in MarcieJ's blog on "too fast". Same applies here. Holding back on a steep downhill to hit a pre-determined pace can actually backfire - your quads get ripped because you are breaking, and thus they are sacrificed to actually make you run slower. The reason your legs started feeling fatigued is more complex that just going out too fast - you had an injury that caused an interruption in training, you also ran a marathon not too long ago, and the course went from a steep downhill to rolling hills, which is brutal on both the nervous system and the muscles. But on a course like this, there is not much you can do to come out unscathed. So you may just as well let your legs loose on the downhill while you can, and then survive.

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