Not much to say about today. Just a repeat of last year. Died again at 19. Not as bad as it felt once I looked back at the splits but still died. Something just turned off as I came off the volcano outside of Diamond Valley and I had nothing left again. Got a little frustrated as I came across the half at 1:21:50(well over the 1:19-1:20 I was looking for) but tried to not let it get to me as I figured I could bust out some good times coming down the last 10. Didnt happen. Walked through every aid station from 19 on.
Decided to come back and fill in a few things for future reference.
1-7 (6:04,6:13,6:02,5:58,6:15,5:58,5:59) After a mile or so I found myself with Steve Olsen and we decided to work towards sub 2:40 together. I know hes done that a few times so I figured id follow his pacing and see what happened. Slower than last year through here and my quads where already tight. Hoping the slower pace will help out the last 10k.
8-13(7:02,6:33,6:28,6:42,6:17,6:04) We started up Veyo pretty slow and about halfway up I couldnt take it anymore so I picked the pace up. I was feeling good and wanted to get moving. I was hoping Steve would come with me but he stayed back. Hit the next set well. This is where I felt the best during the race. I passed several people (most of whom eventually passed me back coming into town) and was running strong and smooth mentally and physically. Got to the half and was a bit frustrated with the time. 1:21:50. I was shooting for 1:19-1:20 and expecting to physically good with that effort. I could see being sore and a little tired here if I was pushing 1:17-1:18 but not almost 1:22. Tried to be positive and pick up the pace. I was hoping I could push low 6 or even sub 6 for the remainder of the race.
14-20(6:08,6:01,5:51,6:02,6:16,6:44,6:50) I didnt check my pace at all through here and the first few miles are dead on what I wanted but coming down the big drop around the volcano it was like a switch was turned off somewhere inside me. My legs instantly lost all energy and my heartrate jumped so much I was actually aware of it. I never notice my heartrate when running even when sprinting but from here until the last mile I was very aware of how high it seemed and how hard it was beating. I just kept pushing but holy crap was it hard. Then once again it all starts coming undone at 19. The climb up Winchester was bad news and my form was all over from here on out.
21-26.2(6:36,7:13,6:56,6:46,7:10,6:50,1:12 at 5:38 pace) Aside from last year I have never hated the end of a race so bad as through here. I tried with everything I had to go on the downhills but my legs where so shot. I just couldnt get a response from my body. Each step was painfull and I developed a massive cramp just under my ribcage that ran up into my shoulder that would worsen on the pounding downhills. The top women runner passed me on the downhill just before Chuckawalla and I just got more and more angry with each person that passed and I couldnt keep pace with them. Steven passed me coming down 300W and I just wanted to keep him in my sights to not loose anymore ground but I fell further and further back. As we turned onto 300S I pushed with all I had. I was able to catch him and we had a good sprint the last block 1/2 of the race. I just passed him at the finish. Yes Steve I sandbaged you bad. Sorry.
Frustrating as I felt I had much better training than I had before Utah Valley but ran so much worse. Hopefully a good rest will get me back into a groove of some kind. | 