The morning started at 4:00 am, Kellie and I got up and got ready and then went down for some breakfast. We met up with James H, Bill and Dustin. We gave them a ride down to the bus pick up and then we split our ways because they were running the full marathon. Kellie and I boarded the bus and headed for the start line. It was a brisk morning, luckily they had some fires going. I love how organized this race is, it is by far the best Half Marathon that I have run. The race began about 3 minutes late, but I can handle 3 minutes. I ran into Sasha at the start line and I could tell that he was scoping out the competition. I could tell that there wasn't going to be much for him, maybe 1 or 2 is all. I wanted to finish under 1:20:00 and at least place in the top 10 overall and top 3 in my age group. Mile 1 6:03 - I started out in like 13th place, I could tell that there would be some guys that would drop off after about a mile so I wasn't to concerned at this point. I was running behind a kid that must have had both pockets full of sport beans. It was getting really annoying to listen to. I passed him just so that I didn't have to listen to that racket anymore. I wanted to make sure that I didn't go out ot fast, I really watched my pace on this making suer that I didn't get to excited and go out to fast. Mile 2 6:22 - This mile has a good incline to it, I picked off two more guys here on this mile and was now in 7th place and feeling good. I ran in a new pair of racing flats and really wasn't sure how I would like them. They only have 17 miles on them and they were not fast miles. I could still see the lead pack and the rest of the guys that were in front of me. I had a guy with yellow shoes in front of me that I was making sure he didn't pull away from me to far. Mile 3 6:07 - Back on some flat ground and thinking to my self, wow these miles are coming quick. I set my watch today for average pace and overall time. I usually have the miles showing too, but I really wanted to concentrate on making sure that I paid attention to my overall time. Shins are a little sore on this mile and I am thinking that maybe I made a mistake by wearing these new shoes? I grabbed a drink of water and continued chasing yellow shoe guy. Mile 4 6:07 - Shins are still a little sore, but now I can feel a slight side ache coming on????!!! I thought to my self, here we go again!@#@# I swithced up my breathing and really concentrated on making sure that it didn't grow into a bigger problem. Yellow shoe guy is still in front of me. Mile 5 - 5:55 - I decided that I would eat on of my roctane's at the aid station. I was hoping that it would help my side ache. I passed yellow show guy just after this mile and was starting to feel a lot better. I knew that this was the part of the race that I needed to make up for lost time that I lost on the harder part of the course. Mile 6 5:59 - Things are starting to click now, I am feeling good that I am now in 6th place and that I am almost half way. Mile 7 5:55 - I am pretty much all alone now, yellow shoe guy is quite a ways back and I can't see number 5 guy at all. This is a good thing and a bad thing. I like when I have somebody to chase, but I don't like when I have someone chasing me. I am still trying to put some time in the bank for the last 3 miles of the race. I am still feeling great and I actually couldn't believe that I was already at mile 7. Mile 8 5:53 - I catch a glimpse of #5 guy and so i start thinking to my self? Maybe I can catch him? But I also knew that there was still a lot of race left, with 3 flat miles at the end. I kind of start to feel sluggish and decide that I would eat my last roctane at the next aid station. Mile 9 5:43 - I was trying to run the tangents as best as I could. They had the left side of the road closed to runners. So I had to run as close as I could to the middle line to hit the tangents as best I could. Sasha said after that because that side of the road was closed that it added .1 to the course? I ate my last GU and could see that I was just about out of the canyon. My average pace was right at 5:59 up to this point, I wanted to be under a 6:00 min pace when I hit mile 10. So I knew that I needed to pick it up a bit. Mile 10 5:38 - I felt really, really good on this mile. I love roctane GU, maybe it is more mental but I can always tell a difference when I eat one and I was glad that I only had a 5k left and that I was still feeling good. I could still see #5 guy and was hoping that I could close the gap on him. Mile 11 5:57 - this is a fairly flat mile with some small rollers on it. I was glad that it was mostly coverd from the sun by trees. I closed the gap more on #5 guy and was still feeling good, but was ready to be done at the same time. I knew that there would be a long straight stretch to the finish line, and that is when I would try and catch #5 guy. Mile 12 6:13 - LEgs started to wabble a little bit on this mile. I could feel me slowing down. I decided that I would take gatorade for the last mile. I was a lot closer to #5 and was thinking that I could pass him if he didn't have a huge kick left in him. He never looked back to see if I was getting close. So I decided that I would get close and then try and pass him with about .5 to go. Mile 13 6:12 - I am ready to be done running adn can now see the finish line. I swear that at times it looked like the finish line was getting further away? Must have been an optical illusion? I finally caught up to #5 guy and could see that he had a fastrunningblog tank on but I didn't know who he was. I passed him and said good job he said you too, and then I took one glance at my watch and knew that if I hurried that I could maybe get in under 1:19:00. I wish that I would have paid more attention to my watch on miles 11 and 12? I didn't realize how much time I had lost. Mile .1(9) Almost .1 to long? But that is off of my garmin - 5:54 pace I kicked pretty hard the last .5 but knew that I wouldn't get in under 1 :19:00, so I slowed down a bit and took in the roars of the crowd. It was fun being all alone running with that many people cheering for you. I heard the announcer yell my name and where I was from and once again the crowd went wild. The crowds in Ogden are great. I love that race and I will run it every year. We waited for some friends to cross the line, both for the half and the full and then we headed out of Ogden for the journey home. I have a lot of work to do before St. George in October, but I am glad that I am not to far out of shape.!
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