Every Race is an Adventure!

May 19, 2024

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Location:

Orem,UT,USA

Member Since:

Apr 03, 2006

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Age Division Winner

Running Accomplishments:

HS/COLLEGE:
mile: 4:56, 2 mile: 10:21 (1978)
marathon: 2:52 (St. George 1982)
OLD MAN (20+ years later):
5K: 19:53 (Nestle/Art City Days 5K 2007)
10K: 39:55 (Spectrum 10K 2008)
half marathon: 1:26 (Hobble Creek 2008)
marathon: 3:07 (St. George 2007)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get back to a BQ marathon time (currently 3:40).

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun running, keep fit, and fight middle age spread. Run consistently and injury free. Maintain a healthy balance between running and other life priorities. Encourage my ever-aging running buddies to keep running so we can continue to share runs on the trail instead of rocking chairs.

Personal:

Blessed to be married to Karen for 30 years. We have six children (4 daughters/2 sons) ages 16 to 30, and one wonderful granddaughter.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00
Altra Instinct 1.5 Lifetime Miles:						83.50
Altra Lone Peak 1.5 Lifetime Miles:						21.80
Saucony Guide 7 Blue 2 Lifetime Miles:						376.95
Saucony Fastwitch 6 Lifetime Miles:						200.05
Saucony Guide 7 Black 1 Lifetime Miles:						271.15

Thu, Sep 07, 2006

Easy Miles	Threshold Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Track speed mileage	Hill mileage	Total
4.50	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.00	7.50

Unlike Tuesday, today I opted to go out at 5:30am and do 8 miles instead of six. We all felt pretty tired this morning. The pace wasn't really quick, and the hills were hard. Nevertheless, for me it was three days in a row of pain-free running, so I'm satisfied.

Comments

From Cody on Thu, Sep 07, 2006 at 16:54:28

Congrats on the ability to run pain-free. Are you still on track to run 3:20 at the TOU? If so, I hope to finish with you. That is the time that I am shooting for.

I see you like to use the eGel Packets during the long runs. Do you plan on using them for the marathon? How many?

I can't stand the things, but I do believe that they help. I never train with them though because they are awful. Ok, so I need to try other flavors than chocolate-crud.

What is your race strategy for the TOU?

7:30 miles for as long as possible?

From Paul on Thu, Sep 07, 2006 at 17:41:38

With the hiccups I've had in my training recently, and based on my Hobble Creek 1/2 marathon results and Sasha's Utah Race Time Predictor, I may have to adjust my goal down to 3:25 or 3:30. The 3:20 was always pretty optimistic for me. I'll probably decide my final goals that morning.

I'm not much of a strategist. I usually run what feels good, which usually means starting out too fast and then just trying to hold on to the finish. That approach isn't very enjoyable once fatigue sets in. In contrast, last year at St. George I ran with a couple of buddies. We had worked out target paces for each mile based mostly on grade (up, down, level) and pretty much nailed them until about mile 20. I felt good at that point and picked up the pace. It was great finishing strong. I was on my goal 3:30 pace at 20 and finished in 3:27.

Based on that successful pattern, I threw together a quick plan for TOU. I didn't estimate a pace for each mile, but simply rated each mile generally as downhill, uphill, or level. I rated 19 of the miles as downhill, 3 as uphill, and 5 as level (or roughly half uphill and half downhill). I then plugged some possible paces into a spreadsheet. The numbers I ended up with were 7:20/mi for the downhill miles, 9:00/mi for the uphill, and 8:10/mi for the level(up=down) miles. With all the uphill in the last half of the race, it worked out to be about 1:36:00 for the 1st half and 1:44:30 for the 2nd half. Use these numbers at your own risk.

The eGel brand packets (www.cranksports.com) have worked well for me. I don't care much for some of the others (Gu, ClifShot, etc.). The eGel packets have 150 v. 100 calories, contain electrolytes (so I can drink water instead of sports drink), and I like the flavors. My favorite is Mountain Rush, which has a light lime flavor. I believe they suggest taking one about every 45 minutes. I'll probably take one at 7, 13, 19, and 24. I think that's what I did last year at St. George. If you decide to try them, I recommend you try running with them before race day, and reading about how much water to take with them, etc.

Good luck with your training. See you at TOU. 15 days, 13 hours, and 27 minutes to go.

From Cody on Fri, Sep 08, 2006 at 07:50:19

Thanks for feedback Paul. I haven't sat down and played with the numbers yet. Your game plan looks solid though and I might have to steal some of it.

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