The Sub Club

FINALLY!!! That 1:30 barrier in the half-marathon distance has been hanging over my head for a long time. This past weekend I "broke on through to the other side" with a 1:28:36 effort at the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab, UT (see pictures below). I'm really pleased to have joined that particular Sub Club, and to have achieved it through negative splitting the race. It took me a little while to settle into a pace early on and I never really had that wonderfully effortless feeling that you get when fully rested, but it was a great run nonetheless and a good fitness check going into the half ironman this coming weekend. The Canyonlands course certainly feels much better when you are in good running shape! I ended up running quite a bit of it with a girl I know from Salt Lake, Amanda Theobald, who works for the Salt Lake Running Company and runs for Westminster College. It was the first half-marathon that she has trained for and she asked if I minded if she paced off me. No problem! It was really fun running with her, and awesome to see her break 90 minutes as well. We finished just one second apart in 12th and 13th place. Nice run Amanda!

All in all it was a great weekend. Moab was its usual gorgeous self and we enjoyed some good hiking and photographic opportunities. We had dinner one night and went hiking the next morning with our new friends Christian and Kate who also ran the half and are just really awesome people to hang out with. They both ran PRs as well which of course makes the trip even more fun. (Albert did not run a PR but I suppose that when you're as fast as he is that best times don't come quite as often.) I also bumped into a bunch of swimmers from Steiner...Erin, the twins Megan and Marisa, Ben, and Katherine...it was great to see so many fish tackling the dry land event! And of course we saw lots of familiar faces from the running and triathlon communities...BJ and Chrystelle, Clark and Kristy, Chad Derum to name a few. Congrats to everyone who ran!

Next up for me: a short work week in Salt Lake then a flight to sunny California on Thursday for the 70.3 race in Oceanside on Saturday.

Moab Pics

Hypothermia (Or A Case Of The Stupids)

Yesterday was not a great day to be outside riding, but I had a 4.5 hour ride on the schedule and had talked my friend Allan into doing it with me. The plan was to meet at Allan's house in Bountiful and then ride northwest towards Antelope Island and maybe even over the causeway, time permitting. I knew that the forecast called for an 80% chance of rain and snow but stupid me, I was in denial. Surely it couldn't be that bad! We met at 10 and started rolling at 10:15. Another rider from the Bountiful Bicycle Club, Gary Gardiner, also joined us but was planning to only ride a couple of hours. It had already started sprinkling a bit by the time we got started and Gary turned off after only 15 minutes saying he was under-dressed for the weather. That should have been a sign because Gary is hard-core to the point of senselessness, but it still didn't seem so bad. So we kept going. And it got colder, and the rain came down harder.

After 45 minutes Allan said he would be fine with calling the ride at any time, and (silly me) I said we should go for another 15 minutes to at least make 2 hours. That was one of the dumbest calls I've ever made! The roads were getting wetter and wetter, and so were we. As is typical in Utah on a bad day, there was a headwind no matter which way we turned. My feet slowly disappeared, then my hands followed suit, making operating the brakes a tenuous endeavor and shifting darned near impossible. And then I noticed that the rain had decidedly turned to snow at some point. I was already more miserable than I've ever been on a bike before, but the snow sent me plummeting to a dark mental place that I've never quite experienced before. It was a real struggle to keep going and I think if I'd been on my own I would have stopped to have a good cry. Thank goodness Allan was there to keep me going! The last three miles were a death march on wheels but we finally made it.

I was so cold that dismounting was a trick, and then I couldn't even lift my bike or take off my shoes or helmet on my own. Allan wasn't quite as badly off as I was and he helped get me inside, made hot tea, and made me sit by the heater wrapped in blankets to warm up. I had some dry clothes in the car but was shivering so uncontrollably that I couldn't think straight and didn't have the dexterity to peel off my wet cycling kit immediately anyway. After about 15 minutes I started thawing out and was able to change clothes and instantly felt better. I eventually got it together enough to drive home, toying with the idea of trying to finish up the ride inside on the trainer. I rethought that once I got home and a) the bike on the trainer was not cooperating and b) my body felt like all it needed was a good nap. Lesson learned: listen to the weather man, and do not be so bull-headed as to try to finish the workout at all costs!

I'm feeling fine today and am back on track with training. Now the focus is to stay WARM and healthy leading up to my season openers: the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab next weekend, and the 70.3 California in two weeks!

Rounding Out The Series

Yesterday marked the final race in the Salt Lake Track Club Winter Running Series, and we were finally graced with a clear and sunny day. Oh yes, and windy! I don't think it was as blustery as the 10K was two weeks ago, but what seemed like a fairly innocuous cross-wind to begin with turned into something to be dealt with as the race progressed. My goal once again was to build up the pace throughout the run; in a perfect race each mile would have been progressively faster. That ended up being a tall order on this particular day, but I was still able to produce a solid negative split (running the second half of the race about 30 seconds faster than the first half). It also was my best time for an open 15K (although I've only ever run 4 of them), and I took 4th place among the women with a 1:02:56. The week leading into the run hadn't really gone very well training-wise so I was pleased to be able to pull it together for a good effort.

Now if you read my post about the 10K two weeks ago you must be wondering...did I catch Mel this time? And the answer is yes! Of course it's all in good fun, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be in the same ballpark as Mel at this point. Since I'm working really hard on perfecting the negative split technique I let a lot of people go early in the run, including Mel and my client Jed and his training buddy AJ. Once I hit the turn-around I started picking it up and tried to reel them back in. I ran out of real-estate with Jed and AJ, but I managed to pick off Mel with about a mile to go. It took me a long time to catch him, but then I saw him falter slightly when another runner passed him and I knew that I had to make a move right there if I wanted to have a chance at crossing the finish line ahead of him. It was a real internal battle for me but I'm really pleased to have recognized the situation and faced it head on. So thank you Mel for unwittingly taking part in helping to make me a mentally stronger runner!

Albert also had a decent effort for the day. He had been a little off kilter this week and felt crappy during the race, but was pleased with his time end effort under the circumstances. The series has been a really great training tool for both of us in preparation for the Canyonlands Half Marathon in three weeks in Moab. That's always a fun trip, and this will be the first year that we're both running it. The week after that will mark my triathlon season debut at the California 70.3 race in Oceanside. But first, a few more weeks of solid training are in order!

Neff's Canyon

Here are some pictures from a recent hike in Neff's Canyon. I love going there in the wintertime because there's something really magical about the place. It's good for hiking, running, skiing and sledding...and we even saw someone mountain biking up in the snow once!

Winter 10K

Oh how the week has flown! We've been so caught up in watching the Winter Olympics that little else has gotten done, including blogging. So here is a quick catch-up: last weekend was the Salt Lake Track Club Winter Series 10K, the second of three installments. Just like the 5K, my goal was to build my pace throughout the run and finish strong. Unfortunately I was not able to entirely achieve this goal but it was still a pretty strong effort for this time of year. All of the races in this series are out-and-back courses on a frontage road sandwiched between I-80 and the Great Salt Lake and the winds can be really fierce out there. We were lucky to have a nice tailwind on the way out...which in turn translated into a beast of a headwind coming back home in the second half. I was pleased to be able to beat the wind and maintain a building pace throughout the first four miles, but the wind eventually won out in the last 2.2 miles and my pace slowed. I was still able to hold onto 4th place for the women with a 40:49 time, which is actually one of the faster open 10Ks I've ever run. Things are looking good for some fast half marathon times this spring!

I'm beginning to have a friendly rivalry with one of the local male masters runners, Mel Lemon, who we know from the Wasatch Athletics running group. He has always soundly beaten me in the past, but with the improvements I've made in my running over the last six months I've been getting closer and closer to him in each run. I actually passed him soon after the turnaround in this race, but he tucked in behind me for a couple of miles and conserved enough energy to be able to swing around me with maybe a half mile to go. Argh! Maybe next time I'll get him. One of my swimming clients, Jed Brain, is also doing the series this year and he watched the scenario unfold from about 10 seconds behind. He said jokingly afterward that Mel should give me half of his trophy from winning the Grand Master Champion state title at this race, since I pulled him along for a good part of the race. :)

While there were fewer participants than at the 5K, there was still a good turnout and lots of familiar faces were there. Albert took third place again, just squeaking in under 35 minutes with a 34:59 effort. He was really pleased with that. Jed ran well, and his training buddy Randall Cooper (also a triathlete) had a solid performance too. They will both be racing at Ironman Canada later this year.

Next up, the 15K! My goal again will be to build up and negative split the run. And see if I can best Mel this time! Until then, it's back to putting in consistent solid training and laying a strong foundation for the rest of the season.

Winter 5K

Albert and I ran in the Salt Lake Track Club Winter Series 5K over the weekend. This is a great little training series which includes a 5K, 10K, and 15K run, each 2 weeks apart. It is a great winter motivator, fitness gauge, and training build up for an early season half marathon, which is convenient because we're both registered for the Canyonlands Half Marathon in late March. It was a solid day for both of us with Albert taking 3rd place male (16:56) and me landing in the 5th spot for the ladies (19:22). I was really pleased to run a smart race---in a 5K nonetheless!---building up gradually so that each mile was faster than the previous one. This is the third consecutive running race that I've managed to negative split, and over three vastly different distances. Maybe I’m starting to figure this running thing out! It certainly feels much better to run this way than to go out too fast and end up in the inevitable death march.

Overall the training is clicking along. All three disciplines feel good right now and I’m just working on staying consistent and not getting too carried away early in the season. I visited Glen at Wasatch Running Center over the weekend and he helped me get fitted into some good training shoes for the start of the season. We had a really good conversation about training and nutrition, and he told me a great quote that someone once said to him: “There is no such thing as overtraining, only under-resting.” What great words to keep in the back of my mind! If nothing else, I’ve really learned the value of proper rest in the past two seasons and I’m so excited to apply this knowledge to a full racing season and see where it takes me.