Denouement

BYU Cougar Run

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesMichelleL's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2007200820092010201120122013
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Kowloon Tong,Hong Kong

Member Since:

Jul 02, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided:

5K - 17:11 (track Pre-kids and at BYU) (1998)

10K - 35:48 (track Pre-kids and at BYU) (1998)

10K - 35:34 (road - Shek Mun 10k 12/12)

1/2 Marathon 1:19:44 (UNICEF HM 11/12)

Marathon 2:47:08 (ING Hartford Connecticut 10/10)

Aided:

St. George Marathon 2:50:40 (10/08)

1/2 marathon - Hobble Creek 1:17:14 (8/08)

10K - Deseret News 10K - 35:02 (7/08)

Short-Term Running Goals:

PR 1/2 marathon AGAIN


Long-Term Running Goals:

Break 2:46 in Boston!

Personal:

I used to run for BYU, but only after trying out three times and finally walking on, so I was never a star. However, it was wonderful to run with great people and under Coach Shane. When you run with fast people, you can't help to improve! I graduated BYU in 1998, and didn't run a race until 2002, after having my second child. My hiatus and other crazy life commitments have made my competitive running suffer, but the last couple of years I have tried to get back into it the best I can. I have been married since 1996, to Paul Lowry, who is a runner himself. I have three boys (my three rascals), ages 12, 10, and 8.

After a great 2008 season, I was injured and eventually diagnosed and cross-diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a type of arthritis disease, which precludes running for all but the most stubborn.  So I am on medications, trying to stay healthy, and seeing my PT often.  And running!  Now beating the streets in Hong Kong.

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
NB RC900 Black/yellow Lifetime Miles: 183.31
NB RC1300 Red/Black Lifetime Miles: 195.31
2012 MTR Lifetime Miles: 4035.70
890 Blue Lifetime Miles: 310.55
NB RC 1600 Lifetime Miles: 96.76
RC 1400 Lifetime Miles: 90.60
NB 890 Baby Blue Lifetime Miles: 233.26
NB 890 Electric Blue Lifetime Miles: 319.67
NB 890 Tokyo Turquoise Lifetime Miles: 163.54
Race: BYU Cougar Run (3.125 Miles) 00:19:36, Place overall: 9, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTrainer 1 MilesTrainer 2 MilesRacer MilesTotal Distance
10.000.003.130.000.000.000.0013.13

Ran 7 miles to warm up, including running the course backwards.  Not really high quality miles for half of them.  I was the race director of this event for the past four years, so this was the transitional year of me handing it off, so I had to check in with the registration area and make sure everything was flowing smoothly, so I just didn't have the time to get in the 10 miles before the race that I wanted to.  I should have woken up earlier.

The race starts up a long hill.  I am not sure on the grade but it's enough to slow you down and give you a nice downhill afterward.  I wanted to stay within sight of the BYU lady pack (about 7 runners) but I knew they would be ahead of me.  I also met a young lady at the starting line named Whitney (junior in college) who lives in the town next to me who has beat me in a couple of races.  She is a strong runner.  I wanted to be around 6:45 pace up the hill, then keep below 6:30 for the downhill and try to keep the 6:30 for the flatter end. 

Up the hill I was feeling winded but fairly strong.  I kept the fast girls in my sight.  I was at about a 6:25 pace at the top of the hill at about .65 into the race.  Right after the hill (at .84) I accidentally turned off my watch  when my watch showed 6:14 lap pace so far (no mile markers that I could see) which messed up my split, but I realized it later.  So my first split on my watch for 1 mile probably occurred at 1.3 or so and was 6:16.  I felt strong going downhill in the second mile but kind of like in foreign territory, hard to keep up the pace for two miles in a row.  My second split for mile 1.3-2.3 was 6:22, still pretty strong.  I pass one BYU runner (YES!) in this mile, but get passed by another.  In the last mile or so I found it hard to keep up pace, but knew I would break 20 minutes if I kept up my effort.  With about .5 to go I passed Whitney from my neighboring town and another runner or two.  My watch shows my last split as .84 in 5:14, or 6:14 pace. 

19:36 baby!  Best by far since college.  I have not broken 20:30 since college so this is great!

I ran another 3 miles after the race, again low quality running around the track area, waiting for the awards, and my son who ran the .5 mile kids race wanted to stick around for the drawing.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From josse on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 13:18:52

Great job on the race! Remember to ice any areas that are sore after you run and stretch as well. You have allready done all your training anything you do during your taper is for mentall stuff, so use caution when you have some aches and pains. Most likely you will not even feel them in the marathon. Like I said before you allway feel crazy aches and pain during your taper.

josse

From josse on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 13:22:13

Great job on the race! Remember to ice any areas that are sore after you run and stretch as well. You have allready done all your training anything you do during your taper is for mentall stuff, so use caution when you have some aches and pains. Most likely you will not even feel them in the marathon. Like I said before you allway feel crazy aches and pain during your taper.

josse

From Maria on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 14:38:45

Great job on the race, Michelle! Especially with the hills and everything. I'm sure you would have run even faster if you didn't do 7 mile warmup - I think it's a bit too much, unless you're doing a race as part of the workout.

From sarah on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 19:23:39

So good to see you too. You looked fabulous and ran a fabulous time. What a great accomplishment. I love the part about the 7 mile warm up...again a comment that some runners may never be able to say..

I'm still laughing about what Sasha said after the race, It went something like..."You know, since I only actually met Michelle that one time, I wondered if I would recognize her today." He is TERRIBLE with faces. Hilarious story....we ran into one of his BEST FRIENDS and old running partner after his mission..by chance..on BYU campus. Sasha DID NOT recognize him before I did. He claims that it was because he was wearing clothes (normal clothes not running clothes) and that he had gained weight from not running on his mission. Have a great rest of the day.

From emily on Mon, Sep 24, 2007 at 01:06:57

We were teammates at BYU. It's nice to see that you are still at it. Good job on your race. Let me know if you want a running partner.

From Lybi on Mon, Sep 24, 2007 at 09:35:19

Great job, Michelle! You are an inspiration. By the way, both those ladies in your picture look quite slim to me, are you the one with the long hair or the darker hair?

From MichelleL on Mon, Sep 24, 2007 at 10:17:51

Thanks Lybi, I'll take that compliment even though the picture is from 1992! I am the lighter colored hair in the front.

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Recent Comments: