I ran about a mile before the race at a very slow pace to wake my legs up. Had Ibuprofen before the race because my legs are still sore. I did some good stretching. I met a couple of guys that are on the blog. It's always nice to meet people face to face.
The Top of Utah is a great race, superior to Hobble Creek because there were plenty of buses toward the end and plenty of bathrooms at the top, and even bathrooms along the route (fortunately I didn't need one, but just knowing it is there is comforting).
My low level goal was to be under 7 minute pace. My higher goal was to break 1:30, which meant being quite a bit under 7 minute pace. I didn't think that I could beat my best ever 1/2, 1:28:51 at 2006 Hobble Creek just because the course is not as down hill.
My strategy was to be at about 6:45 for the first 6-7 miles so that I could use that under 7 minute pace time on the remainder flat miles if I needed to go slower than 7 minute pace, so that I could average 7 minute pace or better.
1 - 6:40 this was a good start, but I could feel the jolt of starting into a fast pace, it took a couple of miles to feel comfortable
2 - 6:50
3 - 6:40
4 - 6:47
5 - 6:36
6 - 6:40 I took 1/2 a gu at 5.5 miles
7 - 6:30 last good downhill mile, got flat after this mile
8 - 7:01
9 - 6:54
10 - 7:00
11 - 6:56 feeling tired but strong. This mile had some uphill in it, at this point I knew if I stayed strong I would break 1:30
12 - 7:24 suckiest mile, there was some uphill, sun in your face (thus sweat in my eyes). I was headed for a 7:40 at first but just told myself if I could finish with a split of under 7:30 I would have a good time, so the second half of mile 12 was faster than the first half
13 - 6:36 crested the hill and went downhill. I think I could have pushed this last mile about 10 seconds faster but just didn't feel like it at the time. I was happy to decrease my time so much from the prior uphill mile. I guess I was still a little weak.
.1 not sure, I measured the course a little short (13 miles and 89 feet). They had the timer right at the corner and I stopped at the timer, only to see the finish line around the curve ahead about 10 yards away, this probably added a couple of seconds.
So the course is not as fast as Hobble Creek, but I ran it faster! And with sore legs! This is an overall 1/2 marathon PR for me and I am very happy with it overall.
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