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Run Through the Lavender Half Marathon

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Location:

SLC,UT,

Member Since:

Apr 28, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PR Table and Notable Races

Marathon:
2:21:12 (Chicago); 2:20:41 (CIM)

Half Marathon: 1:05:45 (Long Beach)
10K: 30:03 (Portland)

All race results:
2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016

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Race: Run Through the Lavender Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:12:36, Place overall: 4
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
20.000.000.00

I'll admit it - I was cherry picking this morning (or should I say lavender picking?)... figured I could use a workout and a little cash wouldn't hurt. Who would have thought so many good runners would show up to a little race in Mona, UT? Offer generous prize money and they will come :-)

Andrea and I stayed with Rachelle last night... very convenient, since she lives pretty close to the lavender farm. Thanks Rachelle for hosting us and letting everyone in Utah in on the secret of this race!

My goal was to run ~5:30 pace and with all the (slow / mountain) miles I've been logging the past couple weeks, I wasn't even sure if I would be able to do that. We didn't really warmup much... honestly, Andrea and I didn't even think this race would be competitive until about 8pm last night when we saw the entry lists... at which point we realized it wasn't going to be easy money. So I can't really say I was in a "racing" mode at the start. I just wanted to put in a good effort and stick to my original plan.

The course is basically a loop around the Mona pond/lake. First mile on a dirt road, then on paved roads until ten miles... the last 5K is on a sorta-rough dirt road through the lavender fields. Its not an easy one by any means. 

We started off slow, making lavender jokes for most of the first mile. The race goodie bag included a vile of lavender juice that could either be ingested or applied topically. Can that possibly be FDA approved? Rossy joined us for the first bit, then it was down to the main pack who would round out the top five - Alden Bahr, Brett Hales, John Kotter, myself, and Riley Cook. The pace finally picked up a bit at some point during the third mile and I just felt plain flat... sort of as I expected. At some point we lost Riley, and then after we hit the 6th mile I dropped back from the other three guys. They put about 20 seconds on me in the next mile. I looked back at 7 and didn't see Riley, so I just went into "tempo run cruise control" mode the rest of the way. I really didn't want to push myself much harder than that today. John was up ahead by 20-30 seconds for the last couple miles, but I'm not sure I could have made an honest effort at making up the ground even if I wanted to.

The last 5K through the fields was a tough part of the course - XC style! Running through dirt, rocks, and dodging all the people walking and taking pictures.

Splits - 5:42, 5:50, 5:31, 5:22, 5:20, 5:20, 5:37, 5:21, 5:37, 5:36, 5:50, 5:39, 5:08, :37 [5:32 average pace] - Full Results

1:12:36, 4th place, $200. In the past year I've run 1:05:40, 1:05:45, and 1:06:02 for the half marathon. In those 3 races I earned a combined $175. Today I eclipsed that with the slowest half marathon I have ever run. Sometimes you gotta just pick the right races! :-) 

The course is definitely a fair one (about 30% of it on dirt and plenty of long, gradual uphill - in fact, its a net uphill). Race organization was fantastic - awesome prizes (like I said, generous cash prizes, even for age-group winners), the mile markers were right on the money, etc. Perfectly accurate course (Bill C measured it, so what do you expect?). Kudos to the young living farm for doing a great job.

A really fun morning in general - Andrea's hamstring held up (yay!!!), Rachelle ran awesome (getting on the podium with some of the best runners in the state - what a jump for her this year!)... Melody continued her 5K dominance. Enjoyed chatting a bit w/ John and Kyle afterwards as well.

I was pretty tired going into this so I'm content with my effort today. The TOU marathon is only 2 months away. I should probably start focusing on getting a little more structure into my training if I want to run really fast there... but I don't really want to do that yet. I'm having a fun summer and enjoying just doing whatever I feel like for the time being. Aerobically - I'm very, very strong right now... so once I get serious I'm confident I can get the wheels moving again in a couple weeks of workouts.

Now I have to go plant my lavender weed in the yard... 

Are there dinosaurs on the lavender farm?!?!?!?! 

PM - 4 miles super slow and easy. 

Comments
From Bec on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 13:25:42 from 71.199.9.12

Great race and awesome photos, the first one is by far my favorite. :)

Now I don't feel so bad after feeling terrible about this race. You obviously know your running stuff and if you are saying it was a more difficult course, I need to stop beating myself up so bad.

Fantastic race for so many runners today. Great job taking home the $.

From Andrea on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 13:57:41 from 67.177.11.154

Pretty impressive result while running 140 miles a week!!

From Bonnie on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 13:58:53 from 184.63.70.104

YEA! nice job Jake!

From Rob on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:01:55 from 184.167.92.40

Plant that lavender in a large field, within 2 months it will take over the entire field, then you can cultivate it, extract the oil and sell viels of it for $70, by far your biggest payday yet.

Nice job, sounds like a tough race.

From MatthewVH on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:07:32 from 67.2.155.52

Sweet! Cash money for a workout. Not too shabby.

From Derek D on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:25:01 from 68.109.129.9

Great job Jake! I completely agree with your assesment of your training. I think you are building a nice huge base right now. You'll be on fire with just a few weeks of workouts. $$ at every Utah race is awesome. Our kids are wearing our medals from today's race. That's about normal for our prizes.

From runningafterbabies on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:46:23 from 71.195.219.247

I loved your post and pictures. Especially the one with the cookies. Keep it real, right? You totally deserved the $200. A $600 weekend for a training run isn't a bad way to start off your upcoming vacation. You had a sweet kick at the end - that really shows how much you were holding back.

From runningafterbabies on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:46:53 from 71.195.219.247

Did you ingest the lavender yet?

From ACorn on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 15:24:15 from 24.2.76.146

Great "race" Jake, congrats on the dinero!

From JasonD on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 15:41:29 from 24.1.80.94

Great race, Jake. The aerobic engine is firing, and good things will come.

From Hamdog Alum on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 15:43:59 from 71.90.5.18

Sounds like a great race! A nice pay day too! You got a nice workout and got paid for it, can't beat that!

From Tom on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 16:31:47 from 67.199.179.59

Nice job! I think you should try planting those cookies and see what happens.

From SlowJoe on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 17:17:49 from 69.131.141.92

Nice going. Pretty cool you could just jump into 4th with no race-specific training.

FYI, the correct way to injest the lavender is actually with a syringe, injected directly into the bloodstream.

From Lily on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 18:17:53 from 198.228.217.160

When are you guys going to have me over for a lavender salad? Eewwww! J/k. TOU is coming. I am scared! I need to step up my training too. Did you wear kinvaras today?

From JD on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 18:18:24 from 65.130.128.201

nice job Jake - love the photos!

From Rachelle on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 19:32:45 from 66.7.127.115

Me and my Mom have already planted the Lavender and it is multiplying. We are going to start a secret lavender farm in her backyard but don't tell anyone. Shhhh!

Pretty dang impressive that you ran so well today considering you haven't really ran fast since Duluth and you were coming off of a 118 mile week. Cannot complain about getting paid $200 for a tempo workout. You stuck to your plan and raced really smart today Jake. Way to go!

From Fritz on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 20:11:18 from 76.27.28.67

Nice job Jake. Somehow you always find the races with the stiffest competition. The weed and cookies look awesome.

From Jake K on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 20:18:07 from 67.177.11.154

Thanks guys. Definitely a fun race and its always easier to "shock" the system with a lower key race instead of a bunch of solo workouts.

I'm working on a secret lavender GU flavor... I'll let you all know when its ready. It will probably be poisonous, though.

Lily - I don't like Kinvaras for racing... they aren't quite stiff enough for me. I pretty much only wear them for easy runs these days. I wore my marathon shoes (Fastwitch).

Fritz - yeah I seem to always race against these BYU guys when I'm at 75% and just looking for a workout. I need to be rested and sharp for a local race one of these days. I might get my chance against Kotter at TOU, though.

Tom - good call on planting the cookies. Why didn't I think of that? :-)

From Rob on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 21:15:54 from 198.228.217.154

You can market your new GU as "Mile 20 GU" for those people that just want to be put out of their misery.

From prlman on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 21:57:33 from 24.2.66.149

Nice job Jake.Almost perfect for what you set out to do. Sounds like a really fun one

From Conner Mantz on Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 08:10:18 from 65.130.146.164

Nice job. Setting a goal pace and staying with it the whole race.

From Scott Ensign on Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 18:20:02 from 71.35.225.245

loved the report, looks like a fun race. nice job!

From Superfly on Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 20:58:56 from 74.211.21.81

getting paid to workout- priceless.

From jtshad on Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 21:13:30 from 69.20.183.178

Great job on a solid workout and money. Even running easy you still are amazingly fast.

From Steve on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 15:38:50 from 66.87.66.154

That's a tough half course. I really wanted to get down and run that one with you guys. Too many other things to do this weekend! Great race, see you at TOU half!

From MarkP on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 17:28:40 from 75.162.122.164

Way to win some cash! In your photo it looks like Alden won a microwave...nice!

From RileyCook on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 18:17:33 from 96.41.211.97

Good race Jake! I just couldn't hang with you guys on this one. You ran very well, especially considering your mileage last week. For both of our sakes I'm glad the prize money was five deep and not three. See you at Top of Utah half!

From Kelli on Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 22:34:21 from 67.172.235.55

I had no idea this was even a race...I wonder how the $$$ word got out! Great that such a small town was able to attract the fastest runners in the state. I am glad it was a good race, you never know on the first year. Kudos on the cash. ;o)

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