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Indianapolis Monumental 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

Personal:

   

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AM - 4 miles in Indianapolis w/ Andrea. Couple strides. Very windy.

Comments(12)
Race: Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:05:54, Place overall: 7
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Overall a decent race. Fastest time of the year. One second faster than I ran at PF Changs back in January. So I've come full circle... now I need to break out of that circle!

Before I say anything about my race, I want to give a shout to the IMM race organization (especially elite coordinator Matt Ebersole) for putting together such competitive fields. All 4 course records were shattered. An interesting storyline was that 16 year old Alana Hadley and 49 year old Colleen De Reuck (who ran 2:39!) both qualified for the Olympic Trials.

Weather was ideal (low 40s and the wind from the day before died off). The course was also great - an essentially flat loop with no surprises. My 1:05:54 converts to 1:05:54 on a flat, sea-level course :-)

I wanted to get out at just under 5:00 pace and come through 10K a little under 31 minutes. The pack was big off the start. I counted 14 guys ahead of me as we came though the mile (4:55). I tried to tuck in the back, but the Kenyans started to string it out in the second mile, and the big group already started to break up. Mile 2 was another 4:55. I had passed a few guys and moved up to a yellow singlet (Andrew Sherman). We ended up running pretty much the rest of the race together. We caught up to Jason Ordway in the 3rd mile (4:50, so 14:40 at 3 miles... too fast, borderline suicidal, although it didn't feel that way). We moved away from Jason and miles 4-6 were 4:54, 5:07, 4:58. Hit 10K in 30:48. On paper that doesn't look too bad, but it wasn't run evenly, and took a toll.

We had no one in sight in front of us, so Andrew and I were basically racing each other. The pace slowed from 7-9: 5:02, 5:08, 5:12 (ugly). A little after 15K another guy (Brandon York) moved up and caught us. Now we had a little pack of three, and the pace picked back up a little. Miles 10-12 were 5:05, 5:05, 5:08. Brandon and Andrew were both a little ahead of me with about a half-mile left. Andrea was waiting a quarter-mile from the finish and told me to be proud of my finish. That was a good thing to say and it got me going. I moved past Andrew, but Brandon still had a little gap on me. My legs felt like lead but I mustered up a some mental fortitude and was able to beat him to the finish by a few strides. I felt good about how I finished. The last mile was 4:59 and then ~29-30 for the last tenth. Unfortunately at the moment the results show that Brandon finished ahead of me (probably due to the chip time). Order of finish and gun time always supercedes chip, so hopefully the timing company will get that sorted out. In the grand scheme of things, the difference between 7th and 8th place doesn't mean anything, but I worked hard in the last quarter mile and want to results to reflect that. [Fixed]. Here's the official results. Deep race with 9 guys under 1:06.

After the race Andrea and I talked to Jason D for a bit (blog friends exist in real life!), then cooled down for a while, wandering around downtown Indy. We both liked the city and we'll keep this area on our radar for races next spring (maybe the Indy Mini 1/2). We watched the lead marathoners come in and cheered on Paul, then headed back to our hotel. Luckily we had enough time to hit Steak 'n Shake for lunch with Scott Wietecha and his wife before flying back home. Quick trip!

I knew sub-65 was a longshot, so I'm not at all disappointed in the outcome. I've said this before, but anytime you break 66 on a fair course, its a good performance and you can't be too upset because it doesn't happen by accident. I definitely learned a few things that I think will be valuable as I approach CIM in 5 weeks (and half-marathons next spring). My PR of 1:05:45 from October 2011 will unfortunately survive another year. Before I think about trying to break 1:05, I need to beat that time, and break 1:05:30. Smaller steps. And I definitely run better off negative splits, not going out hard and hanging on.

For the upcoming marathon, I need to be realistic about what my current capabilities are and try to maximize my chances for a good performance (not just go for 2:17 because that's what I want to run). That will probably mean going out a bit slower and not necessarily chasing the OTQ standard. I've got 2 years to chase it... I still haven't run a really good marathon, so that should (and will) be my main goal. Plus, anything can happen if you aren't going backwards in the last 10 miles.

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PM - 6 miles. Horsepark loop w/ the birthday girl!

The NYC Marathon once again provided crystal clear examples of how to run the marathon (Mutai, Jeptoo) and how not to run the marathon (ie. don't try to bank a 3 minute lead in the first half!).

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AM - 11 miles. Horsepark.

PM - 4 miles.

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AM - 11 miles. Holladay loop.

PM - 5 miles.

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AM - 13 miles. Horsepark.

PM - Went to Tim for a massage. A very productive hour. 

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AM - 15 miles. AT Reps: 3 x 5K in 16:25, 15:54, 16:12 (1/4 mi jog b/w reps). Tempo loop. 3 up, 2.5 down. Avg pace ~5:12/mile for the 5Ks. 

PM - 4 miles.

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AM - 10 miles. Horsepark.

PM - 5 miles.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 13 miles. Holladay loop.

PM - 4 miles w/ Andrea.

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AM - 23 mile Long Run w/ 16.3 mile AT Tempo in 1:30:25 (5:32 / mile avg). Met Nate and Mickey at the JRP for this one. We did 4 miles easy together and then got going. The goal for Nate and I was to keep all the splits in the 5:30-5:40 / mile range... 95-97% of goal MP. Get a solid aerobic stimulus without beating up the legs. We pretty much put them all in that bucket... Nate did 14 miles tempo (great run for him!) and then I added on a few more to hit the arbitrary 26.2K mark. Finished up with 3 more easier miles. 

Feel really good about this run. Kept the effort level under control and didn't hammer. We pulled the pace back whenever we got rolling too quickly in the early miles. The turns and little ups and downs on this course force you to focus on keeping pace consistent despite the rhythm changes. CIMulation.

Splits - 5:36, 5:34, 5:40, 5:34, 5:42, 5:38, 5:31, 5:34, 5:29, 5:32, 5:40, 5:30, 5:33, 5:22, 5:23, 5:27, 1:41.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 10 miles. Horsepark.

PM - 6 miles. Wheeler Farm.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 13 miles. 6 w/ Andrea.

PM - 6 miles.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 16 miles. AT Smorgasbord:

  • 3 x 1600m in 5:12, 5:10, 5:10 [400m]
  • 5.6 mile hilly tempo (4 SHP laps) in 30:05 (7:33, 7:40, 7:31, 7:21. Avg pace = ~5:23/mile) [about 1/3 mi before/after the tempo]
  • 3 x 1600m in 5:12, 5:10, 5:05 [400m]

The reinforcements (Fritz and Nate) joined me starting with the second lap of the SHP tempo. Pretty awesome to only have to do the first third of the workout solo. The goal this morning was volume and variety, and to keep everything in the AT spectrum (this did not need to be a hero workout, coming off a long effort on Sunday and with another one coming up this weekend). Overall a very good session - everything was right in the target pace/effort ranges. Fritz and Nate ran strong - a nice group effort.

I only have one more early morning workout on the calendar for 2013!

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 13 miles. Horsepark. Andrea met me there and we ran the last few miles together.

PM - 6 miles. Wheeler Farm.

----------------------------------------------------

Some stuff I think is interesting...

From Science of Sport: Bricks, mortar and high performance inefficiency

While I wish that Lance would just go away forever because of statements like these, I am a huge fan of Bill Simmons, and his podcast with documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney is excellent. Some of the tangential parts of their discussion are particularly worth listening to.

And last but most importantly, Type A6! They are light and AWESOME. I'll give 'em a go this weekend, and probably will use them for CIM.

Comments(7)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 12 miles. Horsepark.

PM - 4 miles.

Running the Saltair 1/2 tomorrow as one of my last bigger workouts before CIM. Aiming for ~1:10, assuming the weather is slightly better than it was out there for all of the winter series races earlier this year.

Comments(10)
Race: Saltair Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:10:01, Place overall: 1
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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The inagural Saltair Half Marathon was timed perfectly - 3 weeks before CIM, which is when I'd be out on that same road doing a 13 mile MP tempo anyways. As usual for runs out there, the weather was slightly uncomfortable at times, but being able to get in this kind of effort in a race setting with some company makes it well worth it.

We started off with a good sized group. Chris Rushing was off the front quick (unaware, unfortunately, that the 5K started 30 minutes later). Fritz moved ahead after a half-mile and had a pretty good lead on the rest of us for the first half of the race. Nate and I wanted to keep all the miles ~5:20 and finish ~1:10. We dropped the rest of the group and slowly reeled Fritz back in, catching him just before the halfway point. During the second half we just tried to work together and kept the miles consistent. Miles 11-12 were a little rough with wind and cold rain, so even though they were a little slower, the effort stayed the same. We were stride for stride until we hit the 13 mile mark, and then it was every man for himself. I ended up winning by about 2-3 seconds. Great run for Nate, and Fritz wasn't far behind in 3rd.

I was very happy my pacing - 35:02 at the halfway turnaround, and 34:59 coming back. Right on the money - I think my official time was 1:10:01. Exactly what I wanted to accomplish today. Strong stimulus but under control.

Mile splits: 5:22, 5:24, 5:15, 5:23, 5:21, 5:20, 5:14, 5:16, 5:19, 5:20, 5:20, 5:26, 5:25, 5:16.

Type A6s were great. I'll go with them for CIM.

Results

Overall I thought this was a really good race. Deep fields for both men and women. Great prizes... I walked away with $183 (love that totally random amount) plus Andrea (who won the 5K) and I also took home all of this...

I guess the race was sponsored by Dr. Pepper, GU, and sunscreen.

More pics...

And here's the elevation profile I sketched up off memory :-)

AM - 20 miles (3 up, 13 race, 4 down)
PM - 4 miles.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 10 miles. Liberty Park laps with the crew.

PM - 6 miles. Broke out the Kinvara 4 ViZiGLO.

Productive use of the sunshine this afternoon... last weekend Andrea gave me the best present ever - a measuring wheel! So we went out to the tempo loop and measured / painted mile markers on the road. I'm sure the neighbors won't mind considering these are highly accurate (probably increases their property value). The loop I've been using for 5K repeats is pretty much right on the money, although the stretch I have been using for 1 mile repeats this summer/fall was about 10 meters short (which makes sense in hindsight - some of those workouts seemed just a little too fast). 

Next weekend we'll measure out 200m increments through 1200m, in hopes that the track is covered in snow all winter.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 13 miles. Horsepark.

PM - 6 miles. Horsepark.

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AM - 12 miles. Most of it w/ Andrea and paced her on a 5K tempo.

PM - 6 miles. Horsepark.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 17 miles. AT Tempo/Reps: 2 x 10K in 32:26, 32:28 w/ a half-mile easy in-between. Avg pace ~5:13/mile. Tempo loop. 3 up, 1.5 down.

Did the workout w/ Fritz and Nate, which once again made a big difference (ie. easier). Fritz did the first 5 and Nate did 4/2-2. Perfect weather again, we've really lucked out this fall.

Splits were 5:24, 5:14, 5:14, 5:10, 5:07, 5:08, 69 /// 5:13, 5:14, 5:15, 5:12, 5:11, 5:05, 77. Hit the 6 mile mark "earlier" (according to the watch, so obviously wrong) on the second rep, but finished in the same spot as the first one for consistency. Nate and I were moving pretty quick on that last quarter mile.

Workouts like these make it tempting to just say roll the dice and go out in 1:08:50... not necessarily in terms of the pace of the session, but when it correlates with a controlled effort and knowing you could throw in another 10K with no problem, its a good feeling. But... if I truly can run 1:08:59/1:08:59 (which realistically is a big stretch, even under absolutely ideal conditions), then I can also run 1:10/1:07:59. I'm sure I'll have enough days in the next two weeks where I don't feel this good and it will make the idea of going out in 1:10 seem like a no-brainer.

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AM - 10 miles. Most of it w/ Andrea. In a surprising twist, we ran some horsepark loops.

PM - 5 miles.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 10 miles. Ran with Andrea for her workout (6 x 1/2 mi). She's looking good!

PM - 7 miles. Wheeler Farm.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
17.000.000.00

AM - 13 miles. Loop from Memory Grove up through the university and a couple laps around Liberty Park. Everyone was wearing Saucony... smart guys!

PM - 4 miles w/ Andrea.

We'll do our last pre-CIM longer(ish)-moderately hard workout tomorrow.

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AM - 19 miles. Long Run w/ 10 mile AT Progression in 54:18 (5:26/mi avg) - Splits: 5:38, 5:37, 5:32, 5:29, 5:27, 5:26, 5:20, 5:18, 5:10, 5:12.

Met Fritz, Nate, and James at the Legacy Trail for this run. The plan was 8 miles easy, then 10 miles dropping from 5:40 to 5:10 and don't go faster than 5:10 under any circumstance (per Coach Andrea's instructions). One more mile to cool down. So this was pretty much right what I wanted. Fritz got out a little ahead of me during the first half of the tempo and gave me a target to chase down over the last few miles. We ended up finishing together. Nice effort by everyone once again this morning.

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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 8 miles. Horsepark.

PM - 8 miles. Horsepark.

Andrea was browsing through Jeff Edmonds' archives and came across this post: Passion and Discipline. I read this a few times already today. Fantastic writing. I didn't want it to get lost in the comments.

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AM - 8 miles. Cowpark.

PM - 6 miles. Wheeler Farm. So many animals!

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AM - 10 miles. Horsepark. Did a handful of 15-20 second accelerations on the way back.

Flying down to Phoenix after work tonight for Thanksgiving. Skipping the usual big extended family gathering in Connecticut (too much travel, too close to the marathon). I'm going to run a 10K in Mesa tomorrow morning. I know racing 10 days out from CIM would do much more harm than good, so I'm just going to treat it as a workout. Have some fun... my dad is going to run as well. Around 31:00-31:30 would be ideal, and a sub-max effort should be enough to win a turkey. Andrew Lemoncello has run in the 29s several times here in the past couple years, but I saw his name on the entry list for Fukuoka, so I'm guessing he won't be around. Now that's a marathon I'd really love to run someday. They pull you off the course if you fall behind 2:45 pace! If women were allowed in the race (its men-only), it would provide excellent incentive to hit their OTQ time.

Comments(6)
Race: Mesa Turkey Trot 10K (6.21 Miles) 00:31:00, Place overall: 1
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Happy Thanksgiving! 

It was 60 degrees and sunny at the starting line this morning... I love coming down to Arizona for the winter holidays.

As I said yesterday, the goal today was to get in a good workout and to be disciplined enough not to hammer, because that would serve no purpose with the marathon so close. I came in exactly at the faster end of my target range. Good thing I didn't kick as hard as my Dad, or else I'd be in trouble for overdoing this one.

Some other guy went out with me (actually, ahead of me in the first mile). Not sure why he thought that was a good idea. I dropped him during the second mile, then caught some of the wheelchair racers. After about 2.5 I was all alone. Kept the pace under control, dinked around a little too much with the crowd at the end, then ran back along the course to the 5 mile mark and met up w/ my Dad (who was being paced by Andrea). His goal was to break 48 minutes and he ended up running 47:20... his final sprint was the stuff legends are made of. If I could learn to kick like that...

RESULTS

Fun morning. Won a turkey. Cooking it now. Bring on CIM.

If you don't count 10K splits in half-marathons (which don't count because they aren't certified), this was actually a 10K Road race PR. I'm in much, much better shape than when I ran the 10K in Kansas City earlier this fall, that's for sure.

Course was 2 loops, each loop with one (gradual) 50 foot climb.

Dad (in yellow) ended up beating the turkey...

Ariana Hilborn ran a great race (35:05), but she turned down her turkey because she's vegan. Crazy! Meat is the second best type of prize (after cash).

Splits...

Comments(17)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
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AM - 8 miles. First 4 w/ Andrea.

PM - 8 miles. Ocotillo loop.

Golfed 18 holes with my Dad this afternoon. I had 8 pars... and 8 THREE-putts! My short game needs a little consistency / precision boost.

Weather was awful again. I think it only hit 72 degrees today.

Comments(6)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
16.000.000.00

AM - 8 miles. This was my favorite run of the year. I paced Andrea to a 17:20 3-miler (her race report). My job was to keep her at 5:47 pace and our average ended up at 5:46.X! She ran really tough and I'm really proud of the progress she made this fall. Smart training and dedication even when the odds were stacked against her. Couldn't be happier!

I paid $35 to enter at the last minute because in my mind, that makes it legitimate. I didn't want any asteriks next to her time because I was a bandit. Also, the race supported a great cause - building a new soccer complex for kids.

PM - 8 miles. Ocotillo loop w/ Andrea riding on one of my parents' cruiser bikes.

This picture was worth the entry fee, if not ten times more :-)

Comments(3)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
477.000.000.00
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