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Mountain to Fountain 15K

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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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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
152.200.000.00
Race: Mountain to Fountain 15K (9.32 Miles) 00:45:53, Place overall: 4
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
20.500.000.00

The Mountain to Fountain 15K should be on everyone's radar if you want to travel to sunny Arizona for a first-class race. This is a great event and I'll definitely be back next year - everyone from the elite runners to the back of the packers was taken care of very well.

My goal today was sub 46 minutes. I figured anything under 46:30 would be acceptable, and 45:30 might be possible if I ran out of my mind, but 46-flat seemed like a good target.

The elite runners met around 6am at the Fountain Hills community center to pick up our bibs, sit around and stare each other down, then we got bused up to the start. You could just look around the room and tell that it was going to be a great race - lots of super fit athletes!

Once we got up to McDowell Mountain Park I just hung around for a little while (I was cold!) and then eventually started my 3 mile warmup and did a bunch of strides. I ducked into the brush to go to the bathroom about 5 minutes before the start, and ended up jabbing some sort of cactus thing into my leg! I was standing on the starting line pulling the prickers out of my left thigh. Awesome. It took my mind off the race until the gun went off.

The first mile was all uphill (~100 feet) and a pack of about 12 guys immediately separated. I just tucked into the back and tried to conserve energy. The pace felt slow, but that was mainly because of the uphill. No one took the initiative to really push the pace, which was probably a good thing for everyone. We hit the first mile in 5:15

I expected the pace to immediately get nuts because now we were hitting some nice downhill, but it didn't happen right away. I was in 9th or 10th place, but only a few strides off the lead. I saw a little gap open up, the lead car with the cameraman hanging out the back, and thought "OK, we're not going to jog for 9 miles and then kick, let's get this party started..." and I just went right to the front and picked up the pace. I led until we hit mile 2 (4:43). 

Now we were rolling. Other guys started making moves. There was a $100 bonus for whoever hit the 5K mark first, so 4-5 guys really started stringing it out. I hung back, and fell back to 8th or 9th place. That was fine with me - I never intended to lead much of the race, I just made the move at the mile to get the real race started.

Mile 3 was 4:39 and I hit the 5K in ~15:11. Mile 4 was 4:38. These were downhill miles, and they were very nice!

The 5th and 6th miles were net downhill but much more rolling than I thought (deceptive b/c that it not what the elevation profile showed). Mile 5 was 4:55. At this point I broke away from the chase pack that had formed. The top 4 guys in the lead pack had a solid 150-200m on us already. Mile 6 was another 4:55, and I hit the 10K in ~30:11 (so 15:00 for the second 5K).

Now I was truly all alone (in 5th place), with one runner about 100+ meters ahead, and the other three guys were way up ahead. I knew that as long as I didn't fall apart, I had a top 5 finish in the bag, but I also wanted the $400 prize for 4th place, so my focus became slowly catching the guy ahead of me.

After 10K this race gets pretty hard. You hit some hills at a bad point in the race, and they are long, grueling climbs. I wasn't really looking at my watch, just focusing on the guy ahead of me, and he was coming back, so I just kept the effort level where it was. I wanted to conserve enough energy so I could pass him with authority when I caught him. Well, the 7th and 8th miles ended up being pretty slow (5:11 and 5:15 - barely faster than marathon pace!). I moved into 4th place at ~7.5 miles and made a little surge to gap the guy I passed immediately.

Now it was time to rally. Quick math told me that I needed to run under 5:00 pace for the last 1.3 to get under 46 minutes. Now that the climbing was over, other than 1 short uphill in the 9th mile, I was able to get the turnover going again and drop the pace. The 9th mile was 4:50. My parents were right before that mile marker and yelled at me to pick it up... I responded and felt like I was able to take it to another gear for the final stretch - 1:30 for 0.32, so about 4:30-something pace on the kick.

Got the sub 46 goal, got the top 5 finish, the $400 in prize money paid for my last 2 plane tickets for AZ trips, and my legs felt really good afterwards. Cooled down 3+ miles on the grass. 

The awards ceremony was fun, the post-race party had tons of great food and drinks (I brought a backpack full of stuff back to my parent's house - Chipotle, gatorades, muscle milk, oreos, chocolate chip cookies, etc etc). People were hanging out, drinking beer and eating pizza and chicken wings at 10am. It was awesome. 

I'm very pleased with this race and I think it really sets the tone for the last 5 weeks heading into Boston. I'm very fit right now - I just need to fine tune a few things and I'm going to be ready to run a strong marathon. 

After the race my legs immediately bounced back. That's a good sign, and an indicator that my strength is my strength. The marathon training really makes your body resilient. 

The three guys who beat me are all top-notch runners and really nice guys. Great performances by them - there isn't much I could have done differently. Curley is emerging as a star, Eggleston is a 2:13 marathoner, and Atmani has run like 28-something for 10K. I'm happy that I'm getting to the point where I can mix it up with guys like that. Hopefully next year I'll be in that lead pack the whole time.

The course was net downhill but I would not consider it a very aided course. The uphill first mile, rollers from 5-6 and then the climb in 7-8 is tough running. I talked to Greg McMillan afterwards and told him I thought I probably could have run faster for a 15K on the track. He agreed and since he is the master of equivalency charts, I guess my theory is sound. He also had about a lot of really nice things to say about Bonnie! :-)

This became a long report! Ice cream time!

Mile splits - 5:15, 4:43, 4:39, 4:38, 4:55, 4:55, 5:11, 5:15, 4:50, 1:30
5K splits - 15:11, 15:00, 15:42

Full Results 

This is almost at mile 9 - my Dad is the guy in blue running on the sidewalk alongside me :-)
 

They had farm animals - I don't know why! There were also a MILLION dogs at the park where the finish line was. Andrea - you would have been in heaven!

 

PM - 5 miles shirtless shorty-shorts shakeout run. Felt great... beautiful day in the valley of the sun. Looking forward to a day of kayaking w/ my dad tomorrow. 

Comments(46)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
25.700.000.00

AM - 20 miles. An easy paced (6:55/mi avg) long run on the canal and with some extra loops around Tumbleweed Park. Most of the run was on hardpacked dirt, my favorite surface. No residual soreness or any aches at all from the race yesterday. I'm not even sure how that is possible, but at this point nothing really surprises me. Gonna take several more easier days before hitting a workout again, though. 

PM - 5.7 miles. Hot outside!

Had a great day kayaking at Canyon Lake (pictures here) with my Dad. Loaded up the boats w/ some diet dews and found some cool spots. Who says there is no water in the desert?

From Canyon Lake - March 2012

 

Comments(13)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
19.200.000.00

AM - 8.2 miles up to work. Slept in a bit since I had a late flight and didn't get to sleep until after midnight. I felt great running up the hill this morning, but I think I had a major tailwind at my back the whole way :-)

PM - 11 miles. Ran down to SHP, met up w/ Andrea and ran a little over 5 miles with her, looping around on the grass at the park. Then I ran another mile on the track while she was running 200s. When was the last time I was the one jogging around while Andrea was doing a workout? 

Comments(7)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
20.200.000.00

AM - 12 miles. FAJA. 6.6 w/ the girls, then Fritz ran part of the rest of the way up to work with me. Apparently the beaches in Brazil are filled with "perfect" looking dudes - I argue that they can't be better looking than the guys you find at Sugar House Park at 6:15am on Wednesdays (even w/ James not showing up this morning). I guess Andrea will have to send back some photos and we'll find out for sure. Plus, what's their 10K PR? :-)

This is a great article comparing Canova and Lydiard. I've read it two nights in a row. Those interested in coaching (esp. Rob M) will find this interesting. "Principles, not formulas, are the keys to successful training" Although if you don't want to read 20 pages or have never heard of Renato Canova, Camille Herron's blog today is a lot shorter and has a great take-home point as well. 

PM - 8.2 miles home. Andrea met me along the way and biked along. I also made a pre-planned two minute stop to sell some excess ski tickets. Productive run! 

Comments(10)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
20.200.000.00

AM- 11.2 miles. Progression / Tempo Run on my usual loop. 2.2 mile warmup, then got going... I've felt good the past couple days, but still started slow to make sure all systems were firing and I was totally recovered from the race. 8 miles in 42:02 (5:15 / mile avg). Splits - 5:28, 5:28, 5:17, 5:16, 5:19, 5:07, 5:05, 5:03. Jogged a mile home for the cooldown. Pretty happy with how that went. Perfect weather this morning for the workout.

PM - 9 miles. Ran 3 miles w/ Andrea to warmup, then did 20 x 200m hot/cold in 33.8 seconds average. Cooled down a mile. This was actually really easy because there was a tailwind... just tried to run smooth and relaxed. (Thanks emruns for inspiring me on this workout).

Look at the 3rd photo in this series... I'm two strides past the finish line - doesn't it seem like I ran 45:51, not 45:53? :-)

 

Comments(15)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
18.800.000.00

AM - 9.6 miles up to work. Legs felt good, hammies are a little tight so I need to make sure to roll them out really good later.

Andrea is off to Brazil today! She drummed it into my head to not doing anything stupid while she is gone. I guess that means no triple-workout days? :-) 

PM - 9.2 miles home.

Some goodies from Saucony arrived - new marathon flats for Boston, and track spikes that I can't wait to take out for a spin... 

 

Andrea's new kicks - spike up or stay slow!

 

Comments(17)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
27.600.000.00

AM - 21 miles. Long / Tempo run on the JRP. Slept in as late as possible and didn't get started until ~9:30am (gotta be ready for that 10am start at Boston, right?). Ran 10 miles south at ~6:55 pace, then turned around and did my tempo w/ the tailwind. 10 miles in 52:15 (5:14 / mile average). Splits - 5:08, 5:14, 5:13, 5:10, 5:21 (wooden slippery bridge, dodging walkers and bikers), 5:14, 5:16, 5:17, 5:08.  There was a good tailwind for the first 4 miles, then it became more of a crosswind for the next 4-5 miles. I was actually happy about that because now I don't need to put 3 giant asterisks next to this run (I can just put one). The tailwind came back for the last mile and it felt nice! Ran an easy mile to cool down afterwards. 

This was my last 20+ miler before Boston. The next couple weekends I'll do long tempo runs. At this point, I can't get any stronger aerobically, so its more about specificity. 

PM - 6.6 miles easy. Horsepark loops. Still warm out... that's gonna change by tomorrow morning! 

Boston seed numbers / corrals are out! I got #29.

Oh, and happy St. Patrick's Day! I'll be eating mint chocolate chip to celebrate, and watching my favorite leprechaun news story of all-time. 

Comments(17)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
152.200.000.00
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