Freeman Myre Elite 5K

Ran the elite criterion section of the Freeman Myer Corporate Challenge 5K this evening.  Companies organized teams and competed against each other to prove who had the most fit corporate team and I guess the elite race was the entertainment for the night because after the corporate teams finished, they all had food and drinks in hand while cheering on the elites.  They started the elite men's race one minute before the elite women's race, which I was kind-of disappointed by because starting with the men would have added more depth and more competition for us but as it was there were only six women in our elite women's race.  SIX!



The course was back and forth on one road with a cone at each end where we turned around.  Three laps slightly over a mile each as flat as a pancake with a mild puff in the middle.  Exactly one minute after the men took off, we went out pretty fast as well.  Five of us were pretty close for the first mile.

My watch said 5:15 at mile one, but the race announcer said we came through in 5:20.  I'm not certain their mile markers were exactly correct because a few of the guys I talked to after the race said their garmins measured a bit short for the overall distance and so did mine.

Benita and Fiona take the early lead.  Nuta, Michele and I hang on through the first mile.

Benita, Fiona, Nuta, and Me just after mile one

During Mile two, I lost a few seconds on Benita and Fiona but had also gained a few seconds on Nuta.  (An Aussie, a Kiwi, a Romanian, and Me ;)  I kept trying to hang on to Benita and Fiona to see if one of them would drop off so I could fight for another spot but they had gained a few meters on me.  Mile two garmin split was 5:29

Mile three was the toughest as I started to feel that beloved high-altitude, "probably went out too fast" oxygen debt kicking in.   Benita and Fiona were battling for first and I was trying to keep them as close as possible and hang on for a PR.  Garmin says 5:36 for mile three.

The final .07 was a 4:35 pace sprint to the finish knowing that I had secured third place and just trying to get the best time I could.  I had a happy moment of joy as I was sprinting to the finish and this old guy in a 10 year old USA track warm-up suit (the same one I got after Jr. Nationals years ago) yelled "GO BYU!!" at me as I ran past him.  Apparently he was the former CU Cross Country coach and had just been chatting with Aaron about how I ran at BYU and how he knew Patrick Shane well.  Anyway, it made me smile and helped pass the final seconds.

So the overall results were

Benita Willis 16:21    $400

Fiona Docherty 16:29    $300

Me 16:41   $250

Nuta Olaru 17:16      $200

Michele Suszek  17:54     $150

After the race I said hi to Aaron and the kids, chatted with a few of the elite guys and noticed Benita and the men's winner, Andrew taking off for their cool down.  I ran up to them and asked them if they'd mind me tagging along and they were very welcoming and kind.  So I ended up cooling down with Benita and getting to know her better.  She is a very sweet person; friendly and super easy to talk to.  Learned that she has been in four Olympic games for Australia and has run a 2:22 marathon.  Benita and I barely got back in time for the awards and chatted for a few more minutes, then I found Aaron and we gathered our kids and left.

I am super happy with the race and how well it went even though I probably should have run more even splits.  Maybe if we would have had started with the guys I would have had more people around and would have been persuaded to run a more realistic pace from the start.  And maybe not.  Hard to say.  Maybe the course was a tad short but even if it was it is still a huge PR for me in the 5K (previously 17:27).  I'm really happy that I was able to be pulled to a fast time by some cool veterans and enjoy a fun, fast race close to home.

Blacksmith Fork Canyon Freedom Run 15K

After the Fast Running Blog get-together at Scott Ensign's house last night, we slept in his basement.  Allie came over at 6 a.m. and we all drove to the race start together.  Had a little mix-up with Scott's neighbor whom we thought was going to give us a ride, so after waiting for him for a bit we ended up just going up in Allie's car and parking quickly so we could pick up our race bibs and get somewhat of a warm-up.  I jogged around for about 5 minutes, did a couple of strides, and visited a tree (since the porta-pot lines were too long.)  Lined up on the start line with Paul, Allie, Scott and others.  Temp was pretty chilly since the sun was still behind the mountain but once we got running I warmed up pretty quickly.

Mile 1- 5:53 Legs were resisting the pace a bit.  Some tightness in my hips and quads.

Mile 2- 5:56 Still trying to get moving.

Mile 3- 5:50 Slight downhill helps.

Mile 4- 5:44 Okay, now the legs are submitting to my will (after that 5k warm-up).

Mile 5- 5:30 Quite a bit of dowhnill, some headwind.  I followed a guy in a blue jersey and imagined a pony tail on him to motivate me to race him. Then I looked down at his legs and the hairy poof just made it really hard to imagine him female.

Mile 6- 5:38 Still some headwind and downhill.

Mile 7- 5:50 First half of this mile was downhill, second half was pretty steep uphill

Mile 8- 5:52 Still pushing up the steep hill.  Crested the hill and had a half mile of flat brought my pace back down.

Mile 9- 5:30 Gradual downhill, one intersection with no officer directing traffic.  I was lucky there were no cars because I ran a red light.

Final .3- 5:18 pace Little more downhill and a sprint to the finish.

After I finished I drank a couple of cups of Gatorade and jogged up to run Allie and Ruth in.  Aaron was taking pictures of everyone and Scott's wife, Karen was helping keep an eye on our kids (who kept raiding the post-race food and gatorade).  FRB-ers did really well!! Lots of PRs and overall/age group wins.  After chatting with bloggers (Paul, Jon, Cody, Scott, Allie, Ruth, Dave) for a bit Aaron left with Cody to go mountain running and Karen watched my kids so I could do a little cool down with Allie and Ruth.  I am very pleased with the race.  That was my first time racing 15K; it is such a fun distance to race!  Its just long enough to really get into a groove and feel good without getting too fatigued.  I didn't need any liquid or gu in the race so there were no distractions and no tummy/bowel problems.  Super fun race!

The kids were enjoying themselves at the playground nearby while we waited for the awards/raffle.  After all the runners finished we sat down and listened to the awards.  Milliseconds timing group had a little confusion since they had not gotten the finish line pad down until after the first 6-8 runners had already finished so they were asking us our finish times (its a good thing most runners time themselves).  They gave fireworks to the kids and a nice pottery bowl trophy to the overall/age group placers plus lots of raffle prizes.  Just after Scott was complaining that he never wins anything in those raffles he was proven wrong when they called his name and gave him a free backpack.

After that I gave Allie and Dave S. a ride back to their car up the canyon at the race start and went back to Scott's house to shower and get our stuff while we waited for Aaron.  Karen made some yummy sausages and hot dogs for lunch and we hung out for a couple more hours until Aaron returned and we left for our family get-togethers.

We had such a fun time in Cache Valley and are really grateful for Scott and Karen Ensign's kind hospitality and generosity in hosting us for the night, feeding us and helping with our kids.  It was really fun to get to know lots of bloggers better and race as a way of celebrating our Freedom and this great Country in which we live.