Got up well before the crack of dawn to head down and catch the bus for the Ogden Half Marathon. I got off the bus up at the starting line with about 45 minutes to go. I waited in a line for a port-a-pottie and then went for a two mile warmup. I got done with the warmup and had about 15 minutes or so and I really felt strongly that I needed another visit to the port-a-pottie. The lines were insane and I finally got my turn with like 2 minutes left until the start. Then I sprinted over to the truck for the drop off bags, and then sprinted to the start line and made it with about 30 seconds to spare. I was lucky to make it in time.
I lined up behind Scott Keate who graciously offered me his spot on the front line, but I told him I was fine and got out quick behind him. My adrenaline was already flowing from almost missing the start and I proceeded to run Mile 1, the only mile with a large hill in it, in 5:07. That was too fast, I planned on about 5:25-5:30 for that mile. Oh well, so I settled down and reminded myself that 5:15-5:25 was fine on this portion of the course and time could be made up on the downhill canyon portion. I was out in front by myself for the first three miles. Miles 2 and 3 were 5:20 and 5:18. As I approached mile 4 I heard footsteps behind me approaching rapidly. And by the time I hit mile 4, Bryant Jensen had closed the gap and was now running alongside me. My legs by this time just didn't have the normal spring in them that I've had in weeks past. Mile 4 was 5:19 but felt much harder, despite being a downhill mile.
Right after mile 4 you enter the canyon and Mile 5 is a pretty steep downhill. Not much interesting going on from here until Mile 9; Bryant and I stayed basically together the whole stretch here. Miles 5-9 splits were 5:07 5:14 5:12 5:13 5:08. I was hoping to average 5:05 on this stretch but my legs just didn't have it today.
At around 9.5 miles I threw in a surge, but Bryant not only covered it but continued it after I ended the surge. By Mile 10 he was probably 10 seconds up on me. Mile 10 split was 5:04. Now we're on the parkway and I was just holding on. Bryant was increasing his lead and I kept feeling worse. I never got any closer the rest of the way. Miles 11-13 were 5:18 5:24 5:25 and 38 for the last tenth (which may be my slowest ever final tenth of a half).
The final time was still a good time for me. I met my "B" goal for the race. My "A" goal was sub-1:08 and my "B" goal was sub-1:09. This was my fifth half marathon in seven weeks, and it definitely felt the worst. Which is weird because I had more time to recover for this one, having not raced last week.
Congrats to Bryant, he ran a stellar race and was tough today. Scott also ran a fantastic race to finish third, he's really stepping it up!
After the race Scott and I cooled down back along the course to watch some of the marathon finishers come in. Fritz was incredible today! Overall I ended up jogging another 40 minutes after the race; a few minutes here and there watching family and friends finish the marathon.
It was great to see and talk to everyone today: Bryant, Scott, Fritz, Ben, Steve, etc. Good job to everyone, it was fun. | 
