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Utah Valley Half Marathon

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Location:

South Weber,UT,

Member Since:

May 09, 2012

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Personal Records:

800 Meters 1:50.14 (Track-BYU)

1500 Meters 3:42.07 (Track-Stanford) Likely the best race of my life; converts to a 3:59.85 Mile

5000 Meters 14:20 (Track-Stanford)

8000 Meters 23:53 (Cross Country-Pre Nationals Iowa)

10000 Meters 29:57 (Track-Stanford)

Half Marathon (Mesa-Phoenix Half) 1:05:11

Marathon (St George) 2:16:09

Short-Term Running Goals:

2017 Races:

Mesa-Phoenix Half - 3rd Place 1:05:11 PR

Ogden WRC 10-Miler - 1st Place 55:46

Provo City Half - 1st Place 1:06:33

Ogden Marathon - 2nd Place 2:25:46

Long-Term Running Goals:

My main goal is just to stay healthy.  I was injured every year in my college career except for one.  I would like to reverse that trend and always stay injury-free.

 

Personal:

I am a family man.  I am married to my beautiful wife Amy (who also ran at Weber and is quite the runner).  We have four beautiful daughters named Evelyn (6 years old), Hannah (4 year old), Nora (2 year old), and Iris (5 months).

Twitter handle: @RunnerRiley7

Instagram RunnerRiley7

I am supported by Brooks

I am a Generation Ucan elite athlete

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Salomon Pro Wings 2 Lifetime Miles: 161.10
Brooks PureCadence 5 Lifetime Miles: 101.85
Brooks Adrenaline 17 Lifetime Miles: 161.85
Brooks Transcend 4 Lifetime Miles: 219.45
Brooks Ravenna 8 Lifetime Miles: 225.10
Brooks PureCadence 6 Lifetime Miles: 188.10
Brooks Launch 4 Lifetime Miles: 107.50
Brooks Glycerin 14 Lifetime Miles: 101.47
Brooks Hyperion Lifetime Miles: 92.13
Brooks Caldera Lifetime Miles: 31.10
Race: Utah Valley Half Marathon (13.109 Miles) 01:10:12, Place overall: 4
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.800.0013.110.0016.91

UTAH VALLEY HALF MARATHON

Well I knew this might not be a great race for me with how sick I've been all week.  It's funny if you asked me Thursday to predict my time I would've said 1:15.  But, this morning I convinced myself I could do 1:07.  So it ended up being in between those two.  But, I had to go in with confidence or else why even race?  I decided I would run as if I were not sick and just see what happens.  Worst case scenario I would fade and just get a decent workout out of it.

So, I went out with the mindset of trying to win the race.  That was my goal before I got sick, so I still wanted to see if I could do it.  I thought I could manage sub-5:00 pace for the first 8 miles or so (with the exception of mile 3) if I was feeling well.  Well, I didn't get a single mile at sub-5:00 so I knew pretty early on I was maybe in for a rough one.

We started the race and I found myself in front solo for the first 1/4 mile or so.  That really surprised me, considering the depth of the field.  Then Nate Hornock came up alongside me and we chatted for 200 meters or so and then Jon Kotter showed up as well with Josh McCabe.  Nate fell back before the mile mark and Jon, Josh and I formed the lead pack for the first 4 miles.  During mile 5 on some really good downhill, Josh picked up the pace and he and Jon pulled away from despite me running 4:31 pace down that hill.  I caught back up briefly on a slight uphill but only managed to stay with them for 200 meters or so and then just started to really "lose it".  I felt really sapped of energy and slowed down subtantially.

I looked down at my watch and saw I was running 5:13 pace downhill.  I shook my head is annoyance and thought to myself, "Surely I'm going to get passed here pretty soon if I don't get moving".  I didn't get moving and I did get passed almost immediately after that by Jake.  I was now running in the 5:20s and felt like garbage.  Even though I was still in 4th place I was almost ready to step off the course, I really felt weak. 

For the first time ever in a half marathon I took some form of fuel.  I knew before the race that I might have low energy levels this morning, so I packed some clif shot blocks with me.  I took two of those at this point, and I think it helped me finish the race.  At least that combined with the slower pace helped me keep going despite feeling pretty awful.

Once we got out of the canyon I was just really holding on.  I just tried to take it one mile at a time and remind myself that I do 8-mile tempos at this pace almost weekly no problem, so just try to keep moving.

I kept getting slower and feeling worse and I thought surely someone was going to pass me soon.  That fear kind of kept me going.  With two miles to go I glanced back and couldn't see anyone, which was a relief.  The problem is it also takes away my fear and "need" to keep running hard, and mentally I just gave in a bit and slowed down even more.  That's the problem with looking back and why you shouldn't do it!

So I finished up in 4th and still on the podium in just over 1:10.  Just like everyone else I had like a ten second discrepancy on my watch time and official, but at this point it really doesn't matter. 

So, it wasn't a wasted day, but man it wasn't pleasant.  I kept wondering why I talked myself into running when I knew deep down it was going to be a struggle. But, now that it's over, I'm glad I did.  It should serve as a great workout for Duluth in two weeks.  Plus I think trying to run hard when you feel horrible is great practice mentally to stay tough and hopefully that will pay dividends in the future.

Splits: 509 505 518 504 500 513 521 523 525 527 537 530 539 54 (last .17)

Pearl Izumi EM Road N1 Miles: 16.91
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Matt Poulsen on Sat, Jun 08, 2013 at 17:34:19 from 98.202.242.213

You've got some serious guts, Riley! Nice work. If you were healthy, it would have been a different story. Nice work under difficult circumstances. Great to see you today.

From Jake K on Sat, Jun 08, 2013 at 18:07:28 from 67.177.11.154

Its really hard to race sick, or even just coming off sickness. There's no doubt it zaps the life out of you. Just look at the workouts you did a week ago - can't fake those... so just get the health back in check, and it sounds like its improving, and you'll be alright. It could actually be a good thing in terms of the upcoming race that you couldn't put the pedal to the metal today.

From Little Bad Legs on Sat, Jun 08, 2013 at 18:19:01 from 68.186.0.46

Very VERY solid race today while recovering from a sickness. Pretty frustrating that the timing worked out like it did. You get sick a couple days earlier, or the race is a couple days later, and it's a different finish time for sure. Hoping for a quick recovery and another solid race in a couple weeks.

From bdase on Sat, Jun 08, 2013 at 19:42:02 from 70.196.193.66

Good to see you again Riley. Inspiring, gutsy performance today.

From Josh E on Sat, Jun 08, 2013 at 20:34:31 from 75.162.197.132

Way to stay with it when it got tough. Definitely a worthwhile race today.

From Kendall on Sat, Jun 08, 2013 at 21:23:04 from 70.208.31.38

Kudos for running and competing under less than desirable circustances...and podium nonetheless!

From Trevor Baker on Sat, Jun 08, 2013 at 23:05:20 from 174.27.192.123

Just wanted to say great work coming off of the sickness! Looking forward to seeing what you can do in MN.

From Steve on Sun, Jun 09, 2013 at 07:21:03 from 66.87.153.218

You did it no matter what. That's what counts

From scottkeate on Sun, Jun 09, 2013 at 15:54:08 from 71.199.4.146

Tough effort not feeling well this week. I'm impressed that you decided to give it a go and for fully committing when you made the decision. I agree with your comments about running hard when you're not feeling well--it certainly toughens you up. Looking forward to watching you kill it at Duluth.

From SpencerSimpson on Sun, Jun 09, 2013 at 16:12:02 from 216.63.106.159

man 1:10 with the flu. perfect mental toughness workout for Duluth. Nice workout and glad you finished. These last two experiences will give you some good mojo...

From runningafterbabies on Sun, Jun 09, 2013 at 17:55:46 from 71.195.219.247

Consider it a great warmup for Deluth. I have complete confidence in you and your abilities.

From Jason D on Sun, Jun 09, 2013 at 22:38:12 from 24.1.80.94

You've run a few races in less than favorable circumstances and pushed through, Riley. I think you are due for good one in Duluth. I would say you will have some competition to help push you along, but I guess that goes without saying and the folks you usually race are anything but slow :) Get some rest.

From mike⇒nelson on Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 12:49:58 from 173.14.226.146

Good job hanging in there. Running sick is no fun. You're due for a great performance in Duluth. Get healthy!

From Superfly on Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 13:52:05 from 74.211.21.81

Great race coming off a sickness. I think Jake has said this before but not feeling good in the half costs you maybe 3 min's... not feeling good in a marathon is a death march. Glad you didn't do the full today.

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