This morning I ran the Run through the Lavender Half Marathon. It well organized and was a really fun time. They also had great prizes, both overall and age group.
I slept in Lindon at Amy's Grandma's house. Got up early and met the Talley's just off I-15 and rode with them down to the race. Before the race even started I was quite certain I was going to place 5th. There was quite a fast field today and my fitness isn't very high right now. The field included Jon Kotter, Jake Krong, Brett Hales, and Alden Bahr.
I only got a very short warmup in of one mile, but the race went out slower, so it wasn't a problem. There was a group of 6 at the start and the first two miles were 5:41 and 5:44. Jon Rosswog fell off the pace somewhere around mile 2 and then there were five of us. I knew I couldn't hang with these guys once they got moving, but as long as they were running slower I may as well have someone to run with. Mile 3 was 5:31. The pace quickened after mile 3 and I knew I couldn't hold it so I backed off and let the four of them go. Mile 4 was 5:25 (They must've been around 5:15). The uphill started at this point and didn't really let up untill 11.5 miles. But it was only gradual and gentle for most of it. When we turned to head East I glanced back to see where 6th place was and I couldn't see anyone at all anywhere close. So, I was quite a ways behind the top four and way out in front of 6th in no man's land. I figured, well heck why kill myself if I'm not going to improve my place, so I let up a tad. I wanted to keep a still somewhat honest pace, but not kill myself. Miles 5-10 were 5:36 5:42 5:55 5:46 5:52 and 5:49.
At this point we turned into the lavender fields and we had quite the uphill from 10.5 to 11.5 and the last mile was mostly downhill to the finish. I glanced back a few times to make sure no one was coming up on me and sure enough no one was in sight, so I coasted to the finish. Final miles were 6:02 6:00 5:33 and 1:12 for final .23. The final time was 1:15:54.
Alden was first followed by Brett, Jon, and Jake. The 5k was also super competitive. I won $100 for 5th place, which is pretty good for 5th! I finished with about the time I estimated I could run on this uphill course. It wasn't fancy by any means, but it was a good workout and I had fun. Even if I had pushed harder I wouldn't have been more than a minute faster and Jake in 4th beat me by like three minutes, so I'm glad I cut back the effort a bit in the middle and save the legs a bit.
It was fun to see some old teammates in Corbin (7th in half), Brett (2nd), and Jace (3rd in 5k). I ran three miles slowly and not all at once for a cooldown.
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