Rattler Half Marathon

April 14

Rattler 1/2 Marathon (13.1mi), 1:34:56 (about 7:15 pace): With 10min warm-up and 15 min cool-down, I put in about 16mi for the day. This is what matters with respect to Wasatch I suppose -- time on task and overall miles. The 1800 ft of elevation gain also made for a solid effort. That being said, I should hope that I don't run a single step at this kind of pace on Sept. 8th! Good for a first place finish this weekend, such exhuberance would be foolhardy in Utah.

True to form in recent years, I raced smart but whimpy. An early lead evaporated quickly on the long, mid-race up hills. I walked on purpose through these steeper sections, but pretty much let the leader get almost out of sight at that point. To my ultimate surprise, I caught up after 2mi of technical downhill and took back the lead with 3+ miles to go. Another gradual climb meant loosing the lead again, but my legs were fresher on the final 600m into the finish. In the ultimate nod to lame racing, I only put my head down and went after it when I noticed the leader's cramping legs. I really should have toughed it out and never fallen back into second over this final stretch... Alas, my "killer instinct" is hard to find. I'll be happy with running wise and see what happens from there.

Next up: The Sunflower Iron. I'll add on about 5mi and run to the start from home

April 15

7mi, 50:42: We'll call this 7. In might be a little short. Ran easy on the MVCommunity Trail west of home. Came back on the ski train through piles of logging slash. The Sunflower will have to be run on the road through here this year. Have to check that whole route out as well and see if even that is possible...

Week: 40mi. Really happy to see that number again and to have gotten in 5 good days of running during a busy week. The several months ahead don't get any easier, but my early base is getting well-established. A month ahead in the 40's range would be great. Long runs will begin to oscillate up and down a little bit, with hopefully some 20's (3+ hrs) on the way into May.