Canyonlands Half Marathon

On Friday, the night before the race, the Wasatch Walkers had a great pasta dinner and some serious Wii games (bowling, tennis, golf) together. I cooked the pasta and sauces, salad, and garlic bread, and Diane brought some Amano artisan chocolate. Nancy brought the wine. We dined heartily and laughed our heads off while playing the Wii. We quit around 8:30 so that we could get a decent night’s sleep. See our pictures here.

I slept pretty well, though I did wake at about 4:30 and slept somewhat fitfully after that. But Thursday night, 2 nights before the race (which is supposed to be the most important night), I slept REALLY well, so I was feeling pretty good Saturday morning.

I ate a banana and 3 slices of white French bread for breakfast at about 7:15, because the race was not until 10:00 am. Then Cindy, Leah, Sandi & I (we were all staying in Sandi’s friend’s very nice condo) walked over to meet the others at the buses to the start line. We quickly found Madeline, Alma, Marjorie, Diane, Nancy, and Carol, and after a quick photo (see above) hopped on the buses. The ride to the start was beautiful – the race course was chock-full of amazing vistas, and we chatted and enjoyed the views. The race parallels highway 128 along the Colorado River for 11 miles to highway 191, and then goes along 191 to Moab and finishes at the city park in Moab.

Photo: Cindy, Tammy, & Sandi waiting for the start.

We arrived at the start about 8:15 or so, and so we had lots of time to kill. We used the porta potties (several times – I was well-hydrated!), and spread out some blankets and sat down and chatted about all sorts of stuff – lots about races and racewalking, naturally! We took photos, and generally had a good time. Pretty soon it was time to walk gently uphill for 0.4 miles to the actual start. I used the porta potty again, warmed up (5-10 min, with 4 fast pick-ups), and discarded my sweats (I wore old ones I didn’t care about, and they will be donated to a homeless shelter). I found the 10:00 pace group, since that was exactly what I planned on (they only had pace groups for the start to facilitate traffic, not throughout the race). And pretty soon, we were off.

Photo: a sea of runners at the start.

It took me about 3 minutes to cross the start, but I didn’t care much since the race was chip timed. I took it very easy for the first mile, with an average HR of 149. It was the biggest downhill on the course, though, and so I still finished the mile in 9:31. Good – time in the bank, without wearing me out. I pushed a little harder on miles 2&3 (didn’t see the mile 2 sign) and did them in 19:30 total with a HR of 155. Still feeling pretty darn good, and wanted to take it at a moderate pace until at least mile 4.35 (1/3 of the way through). But, there were some hills (gentle, but still hills), and I didn’t take it that easy. I missed the mile 4 split and finished 4&5 in 20:17 with an ave HR of 160 (hmmm, a little high, but OK I guess).

Miles 6-9 were hilly. Basically, one gradual hill – not steep at all, but it went on what seemed like forever. AND it was starting to get HOT. UGH! Fortunately it was partly cloudy, and sometimes we were shaded by the steep canyon walls. But it was still very warm. By the time I finished the race it was probably 70 degrees (21C), which is about 10-15 degrees hotter than my preferred racing temperature. For miles 6-9, here are my splits and HR: mile 6, 10:01 & 161; mile 7, 9:58 and 163; mile 8, 10:16 and 163, mile 9 (downhill then a steep but short uphill) 10:00 & 164. I was pushing a little harder at this point than I had planned, but still keeping my 10:00 pace, except for mile 8 (which was really brutal for some reason – the hill & heat took their toll). I knew my race strategy (go out at 10:00 or a little faster since the start was downhill, and see how long I could hold it) was a bit risky; I didn’t know if I’d be able to keep the pace for the whole race, but really, I so much wanted to finish at a 10:00 pace, and I figured the worst case was that I’d crap out at the end.

Photo: drummers at mile 10.

Well, I did slow a little at the end, and it was very difficult, but I think I did pretty well. My strategy worked out OK. Mile 10, 10:23, HR 166; mile 11, 10:19, HR 164 (uphill AGAIN!). At mile 10.7 or so we left the canyon and the cooling of the river and it got much HOTTER. There was no more shade, and we were on the asphalt of highway 191, baking in the heat. The last 2 miles were mentally very tough. I pushed as hard as I could, and though I was breathing very hard and my HR was pretty high, I think my legs were maybe more tired than my lungs – a first for me in a race. Usually it’s my cardio that gives out first. Mile 12 was in 10:10, amazingly, with HR 169, and mile 13.1 was 11:27, with HR 169 and max of 177 at the end of the race. I gave it my all, and could not have raced any harder.

I finished in a new personal best time of 2:11:57, by my Garmin (and by the official time, which was just posted online), for 10:04 per mile, with an average heart rate of 162 (WOW! That is about 85% max, or supposedly where my lactate threshold is – no wonder my legs were giving out at the end!). I don’t know the official race chip time yet (should be posted soon) but the gun time was 2:14:45. I feel so great about this race! Let’s face it, 9 weeks ago I could barely racewalk due to my IT band injury, and today I finished with a new PB in the half marathon. Awesome.

Oh, and along the way, I had a split of 1:40:xx for 10 miles; my best for 10 miles is 1:38:34, for a race that was almost ALL downhill, and only 10 miles total, so this was terrific. AND, best of all, my split for 20km was in the low 2:04s – fast, and would have taken 1st place in the National Master’s 20K in Huntington Beach last weekend if I had been old enough (1 year older, 40 years old) to qualify for the prize money of $200. Next year!

This was a great race, and though I didn’t quite reach my goal of 10:00/mile pace the whole way, I am more than happy with my performance, AND I had a great time!

More race photos here.

Afterwards, I got some goodies and shared them w/the family. The kids loved having cookies and bananas and peanuts and chocolate milk for lunch, and I got to eat a little too. Then I saw some of my fellow Wasatch Walkers finish their races, and we walked the ½ mile slowly back to the condo.

Crazy person that I am, we decided to do a little hike in the afternoon. Loren and the kids were itching to go do the Delicate Arch hike in Arches NP, so off we went. Arches NP entrance is only 5 min from Moab, so pretty soon we were there, and after we sharked a parking spot (no easy task on a Saturday afternoon with such nice weather; about 77 degrees F, or 25C), we started to hike. The hike is 3.08 miles (4.95 km) round trip (by my Garmin; supposedly 3 miles) but with 480 feet (146 m)of elevation increase. AND I carried Michelle, all 32 lb (14.5 kg) of her, on my back in the backpack all the way up to the arch (1.54 miles, 2.48 km). That was a good workout! Actually, it felt decent, but tonight I am very tired, and I can tell I’m going to be sore tomorrow. Oh well, it was worth it! What a wonderful day.

More photos of the Delicate Arch hike here.