I'm retired from racing. Really.

Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon

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Location:

Greenville,SC,

Member Since:

Feb 24, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

I also maintain a blogspot running blog. Check it out. 

5k- 16:01, 1/2 marathon- 1:11:37, marathon- 2:34:16, 50k- 3:58, 100 mile- 15:19

Former World Record holder in 100 x 5k relay 

Ultra history:

8-100 mile, 1-100k, 9-50 mile, 2-40 mile, 14-50k-ish

12 wins, 5 CR's, plus four 2nd, five 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 5th, 9th, 16th, 20th, 28th, 38th, and 62nd place, with 1 DNF 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Goals 

Enjoy running, stay fit (and maybe lose a few pounds). Play ultimate frisbee.

4 year coach of Langston Middle School- love it

Long-Term Running Goals:

Unretire at some point

Run a sub-6 hr 50 miler

Win a 100 mile ultramarathon

Personal:

I have five cute kids. And I have some rockin short green racing shorts- I wear them mainly because it embarrasses my wife so much. I like ultimate frisbee, trail running, reading, and cheering for the Denver Broncos!   And I have the absolute best wife in the world.  And I used to run for the now-disbanded national Team Pearl Izumi- Ultra!

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 15.50 Month: 55.50 Year: 154.50
Fastwitch Lifetime Miles: 82.50
Trail N1 Lifetime Miles: 86.50
Road N1 Lifetime Miles: 31.00
Trail M2 Lime/black Lifetime Miles: 297.00
Road M3 Grey And Yellow Lifetime Miles: 324.00
Road N2 Purple 2 Lifetime Miles: 222.50
Road N2 4 Grey Lifetime Miles: 51.00
Race: Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:11:37, Place overall: 5, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
7.000.0013.000.000.0020.00

TOU 1/2 today with a good blog crowd- Seth, Paul, Cody, Sasha, Walter, and others.  My 1/2 marathon PR of 1:14:07 was set on this course last year.  I was hoping to break 1:13, with a stretch goal of 1:12.  I also was gunning for Sasha and wanted to prevent Paul from beating me, which was his goal.  Last year I did a partial taper for this race, this year I had no taper- in fact, this week is my highest running mileage ever.  Ever.  So I was hoping that wouldn't affect me.

Warmed up 2 miles at home, then 2 miles at the starting line.  I was all business today- no talking, joking around, etc.  Even wore my race day warm up beanie despite the warm temperature.  Felt a new tightness in my right achilles and tried to stretch it, but to no avail.  It twinged a bit during the race and hurts after, but didn't slow me.  It was 50-55 deg at the start, overcast, swirling winds (i.e. no great canyon wind to help today).  Splits were as follows:

Mile 1- 5:34- too slow, wanted sub-5:30, but felt good.  Seth and Taren are already ahead, Josh Steffan and Sasha are 10 seconds up, Paul and Walter are right behind me.

Mile 2- 5:28

Mile 3- 5:23- finally a good pace, though faster than my 10k pace a few weeks ago...

Mile 4- 5:25- feeling fast yet good, Paul dropped off a bit here

Mile 5- 5:17- Fast, fighting a bit of a side ache

Mile 6- 5:20 (10k split of about 33:20, just off PR pace)

Mile 7- 5:18- not much tail wind compared to last year.  Bummer.

Mile 8- 5:30- out of the canyon, fewer hills, slight headwind

Mile 9- 5:32- Paul is still only 10-15 seconds back, Sasha is about 1 minute ahead.  My 15k PR is 53:56, which I would have broken by about 3:30 today.

Mile 10- 5:29 (10 miles in 54:21)- semi-brisk headwind along this stretch

Mile 11- 5:38 (59:59 total time at this point)- Mile 10.5-12 is uphill, with 150' climb

Mile 12- 5:47- Sasha really coming back to me now, Paul isn't catching up

Mile 13- 5:23- pushed it real hard to the finish

0.1- 0:26- made up 30 seconds on Sasha, put about 15 seconds on Paul in the last 5k

Total time was 1:11:38 (1:11:40 official, though I think the official clock was 2 seconds slow by everyone's watch).  5:28 pace, 2:29 PR.  This was about 1 minute faster than I realistically thought I could go, and the race was about 30 seconds slower than last year due to different winds.  I am very excited.  I was tired at the finish, but within about 2 minutes felt much better and could run at a normal pace again- much faster post race recovery than normal.  

I'm happy with the race today.  A few blisters, very tight achilles (I'll have to watch that), but feel great.  This predicts a 2:28:14 St. George (and a 32:19 Des News 10k, and 1:09:30 on the new Hobblecreek, in case anyone was wondering for today's comparison).  My St. George goal is to break 2:30, so this goes a long way to making me belive I have a shot at it.  Sasha predicted 2:27:30 at SGM.

By the way, Clyde-science predicted 1:11-something, with him not even knowing the course.  Maybe Clyde-science is the new Sasha-science.

 Tangent 2- 76

Weight: 0.00
Comments
From James on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 14:13:58

Great race today! Your hard work is paying off for you.

From Kelli on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 15:21:17

HOLY COW!!! You did great and on high mileage and with twinges of pain. Great run, congrats to you on such an awesome race.

From Superfly on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 15:31:35

I've been trying to tell you guys this the whole time...

Good race and way to go on the PR!

From Dale on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 15:47:57

Yipes! Quite the jump over last year's time on your biggest mileage week ever? Keep logging those miles! They're obviously working for you! Great work!

From MichelleL on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 15:50:41

Great job Jon! Without the tailwind your race predictor for St. G should be adjusted downward, just like Sasha is predicting.

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 16:11:20

Once again, awesome job. You pounded me into the ground and put up a superb time too. Way to respond to all my trash talking!

From Jon on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 16:16:46

Like I said, Paul, I was all business. I knew you were fully capable of beating me, so I just tried to stay focused, relaxed, and do my darndest to make sure you weren't sitting on my shoulder with 400 m to go...

You ran a good race, too, on half my mileage. Amazing. Especially since you didn't feel particularly good.

From jtshad on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 16:36:57

Wow, great time and a fantastic effort for a new PR! You are running very well right now, I can't wait to see your results in St. George.

Keep it up!

From Adam RW on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 16:45:58

WOW!!! Sorry I missed it.

From Mike Warren on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 17:10:48

Awesome time! Looks good for STM. What is Clyde science predicting?

From cody on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 17:31:24

The Athlete of the week award goes to Jon! Very impressive race!

From Andy on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 18:00:19

Over a 2 minute PR at your level is huge. Great job on a very well run race.

From JimF on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 19:09:14

Awesome race and huge PR especially since you didn't taper for this and had your highest mileage week. Things look good for SGM.

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 19:41:05

Let's see, looks like I was 10 seconds back at 6 miles, 11 seconds back at 10 miles, 12 seconds back at 11 miles...then 24 seconds back at 12 miles. Way to lay the hammer down up the hill!

I wonder if I could have gotten a better start if we would have pushed each other to a better time, since our middle 6 miles were pretty much identical.

From wheakory on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 23:18:27

Excellent Jon! way to fire up the road. Your ready to rock a PR in your next marathon. Your fitness is incredible.

From David on Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 03:21:07

Great race, I hear I'm missing a skinny Jon Allen. Guess it's working. Frisbee game afterward?

From seth on Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 20:16:31

Great Job. I think that you had the best race out of the bunch considering your circumstances. Way to go.

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