Going With The Flow

Run Through the Lavender Half Marathon

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Location:

Salt Lake City,UT,United States

Member Since:

May 08, 2011

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided -  
17:16 OktoberFAST 5K (10/11)
17:23 BAA 5K (4/12)
37:10 Memorial Day 10K (5/11)
1:17:03 Long Beach Half Marathon (10/11)
1:17:21 USA 1/2 Champs - Duluth (6/12)
2:49:01 Philadelphia Marathon (11/11)

Aided -
16:52 Fight For Air 5K (6/11)
17:08 Provo City 5K (5/12)
1:17:52 Top of Utah Half Marathon (8/11)
1:17:54 Utah Valley Half Marathon (6/11)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run consistently as I get back to 100% health. Stay patient!

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Have fun training and racing.

Sub-17 5K
Sub-1:17 Half Marathon
Quality for the Olympic Trials in the marathon

Personal:

I am originally from Knoxville, TN and moved to SLC with Jake in 2010. I started racing in 2011 and had some great success before a major injury hit me in July 2012. I had athletic pubalgia surgery in May 2013...then again in Sept 2014 and am still trying to get back to my old self. Although running is my true passion, I love doing pretty much anything active outdoors - backcountry skiing, backpacking, biking, etc. 

I've been running for the Saucony Team since 2011. I enjoy representing the brand and really do believe they make the best shoes :)

I work as a Quality Engineer for BD Medical in Sandy.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Skinning Miles (1000ft ~ 2.5 Miles) Lifetime Miles: 912.35
Hiking Miles Lifetime Miles: 10.50
Race: Run Through the Lavender Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:24:16, Place overall: 2
Total Distance
16.00

AM - Run Through Lavendar Half Marathon. I will admit that Jake and I "lavender-picked" this race because of the prize money. It turns out that many other top level athletes in the area had the same idea! At first, my plan was to just run with Rachelle for a nice workout, but my competitiveness got the best of me. I wasn't mentally or physically prepared for a true race this morning, but I did what I could :)

The race began on dirt with a short uphill. Kassi Harmon and I took the early lead. The course turns left to a nice downhill section for the rest of the first mile. We hit the road and then begins the long, boring road in the middle of nowhere. Kassi and I had a high school guy compliment on how fast we were (I don't think he's used to being chicked). We dropped him shortly after and were running a steady pace at about 10 seconds faster than what I was feeling comfortable with. At 5.5 miles, I made the conscious decision to let Kassi go and drop to marathon pace. That difference between 6:15 and 6:25 made a huge difference. I felt much more relaxed and just focused on keeping a steady effort.

The race seemed uphill from miles 6 to 11.5, just annoyingly steady and boring. I needed some music, people, something! The course went through the lavender fields on dirt for the last 3 miles with a pretty brutal hill from 10.5-11.5. Good training for TOU Half, I guess! After that slow mile, I was able to get my legs going a reasonable pace again for the last 2 miles or so. Finished in 1:24:16, right at marathon pace.

This course was not easy for me. It felt especially difficult because I haven't run much faster than 8-9 min pace for the last 4 weeks. Running in the low 6s was quite a shock to the system! It's amazing to me how quick you lose racing sharpness. It comes back quickly, but it just goes to show how important it is to incorporate a little bit of faster running even during base training.

The biggest success in the race today is that I had no problems with my hamstring! It must be healing well. I did have some awkwardness in my groin, but hopefully that's just a fluke. It's all about injury management for me! :)

Congrats to everyone that ran today - some great performances. The race was very well organized with no hiccups at all. Mile markers were right on...it was a fun morning. Cooled down with Kassi, Melody, Rachelle, Jen, and Jake for 2 miles.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Bec on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 13:31:14 from 71.199.9.12

You are just so incredible! Cute photos too. Nice job taking home some cash.

From Bonnie on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 13:59:52 from 184.63.70.104

Nice job Andrea, pretty darn impressive. Great pictures!

From Jake K on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:05:32 from 67.177.11.154

I'm just glad that I get to run my cooldown with all the fast girls.

From Derek D on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:10:37 from 68.109.129.9

Great news on the hamstring! Solid workout today. Yes, race sharpness goes away quickly but comes back quickly too. That is a tough looking course at alititude. Good job today.

From Rob on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:21:34 from 184.167.92.40

Nice job, do you and Jake split the winnings or are you the main bread, I mean lavender winner?

From Jake K on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:23:23 from 67.177.11.154

I pay Andrea 85% of my winnings for putting up w/ me

From runningafterbabies on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 14:42:40 from 71.195.219.247

Great job today Andrea! I totally chickened out of the half b/c I peeked at the EP and thought there was no way I could stay mentally checked in for that long uphill. You looked steady, strong and focused.

From ACorn on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 15:17:58 from 24.2.76.146

Great job Andrea! Glad the hamstring is feeling better.

From Hamdog Alum on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 15:48:41 from 71.90.5.18

Nice job working through the tough course on easy mileage legs Andrea. I'm really glad the hamstring didn't bother you.

From SlowJoe on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 17:19:20 from 69.131.141.92

Pretty good sign you could pull off MP on a course like that with minimal training! Congrats, very impressive!

From TBean on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 17:57:35 from 97.117.85.98

Another impressive run! Looking good rounding that corner.

From Lily on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 18:11:26 from 198.228.217.160

Pretty impressive for your dialed back training. Kassi is a machine and looks like you held your own chicky. Money machine today. Can I take out a loan? He he

From JD on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 18:19:03 from 65.130.128.201

great race Andrea!

From Rachelle on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 19:40:37 from 66.7.127.115

After Andrea and Jake both pay me they're 10% tax for letting them in on my "secret" they will have just enough to afford maverick frozen yogurt cones for exactly 540 days straight. :-)

Simply amazing and impressive that you were able to run so fast after 4 weeks off Andrea! You ran a very smart race and I am really proud of you. Thanks for coming all the way down to visit and next time your here we need to hike Nebo! :-)

From Fritz on Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 20:08:50 from 76.27.28.67

Great job Andrea and I am glad the hamstring didn't hurt. Looks like a fun race.

From Walter on Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 17:58:18 from 24.2.69.110

Andrea, it looks like from your pic you could almost wear a trail racing shoe! :) Nice job!

From Superfly on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 11:56:20 from 74.211.21.81

Another good race! The course sounds kind of sort of... I guess they all can't be super awesome. But from I-15 those fields are beautiful so running through them seems fun even if it's on dirt.

From Andrea on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 12:30:32 from 72.37.244.100

Thanks everyone! This race really got me motivated again...I've been in a (deserved) lazy slump the past few weeks so it's a relief to want to run a lot again!

I think my new training plan is to just run races instead of doing workouts by myself all the time :) Even when I'm running alone, they are still so much more fun!

From MarkP on Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 17:31:53 from 75.162.122.164

Great job and stay healthy!

From Kelli on Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 22:38:34 from 67.172.235.55

Yeah for your hamstring! Nice job on this race, it sounds like a very FUN one (and by that, I mean hard!!!)

From MichelleL on Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 23:31:56 from 68.183.89.219

Nice time for that course! So glad the hamstring held up. That was the biggest victory :D

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