Going With The Flow

Top of Utah 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: Top of Utah Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:17:52, Place overall: 1
Total Distance
15.00

Goals for this race were to race equivalent or better than Utah Valley Half (1:17:54). I thought that this would be a good challenge, given that I have only been ramping up the mileage and workouts for 5 weeks or so (lot of cross training for 6 weeks for my back after UVH). I knew that the biggest factor would be endurance because I've only done 3 runs over 10 miles since May.

We got up to the race start and did the usual pre-race activities of stretching, bathrooms 3-4 times, warm-up, etc. Then the START.

I don't think the start truck realized how fast Jake and Paul are - the driver had to gun it to get out of the way! I realized after the first mile or so that my legs just didn't have it today. The effort felt hard no matter what pace I was going and my splits in the canyon were all over the place (5:37, 6:00, 5:44, 5:54, 5:37, 5:44, 5:47).

At this point, I really wished that I had someone close to me. I couldn't see anyone in front and couldn't hear cheering for anyone behind me either (at the finish the closest peron in front and behind were 3.5 and 1 minute, respectively). It didn't help that it was a little country road that would have been perfect for the nice 8 min/mile pace :o) Ran 8-10 in 5:56, 6:04, 6:09. I really thought these miles would be more downhill, but they felt flat compared to the canyon!

10-12 flat to uphill miles were as expected - slow and hard. I've always felt that hills should be at the beginning of a race, not the hardest part of the half! It was a good challenge, and I think the hill beat me (6:19, 6:35). Luckily I was able to turnover for the last 1.1 miles in 5:54, :32.

It was good to see that I PRed! Even if it was only 2 seconds, I worked hard for it. Temps were warm too, making the race a little more challenging. I felt amazing at UVH and felt tired here, so that seems to indicate that I'm in better shape. I just need to get in some more 13+ mile days under me and I'll be good to go!



Race recap from the Herald Journal.  

Award trophies were rocks with a running dude on the top. Jake's rock was 6 lbs and mine was only 3.8 lbs, so I feel a little gipped! Between those, my Stanley cup from UVH, and Jake's buffalo trophy from Antelope 50k we are finally starting to get some decorations in the condo!

Saucony Type A4 Miles: 14.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Lily on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 16:46:39 from 67.199.178.210

Score! Woot woot! I was rooting for you all morning :)

From Adam RW on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 17:00:11 from 24.10.132.131

2 sec are still 2 sec, so nice PR. I would also wager that with the hill in the end, TOU is a slower course but I'll let others be the judge of that. Looking off of Sasha's course tool UVM is much faster if I'm reading it correctly. So the effort is probably worth even more. Congratulations!

From Holt on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 17:06:29 from 71.213.91.113

Way to go Andrea - great time and congrats on the win. (What would this have put you against the guys?)

From Andrea on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 17:18:44 from 67.177.21.60

Thanks everyone, full report up now!

Holt - I was 8th overall, with the closest person ahead of me being Steve Anderson 3.5 minutes!

From emruns on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 17:23:53 from 76.27.114.171

Nice race! It's hard to get the turnover going when you are all by yourself. Next year I'll come and try to tag along with you! I actually thing TOU is more difficult that people realize, especially for a supposedly aided course.

From MarkP on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 17:37:09 from 97.117.116.43

Awesome job. It was nice meeting you and running in your dust!

From Kelli on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 18:25:52 from 71.219.67.82

Congratulations on the house decorating!!! I have that same Buffalo statue and it will hold a place of honor on my mantle FOREVER (I am not like you two, I do not expect to get many more!) WHY would his be heavier being that you were first and he was second? Hmmmm....

Congratulations on pulling out a PR when not feeling as well, that is actually a GREAT thing! You are strong as ever! I think this is a tough course, those uphill miles can really kill your race if you are already struggling, way to power through them!

Sorry you were lonely, but it is a pretty run! Maybe some of us should bring our rollerblades next time to keep up with you!?!

From Superfly on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 18:31:13 from 74.211.21.81

Super Race! You and Jake are running great right now. Keep it up.

From Jody on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 19:15:25 from 75.141.131.35

Way to PR - Congrats! Aided courses are much more difficult than people think, you have to be pretty careful in how you run, especially TOU and that nasty hill.

From Jon on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 20:02:51 from 74.177.100.34

A PR when you're not feeling great is awesome. Congrats. Love the hardware- heavy!

From MichelleL on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 20:39:32 from 219.79.122.198

Sorry you didn't feel well but that's an incredible performance for not being fully conditioned and not feeling your best. Sorry there weren't people around you, that would have been helpful for sure. What's next for you?

From Burt on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 21:15:05 from 72.223.91.148

Way to go Andrea! I hope Paul and Jake didn't swallow some carbon monoxide when the truck gunned it.

Kelli - Winners don't carry heavy rocks.

From allie on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 21:40:49 from 24.10.191.18

nice race, andrea! congrats on another great win and a new PR. TOU definitely has some challenges in those final miles -- way to hang on and fight through to the end despite not feeling your best. your performances have been so impressive all summer long. now it's time to do some damage in the marathon!

From Little Bad Legs on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 22:45:12 from 68.186.75.3

Congratulations on a well deserved PR. Way to go!

From Rachelle on Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 00:40:28 from 66.7.127.115

Congrats Andrea! You are simply amazing. And seriously girl you just have so much potential. I feel so honored just to follow your training and racing. Wait to go!!

From Scott Ensign on Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 02:53:41 from 67.40.112.231

that is a smoking fast time, more than two minutes faster than the women's winners the last few years. Awesome job. have fun in Wisconsin- you won't be too far from my hometown of Madison. Although Lake geneva fills more like Illinois that wisconsin with all the chicago people there. you'll see what I mean :-)

From Hamdog Alum on Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 09:36:26 from 68.185.190.140

Yay!! Way to pull off a win and PR - double bonus!! I think when you run from the front with noone around you it always feels more like a training run than a race when running on the road - it's not easy to do. Awesome job! See you in a couple days! Have a safe flight :)

From Jon on Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 10:24:11 from 74.177.100.34

Andrea- if Jake teases you that his is heavier, I would just point out that yours says FIRST PLACE.

From steve ash on Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 12:29:57 from 64.134.236.31

Nice race Andrea and congrats on your PR:) That canyon has always been for me to pace properly also.

From Seth on Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 15:13:22 from 67.177.36.131

Congrats on the win & PR! Keep it up!

From Walter on Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 17:07:45 from 24.2.69.110

Andrea, Great race and that was funny at the start when the truck took off it almost made Kris (race director) fall out as well as the stack of cones that we thought were coming out. lol That course is very technical for a canyon run. You did great!

From Jake K on Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 10:47:10 from 155.100.226.53

I will just add my thoughts now for the permanent record. To beat your time from UVM (where you felt like you had a perfect day), despite a less than ideal buildup, and not really doing more than a few runs over 10 miles, says a lot about what a strong competitor and racer you are. Four straight weeks in August of impressive races! Once you get some long runs and tempos under your legs, you're going to feel even stronger at this distance. I can't wait to see what you can do!!! :-) GREAT RACE!

From Scott Wesemann on Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 12:49:26 from 205.158.160.209

Congrats on your race and time. You don't even look tired in that finish line photo. Good luck the rest of the year!

From jtshad on Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 16:12:54 from 204.134.132.225

Great job on the win and PR, amazing running right now! Keep like this and who knows where you can go.

Congrats!

From Steve on Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 22:02:20 from 12.200.234.20

I agree with emruns, for some reason this half just seems harder. It's always my slowest half each summer.

I believe this is the second race you have finished just after me. Thanks for not kicking my butt!

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