I am one with the levee and the levee with me

Utah State Invitational

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Location:

North Salt Lake,UT,

Member Since:

Dec 12, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

1500m - 3:59.9h (2014)

5000m - 14:53.45 (Portland Track Festival 2014)

8k XC - 25:09 (Sundodger 2011)

10k XC - 31:31 (WWU Invite 2011)

HM - 1:10:19 (Houston 2018)

Marathon - 2:28:39 (Houston 2019)

Long-Term Running Goals:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Personal:

Married, working, training. While my wife has nixed all future attempts to grow glorious mustaches, she has been supportive of my crazy running dreams. Life is good.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 1.00 Month: 1.00 Year: 1.00
Mizuno Ekiden Lifetime Miles: 274.65
Flyknit Streaks Lifetime Miles: 419.25
Flyknit VFs Lifetime Miles: 80.50
Ride 14 Lifetime Miles: 652.85
Ride 15 Lifetime Miles: 275.80
Ride 15 X2 Lifetime Miles: 21.50
Race: Utah State Invitational (3.1 Miles) 00:15:51, Place overall: 4
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.003.1015.10

Utah State’s track is pretty sheltered, but it didn’t make a difference against today's wind, I figure it was blowing 15-20 mph throughout the race, give or take.

A good crew showed up for the start, though, including Brian McKenna, Nate Ogden, and Jared Keller. Seth Wold was going to pace Brian partway, so things started reasonably, and I tucked in behind the two of them. Nate Ogden shot out front, then Seth, Brian, me and Jared making up the pack.

First lap in 75, then 73, 72, and 74 to make it 4:54 at 1600m. I stayed right behind Brian through 6 or 7 laps, but the wind was totally killer, and skinny runners don’t block the wind well. I started to lose contact around the seventh lap; I noticed Nate was coming back to us at that point. Seth dropped out here, Brian went after Nate, but I lost contact.

Once I lost Brian I couldn’t keep the pace, Jared went by me and I slowed to 5:10 pace, maybe a little worse. I went through 3200m in 10:02, getting hammered by the wind on every back stretch. I saw that Brian had caught Nate, and the two of them got some distance on the rest of us -- they were around 9:53 at 3200m. The next two laps were awful as I battled the wind in no-man’s land; I believe at least one of the laps was 81, 5:24 pace.

I was hurting pretty bad by this point, but Jared obviously was as well. With about 3.5 laps left, I made a move and caught him easily, but as I passed he stayed close. We were doing 5:10 pace with two laps to go, but it was the worst pain I’ve felt in awhile. Jared was still within striking distance with a lap to go, I tried to open up but couldn’t find the gear. The windy backstretch sapped what little I had left out of me, and he blew past at the 200m mark. I managed to pick it up a little on the homestretch, but he was out of reach by that point. I managed 35 seconds on the final 200m, but Jared must have been more like 32. I was so dead at the finish…. Definitely the most painful run I’ve had in a long time.

Final time was 15:51 and I felt that I fought pretty well considering the conditions. Nate finished in 15:32 (amazing final lap, he and Brian were still together with a lap to go), Brian in 15:42, and Jared in 15:48. On the positive side, I got out in a quick first mile, so when I get in a race in good conditions this shouldn’t be an issue. I’m a little disappointed with the time, even considering the wind I need to be running faster.

These were the splits:
4:54
5:08 (10:02)
5:14 (15:16)
0:35 (15:51)

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 21:45:52

Nice job. The wind was certainly a killer yesterday. Calling USU's track "sheltered" is a polite thing to say...but it's up on top of hill. You did well to break 16 minutes. If I had remembered there was a track meet, I would have gone to watch.

From Tyler on Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 11:20:06

Thanks, Paul, I enjoyed running in Logan, even despite the wind. I did a cool down up the canyon a little ways, it's beautiful up there!

From Jon on Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 11:30:32

Nice race- I enjoyed your comment about skinny runners not blocking the wind much. That is the key- we need to find a 300 lb guy who can pace us for most of the race!

From adamr on Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 12:41:58

that's what shot putters are for!

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