Saint George City Half Marathon Qualifier - Month Prior

The last few weeks before the race on January 16, 2016 were pretty rough. Obligations for work, hold-overs from family Christmas and New Years, a part-time job gone awry and rain/snow/sleet every other day got in the way of my last few weeks of training.

Running the Murdock Canal Rec Path, from a park near the Cedar Hills Community Center and UTA Commuter Parking

I ran a miserable half at an 11:32 pace with really sore feet four weeks prior, see Strava capture above. I needed to hit 11:00 in order to qualify for the Pikes Ascent. I learned a few things about myself, but was nervous about implementing them in the next month and still having time to taper near the end.

Weekly outdoor running mileage, 6 weeks to St. George Half Marathon

Then the snot hit the fan, so to speak.

The last few weeks saw my decreasing daily mileage from 6+ down to 2+. Even at that though I was trying really hard to make them quality miles and try to overcome the hills. On the rec path I followed for my most recent long runs there were a few hundred feet of rolling gain and those uphills really demoralized me at that speed.

In trail running, without an exact number for a pace goal, the uphills kind of worked themselves out in the big scheme of things. I discovered that on the road, shooting for that 11:00 pace, there wasn't enough time to catch up on the way down. If my pace uphill fell to 12:00 for three minutes, I'd have to run at 10:00 for six minutes to catch up. It spooked me a bit.

Quite a bit of elevation change at the St. George City Half Marathon

Course map from the St. George City Half Marathon Website.

Watching the weather for St. George, I was also a bit spooked. Here, at 5,000' above sea level, at 35F I was wearing a base layer, a thin jacket, and Wind Stopper tights. What would it be like at 2,500'? 

The course map showed no aid stations, and I had been training for food and water about every half hour. Would I have to take my own wearing my Ultimate Directions Scott Jurek pack?

The last week before the race

I finally got a map with the aid stations from the organizers in the Whova App they were using. I took the photos and map points and converted them to a Google Earth POI map for my wife to meet me at the aid stations with a drop bag filled with emergency items, food, drink, shoe changes, and clothing changes.

With that in mind I decided to go light, without the pack I usually wear in training. I was nervous about my shoes. My fastest 10 miles were in a pair of Altra Repetition. Most of my treadmill training lately has been in Altra Instinct 3.0. My good friend, ultra runner Jarom Thurston recommended the Altra Paradigm highly. Unfortunately, with all the mess going on in my non-running life right now I wouldn't be able to get a pair in time to break in and verify they would work.

My Brooks tights had two very well placed, properly sized side pockets that I could use to carry my phone, a jell, and a bag of Jelly Belly Energy Beans. I would pick up jells to replace the ones I consumed either at the aid stations or when I hooked up with my family.

FFKR Road Bike Training Camp in Saint George UT

My 15 year old son would be attending a road bike training camp with his FFKR racing team that same weekend, and on Thursday they announced the daily hours. He'd have to be at the meeting point at 1:00 PM, and since I had to finish prior to 11:25 AM to qualify, he would be able to go along to help at the aid stations if I needed him.

I packed up my bags on Thursday, since we were leaving right after work on Friday. I was really nervous about my lack of training the last two weeks.