RRRC RACE TEAM

Lake to Lake Relay

Red Rock Running Company — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 03:04:58 +0000

Lake to Lake Relay Race Re-Cap

3/3/12.

The Red Rock Running Company traveled to St. George, UT to compete in the 52 mile Lake to Lake relay

race from Gunlock Reservoir to Sand Hollow Reservoir. There were 114 teams competing this year, up

from 38 from the first year. The teams are combined of all men, all women, mixed co-ed, solo ultra and

two person ultra. We were competing in the co-ed division.

The race started at 8 a.m. and was approximately 35 degrees out. It warmed up to about 55 by the time

we finished. It was perfect racing conditions. Nick Meis, Jason Owen, Devin Mancuso, Amanda Gramly and Erica Schramm competed from the RRRC team. The race consists of 10 legs and we each run two, averaging about 10 miles per runner. The team was battling back and forth with some of the top men’s teams. We stayed in contention with 2-4th throughout the race, making it for a very exciting finishing last leg. We were in 4th place at the hand off to leg 10, and we could sense one of the runners on the other team was tired. Nick had the longest leg of the day at 7.97. The other team had about a 2 minute lead on us when he started, and Nick ended up catching him, bringing us into to 3rd in the overall competition. We finished 1st overall in the mixed

division with a time of 5:08:57, averaging 5.52 per mile, crushing the old course record that was 5:23.

We beat the next co-ed team by 56 minutes.

Overall, we had a great time running together!!

Red Rock Race Team

Red Rock Running Company — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 04:33:03 +0000

Red Rock Running Company is now accepting resumes for the 2012 race team. Send your resume to Brent Bowers by dropping off at either store or to his e-mail at brent.bowers@hotmail.com. Times are important but community participation and store event participation is also considered.

Hood to Coast 2011

Red Rock Running Company — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:10:49 +0000

Erica Schramm's August 26-27, Hood to Coast Race Recap:

Hood to Coast is a 200 mile race that starts in Mt. Hood, Oregon and ends in Seaside, Oregon. There are about 1000 teams and they start at 3:30 a.m. with about 15 teams and go every 15 minutes until 6 p.m. that Friday night.

I was asked to join team Baba Yaga 5 days before race day. One of their runners got injured the week before and I was fortunate to be the #1 alternate. Josh was awesome and sponsored our team at the last minute. Thank you!

Robin, my old college cross country and track coach is the race organizer for Baba Yaga and I was honored to finally join their all women's team. They have an awesome reputation at this event and have made submasters and masters records over the years. Their team had a featured article in the Portland paper the day before as they made the Master's record the year prior. This would be their 16th year running. Most of the women are from Minnesota.

I ran in a co-ed team from 2005-2008, thanks to Robin's invite then too. I had to take the last two years off, so I was no longer apart of my old co-ed team, Puke-N-Rally. Also on our team were three of my old teammates from CSB so I was looking forward to seeing them too!

Once I received the e-mail from Robin, I knew I had no choice but to run since this is one of the most awesome racing experiences I do. I booked my flight, and left on Thursday afternoon. I arrived around 7:30 p.m. and we ate out at a pasta restaurant.
We stayed at Robin's friend's home in Portland. Our team was set to start at 10 a.m. I was in van 2. This was the earliest the team had ever started, so we did not have time to make it to the start for van 1, since we had to pick up three of our teammates at the airport.

We made it to exchange 1 and stocked up on grocery items for the next 20 hours. There were 6 runners in the van, two drivers and the runner I replaced also joined to watch. I was leg 11. Our van started running around 2 p.m. It was hot and only getting hotter. By the time I started it was around 4:30 p.m. and 93 degrees out. My first leg was 4.85 miles on a bike trail, gradual down hill. It was pretty miserable in the heat. I went out hard. The unfortunate thing about this leg is that there are about 5-7 cross walks and I got stopped three times. At one stop I had to wait 80 seconds which was extremly annoying as other runners caught up to me. I averaged 6:40 with the stops so I was ok with that, considering how hot it was.

After our last runner we headed to exchange two. We ate at Subway and chilled out for a couple of hours. I tried to sleep, but really just rested. I was looking forward to my next leg that would be in cooler temps. I started around midnight and it was probably 60 degrees, much better. I ran 4.1 miles, gradual downhill on a dark country road. We all have to have lights and reflector vests, but they don't work too well, as one of our runners fell pretty hard. I averaged 6:08 so I was much happier with this leg. We then headed to exchange 3 and again tried to sleep. We had a 12 passenger van, and I shared the first row with Laurie, leg 12. We tried to sleep but it was hard to get comfortable. I was really not looking forward to my last leg which was 8.1 miles and gradual uphill the whole way. I didn't know what to expect but wanted to try and break 7 minute pace.

I started around 6:30 a.m. The temps were again great. I started out feeling really good. I averaged 6:30's the first 6 miles. I was very happy. This leg was beautiful on a country road with lots of rolling hills. I was starting to feel fatigued around mile 6 and just hit the wall with lack of sleep and no food in me. Mile 7 was all uphill and I ran 7:50, ouch...I just tried to hang on for the last mile. I was trying to catch a girl in front of me that started several minutes in front of me, and I closed the gap to about 20 seconds, so I was happy about that. I ended up averaging 6:47 for this leg. I was very happy to be done. Laurie then finished the race up and we were done and ready to celebrate! We ended up at 22:18 total time, for an average of 6:47 per mile over the 200 miles. We placed first in the sub-masters division (everyone over age 30) and 2nd overall. We ate an awesome breakfast and took a well needed nap before we went to the awards ceremony. We stayed in a beautiful beach house with plenty of room for the whole team and our four drivers. We walked around Seaside, ate pizza and ice cream and called it a night at 9 p.m. The next morning we ran along the beach very slowly, had another great breakfast and headed home.

I had yet again an awesome time at Hood to Coast, spending time with old friends and new friends, who all have the same passion!

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Red Rock Running Company — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:32:05 +0000

Although I have had no recent race reports or blog updates I have still been getting the miles in and even set a PR at the 5K. With some good advice from my coach Brent Bowers back in the start of the year, I decided to target a race 10 or 12 weeks out with a proper inclination of mileage and intensity. Together with a short taper, was hoping to reach a peak fitness for the Carlsbad 5000 in April. This was a drastic change for myself as I am used to racing every couple weeks. Just this past Oct, Nov, I raced two 5Ks, one 10K, one half and two marathons. I like to race, but I wasn’t making any progress. Jan and Feb were great, my track times were improving and was already on course for a PR at the 5K and it was still 4 weeks away. March was a different story. Started with a chest cold, skipping workouts and cutting mileage to help fight the cough, then decided to do a course of antibiotics, then conjunctivitis in both eyes, more antibiotics, then an ulcerated cornea requiring more meds. I could feel my PR slipping away, I kept training but not with the same intensity or enthusiasm.

I did get a great shoe by Adidas called the Tempo. Every time I wore them I was setting a PR on my 6 mile training run. Even with the hacking cough I would set out the door and shoot for a tempo effort but end up going flat out and setting a new best time for myself. This kept my spirits up for Carlsbad and made me realize my fitness was still there. It got to the point where I would only allow myself to wear the shoe once a week because I knew I would end up running way too hard and was worried I would have nothing left come race day. Those shoes are possessed! If your looking for a fast effort training shoe or half marathon distance race shoe you have to try them.

There wasn’t much of a taper to do come race time as I missed so much training in March so just stayed loose and hoped for a good day. The male masters event was the first one of the day I believe so a short warm up and a good position near the front, everything was happening so fast. I did get some great advice from Mike Schramm and Andrew Duncan, truth be told. We went through the first mile at 4:50 pace or so and as comfortable as I felt I only needed about 5:05 to PR. I decided to slow it down and stick to the goal. I played it safe. I regretted this at the finish line, as I looked around at my competitors with their hands on knees and some dry heaving, I didn’t suffer at all. I did get my PR though. 15:47 and 9th overall in the masters. I went in knowing this was a fast race. Not so much a fast course but lots of competition and sea level. Next year I will follow a similar training schedule but come race day I will be on the limit and hopefully closer to the front. At the end of the day, its only 3 miles.

Six days later I was doing some training in Oxford, England and got the chance to visit the track where Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile for the first time. Even though I didn’t run on the track it was a very inspiring location to visit as a runner and what a great city of education and athletics. So many runners and cyclists about. I read on a post card there are more bicycles than people in Oxford.

Since I've been back the Seattle Half Marathon has been the new goal and training coming along as planned. I did receive another stand out shoe in the way of Pearl Izumi. The Peak II. My first trail shoe and another recommendation. Very flexible for a trail shoe and lots of traction which was shocking to me after trail running in a road shoe for years. There is even a light rock plate which works wonders. You can still feel the sharp stones but just like the shoes review mentions you don’t get that stabbing pain like you experience with a road shoe. If your in the market for a light trail shoe read the review on the stores home page, it is spot on.

A shout out to my team mates for all their local victories and Wiltse for such a great finish time in Boston! Excited to see what Erica does at Grandmas Marathon soon as her fitness is really improving. Thanks to the store and all the staff for their support and advice. A race recap after Seattle, June 25th. Hopefully a PR and some coffee reviews. I don’t like to predict times but a 1:12 ish? Definitely doable with my current fitness and decent for a master.

Boston Race Report - Matt Wiltse

Red Rock Running Company — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:29:49 +0000

After running Boston in 2008, I couldn’t wait to come back again, but injuries and life got in the way over the past two years. The Boston Marathon has always held a special spot in my heart, as I often imagined running through Newton when I was on training runs in high school and always looked forward to issues of any running magazine that re-capped the historic race. I still wasn’t sure if 2011 would bethe right time to return to Hopkinton or not, but when I found out how fast the race was filling up, I realized that I didn’t want to be left out and signed up over my lunch break.

This turned out to be a good decision as I had a great race and enjoyed re-connecting with some friends.

Since my last marathon in February 2010, I’ve had a number of injuries that prevented me from running Chicago and made me cautious with my mileage. Still, I’ve had a few good workouts over the past month to give me hope that a good marathon was still possible. I didn’t know if my endurance would hold out past 23 miles or so, but thought I had enough experience to run a smart enough race to have a legitimate shot at a PR. I decided to wear a 2:36:30 pace band,which would be about one minute faster than my last marathon. I was also keeping in mind my splits from my first Boston, where I was on pace for a 2:35 or 2:36 time before hamstring cramps brought me to a stop with a mile to go. This would be the first time I’ve run a marathon twice so I was hoping my experience would count for something.

After the walk from the bus drop-off point to Athlete’s Village, my friends and I found a spot to settle down and get ready for the race. I had just enough time to get through the line of portapots and get my gear together for the race before heading to the starting line. With the wind, it felt cold and I debated on how much to wear besides the usual singlet, shorts, and hat, etc. I decided to wear my throw away gloves rather than my good ones and a friend of mine was nice enough to let me have some throw away arm warmers that he didn’t want anymore. After a jog up to the start, I listened to the national anthem, did some strides, and headed to my corral. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I wasn’t going to need the arm warmers at all, so they got tossed to the side of the corral. As I stood waiting for the gun to start the race, I noticed that this was the most relaxed I’ve ever felt in the corral. I was certainly happy to be running Boston, but I didn’t feel starstruck about it like I did the last time or nervous like I have in other marathons. With my uncertainty about what I was capable of running, I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. I wasn’t sure where my fitness was and I didn’t want to get sucked out too fast so I tucked myself into the back of my corral knowing that lots of people were going to fly by in the first few miles. Before too long, the gun fired and I was heading towards the timing mats to start another Boston Marathon.

I like to go out very slow in the first mile and work my way back to pace, and I did a good job of keeping myself in check as runner after runner streamed past me (including someone in a wig). Perhaps I did too good of a job of holding back as my first mile passed in 6:27 (mile 1 in 2008 was 6:18), but I never get worried about too slow of a pace early in a marathon. However, I was a little worried about how my quads felt tired early in the race, but hoped it would shake out later. During the first mile, I realized that it was plenty warm, so the throw-away gloves got tossed about 4 miles earlier than I planned. At 3 miles, the runner on my right shouted “Go Joanie!” and when I looked to my left I saw the Olympic Gold Medalist. My first memory of the Olympics is her winning the marathon, so I felt a little inspired at this point. My 5K was 18:56—15 seconds slower than 2008, but I didn’t think it would be that hard to make up the time over the next 23.1 miles.

Perhaps inspired by the Joanie sighting, perhaps starting to loosen up a bit, my pace started to quicken at this point, and my mile splits were in the 5:40s as I went through Ashland and Framingham. I wish I could say that I dropped the pace because I felt good and was eager to crank out the miles, but my legs still felt tired and I had visions of a spectacular blow-up in the hills. I started praying for my quads to feel better at 10K or so, which I didn't think was a good sign for things to come, but it helped. My legs still felt tired, but the fatigue seemed to lessen and the tightness in my quads went away (although every now and then some new niggles would appear to keep me from getting too comfortable). At 10K I split 36:53—which put me 14 seconds ahead of my 2008 pace. I was a little concerned with how I felt, so I decided to dial it back a bit. Well, my head said to dial it back… my legs had found the rate of turnover they liked and I continued to“hang out” in the upper 5:40s.

As I got to 10 miles or so, I kept thinking that at halfway, you should feel like you’ve used a third of your energy. I was pretty sure I would exceed that, but maybe I mis-judged how much energy I have. What’s probably more likely is that I got a much needed boost from the Scream Tunnel. I high-fived a lot of the Wellesley College crowd, but didn’t stop for any kisses. It was tempting, but I didn’t think my legs would want to start running again if I stopped. I reached halfway in 1:16:47 which was about 1:30 faster than 2008 and a minute quicker than what I had said was the fastest split I wanted at 13.1 miles.

As I entered the town of Wellesley, I knew where a friend’s family was going to be and spotted them just past the halfway point. I waved at them and they waved back. It was nice to see some familiar faces among the crowd, and I felt uplifted by their cheers. Even though the wind seemed to be in my face at this point, my pace picked up some more. My Garmin started registering splits in the 5:30s, even with some slight uphill sections. I still figured I was heading for a blow up at this point, but I also felt that there was a chance at a great race so pushing it was worth the risk. I was surprised that I ran the hill coming out of Lower Newton Falls as well as I did, although it did take a little bit out of me. Once again, I got a boost at just the right time when I heard someone cheer me on by name at the 17 mile mark. I looked at the crowd and saw the mother of one of my high school teammates (her daughter was running her first Boston). That kept me going to the fire station and the famous Newton hills.

I knew that I didn’t have enough energy to attack them with the same vigor that I did in 2008, but I thought I could maintain a steady pace through the hills. I thought the crowds were great in this stretch and I heard a lot of people say “Go Red Rock!” and “You look strong!” That helped me to keep chasing after people and keep my pace from falling off too much. I could tell that the hills were biting back, and for the first time, I really started to wonder when fatigue would overcome me. I got a side stitch at around 19.5 and had to work that out on the run. Once I got to 20 miles, I felt that I could hang on for a big PR if I could get to the top of Heartbreak without being spent.

I did make it to the crest of the famous hill with some gas left in the tank, but certainly tired. When I got to the same spot my hamstring first twinged in 2008, history repeated itself, although thankfully with much less intensity. I made sure I drank at every aid station from this point in and cranked my prayers up a notch. I hoped I could make it to the line without having to stop or slow down too much. At this point I knew a slow-down was coming, but I hoped I could keep it under control. I still took time to high five a few more spectators, but learned that I should be more careful high-fiving the Boston College students. One guy high-fived me so hard it almost knocked me back up the course. I guess he was excited for Patriots' Day.

There were a few hills in the closing 4 miles or so that I didn’t remember from last time, and they looked daunting when I was at their base, but I survived them and got closer and closer to the finish. My hamstring twinges were getting more and more frequent, but I was still able to run through them, albeit not as fast as before. When I made it through the Citgo sign without having to fall down and stretch out my leg, I took it as a good sign. Getting through the underpass felt more difficult than I wanted it to, but I knew I didn’t have much more than 4 minutes to go at that point. Turning on to Boylston, I fixed my eyes on the finish line and tried my best to get there without my hamstrings going out on me. I was able to pick up my pace a bit here, but at the 26 mile mark, my left hamstring seized up. I refused to let it stop me though, and hobbled towards the finish knowing that a big PR was right in front of me. Thankfully, my legs help up as I crossed the line in 2:32:39, almost a 5 minute PR, and good for 121stplace.

As I walked down the finish area, I was certainly tired, but not as emotionally/physically wiped out as last time. However, I did get chills (not from the wind either) when I turned the corner towards the buses where my gear was and about 50 volunteers were gathered applauding the finishers. Boston really loves it’s marathon, and makes the runners feel like rock stars. It was another great Boston experience for me, and I can’t wait for my next one. Hopefully, it’s not another 3 years before I’m back.

Garmin splits:

6:27-5:56-5:51-5:45-5:48-5:43-5:49-5:50-5:46-5:46 (10 miles in 58:44)
5:50-5:43-5:42-5:37-5:37-5:30-5:37-5:35-5:33-5:46 (20 miles in 1:55:17--2nd 10M in 56:33)
5:58-5:47-5:48-5:53-5:56-5:59
“0.2” @ 5:41

Official splits:

5K:      18:56

10K:    36:53

15K:    54:57

20K:    1:12:57

Half:    1:16:47

25K:    1:30:24

30K:    1:47:53

35K:    2:06:00

40K:    2:24:24

Finish: 2:32:39

Carlsbad 5000 - Erica Schramm

Red Rock Running Company — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:14:56 +0000

April 3rd, 2011

My husband and I have gone to Carlsbad the last 10 years. I love watching all of the age group races and especially enjoy the Elite race at the end of the day. This year I decided to try the All Day 25k which is each one of the 5k's except the Elite race.

We got in Friday afternoon and relaxed. Saturday morning we watched the kids races which are between 400 meters for 4 y/o up to 1 mile at age 12. We relaxed in the afternoon and had dinner with about 10 of our Vegas friends, including Red Rock teammate Steve Morgan. We filled up on pasta and got to bed early. I slept really well. For some reason I wasn't too nervous this year. My goal was to run the Master's men race as my warm-up and run the rest of the four races hard.

The first race started at 7:05. I just ran an easy pace. It was fun to see the leaders on the other side of the road. I cheered on Steve, and Andrew Duncan from Las Vegas, who were close to the leaders. I also saw my husband and other friends. I finished in 23:32.

I felt fine and geared up to start the Master's Women's race which started at 8 a.m. I got some striders in and felt ready. I was hoping to be close to 18:00. The gun went off and I started with the leaders. The pace felt good. I saw the first mile in 5:34, which is a tad too fast, although I was battling back and forth with another lady and still felt strong. I finally pulled away from her, and I must have lost my focus becaue my next mile slowed considerably to a 6:03. I was thinking I was around 5:50, so I was not happy. The next lady was about 15 seconds ahead of me and behind me was about the same. I tried to keep a good attitude and stay strong and I finished at 18:23. I guess the first mile was too fast. I was happy to PR on the course, although I felt I should have been about 10-15 seconds quicker.

I then had a bit of a longer break before the 30-39 y/o men's race. It stared at 9:20. At first I was thinking about taking this one easy again and try hard in the next ladies race, but I saw another lady who was also doing the all day 25K and I got motivated to beat her. The gun went off and I just tried to go at a cruising pace. My first mile was 6:02, then 6:05, which wasn't too far off my last race for the second mile, which made me realize I definitely went too hard at the start. I was also surrounded by other racers which helped me as I was passing a bunch of guys. I finished in 18:52.

I then went back to the start line to get ready for race #4 of the day, 30-39 y/o women, which is my normal race. I ate a little food and had some protein drink, which after I started running again was not smart, as I got a bad side ache during most of this race. I went out too hard again in 5:46 and then slowed to a 6:15 and then felt my legs getting tired, but tried to stay strong and finished in 19:03. I was happy at this point as my last three races were all faster then last year's time.

I then went back to the start area for the last race of the day. I was very tired at this point. One of my friends, Bryan Porter was gracious enough to join me in this race. It started at 11:25 and we were off yet again. This was the 29 and under men and women and it was packed. We started out strong in 5:55, but then I totally hit the wall and was just ready to be done. I finished in 19:21. I was very pleased with the all day 25k and I stayed ahead of the other lady on the last four races. I ended up 3rd overall in the all day 25k and second female. It was a great challenge and I really enjoyed the experience. We then finished the day up by watching the Elites in world class style. We had yet again another great time with friends and running in Carlsbad.

Jason Owen race report from the 2011 Las Vegas Track Classic

Red Rock Running Company — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:39:09 +0000

The gusting winds and permeating cloud coverage set the stage for the 2011 Las Vegas Track Classic open 5,000m, where Nick Meis, Jason Owen and Devin Mancuso, who took the top three spots in the Southern Highlands 5k back in October of 2010, would square off on the track. The three members of the Red Rock Running Company Racing Team were only separated by a total of 3 seconds back in October, and all three had intentions of running sub-16 at the Las Vegas Track Classic. Anything below 16:24 would be a PR for Owen and Mancuso, so the goals were ambitious for the day. Owen and Mancuso looked to the experience of Meis to pace them through to their goal. After warming up for the race, the team recognized that the gusting winds were not the most conducive to set PRs, especially by a measure of 24 seconds. The team met over at the starting line, where they reluctantly stripped out of their multiple layers into singlets and racing shorts. Toes on the line, the gun sounded and the team quickly assembled into a pack with Meis leading, and Owen and Mancuso closely following. The first three laps were far from peaceful as the wind howled along with the howling of Owen complaining that his left shoe was untied. At the urging of Mancuso, Owen finally collected himself and focused on the race and forgot about the shoe. The team went through the first mile at 5:18, 10 seconds slower than sub-16 pace. It was evident that the goal of going under 16 minutes was likely not a reality in the windy conditions. The team, however, maintained a steady pace, still in a tight pack, through the second mile at 10:35. Feeling good, the team picked up the pace as Meis steadily increased the speed with 1600 meters to go. The pack held tightly together for another 1000 meters until Mancuso started to lose contact with Meis and Owen. Meis led Owen with 400 meters to go with the clock showing 15:00. Knowing that Meis has 4:10 mile speed in his arsenal, Owen took the lead with 300 meters to go hoping to hammer home a respectable final lap and attempt to match the fast closing speed of Meis. In a closely contested race, Owen closed with a final lap in 68 seconds, running a 16 second PR in 16:08, edging Meis who clocked 16:13 for 2^nd place. Mancuso finished only 7 seconds off of his PR running 16:31 for a 3^rd place finish.

Race report for the 6 Tunnels Half Marathon - Matt Wiltse

Red Rock Running Company — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:04:50 +0000

Even though I've lived in Las Vegas for nearly ten years (and registered for it once before), this would be the first time I ran the the Six Tunnels to Hoover Dam Half Marathon. I had heard good things about the race, but knew it would be difficult from when I ran the Hoover Dam Half in 2009. I felt the hills would be a good tune up for the Boston Marathon and help me gauge my fitness going into the last five weeks before my marathon.

Life got in the way of some workouts in the week leading up to the race, so I ended up running a total of 18 miles on Thursday. I knew that this would keep me from being as fresh as I wanted to be going into the race, but I needed to keep my mileage up heading into the marathon. When I woke up Saturday morning, I didn't feel the best, but hoped that it would pass once I warmed up.

I arrived with a little over an hour before the start time and headed out on a warm up jog. I could tell that it felt warm, but I wasn't sure if it was the temperature or if it was me. While I felt a little bit weak, I still thought I could run a good race once I got going. I decided to play it safe and go out a little slower than I planned originally, and pick it up when I had some downhills to gain momentum. After a little stretching and some strides, I headed over to the start line hoping I had a good race in my legs.

After the start, another runner and myself quickly separated ourselves from the pack. I felt I was going a little slower than I wanted, but that may be because the first part of the race was uphill. One thing that was different about this race was that the mile splits were set up as "X miles to go" instead of Mile 1, Mile 2, etc. Unfortunately, I discovered that they were not accurate. I hit the 12M to go sign in 4:06, and I knew I wasn't on World Record pace. The next sign was also off, so I stopped paying attention to them. Luckily, I had noticed some permanent mile markers on the side of the path that were 0.5 miles apart and used them to figure out how fast I was going. My pace was lagging a bit so I picked it up after about 2 miles and got a little separation from the other guy. I broke away just before the first turnaround and once I got to the long downhill, let my stride out a bit.

At this point I had all the other runners coming at me and got a lot of cheers from them. I really appreciated this and tried to respond as much as I could. That's one of the great things about running; how we all encourage one another. Even this early in the race, though, I could tell I was not feeling as strong as I usually do. All the kid germs I deal with at work were getting to me, I guess. Still, with gravity as my friend I was running somewhere in the 5:20s as I headed back to the start. I had hit the turnaround at close to 16:30 so I wanted to make sure that I got back to the start in well under 33 minutes and accomplished that goal. Now the race headed up the trail towards Hoover Dam and through the tunnels. The shade in the tunnels was a nice respite from the sun, but it was hard to run fast as I hoped that I wouldn't step on a rock in the dark.

It took some concentration to weave through the 5K runners, but it was nice to have someone to chase at this point. I didn't know how much of a lead I had and didn't want to let up and get caught. Once I got to the 5K turnaround, I was alone again and kept pushing at a reasonable pace. I knew coming back there would be fairly tough uphills and didn't want to spend too much energy before I got past those. I kept from getting carried away on the downhills, as I remembered the scrambled legs feeling I had when I ran here before. The last uphill before the turnaround took me by surprise, but I was happy to reach the top and head back to the finish.

The hills, warmer temps, and maybe a touch of an illness took the wind out of my sails, as I never was really able to get my legs turning over the way I wanted on the way back down. I was happy to get to the point where I could see the finish line and tell myself, only 2 minutes to go ... only 1 minute to go. My legs finally felt better in the last 100m, but that was probably just the mental boost of knowing I was done.

I crossed the line in 1:15:26. I was hoping for a little faster, but on this day, it was what I had in my legs. Once I recovered, I jogged back up the trail to cheer for all the people that cheered for me early in the race. It was a fun event, even though the hills were challenging. Now, I'll have my final training push before tapering for Boston.

The Surf City Half Marathon - Matt Wiltse

Red Rock Running Company — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:16:08 +0000

The Surf City Half Marathon would be my tenth attempt at the 13.1 mile distance. Fighting injuries over the past few months kept my fitness from being where I wanted it to be, but I still felt like I could hold it together for a decent race, even if I knew that a PR attempt was out of the question. I decided on a somewhat conservative plan of running 5:50s for 9 or 10 miles and seeing if I could pick it up at the end. Since most of my training has been medium distance runs at somewhat comfortable paces, I had doubts about my ability to maintain a faster effort for 13.1 miles. I must either underestimate my fitness or have a knack for racing above my fitness level because I exceeded my expectations for myself.

It was a cool, foggy morning in Huntington Beach, and I probably turned in my clothes to gear check a bit too early before heading to the corrals so I did more standing around than I should have before the horn sounded. I guess I was anxious to lace up my racing flats (Saucony FasTwitch) and don the Red Rock Running Company singlet again after being on the sidelines for the last part of 2010.

Even though I did have some specific splits I wanted to hit, I decided to leave the Garmin at the hotel in favor of my Timex watch. I wanted to take it out easy, but not too slow that it wouldn't be much of a fitness test for me. Despite not having GPS telling me my pace, I hit my first few miles right on what I wanted: 5:51, 5:50, 5:49, and 5:51. These miles were slightly uphill, so when the course flipped around and I had gravity helping me I expected to pick it up a bit, but this is also where the half course joined the full marathon which had started about an hour earlier so I also thought I might lose some time weaving in an out of the slower-moving masses. From this point to mile 12, I was constantly passing people and trying not to get caught up in the quagmire of the water stations.

I missed the next mile marker, but I'm not sure if that was a blessing or a curse. If I'd known how fast I ran that mile, I may have backed off a little bit instead of pushing on. That two mile section passed in 11:11, so I was a little bit worried I had made a move too soon. I was just going to settle in with a couple of guys I had caught up to at around the 10K point when I came up on a friend of mine running her 22nd marathon. I cheered her on, and of course I couldn't just settle in with an audience so I surged past those guys and went after the next group. My next few miles passed in 5:37, 5:39, and 5:42. I had a few aches and pains in my hip and hamstrings at this point, as well as a bit of a knot in my thigh, but I thought I could push through them. My confidence waned at I clicked my watch for mile 10 and saw a 6:03 split. I knew I had slowed down a little, and the course had been slightly uphill, but I never would have guessed my pace fell off that much. The next mile had one of the bigger hills on the course, so I began to wonder how much of a toll it would take on me. Apparently, my fears were unfounded, as the next split was 5:21 so I think the Mile 10 marker was off.

With the finish line almost in sight (well, maybe if not for the mist that still hung in the air), I picked up the pace a bit and moved past a few more runners. One of them told me I was now in 21st place, so I decided that I at least needed to make the top 20. After a 5:37 12th mile, I upped the ante with a 5:29 and caught one last runner in mile 13. When I checked the results on the website, it said that I was actually in 16th place. I'll take it.

Going into the race, I thought I would run somewhere between 1:15 and 1:20, although I thought it might be closer to 1:18 than the 1:14:38 I ended up running. I was just hoping to shake some rust off after my long stretch of not racing and get some confidence to use in future training/racing. I am happy with how things played out, and now I know that I can still have a good race in Boston, maybe even a PR, but I'll have to keep building on the training I've done lately.

Erica Schramm at the Painter's Half Marathon--St. George, UT

Red Rock Running Company — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:33:13 +0000

Painter's Half Marathon--St. George, UT--40 degrees at the start--

I had a good night of sleep and felt ready to race. I ate my usual Cliff bar and had some gatorade/water 90 minutes before race time. My husband and I arrived at the start area around 8 a.m. for a 9 a.m. start. The course incorporated a lot of trainings run I do on the weekends in St. George so I was excited to see how I would do in a race. I warmed up about 1.5 miles with my friend Stacy from Las Vegas and was feeling ok. It felt pretty chilly when we arrived but after the warm-up the tempature felt perfect. I raced in the Adidas zero (I think) from the store and I've used them in my last few marathons and 1/2 marathons and love the support and comfort.
The race started right on time. There were a ton of people there, but I quickly made my way to the front and I was surprised that no other women went out with me. I figured there would be a few women from the Salt Lake area competing. My first mile felt slow but I ran 6:10 and I told myself to slow down as my goal was to run 1:25 and I knew I could not keep this pace the whole way. My second mile I slowed a tad to 6:29 and this felt more comfortable. Around mile three I could hear a female runner breathing behind me and heard someone cheer for "Michelle" so I figured she was right there. It ended up being Michelle Lowrey from northern Utah who I have heard about and I saw her finish second one year at St. George marathon. We chatted for a bit during mile 4-5 and she made a gap after mile 6 when we went up a hill. I grabbed water at each of the aid stations. I think there were about 5 total.
We then made another big loop on the course and I started to falter a little from mile 7-8, but then just tried to keep Michelle in my sights and that seemed to help me through the next few miles. At mile 10.5 we looped back with the other runners that were still completing their first loop. I saw my husband and he told me there were no females in sight, which was a relief. I had some challenging moments trying to avoid walkers, as it was a bike trail and not too wide. We then made our final turn to the home stretch and away from the walkers. My goal was to still break 1:25, but when I looked at my watch at 12, I thought there might be a chance to break 1:24, however I came up two seconds short. I was happy to exceed my goal by almost a minute and finish in second place. I then cooled down with Michelle for about 2 miles.
My Splits:
Mile 1- 6:10; Mile 2- 6:29; Mile 3- 6:26; Mile 4-6:03; mile 5-6:18; mile 6-6:16; mile 7-6:34; mile 8-6:19; mile 9-6:40; mile 10-6:25; mile 11-6:34; mile 12-6:37; mile 13-6:33 .1- .34
Overall I was very pleased with this race experience.