Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Deseret News 10K

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Location:

Provo,UT,

Member Since:

Apr 07, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K - 17:11 (Cougar Run)

10K - 34:35 (Deseret News)

15K - 57:33 (Utah Running Club)

1/2 - 1:22:26 (Mountain View Trail)

50K - 4:22:31 (Sapper Joe)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Sub-2:45 at Saint George Marathon

Win the Antelope Island half marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'd like to run the Angeles Crest 100 at some point. And I'd still like to go sub-4 at a trail 50k. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912

Personal:

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<iframe height='454' width='300' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' scrolling='no' src='https://www.strava.com/athletes/4808912/latest-rides/184689bbf831149f2053e60709730c07651232d3'></iframe>

I was a competitive cyclist for years. In 2009, after racing in the Tour of Utah, I decided I had plateaued as a cyclist--I could continue to improve, but I wouldn't break through to a new level. So, I started looking for a new challenge.


I thought that challenge would be mountain biking, but I'm a terrible bike handler. I married Catherine in January 2010 and a couple of weeks later I entered the SLTC Winter Training Series with her. A couple of weeks after that I decided I'd like to run ultras, so I signed up for a couple of 50Ks to get started.

Those first races came and went, with varying results. I was looking forward to running more and possibly pushing into the longer distances, but I injured my knee in June 2010 and I've never been consistently healthy since.

I started law school in August 2010, which meant less time for training. In June 2011, Baby Elliott was born, which meant even less time for training. But she's worth it. 

Baby Nora joined us in October 2013, with the same effect on training as Elliott (who, incidentally, is no longer a baby). 

I (finally) finished school in April 2014 and now I'm an evil corporate lawyer in Salt Lake. I have no illusions that I'll ever get back into the shape that I once was, but I'm perfectly at peace with that. I still have many goals to accomplish and many years in which to do it. 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: Deseret News 10K (6.2 Miles) 00:34:35, Place overall: 57, Place in age division: 14
Total Distance
6.40

I wanted to break 35 minutes this morning, but given my lack of running over the past month I really didn't think that would happen. So I'm pleased with this morning's result, even if I do still get beat by high school girls.

I didn't even bother tapering for this one since I wasn't sure I'd be racing until earlier this week. Thanks to some mountain running with some serious vertical on Wednesday and a not-really-short ride on the road bike yesterday, I woke up with some sore quads. In fact, I really didn't even want to get out of bed, although that probably had more with my alarm going off at 4:30 than it did with my sore muscles.

Catherine and I lined up as close to the front as we could without being too rude, considering our relatively late arrival. The officials said go, and we were off. No, I'm just kidding. I'm sure the people up front started running, but a few rows back everyone seemed happy to stay put, or shuffle at best. Fortunately, once I crossed the official start I used my madd trail-running skillzz to hop on the grass and find enough space to start running.

I think I went out too hard. Thanks to the descents, my first two miles were a little under 5:10 (the fastest miles I've ever run, actually), and the third wasn't much slower. I didn't blow up, but I did think it was best to slow down after that. I watched the group I had been running with slowly pull away, but I ended up passing several of those runners later while no one else passed me, so I think the decision to let up was a good one.

As I ran along the parade route on 2nd East, I started contemplating just how much I hate 5Ks and 10Ks. In fact, I hate them almost as much as I hate criterium racing on the bike, and for the same reason--I don't like going that hard. I don't like being dizzy and cross-eyed, I don't like searing lungs and I don't like feeling like my breakfast may come up at any moment (especially after I didn't even eat breakfast). I much prefer the slow burn of a 50K in the mountains. I'm not saying those are easier--they're just hard in a way that suits me better.

As I turned onto 9th south, not only could I see the finish, which seemed so close and yet so far, I could also see that I had a chance to break 35. You'd think that would have made me happy, but mostly it just annoyed me. If it was obvious I wasn't going to make my goal, I could have just cruised in and been happy that I was going to wind up with a PR regardless. But instead I had to keep on the gas all the way to the finish, and that hurts. Boo hoo.

Anyways, I crossed the line with what looked like 34:50 on the official clock and 34:38 on my stopwatch (actually, Catherine's stopwatch), which I started as I actually crossed the starting line. I'll update when the official times are up.   

After the race I rode up Big Mountain with Fritz. When riding with other cyclists, we mostly just cruise around. When riding with Fritz, apparently, we drive it pretty hard. I was drained, but it was a good ride, even though I couldn't find it in me to hang with Fritz for the final 5K to the summit. I hope to ride with him more in the future.

Edit--Official results are up. Chip time was 34: 35.1, gun time was 34:49.5.

Brooks Launch Miles: 6.40Road Bike Miles: 39.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From catherine on Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 17:19:58 from 67.169.248.86

Great job, Eric. I'm really glad we were there together today.

From Rob Murphy on Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 19:34:13 from 69.144.239.26

Great job! You have made a lot of progress in this sport in a very short amount of time. In a year or two you should be one of the top guys in Utah if you can stay healthy and train smart.

From Aaron Kennard on Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 17:50:51 from 69.18.151.138

Nicely done! That's kind of funny that you ran your fastest 2 miles ever in that race. Great to hear you're back to running without pain, that must be a huge relief.

I generally agree with you on enjoying longer races much more. Although if a 50K is run wrong, it can turn out just as painful as a 10K only for 5 times as long, which isn't the most fun experience either (not that would know about that...oh wait...yep, I learned about that recently)

From Fritz on Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 22:12:48 from 67.186.240.44

Considering your injuries and lack of a taper it looks like you had a great race.

Thanks for joining me on the ride. I know I wouldn't have done it if I had run. Some day I will figure out how to just "cruise around".

From Jon on Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 23:51:19 from 75.169.144.58

Impressive time given all your conditions! Good job.

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