Fritz Van de Kamp - 2011 Ogden Marathon Race Report

Typical race day routine. I woke up at 4 AM, three hours before race time, drank lots of water, took a shower, gathered up my race gear and drop bag then was dropped off at the buses at 4:45.  The best part about the morning was that I was allowed to go on the "VIP" bus because I won the race last year.  The two major benefits were that there is a bathroom on the bus (no porta potty!) AND I didn't have to get off the bus until 20 minutes before race time.  That was huge, especially for this race, because I always dread shivering sitting on the ground and fighting for space near the fires.  So basically the morning couldn't have gone any better.

I left the bus at around 6:45 just in time to get a quick warm up.  It was probably around 55 degrees, warmer than usual, and it looked like the weather would cooperate and not rain.  I did a quick warm up down the road and chatted with some friends at the start line.  My legs felt fresh so I knew a good race was possible but I really had no idea how I would place because Seth Wold was in the mix along with a few guys who have beat me in the past. 

The gun went off and Bryant Jensen quickly jumped out ahead as he was running the relay.  Then I was next and Seth was following closely behind. I typically refuse to look behind me during races so I really had no idea how the close the other runners were.  Seth and I were side by side for the first 7 miles until Seth suddenly stopped to tie his shoe lace.  Keeping to my tradition I didn’t turn around and probably built a 5 second lead.  At that point I was feeling good and thought that if I could just keep me pace I could possibly drop him for good.  That was the first time I knew I could win if I could hold on.  The next 6 miles (7 – 13) are some of the slower miles of the race but they felt smooth and I made sure to hold back slightly on the uphills.  I ran into Bryant, who was now pacing his teammate, at around mile 12 and from then on it was only me and the biker guy until I started catching the half marathoners at around mile 18.  I was happy, although a little concerned, to see my 13.1 split at 1:11:30.  Both of my last two Half’s were slower than that but I wasn’t about to slow down because I didn’t want to be caught by Seth and I was feeling good.  I held back slightly again on the big uphill at mile 15, although the quads were still burning, and just made sure to keep it steady until the fun began down the canyon.  By the time I hit the bridge I knew I had a good sized lead but I still had some fast miles left in me and I wanted to see if I could beat my St. George time from 2009.  The canyon miles felt quick and it was nice be around the half runners as I descended.  I came out the canyon in decent shape although the legs were now wobbly enough that I knew the impending last few miles on the path would be struggle.  Of course those miles weren’t exactly fun but I have had worse.  I clocked myself at exactly 2:25 over 26.42 miles.  Chip time came in at 2:25:04.    

Ultimately the race went about as well as I could have expected.  All I wanted to do was beat my 5k time (16:44) from last weekend and see if I could hang on. :)  I think I succeeded (first 5k was16:33) and I set a PR of about 2 minutes on harder course (previous best was a 2:26:48 at St. George).  Going in I thought a 2:27 was possible but it would still be a stretch because the ramp up to this race was very rushed and I really only went into this race with about 3 quality weeks of running training; a 58 mile week, an 80 mile week that included a 23 mile run and the Provo Half, and a 70 mile that ended with 5k.  But what I think I did do right was get in some quality and painful miles by running the Provo City Half two weeks ago and the Law Day Run 5k last weekend and then after the races I did a long cool down.  So although my times in those races weren't great, I think they helped me get mentality prepared and they shocked the system with some threshold miles.  

Now my focus turns to running a fast half at Utah Valley with the team and then building up more speed as I prepare for Chicago in October.

Spilts- 5:17, 5:25, 5:19, 5:20, 5:21, 5:21, 5:27, 5:25, 5:34, 5:29, 5:41, 5:33, 5:39, 5:29, 5:51, 5:31, 5:32, 5:19, 5:19, 5:25, 5:21, 5:19, 5:17, 5:35, 5:44, 5:48, 2:38 (.45 miles)

Gels - 4.5 (more than usual)

2011 Ogden Marathon Results

Despite a rainy week the 2011 Ogden Marathon went as planned and once again Utah Elite was well-represented at one of Utah's largest marathons.  Defending Ogden winners Fritz Van de Kamp and Stefanie Talley repeated as champions today running very impressive races on both sides.  Fritz won with a PR of 2:25 and Stefanie with a 2:51.  It's great to see Utah Elite jerseys at the top of both podiums!  

Experiencing the fastest Boston Marathon ever - Karl Siebach

Karl had the honor to race in the Boston Marathon this past weekend.  It was an amazing race where two men ran faster than the current world record, Ryan Hall ran under the American Record, and American underdog, Desiree Davila, nearly won it all.  Read about his great experience running the most historic marathon in the world:

I started my race in the 3rd row in heat one corral, one right behind the elites and professionals, the perfect spot. I was going into the race feeling great but had no idea what the turn out would be because of some adjustments I had made in my training, the adjustments being higher milage weeks and slower, more conservative recovery runs plus I actually did some tempo runs and speed workouts. I'm still trying to learn how to taper down for the marathon, and what I did worked, but it felt like I was tapering to early. I felt like going into the race that I had no strength and no speed in my legs because I had only ran 50 miles and 35 miles the weeks before the race. So, I went into the race without much confidence in my training but I kept remembering the high milage weeks and the hard speed and tempos workouts, re-boosting my confidence. 

Well, back to the race. I started out in a 5:23 mile and was like, "ok that was a pretty good mile for a down hill start but slow it down, no reason to get too excited." I dropped it to a 5:30 and thought, "good, right on pace." Eventually, I was just trying to find a good group of guys to hang with.  I would catch a group and stay with them for about a minute then I would see another group just another 50 meters ahead and would say to myself, "go catch them."  It was a good plan until I was going faster then my race plan but was just feeling amazing. I figured I had better find out what my body could do while I was having a good day, plus since it was only my second marathon I had to test my limits. I kept remembering I was running the Boston marathon and couldn't believe I was there. The course was awesome with all the crowds just pumping you up. They kept commenting on my hair since it's so long and my race number because it so high. 

Mile 14, I was in a little bit of trouble. I started to feel my left calf cramp up and was like "you can't do this to me!" I had never had that happen to me so I eased up a little and tried to do that slow running stride stretch on my left side and luckily it worked. I continued to press on. I was probably in or around 40th place until about mile 18, then I started to feel my fast start. My half marathon split was my second fastest half marathon ever. 

I kept pushing it until mile 20, hoping that I wouldn't crash too hard, knowing that even if I were to run a 75 min second half I would be at 2:25 pace.  But, the hills came and they kicked my butt. I was losing hope after mile 22 and 23. Aaron Metler, the St. George Marathon winner, caught me and gave me some extra motivation and confidence to try and find a second wind. I dug down and just tried to salvage the last 3 miles of the race.  I kept telling myself that if I averaged the last 3 miles in 6 min/mile, I would be under 2:30. The legs were shot, no energy left, dieing to just cross the finish line.  

Finally I could see it and could see people behind me coming up, but no one passed. I crossed the line, hit the watch, and started to get light-headed and eventually fell to my knees. I was like "dang, I don't want to be one of those kind, get up you idiot!"  But, before I got up on my own, two people grabbed me and stood me up, which I was grateful for. They followed me just to make sure I was fine but I was walking on my own. I have never felt like this after race.  Ever. I was cramping in every part of my legs, just trying not stop walking and have it get worse. After about 20 minutes, I think, it was 20 mins maybe longer, I was really out of it, I felt that I could finally bend over and change my shoes. Then I saw Paul Petersen and I was curious to know how he finished.  He had qualified for the Olympic Trials!  It was awesome to know the 3rd overall American and to have him know who I was. Great guy, it was well deserved. He inspires me that I can maybe make it to that level of running one day. 

In the end it was a fun race to test my limits and to wonder what would happen if I would have gone a out a little more conservative. Chicago here I come. 2:22:00!!!!

Splits:Mile 1 - 5.23  Mile 2 - 5.30  Mile 3 - 5.22  Mile 4 - 5.17  Mile 5 - 5.30  Mile 6 - 5.18  Mile 7 - 5.10  Mile 8 - 5,18  Mile 9 - 5.17  Mile 10 - 5.20  Mile 11 - 5.19  Mile 12 - 5.09  Mile 13,14 - 10.41  Mile 15 - 5.37  Mile 16- 5.16  Mile 17 - 5.39  Mile 18 - 5.50  Mile 19 - 5.36  Mile 20 - 6.08  Mile 21 - 7.30  Mile 22 - 7.05  Mile 23 - 6.08  Mile 24 - 5.38  Mile 25 - 6.09  Mile 26 - 7.22 (1.2mile) 

Salt Lake Half Marathon winner: Allie Scott!

Another win for a Utah Elite athlete this past weekend at the SLC Half Marathon by Allie Scott shows the quality of our athletes and sets a great tone for the prime road racing season this summer for the whole team.  Allie was asked to share her experience over the weekend:  

This was my first experience running the Salt Lake City Half Marathon, and my first attempt at the distance since August of 2009. My goal going into this race was to go out more aggressively than I normally do for this distance. I tend to fall into a marathon mindset when it comes to running the half, and consequently I have always been too conservative with my pacing. I was also after a PR, but I was unsure if I had the fitness for that at this point in the season. 
The course is set up to be very fast, starting at the University of Utah and following a gentle downhill grade into downtown. The first few miles of the race felt great -- my legs were fresh and the pace felt sustainable. I continued to feel strong throughout the race, and just hoped I could maintain the pace to the finish without breaking down. Near the end of the race I realized that I was going to be very close to breaking 1:20. I slowed a bit during the nice gasp-and-wheeze mile up the hill on State Street, which meant I had to make up ground in the last mile if I had any chance of running under 1:20. Unfortunately, my legs were rather tired at that point in the race, and I could not get them to turn over fast enough. I crossed the line in 1:20:00. This was a new PR for me, and I was happy with the outcome and grateful that my body responded well to the pace and held up in the last few miles. Overall the race was a lot of fun -- the weather was perfect and the volunteers and spectators were very supportive. My next attempt at the half will be the Utah Valley Half Marathon on June 11.

Kristen Ogden - 2011 Plans and Goals

Hey Everyone!
 I’m excited to be a part of Utah Elite and I’m already motivated by your entries and race stories.  A little bit about me, I ran Cross Country and Track for BYU awhile back and since finishing have had a hard time getting over my running addiction.  I teach Junior high science and also Coach the track team there. On my free time I try to get as much running in as possible.  I don’t have the time to train like I use to, but I love jumping into road races and especially love running half marathons.  I raced the Boston marathon last year and swore off marathons after that, but have found myself surprisingly start thinking about the St. George marathon this year. (That’s when you know it’s an addiction;) My goals are to really just have fun running, win what I can and try to PR in my road race times. I found when I set specific times to race or races to focus on I get injured so easily!  So since then I just train as hard as I can and jump into the races when it’s close and see what happens.  I am planning on the Utah Valley Half, which I’m sure I’ll see many of you there. I look forward to seeing all of you in road races here and there throughout Utah.  Happy Training and Good luck!

Fernando Ramirez - 2011 Racing Plans and Goals

Hey Guys!!!!

Crazy winter huh?! Spring yet??? It is good to be running. Last winter I was plagued by a series of small injuries that kept me from training well. I slowly started building my mileage over the summer, jumping
into some small races, trying to use them as workouts. Now, finally, I feel pretty fit. I still have a ways to go, but I’m pretty stoked
on the steady progression. 

Training has been consistent. And…different. My wife and I own and operate a dog sled touring co. in Park City; and so most days, I trail ahead of the dogs, running along side them as my employee drives our costumers. The snow makes a challenging 8-10 miler, but I like getting off the asphalt as much as I can. I believe it also strengthens my ankles by running on uneven tracks. 

A couple of weeks ago I was itching to get into a trail race. So, I entered the Simi Valley Trail 15k. Total elevation gain of 1900ft, rocky terrain, and pure love of running. Nothing felt better than running out in God’s creation appreciating nothing but the pure joy of pain’s threshold. All the hard snow running definitely paid off. 

Some goals to aim for this summer would have to be to stay healthy, happy, try to lower some more P.R’s, and meet some awesome people along the way! Some races to come soon in April! If we happen to run in some races this summer stop by and say hi!

Run well! Spirit of the Tarahumara!!

Fernando

Brad Osguthorpe - 2011 Plans and Goals

Brad leading the 2010 Mesquite Half Marathon

First off I would like to send a huge “Thanks” to Nate Houle and 26.2 Running Company for all their effort and hard work they have put in to making Utah Elite happen. It’s been a great ride so far and I look forward to the future with Utah Elite. They have collaborated an excellent group of athletes from the state and much can be learned from them. There is a deep amount of knowledge on Utah Elite and hope those that follow can learn and help progress the sport even more. I know I can learn much from the people on this team and those around the sport. I believe that one of the keys to running and life in general is to never stop learning. You can never know enough.

It’s amazing how time flies. It’s already March and runners are starting to come out of hibernation. Fortunately I’ve been able to stay focused and put in some decent mileage over the winter months. At times I would wonder what I am doing out in this snow storm when it's 0 degrees out and then I remember I love to run and I love every minute of it. I feel very blessed to be able to run and we can never take it for granted. I feel that I was able to put in a quality amount of mileage over the last few months. I am looking forward to some warm weather though. The last few weeks I’ve turned up the volume a little bit by having two quality interval/tempo days during the week along with a long run. I still have a long ways to go to reach where I want to be. I would like to get in some shorter races this spring and then build up to the longer races. When I say shorter I  mean 5k/ 10k and longer would be the half marathon. Maybe some half marathons later in the season.  I would like to get in as many local races and a few out of state, possible the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Half Marathon again. I don’t think I am ready for the marathon anytime soon. As always I hope to stay healthy. I been pretty fortunate to not have any serious injuries other then the few aches and pains that all runners have. I look forward to learning more and improving as a runner and in life. I have been very fortunate to have a great supporting cast around me, being my beautiful wife, family and employer. I look forward to this season and hope to see you all out there running.  I remember a wise man telling me “plan your race, race your plan.”  Best of training to all you and stay healthy.  Just run………