{"id":7240,"date":"2017-08-28T21:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T21:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2017-check-in-august-26-top-of-utah-13-1-event-as-a-pacer"},"modified":"2026-04-12T19:02:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:02:44","slug":"2017-check-in-august-26-top-of-utah-13-1-event-as-a-pacer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/2017\/08\/28\/2017-check-in-august-26-top-of-utah-13-1-event-as-a-pacer\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 \u2013 Check \u2013 In August 26 \u2013 Top of Utah 13.1 Event \u2013 As a Pacer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:left;\">\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">\n<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/shanelivingston.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/8c7ea-21c560_7c5fdb5741b64146aee28a94185fd796mv2.jpg\"> 2 hour 20 minutes \u2013 American Flyers Race Pacers \u2014 Shane Livingston and Michelle Matthews \u2014 TOU 13.1 \u2013 2017<\/p>\n<h3>Top of Utah 13.1 \u2013 Reflections and Focus<\/h3>\n<p>So, I think it was Saturday \u2013 one week before, a panicked request via our running groups came out asking if someone could take a pacer spot for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.topofutahmarathon.com\/half-results\/\">Top of Utah 13.1 \u2013 Half Marathon<\/a>. &nbsp;On Sunday I responded like:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I guess I could but I\u2019d need to be highly persuaded..<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Anyway, persuasion efforts were completed and I committed to pacing my first event\/race. &nbsp;The fun stuff. &nbsp;The longest run I had just prior was the 15k Freedom Run on July 4th. &nbsp;Then the 70.3 IM and a first season run of the actual course.<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, I wasn\u2019t nervous of the course or the distance, but I was still coughing up my lungs and was glad for the 2 hours 15 min slot. &nbsp;I only got a 4 miler in prior at about a 9:30 min\/mile pace to assure I wasn\u2019t in over my head.<\/p>\n<p>So, the day of the event came, I woke up a bit sick but nothing that would tell me to put on the brakes. &nbsp;Shane Larson from our Northern Exposure Running Club graciously reached out to me and said he and his small band of runners could give me a ride to the busses. &nbsp;It was great to receive the local TESLA treatment ? &nbsp;I am grateful tot he great running friends and community we have. &nbsp;Generally willing to help and assist where able.<\/p>\n<p>I woke up and I have been trying a new morning routine (event and race morning only) and it works.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>1 Thomas English Muffin toasted with butter and Jam<\/li>\n<li>1 Banana<\/li>\n<li>1 Apple \u2013 I don\u2019t always eat<\/li>\n<li>3\/4 \u2013 1 cup of pumpkin seeds<\/li>\n<li>1 28 oz water bottle with Amino Energy or water<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The walk to the bus ride was nice to catch up with Shane and his band of runners. &nbsp;To get to know each other a bit better and him to say, we want to keep you behind us. &nbsp;And he did! &nbsp;Great job!<\/p>\n<p>On the bus, I got a seat to myself. &nbsp;not sure what to make of that as I try to not be too evil and unfriendly, but maybe the no shower thing is a good move to get a solo seat ? &nbsp;The ride seemed slow and well it was but got up to the start without incident. &nbsp;I went over and grabbed a log and became a bump on the log for about 15 minutes. &nbsp;As the light came forward ran into some other friends and NERC\u2019s \u2013 Shawn, Kenny, Allison, their friends and family, Coach Don and many others. &nbsp;I then set about to find the pacers. &nbsp;Well I failed until just before the start of the race, they had made an adjustment or two and I co-paced the 2 hours 20-minute spot. &nbsp;GREAT!<\/p>\n<p>Well, I made a good new friend in Michelle Matthews. &nbsp;We started off easy and tried to keep the pace band but we also were a bit quick as we can both run a sub 2 hour 13.1-mile distance. &nbsp;Below is our overall pace structure, a bit quick, but we walked the aid stations and brought many folks in ahead of their 2hour 20 time but still came in within 30 seconds&nbsp;+\/- of the actual requested time.LapDistanceTimePaceGAPElev&nbsp;&nbsp;11.0&nbsp;mi10:0610:06&nbsp;\/mi10:31&nbsp;\/mi-62&nbsp;ft 21.0&nbsp;mi10:1910:19&nbsp;\/mi10:25&nbsp;\/mi-15&nbsp;ft&nbsp;&nbsp;31.0&nbsp;mi10:1010:10&nbsp;\/mi10:28&nbsp;\/mi-42&nbsp;ft&nbsp;&nbsp;41.0&nbsp;mi10:3310:33&nbsp;\/mi10:37&nbsp;\/mi-17&nbsp;ft 51.0&nbsp;mi10:1510:15&nbsp;\/mi10:57&nbsp;\/mi-96&nbsp;ft&nbsp;&nbsp;61.0&nbsp;mi10:0710:07&nbsp;\/mi10:38&nbsp;\/mi-85&nbsp;ft&nbsp;&nbsp;71.0&nbsp;mi10:1610:16&nbsp;\/mi10:27&nbsp;\/mi-49&nbsp;ft&nbsp;&nbsp;81.0&nbsp;mi10:1610:16&nbsp;\/mi10:32&nbsp;\/mi-49&nbsp;ft 91.0&nbsp;mi10:3210:32&nbsp;\/mi10:57&nbsp;\/mi-56&nbsp;ft&nbsp;101.0&nbsp;mi10:4510:45&nbsp;\/mi11:06&nbsp;\/mi-49&nbsp;ft&nbsp;111.0&nbsp;mi10:3710:37&nbsp;\/mi10:33&nbsp;\/mi1&nbsp;ft&nbsp;121.0&nbsp;mi11:5111:51&nbsp;\/mi11:19&nbsp;\/mi54&nbsp;ft&nbsp;131.0&nbsp;mi11:3511:35&nbsp;\/mi12:06&nbsp;\/mi-61&nbsp;ft&nbsp;140.1&nbsp;mi3:0916:37&nbsp;\/mi11:58&nbsp;\/mi-7&nbsp;ft<\/p>\n<p>The orange times above match more to the 2 hours 15 min I bumped away from, the greens are the 2&nbsp;hour&nbsp;20 mins and the reds are SLOW it WAY DOWN and give folks triumph and HOPE!<\/p>\n<p>Official timing below:SPLIT NAMESPLIT DISTANCESPLIT TIMEPACEDISTANCERACE TIMEOVERALL (\/840)GENDER (\/?)CATEGORY (\/18)TIME OF DAYHALFWAY7 miles01:11:0610:09\/mile7 miles01:11:06520101008:11:56SECOND HALF6.1 miles01:08:2611:13\/mile13.1 miles02:19:32506101009:20:21FINISH02:19:32.010:39\/mile13.1 miles02:19:32.0506101009:20:21<\/p>\n<p>The conversations were many, the 4-5 stories we got were awesome. &nbsp;Michelle and I bantered all the way down partnered with a runner who is a professor at WSU. &nbsp;He was a treat and a wise cat. &nbsp;It was nice to bring him down and to share his stories and company and wisdom and great nature. &nbsp;About a dozen folks said they loved our random banter and kept us in front of them. &nbsp;most of our conversations focused on education and our current state of things. &nbsp;Gratefully, we each represented favorable perspectives including the challenges we\u2019d like to see improved. &nbsp;It was a great day of conversation without incident, emotion or war of words. &nbsp;I would assert that Michelle and I kept each other in check and then we really toned it back for miles 12 \u2013 13.1. &nbsp;In fact, one major lesson learned was a minor chastisement I got from Michelle \u2013 my simple \u201cCheck yourself\u201d moment. &nbsp;I said in jest that this pace was \u2018easy\u2019 and that may have been interpreted by someone around us as discouraging or otherwise. &nbsp;I noted the need to change my jargon, and shifted\/adapted my perspective and will continue to try to be better than that as those in the pace structure we were helping may not have the same outlook. &nbsp;It was an appreciated correction, thank you, Michelle!<\/p>\n<p>We kept a strong and consistent effort, allowed those that were hoping for 2 hours 15 minutes to have a good gauge \u2013 pushed the 2 hours 20 min group to far exceed their expectation and then rescued a few to get in just before or near us.<\/p>\n<p>Overall it was nice to not be in my head for me or staying out of my head to maintain the \u2018horse that I trained on\u2019. &nbsp;I am a vastly different runner than I was in 2013 and this was not even an effort compared to the difficult 2hour 15 mins I did on this course 2 years prior. &nbsp;It\u2019s an amazing thing \u2013 growth.<\/p>\n<p>So, the day after a few folks asked me what this pacing thing is, and to one I was like \u2018Meh, ya, i just did it.\u201d &nbsp;Chris was a bit shocked I could tell \u2013 wasn\u2019t sure if it was like \u2013 man you suck b\/c you think that\u2019s easy or something else. &nbsp;I then said \u2013 for me, it\u2019s great to know I am at the level I am to be like, ya, whatever let\u2019s do this! I hope he understood I was talking about where I am, not another person nor judging the other\/s.<\/p>\n<p>Well, Liz and Dennis and Juniper were at the finish. &nbsp;I was glad for the change as it made it a bit easier for them to arrive on time. &nbsp;I got to see Isela and her little on who was excited to just go home after retrieving her momma. &nbsp;Dennis was excited and Juniper about leaped into my arms from momma.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align:left;\">\n<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align:left;\">SUMMARY<\/h3>\n<p>Thanks to Shane for giving me a ride. &nbsp;Thanks to Nathanial for letting me borrow his pacing singlet. &nbsp;Thanks to Michelle for dealing with me as a co-pacer. &nbsp;Thanks to those that relied on us. &nbsp;Thanks to Jenni for persuading me to step in. &nbsp;Thanks to American Flyer Race Pacers for trusting in me to \u2018play\u2019 pacer for the event. &nbsp;Thanks to my wife for letting me carve out this time to do so. &nbsp;It was a great day, great conditions. &nbsp;It was nice to see others happy to run and a few folks gritting through something that was under appreciated and became difficult. &nbsp;It was great to be part of our running community and the folks that pace. &nbsp;It brings a different perspective to the overall event. &nbsp;Yes, it is a race. &nbsp;For me though, it was just another run. &nbsp;And it made my \u2018just\u2019 a whole bunch sweeter.<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line \u2013 as a pacer \u2013 it wasn\u2019t about me. &nbsp;And that was nice, to get out of my head and support others. &nbsp;Cheers! &nbsp;Oh, and Julie tried to twist my arm into being a pace leader for the Utah Running Club. &nbsp;I need to check that out. &nbsp;On a personal note, it\u2019s time to re-calibrate \u2013 refocus on me, and get back to 190 # and start looking at 185#. &nbsp;Here we go!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h3>\n<\/h3>\n<h3>Relevant Pics<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/shanelivingston.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/153d0-21c560_f61f0360ca204772bafb448d5642a2b9mv2.jpg\"> <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/shanelivingston.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/0ada1-21c560_5b6856030ba04db6aa37d66a2fc502edmv2.jpg\"> <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/shanelivingston.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/e3411-21c560_27e57db9cad745c69f9095da7a7870e8mv2.jpg\"> <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/shanelivingston.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/40100-21c560_cb4976dc292b4fbf91946de22a4830a1mv2.jpg\"> <\/p>\n<p>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[\u2018GoogleAnalyticsObject\u2019]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){   (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),   m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)   })(window,document,\u2019script\u2019,\u2019<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js\u2019\">https:\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js\u2019<\/a>;,\u2019ga\u2019);    ga(\u2018create\u2019, \u2018UA-91876459-1\u2019, \u2018auto\u2019);   ga(\u2018send\u2019, \u2018pageview\u2019);  <\/p>\n<p>#triathlonlifestyle #swimbikerun #trilife #triathlon #Checkin #run #swim #triathlonlife #ironmantraining #familybalancetri #triathlontraining #triathlete #triathlonmotivation #bike #2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 hour 20 minutes \u2013 American Flyers Race Pacers \u2014 Shane Livingston and Michelle Matthews \u2014 TOU 13.1 \u2013 2017 Top of Utah 13.1 \u2013 Reflections and Focus So, I think it was Saturday \u2013 one week before, a panicked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_eb_attr":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[817,452],"tags":[825,827,828,835,836,838],"class_list":["post-7240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prnci","category-2017-check-in","tag-tag-agency","tag-tag-autonomy","tag-tag-reflections","tag-tag-triathlon","tag-tag-endurance","tag-tag-tn"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24607,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7240\/revisions\/24607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyinthehills.com\/zentriathlete\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}