Riverwoods 10-Mile Run – UT

June 14, 2008

My recovery after the Squaw Peak 50 went very well.   On Monday I ran 4 slow miles but each day after that felt better.  On both Thursday and Friday morning I ran 16 miles.  It felt like I had recovered about 90%.  With Bighorn 100 in only six days, I didn’t want to do a really long run on Saturday, so instead I decided to enter a 10-mile road race to use as a long tempo training run.

The Riverwoods 10-mile race starts near the Big Springs aid station of Squaw Peak 50, in South Provo Canyon.   It follows the same three road miles to Vivian Park, next jumps on the Provo River paved trail, covering the same first two miles of Squaw Peak 50, and then continues down Provo Canyon to the Riverwoods shopping area.   Ten fast miles, all paved, and almost all downhill.  There are only a few short uphill sections.   I knew that it would be a very fast course.

I looked at the finishing times for last year and felt that I should be able to finish at about 1:10 or average seven-minute-miles.   It would depend if I really had recovered from Squaw Peak 50, just seven days ago.   Well, to my surprise, I ended up crushing that goal.

We were bused up to the start.  I made sure I was in one of the last busses so I wouldn’t have to shiver at the start for too long.  With 45 minutes to go, I was at the start and the temperature was cool.  I could see my breath.   I joined a group of runners who stood close together to stay warm.  The group got bigger and bigger and soon we looked like a bunch of penguins huddling together to stay warm.   I enjoyed talking with a few local runners who read my running blog.   There were about 450 runners at the start.

As the start time approached, I mentally got myself ready and turned on my MP3 player to some peppy tunes.   I positioned myself near the front and at 8:00 a.m., we were off!  For the first mile I stayed close to the young fast front-runners who had great foot speed.  Memories of running on this road at the end of Squaw Peak 50, came back to me.   The big difference is today I was flying down the road.  I clocked the first mile in 6:21:47.  That was probably the fastest mile I have run since my teens!  

I watched the front-runners disappear and the rest of us in the top-10 started to be spread out.  As we passed a park, I saw a fast woman ahead of me side-track to use the bathroom.  She made a fast stop and soon she again caught up and passed me.   I passed a couple runners who started out way faster than their capability and were fading fast.  I clocked the second mile in 6:30.   So far, so good.  I really wanted to keep most of my miles under seven minutes.   My third mile was 6:27 and I reached  Vivian Park in only 20 minutes.   Last Saturday I ran the same section in about 34 minutes at the end of Squaw Peak.  But today, my 5K speed was better than my PR.  I broke 20 minutes.  The downhill course was sweet.

During the next couple miles, a few runners passed me as the trail became a little more level and I pulled back a little.  One group of about five runners went by.  We also ran into foot and bike traffic on the trail who looked at our fast pace in awe.  I clocked mile four in 6:37.   I ignored all the aid stations along the way, content to just sip from my handheld water bottle filled with diluted Ensure.   During mile five, my mind wandered a bit as I was enjoying the beautiful morning and the trail along the Provo River.  It was a wonderful sight.  I noticed that I slowed down with a time of 7:01.   I tried to kick it back into a higher gear, but started to feel fatigued.  I wondered if last weeks’ 50-miler was catching up to me.  But soon a nice downhill section came and I could again push the pace.  I clocked mile six in 6:49.   I was pleased to seem my 10K pace was way better than my PR, less than 41 minutes.   I was cruising.  Could I keep this together?

During mile seven and eight, my problem calf started to tighten up.   I didn’t want to do anything stupid, so I backed off a little clocking miles 7 and 8 in 6:43 and 7:07.  I looked at the other runners near me and could see that I was running with some pretty serious road runners, all young and lean.

Just two miles to go.  I pushed myself to dig deep.  The ninth mile in the canyon took 6:45, at the one hour mark.  Now, just one last flat mile along Canyon Road.  If I could hang on, I would crush my goal.  A couple times I heard some footsteps behind me, threatening to pass.  I pushed even harder until I couldn’t hear the footsteps anymore.  I even caught up and passed a young runner.  

Soon the finish area was in sight.  I clocked the last mile in 6:48 and finished strong in at total of 1:07:17.   I was shocked.  Where did that come from?   Among the over 450 runners, I was the 13th male finisher, and the 17th overall.   I finished first in the 45-49 age group by almost a minute.  I averaged 6:44 miles.  Wow!    That certainly was the fastest ten miles I have ever run in my life.  I was pleased.  As I looked back on my race, besides mile five when my concentration wandered, I couldn’t see how I could have pushed any harder.  I had no lazy miles.

Even though I turn age 50 in just two months, I seem to be getting faster and faster as I continue to train hard.  To me it is just a fascinating study into what the human body can do, even for an average athlete.