Snow Canyon Half Marathon - Race Recap

♠ Posted by Paul Naylor in Half marathon,recap

Utah has no shortage of half marathons that have the most incredible scenery the country has to offer.

I've run several half marathons in throughout the state, and it seemed that most of them have fantastic views. 

After a few years of trying to adjust my schedule to run this race, this year proved to be the year where everything fell into place. I had many friends run this race in the past, and they all have great experiences. Now, its my turn!

I have heard that there has been changes to the course since previous years. For starters, there was a section of the course that on trail, this year, the entire course is on the road. Many runners were excited for this, because it could be a better chance for a PR. The other big change they had was the finish, last year, runners had to almost run a full circle on the track to the finish line. This year, there was no full circle to the finish, just a straight shot to the finish line.



There has been buzz about the finish medals in recent years, some of the feedback has not been so positive about the look of the medals. Some of the feedback that I have read was the medals were either too small, too plain and lacked creativity, and some even stated that the medals looked like a last minute item. The race series Facebook page did not reveal what the medals would look like before the race. So all participants had to find out at the finish line. I think this year's medal is awesome! I'm a big fan of medals that have cut-outs, and I think St. George Race Series has done a great job.











Things from the race I remember:

-I was looking forward to great weather. It was warm and calm the night before, then cold, cloudy and windy the morning of the race.

-Many of the runners talking about a 40% chance of rain during the race....great.

-Second time this year where it was fairly cold at the start line. First time was at Big Cottonwood half.

-There were a few trails near the start line, it was great to take my warm up runs here.

-With that wind that morning, Murphy's Law had it be a head wind for most of the race.

-This was primarily a downhill race, but there were a few spots where you had rolling hills, about the last three miles.

-About four or five miles of the race was through Snow Canyon State Park. Absolutely some of the best scenery of red rock in Southern Utah.

-A few times during the race, it actually did rain.

-I tried new arm compression sleeves for this race. I wish I have ran with these sleeves in past races, there are great!

-Another race where I had only water and Gatorade, did not eat any or the fruit or gel paks during the race.

-One race down in the St.George Racing Series, one more to go to get a guaranteed spot in 2015 St. George Marathon.


-It was getting really cold and windy at this point.


-Finish line at Snow Canyon High School.


-Race #8 complete for 2014


-I sat next to this woman on the way up to the starting line, she has an incredible story. For the last three years, she and her daughter has ran a half marathon for each month of the year. That is a total of 36 half marathons for the last three. Amazing! Hearing her story really motivated me to run more.

Overall, I had enjoyed this race. Even with the weather conditions not being the best, I thought this was a great race. There were many people that participated, I can say that this is one of the biggest half marathons in Southern Utah. The staff of the St. George Racing Series and workers of the City of St. George, they have put on a good show. This is a race that I can see myself coming back to next year. 

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Lake Powell Half Marathon - Race Recap

♠ Posted by Paul Naylor in Half marathon,recap

A lot of first time things happened with this weeks half marathon; first time 'last minute race', first time race, fist time experiencing a new hydration system, first time almost driving through the night to get to the race. And after it was all said and done, it was a great race and I think that Vacation Races puts on a great event.

Thursday - This race not even on the radar, and I was not planning to run a race until the end of October. I was browsing through different Facebook pages for local races, and I saw someone that was looking to sell their spot for the Lake Powell Half. This person was looking to get their bib off their hands, and were willing to sell it at a great price.

I tried to do a little research on the race, and the people who organize the race. I have heard of Vacation Races before, but never had the opportunity to run their events. They seemed to be well organized, and the feedback was great from others. I had read that they have a cup free policy, since most of their events are held in State Parks. I thought that this was an interesting concept, but didn't bother me.

I was then drawn to their finisher medals, and they looked fantastic! This was the tipping point to really want to run the race. I thought the medal would be great in my collection, and though if I get nothing else out of the race, I would come home with a great medal.



Friday - After making the decision to run Lake Powell, I did as much research as I could about the race. I saw that it was going to be about a five hour drive, and that most likely I would be having to drive through the night. I took a few moments to study the course, which was mostly downhill. I then started to make plans to make sure that I had food to eat before the race. I was hoping for a better pre-race experience than the one I had at Big Cottonwood.

I drove up to St.George a few hours after work, and I spent some time there to catch some sleep, since I had really no place to stay up at Lake Powell. The starting line was about three hours away from St.George, and I would be driving in the late hours in the night in unfamiliar territory. This had me worried a bit, I didn't want to end up as "I shouldn't be alive" episode.

Saturday - Most races have you park at the finish line, and the race will shuttle you to the starting line. This time it was reversed, we parked at the starting line. While I was picking up my bib, I got my hydration cup for the race. Vacation Races has a cup free policy, meaning the runners have alternate ways to get water. Either they carry water with them, or they carry their own cup. I thought that this was a different concept at first, but I really liked the way it worked.

Things from the race I remember:

-I arrived early, and since we parked at the starting line, I was able to do a proper warm and eat food(I was not able to do this at Big Cottonwood).

-First time trying out a new hydration system where you carry a makeshift cup with you, and drink water at the stations.

-I forgot to bring my small MP3 player, so I had to carry my phone with me to listen to music, but I did not have an arm band, so I had to literally carry my phone.

-It was an overcast day, which made it great for running, but the scenery was not as appealing with the clouds.

-Since signing up for this race last minute, I decided that I was going to take it easy and not run as hard as I can for the race. 

-There was about a two mile stretch on a dirt trail, it was a great change up for the course. Except or the parts where there was sand, that was a little hard to run through. 

-I felt good through out the race, running at a slower pace and the overcast made for a great day for running. 

-I only had water and Gatorade at the water stations, I didn't feel like I needed anything else during the race. 

-The scenery was great to see, even with the overcast. 

-I placed 5th in my age group, which was a surprise two different ways. First, that I placed at all. Second, most races age group places are three deep, instead of five. But still very cool to come home with two medals from one race.

-I can now check Arizona of my list for my goal of 50 races in 50 states!

Not a bad time for just taking it easy for the day

The beach just beyond the finish line.

Overall, this was a great race, I would imagine that I would run this race again. I plan to run two other races from this series in Colorado and Arizona next year. One thing that I would change for next time is plan ahead to go up earlier and stay for a couple days after. I think there is a lot to do in the area such as hiking, relaxing on the beach, and other water activities. The race was very well organized, the support and the volunteers were amazing. I think that Vacation Races are headed in the right direction for creating great races. I see myself running many of their races in the future.

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Big Cottonwood Canyon Half - Race Recap

♠ Posted by Paul Naylor in Half marathon,recap

The Big Cottonwood Canyon Half 2014 is in the books, this is a race that keeps getting better every year. I really love this race! This is an event that I'll be coming back to every year.  I know that for my goal is traveling around to run a race in every state, but this is a race that I'll come back to. It is very well organized, the volunteers are amazing, and the scenery is beyond incredible.

Even that this was a great race, there was a different feel to it through out the training leading up to the event, during the race, and even after the race. I think that focusing so much on a PR for this race had a lot to do with how I viewed everything, but overall, a great race with great memories. There were many adventures that led up to the start line.

I left work early on Friday to make the journey from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. I wanted to give myself a lot of time because a section of I-15 was closed due to flooding. There was a long stretch of the highway that looked like this:



This caused travelers to take detours, I won't get too much into the detours, but I got to see parts of Utah, Nevada and Arizona I never knew existed. This detour took a couple extra hours to get to the St. George  Area. After finally getting to Salt Lake City, great friends of mine were good enough to let me stay are their place for the night.

I helped them move a few items in their new house that they were moving into, then we headed to Zaxby's for dinner. Now I know that its up for debate whether the Kickin' Chickin' is food that should be consumed the night before a race. I leaning toward that its probably not, but still, really good food that I eat whenever opportunity presents itself.



I got a great nights sleep and I woke up at 4:00AM to check my gear and made my way to start line for bus pickup. This is where my morning got a little interesting. I got to the parking lot early and they were not going to be loading the buses for about 25 minutes. So I though that this will be a great time to make sure I have all that I need for the race, also, a great time to eat something. Then I realized my first mistake; I had brought nothing to eat. Well, this is a rookie mistake if I ever saw one, how many races have I ran, and I forget to bring food to eat? From where the parking lot was, I realized that I was close to a Smith's, which is open 24hrs. This is great I thought, I have enough time to run over and pick up a few things and make it back before the buses load. I reached in my bag for my wallet and.......couldn't find it. I was thinking that I was sure the grab it on my way out, but must have forgot it. I was thinking if I had enough time to drive back and get it, so I started to look for my keys.....and then couldn't find them. This was not the morning I would have picked to start loosing things. To make a long story short, It took me almost 1/2 hour to find these items, and I was very aggravated, and somewhat relieved that I found them. Now I have to worry about getting to the pickup area.

I saw that I had a few minutes to the last bus, so I grabbed my gear and made a mad dash to the buses, only to find......a very, VERY long line for the bus. That was weird. It seemed that there was some mis-communication with the buses, which caused delays with the pickups. I thought about running to the Smiths at this point, but then I really didn't want to miss the bus if it showed up. So after waiting for a few minutes, the buses finally arrived and we were off to the start line.

The gun sounded at 7:20 AM, slight delay from the buses, At this point, I was really anxious to start the race. The sun was starting to rise, the air was really crisp and the temps were cold. The leaves were already starting to change color. I was really trying to calm my nerves since I had no food in my system and spent a lot of nervous energy trying to find my wallet and keys. But the race went on, and we were off.



Slightly cold morning....




Things from the race I remember:

-I remember not being able to warm up since the buses got to the start line late, and there was enough time to take a restroom break, then they were asking everybody to head to the start line.

-The benefit of being late to the start line was that at least were not up the canyon freezing to death waiting for the race to start.

-Because there was no warm up, my legs felt like tree trunks for the first three miles.

-Cold weather + no warm up +no food = long day of racing.

-Seeing all the trees that where turning color was amazing, and a reminder of one of the reasons I love this race.

-First 8 or so miles, I felt great and moving at a great pace.

-I was really happy to have the sun shinning towards the last four-ish miles of the race.

-The volunteers at the aid stations are always great. The stations handing out Swedish Fish made my day like you wouldn't believe.

-The last 5k or race, this is where the no food before, no warm up, and nervous energy spent looking for stuff finally caught up with me.  I was completely out of energy, and every step was like carrying a bag of cement.

-The finish line was a great site to see.



-Tried to run as hard as I could to the end, but I was cramping up like mad, and there nothing in the gas tank.

After all the events that happened before and during the race, I still managed to get a PR for the day.



This was my first goal, to at least run 1:30 or better.



I have downed my fifth cup of chocolate milk right before this photo was taken.



Had to stop by the pizza booth.



Got to see some great people after the race!





Overall, this race was phenomenal, and I'll be coming back next year. And even though I had a rough last three miles of the race, I was able to manage a PR, which will only make me more hungry to improve my time. I honestly can say that I left everything on the table to finish the race, and that ultimately felt great. I did feel a little bad that the turbo died after 10 miles, and almost felt that I did not deserve the finisher medal. Yet there were many factors that made the last three miles harder than it needed to be. Later on that day, I felt different, I felt a lot better, and was really glad that I did not give up and fought to finish.

Many played a part to help me be successful during this race, I want to thank all those that were involved and know that I really appreciate the love and support!

Big Cottonwood Canyon Half Marathon still remains my personal favorite of half marathons.

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Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 3

♠ Posted by Paul Naylor in advice,Half marathon,tips,training

To finish off this series of mental preparation, this article will focus on the actual race itself. So you have done all the mental prep before the race and the prep at the start line. Then, you hear the gun sound off.

First three miles:

*Start off slow. One of the most common mistakes made by runners is going off too fast. At the very beginning, you feel that you could go strong for a very long time, your very upbeat, rested, and confident. But remember to hold yourself back, the first three miles should be very easy. There will be a lot of people passing you, and that's okay, let them, you'll catch them later. But you don't want to be starting off at a gusty pace, because this will drain your energy for the duration of the race.

*Run your pace. Run at the pace that you have been training at. Going along with the common mistakes that runners make, is that they try to match the fast pace of other runners. For example, if you have been training at a 8:30 pace, and then run the first three miles of the race at 7:15. Even through you may feel great for the first mile or two, this will drain your energy very quickly.

Miles 2-5

*Don't let your emotions get the best of you. This usually happens when people are passing you. This can make many loose their focus. This comes back to doing those visualization exercises I mentioned in Part 1. Visualize your mindset when people are passing you, and rehearse your mind keeping focus when person after person are passing you. This really helps train the mind to handle these race situations.

Miles 6-10

*Break up the rest of the race in sections. This can be done in mile sections, two miles sections, or whatever works for you. I have heard of some that would run, and then take a break at each water station, then continue running. Others I have heard of doing a mile countdown. There are many different variations that runners do, find the one that works for you, and them apply it to the race.

*Trust your training. If you have trained for the race, and have trained well, trust that the training will carry you to the finish line. Once you start getting to miles 8-10, tiredness is setting in, your joints might start feeling pain at this time. and probably breathing heavy. These are normal for any runner at this distance. But this is why you go through training programs to help combat these things. And as you enter miles 8-10, your training will help prepare you physically for this section of the race.

Last 5k

*Boredom. This can be a tricky one to beat, especially when you're getting tired and achy. If you can, carry music with you, sing along with the song, talk to other runners, enjoy the scenery, or play games. Such as, count how many runners have a red tank.

*Visualize. I think that this may be one of the most important things that you can do for all aspects of the race. This point of the race, the miles may be the toughest. You're going to be very tired, muscles and joints may be very sore. You're dying to have 'actually' food, gelspaks and Gatorade is no longer cutting it. This is where you're going to have to do a lot of digging. And I mean digging deep mentally. You can try distract yourself, and at this point, you're are going to start seeing people, because you're getting close to the finish line. The cheering from the crowds are going to be a great help to you getting to the finish line.

*Start talking to yourself. Whether this is in your mind or vocally, talking your way to the finish line can help greatly to get you across the finish line. It will also help you dig deep, to reach for inner motivation to finish. Remind yourself that you have trained hard for this. Remind yourself that you are going to feel great once you get to the finish line. Think of the people that are waiting for you at the finish line.

These are tips and advice that has helped me throughout each race that I have ran in. Work with these tips in your training workouts, you will get better at the with time. If there are tips that you have done that has helped you in a race, post them in the comments below.

See also: Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 1

See also: Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 2

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Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 2

♠ Posted by Paul Naylor in advice,Half marathon,tips,training

Just recently, I made a post for tips and advice to mentally prepare for a half marathon, it was focused on pre-race preparation. This article will focus the actual running and start line, because this is where nerves came really become unhinged.

-At the starting line
Between the time the shuttles drop you off, and the actually start of the race, this can sometimes be a long time. And usually if you just stand there and wait, this can cause for anxiety because you want to get started with the race. So here are some things to keep in mind and to do at the start line

*Prepare for a lot of people at the starting line. This is something that runners don't really expect. But at some races, there could be thousands of runners at the start, and a lot of commotion. If a lot of people are bothersome, then I suggest hanging out away from the crowd, but be close enough to here the announcer for the race start.

*Some races has things to do at the start. This sometimes include several fire pits, for colder races. Some will have a live band playing, or music will be playing over a speaker, Others will have a few vendor booths showing merchandise. These are great to check, it'll help get your mind off the running.

*If you brought your breakfast with you, the wait time before the race is a good time to eat it. Some like eating a couple of hours before running, others, right before running. It all depends on the runner.

*There are places to use the restroom. At every race that I have been a part of, there has always been port-a-johns. These are good to use to take care of the 'nervous pee' before the race. Even if you feel like you don't have to go....go anyway. This can be a big help in lowering anxiety.

*Talk to other runners. This is one of my favorite things to do before a race. Talk to the other people that are running with you. I find it fascinating hearing their journey that led them up to the race. This will help greatly to calm your nerves, and it'll help calm theirs. Virtually, everybody will be willing to talk, and you'll have fun learning about each other. And for you single runners....you could potentially find Mr/Mrs future spouse.

*Sizing up the other runners. Whether you are a competitive runner, or one just hoping to finish. Its always a little nerve racking seeing the other runners, with some of them looking to fly down the course. The best suggestion that I can think of, is visualize the very start. Imagine seeing other runners, imagine them looking like Olympians. Then imagine how your mind is going to respond to it. This will help you prepare for the actual start.


These are suggestion to keep your nerves in check from the time you get off the shuttle, to the sound of the starting gun. If there are any other suggestions that you have, post them in the comments below. Later, I will post Part 3, mental tips for running the race.

See also: Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 3

See also: Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 1

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Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 1

♠ Posted by Paul Naylor in advice,Half marathon,tips,training

The half marathon distance has to be my favorite race, I love that the distance is long enough to be challenging, yet short enough to run at a strong pace. I think that it is becoming one of the more popular distances to run, just due to that its still long enough to have bragging rights over your friends and family.

The distance tests your physical and mental strength, and each time there seems to be a new challenge. I have ran several half marathons, and I find a new physical or mental challenge that I have to overcome. There are many that say that the full marathon distance has more challenges as far the physical and mental, which I don't disagree with at all, but 13.1 miles is no walk in the park. I think it has its own set of obstacles to overcome.

From running several 13.1 miles races, here are some tips that I have learned to help come out on top mentally and have a successful race. These are not all the tips, I'm sure that I will have more later on.

There are different mental battles.

-Pre-race
All the training that you have done in the weeks and months prior, has come down to this: race day. Its normal to be nervous, especially if it is your first half marathon. Even for seasoned runners, it can be nerve racking. This usually comes from the pressure that runners put on themselves to perform their best. The thought of spending as much time as runners do to train for this race, and then have a terrible run, is just downright awful. I know...I was there. Things like this can tear down confidence for continued training and future races.

So here are a few tips that will help you best mentally prepare for a half marathon.

-Know that unexpected things happen.
Preparing to know that unexpected things that can happen before or even during a race can bring down your anxiety to a manageable level. Unexpected things that can happen: can't find the gear that you want to run in. Can't find your car keys. Not enough time for breakfast. Need to put gas in your car. Traffic and road closures. And then of course, the weather. This can be the biggest part of a race the is unexpected, mostly because runners envision warm weather, blue skies and slight breeze. But Mother Nature is no respecter or persons, and there could be cold temperatures, pouring rain, gusty winds and in some cases; snow.

A great way to prepare for weather, is to run in all kinds of weather as much as you can. If you see that it is raining outside, crazy winds and even colder weather, go for a run. This helps so that you would know how to mentally respond to weather like this. And this will help if you would have to run a race in these conditions.

-Be prepared
Aside from the training that runners do to prepare for a race, there are other things that they can do to be more prepared to lower race anxiety.

*For starters, runners would often study the course map, this map is usually provided by most races. This helps so that runners would know where they are going and also know the elevation changes. Races may also provide a parking map, this is great to study, because it does not help if runners get lost trying to park to board buses.

*Have a gear checklist. This is great to have to make sure that have you have your favorite running attire and shoes, music player and headphones, GPS watch, race bib, sunglasses and everything else you want to have. I have seen runners place everything they need on a chair right before they go to bed. So when they wake up, they grab their stuff and take off.

*Fuel up car the night before. As I mentioned above, making sure there is gas in the car the night before will help a lot. There is already enough on your mind the morning of race day, and fueling up your car should not be one of them. Seems kinda silly and obvious, but it is often overlooked.

*EAT BREAKFAST - This is very important. Especially since right before the race, your nerves are causing you not to have an appetite. Even though you don't feel like eating, I strongly suggest not to skip breakfast. It does not have to be a big breakfast, just make sure that you have food in your system, you'll burn a lot of calories during the race.

*Make a pre-race ritual. Many runners use pre-race rituals to help manage their anxiety. This can be from listening to music or a particular song, doing a specific warm up, meditate or pray. There are many others that runners will do. Think of something, be creative and keep it simple, because you would do it before you run, even at the start line.

*Visualize your race. This is a technique that is used by many top runners. A few weeks before the race, especially the day before, visualize the race, pre-race, and post race. See in your minds eye the starting line, running in the race, the people that your running with, the sounds of thousands of feet hitting the pavement, and the cheers of the crowd. Imagine what you'll be wearing, the people that will be waiting at the finish line, and the feeling that you're going to have when coming across the finish line. Many wonder shy this helps with race anxiety. It helps because it helps runners prepare for the unknown, such as, visualizing your race in a downpour, runners will get themselves familiar with the situation and rehearse how they will react to it.

*Manage expectations. It is always great and recommended that runners have goals, but some make them so high, that it causes anxiety if they are not met. Such as, if a runner has a goal to be at the shuttle pickup by 5:00AM, and gets there by 5:05AM, this may cause anxiety if this goal is not met. Instead, have the goal; be at the shuttle pick up, before they leave.

So there you have some tips for mentally preparing for a half marathon, and these can really be used for any distance. And there are more tips that are out there, these are the ones that I feel are the most important. If you have other tips and suggestions that you do, put them in the the comments below. And I'll have Part 2 for mental preparation, which is tips and advice for during the race.

See also: Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 2

See also: Mental tips for running a half marathon: Part 3

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