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This is the front of the pack. I actually got in there after snapping this pic. I'm an idiot.
Cliff notes version:
Goal was anything under 40 minutes. Finished in 39:04. Yay me!
The longer version that is much more fun to read because it has really long run-on sentences that can waste a large portion of your day:
I’ve had my eye on this race for a few weeks, because I thought it would be a good chance to test whether or not the tempo runs I’ve been doing since the first of the year have had any positive effect. I’ve been pretty sure that I was getting a little faster, but like they say, if you haven’t done it in a race, you really don’t know.
When I got up and was getting ready on race day, I started having real doubts about whether or not I was going to get anything under 40:00. Even though I had run a 4 mile tempo run at a “better than hoped for” pace a couple of weeks earlier, I hadn’t had a tempo run feel as good as that one since, and the more recent ones had even been a little slower.
If you log stalk me over at Running Ahead, you’ll see that I’m making a concerted effort – perhaps for the first time – to train my body to not only run fast, but to run fast farther. That’s been the reason for the tempo runs, and this was going to be my first real “game day” taste. I’ve had a growing concern that I might be one of the “practice great, play terrible” guys who could knock out pretty decent weekly mileage but never translate that into the expected race results. One of the users over at RA (thanks, L Train) suggested that tempo runs could help and even went so far as suggesting that my first 2 marathon times and training thus far were similar to his. Since he’s qualified for Boston with a marathon time that’s over an hour faster than mine, I listened.
Anyway, enough of that rambling. I got to the race at Catawba College in time to get my bib (#190) and went out for a 2 mile warm up. Best part of the pre-race stuff was bumping into a friend who had run the race twice before and was able to give me some tips. Best advice? First 3 miles are steadily uphill and the flashing light at mile 3 means you’re downhill and flat to the end. Turned out to be a godsend, because the hills were brutal and knowing when they’d end saved me mentally.
Lining up at the start was different, because instead of going to the back like I usually do, I went about 8 lines deep and started towards the front. Talked with a guy who was running it for the first time, too, and was also targeting a sub-40 finish. I suggested we run together and he agreed, but at the start he went out around 7:10 pace, and said “I’m not too good at pacing” so I let him go. Mile 1- 7:42.
One of the things that blows my mind about the people I consider faster runners is their ability to talk in a race. I can talk during a training run, but in something like a 5k I can’t imagine trying to have any kind of conversation, so color me surprised when I struck one up with a guy somewhere in the 3rd mile. I couldn’t believe that we were talking about how he hadn’t run much in the past week or so do to being sick, but I could tell he was strong, and I was feeling pretty good, too. He pushed on up a little ahead of me, and I was cool with that because I was right on target for a sub-40. Miles 2 and 3 went by in 7:59 and 8:03. Slower, but with all the hills (which you can see in the elevation profile below), I still felt good.
As I got to the flashing light that signaled the beginning of the end, I came up on the left side of the bad pacer, and we ran together for about a quarter of a mile until he said he’d need to walk a bit and for me to go on, which I did. My only regret about the race now is that I didn’t get more out of the downhill portion from the light on. But, I finished up mile 4 in 7:46 and was all smiles for about another quarter mile until I saw the hill that my friend had NOT TOLD ME ABOUT, and it was a monster. By the time I’d gotten to the end of it, I found myself walking within sight of the lights at Shuford Stadium where the race ended with a lap around the track. I probably walked about 10 seconds before I told myself that you don’t walk THAT CLOSE to the end, and so I was off again.
One last left turn into the parking lot, followed by a downhill sprint and I was on the track. One of the nicer touches at this small race was that they called out your name as you finished, and as I rounded the last curve, I heard the announcer say someone’s name and that they were going to break 39 minutes. Hearing that got me moving even faster, and I tore down the last 100 meters somewhere around a 6:00 pace. It was cool to hear “Paul Jenkins, from New London” as I crossed the finish line. Last mile (really .98)- 7:36 for a finish time of 39:04.
After the race I tried to find Ryan, the guy who had trouble with the fast start, to see if he’d gotten a sub-40. No success getting with him after the race, but I did see in the official results that he came in with a 40:43. Hated that for him, and just goes to show how important pacing is, especially in shorter races. I’m thankful to people who have taught me that, and it felt good to have a goal and break it.
Not quite an Olympic Stadium, but Shuford Stadium was nice and the track was the same distance around.
