Warmup: 1.98 mi. in 17:11.4 - 8:41 ppm.
Race: 5.02 mi. in 29:46.67 - 5:56 ppm. Splits: (1) 6:02.38; (2) 6:11.34; (3) 6:08.42; (4) 5:51.35; (5) 5:28.15.
Cooldown: 2.09 mi. in 18:25.94 - 8:50 ppm.
Chart
Map
Graphs
Race Results
Eggers' race recap
My true goal for today was to somehow prove to myself that I'm in as fit as I believe to be - in other words, to simply gain some confidence as I progress towards my second marathon. I felt like I could go under 30 minutes, so that was my time goal. I achieved both of these things, even surprising myself a bit in some respects, and I'm quite pleased with the day. I will write the recap now and add a couple pictures later...
This race was not scheduled until 10am - a good thing considering the hour-plus drive we had ahead of us. Baum and Mitchell were going to carpool from the east side of town, and Adrienne and I hit the road at 8am after a breakfast of waffles and strawberries. I don't normally eat that much on race day, but I figured I could get away with it due to the later start. I also had a few glasses of white wine and some sushi the night before.
Adrienne and I arrived on the campus of Catawba College right at 9am, then phoned Eggers when we couldn't see any kind of direction as to where to go. His response was something like, "yeah, it's tough to find - I spent the morning before the race last year kind of running around campus like a mad man. You'll just have to figure it out. Good luck." Perhaps I should have called Mitchell instead. Adrienne's intuition found us in the right place a few moments later. She went inside to get our bibs while I parked, and when I met her we bumped into Mike and Brian, as well. There was a decent crowd of runners inside the gym, conversing and trying to stay warm.
The four of us darted around for a bit, trying to figure out where the starting line was so we could dump our stuff (racing shoes, extra clothes, etc). I spotted John Compton and he helped out with the start location, then we took off for a warmup. We ran into Eggers, fashionably late as always, and got in just under two miles, most of it on the first part of the course. It was about 45 degrees and lightly drizzling - perfect weather for a race, in my opinion. Mitchell found a dry spot for our bags and we ran into Kevin Ballantine. He and I both had the same goal and talked at the Runner's Lunch the day before about trying to work together to hit said goal. I told him I wanted to start out conservatively without getting too far behind - 6:10 or so - and he mentioned that the first mile was the only fast mile of the course, so it might behoove us to bump it down to 6-flat. Ok, fair enough. Speaking of the course, I'm usually pretty stressed about making sure I know what awaits me in a race, but I would not have such an advantage today. I just tried not to worry about it and just do what I can. It was kinda neat to be racing in an unfamiliar atmosphere.
I slapped on my racers and headed back to the start. Adrienne and I wished each other luck as she settled back a bit and I found a spot on the front row. For reasons unbeknownst to any of us, former Olympian and record-holder Joan Nesbit was the guest of honor, and she gave a few words at the start. Pretty neat, right? But again, it wasn't really clear why she was actually there, unless I just wasn't paying attention (the likely scenario). There was a prayer and I looked around at my competition. I was on the far left, with Kevin in the center. We exchanged knowing "oh-there-you-are" nods. I didn't see Eggers anywhere, though. A bit after that, there was a mark-set-horn, and we were off.
I made a point to get around any crowds up front, found myself right behind Dan Matena and some orange-clad Asheville studs, and then slowed way down. I let a good number of people pass me, ducking my head back a couple times until I saw Kevin. We eased into a comfortable sub-6 mile pace and went down a treacherous hill that was followed by a sharp right turn. Kevin had predicted that "at least four people" would bite the dust here. I eased up a good bit and took the turn with caution. We conversed quite a good amount here, with Kevin providing some very helpful pointers about the course. It sounded like things were going to get pretty tough sooner rather than later. Mrs. Nesbit sidled up next to us for awhile, chatting and asking what he had planned to hit as goals. When we told her sub-30, she said, "Oh boy, I've gone out too fast, then!"
We hit the mile in about 6:02, feeling pretty happy with keeping the plan, but I was questioning things. My legs felt tight and my lungs were struggling to grab air. I think this is where experience saved me a bit; in the past I might have gotten scared and eased up, but instead I just told myself that my body was getting used to the pace and working out the kinks. Kevin and I began to reel in several runners after the mile mark as we turned off the road and into some side roads, making a few turns in the process. I had a couple steps on him at this point, and during one sharp left I turned my head just quickly enough to see that Eggers was about 10 meters back, waiting to pounce. That inspired me, and it was here that I left Kevin and began to mow down a good bit of runners in front of me.
The details begin to get a little hazy at this point. I will take that as a good thing - a sign that I was very much zoned-in, focused on racing and not worrying about much else. Again, I didn't have any real idea what I was going to see as far as the course was concerned. The blank memory may hurt the entertainment value of this recap, however!
So I broke away from the early pack and came across the first female and a masters runner, working together up a long, steep hill. This would be Miss Molly Nunn and Mr. John Anderson. I felt comfortable and went right on by them. I quickly learned that they weren't about to let me get away without a very serious fight.
John and Molly hung right on my shoulder, and I began to feel rather used. It was about this time that Eggers came strolling past the three of us, and for a moment I felt a bit deflated. Here I was thinking I had a great chance to finally beat my longtime friend - at a time when his training is down and mine is up - and he's flying past me up a steep hill.
I put the demons to bed and just tried to keep Molly in my sights. John had left to hang with Eggers, now about 10 seconds ahead, and Molly was wasting me on the uphills, with me gaining some ground back on a short down or a flat section. We did this for what seemed like an eternity, but I think it was really a little more than a mile and a half. My second mile was 6:11; my third was 6:08.
Working the hills and enjoying the country-like setting of the highway lanes, the four of us raced on. There was a lone runner up in the distance - an African-American Masters runner named Joseph Willis - and, it seemed, no one close behind. Compton, Matena, Mitchell, and the Asheville men were obviously long out of sight up front.
I split a 5:51 for the fourth mile. Again, the details are hazy, but sometime a little before or right after that marker, I finally found an opening with Molly. She appeared to ease up slightly right at the same instance that I found some more air in my lungs. I went for it. I slid to the outside and sprinted past her, trying to keep pressing before she could pass me back again. We came to another huge hill, and I feared for a second, but rebounded to keep pressing in an effort to reel in John. He slowed down some and I caught him at the top, nearly running into him as we made a turn back into campus and prepared for a fast finish. I knew I had him. With no more uphills, I knew I had him, and it was time to set my sights on someone else.
I thought about screaming, "Eggers, don't slow down!" but he seemed to get that idea. There were a couple instances when I thought he appeared to be coming back to me, but alas, that was not the case. He caught Joe Willis going around the track as I tried to bring them both back. I am confident I gave it everything I had. I had not been passed by anyone the whole race, except for Eggers. Maybe next time? Willis stayed in front of me, too; I would have had him with another ten meters but I didn't have another ten meters. I ran into him in the finish chute, then apologized; he was cool and slapped my hand. I accepted a piece of paper that had an "8" written on it - hey, this is just like high school! Eggers whooped my ass and I have to hand in a number. I had run my last mile in 5:28 and my last three miles in 17:27. I didn't even think I had that in me. What more could I have done?
I waited for Adrienne - despite claiming to not worry about time, she broke 36 minutes, and finished first in her age group! Kevin and Brian weren't quite as pleased with their performances, but each has had some minor setbacks recently. We will all be there in due time. There was some racking-up of awards and a jubilant post-race lunch, but I will have to save that for another post.
I hope you all enjoyed reading. 'Til next time.
Race: 5.02 mi. in 29:46.67 - 5:56 ppm. Splits: (1) 6:02.38; (2) 6:11.34; (3) 6:08.42; (4) 5:51.35; (5) 5:28.15.
Cooldown: 2.09 mi. in 18:25.94 - 8:50 ppm.
Chart
Map
Graphs
Race Results
Eggers' race recap
My true goal for today was to somehow prove to myself that I'm in as fit as I believe to be - in other words, to simply gain some confidence as I progress towards my second marathon. I felt like I could go under 30 minutes, so that was my time goal. I achieved both of these things, even surprising myself a bit in some respects, and I'm quite pleased with the day. I will write the recap now and add a couple pictures later...
This race was not scheduled until 10am - a good thing considering the hour-plus drive we had ahead of us. Baum and Mitchell were going to carpool from the east side of town, and Adrienne and I hit the road at 8am after a breakfast of waffles and strawberries. I don't normally eat that much on race day, but I figured I could get away with it due to the later start. I also had a few glasses of white wine and some sushi the night before.
Adrienne and I arrived on the campus of Catawba College right at 9am, then phoned Eggers when we couldn't see any kind of direction as to where to go. His response was something like, "yeah, it's tough to find - I spent the morning before the race last year kind of running around campus like a mad man. You'll just have to figure it out. Good luck." Perhaps I should have called Mitchell instead. Adrienne's intuition found us in the right place a few moments later. She went inside to get our bibs while I parked, and when I met her we bumped into Mike and Brian, as well. There was a decent crowd of runners inside the gym, conversing and trying to stay warm.
The four of us darted around for a bit, trying to figure out where the starting line was so we could dump our stuff (racing shoes, extra clothes, etc). I spotted John Compton and he helped out with the start location, then we took off for a warmup. We ran into Eggers, fashionably late as always, and got in just under two miles, most of it on the first part of the course. It was about 45 degrees and lightly drizzling - perfect weather for a race, in my opinion. Mitchell found a dry spot for our bags and we ran into Kevin Ballantine. He and I both had the same goal and talked at the Runner's Lunch the day before about trying to work together to hit said goal. I told him I wanted to start out conservatively without getting too far behind - 6:10 or so - and he mentioned that the first mile was the only fast mile of the course, so it might behoove us to bump it down to 6-flat. Ok, fair enough. Speaking of the course, I'm usually pretty stressed about making sure I know what awaits me in a race, but I would not have such an advantage today. I just tried not to worry about it and just do what I can. It was kinda neat to be racing in an unfamiliar atmosphere.
I slapped on my racers and headed back to the start. Adrienne and I wished each other luck as she settled back a bit and I found a spot on the front row. For reasons unbeknownst to any of us, former Olympian and record-holder Joan Nesbit was the guest of honor, and she gave a few words at the start. Pretty neat, right? But again, it wasn't really clear why she was actually there, unless I just wasn't paying attention (the likely scenario). There was a prayer and I looked around at my competition. I was on the far left, with Kevin in the center. We exchanged knowing "oh-there-you-are" nods. I didn't see Eggers anywhere, though. A bit after that, there was a mark-set-horn, and we were off.
I made a point to get around any crowds up front, found myself right behind Dan Matena and some orange-clad Asheville studs, and then slowed way down. I let a good number of people pass me, ducking my head back a couple times until I saw Kevin. We eased into a comfortable sub-6 mile pace and went down a treacherous hill that was followed by a sharp right turn. Kevin had predicted that "at least four people" would bite the dust here. I eased up a good bit and took the turn with caution. We conversed quite a good amount here, with Kevin providing some very helpful pointers about the course. It sounded like things were going to get pretty tough sooner rather than later. Mrs. Nesbit sidled up next to us for awhile, chatting and asking what he had planned to hit as goals. When we told her sub-30, she said, "Oh boy, I've gone out too fast, then!"
We hit the mile in about 6:02, feeling pretty happy with keeping the plan, but I was questioning things. My legs felt tight and my lungs were struggling to grab air. I think this is where experience saved me a bit; in the past I might have gotten scared and eased up, but instead I just told myself that my body was getting used to the pace and working out the kinks. Kevin and I began to reel in several runners after the mile mark as we turned off the road and into some side roads, making a few turns in the process. I had a couple steps on him at this point, and during one sharp left I turned my head just quickly enough to see that Eggers was about 10 meters back, waiting to pounce. That inspired me, and it was here that I left Kevin and began to mow down a good bit of runners in front of me.
The details begin to get a little hazy at this point. I will take that as a good thing - a sign that I was very much zoned-in, focused on racing and not worrying about much else. Again, I didn't have any real idea what I was going to see as far as the course was concerned. The blank memory may hurt the entertainment value of this recap, however!
So I broke away from the early pack and came across the first female and a masters runner, working together up a long, steep hill. This would be Miss Molly Nunn and Mr. John Anderson. I felt comfortable and went right on by them. I quickly learned that they weren't about to let me get away without a very serious fight.
John and Molly hung right on my shoulder, and I began to feel rather used. It was about this time that Eggers came strolling past the three of us, and for a moment I felt a bit deflated. Here I was thinking I had a great chance to finally beat my longtime friend - at a time when his training is down and mine is up - and he's flying past me up a steep hill.
I put the demons to bed and just tried to keep Molly in my sights. John had left to hang with Eggers, now about 10 seconds ahead, and Molly was wasting me on the uphills, with me gaining some ground back on a short down or a flat section. We did this for what seemed like an eternity, but I think it was really a little more than a mile and a half. My second mile was 6:11; my third was 6:08.
Working the hills and enjoying the country-like setting of the highway lanes, the four of us raced on. There was a lone runner up in the distance - an African-American Masters runner named Joseph Willis - and, it seemed, no one close behind. Compton, Matena, Mitchell, and the Asheville men were obviously long out of sight up front.
I split a 5:51 for the fourth mile. Again, the details are hazy, but sometime a little before or right after that marker, I finally found an opening with Molly. She appeared to ease up slightly right at the same instance that I found some more air in my lungs. I went for it. I slid to the outside and sprinted past her, trying to keep pressing before she could pass me back again. We came to another huge hill, and I feared for a second, but rebounded to keep pressing in an effort to reel in John. He slowed down some and I caught him at the top, nearly running into him as we made a turn back into campus and prepared for a fast finish. I knew I had him. With no more uphills, I knew I had him, and it was time to set my sights on someone else.
I thought about screaming, "Eggers, don't slow down!" but he seemed to get that idea. There were a couple instances when I thought he appeared to be coming back to me, but alas, that was not the case. He caught Joe Willis going around the track as I tried to bring them both back. I am confident I gave it everything I had. I had not been passed by anyone the whole race, except for Eggers. Maybe next time? Willis stayed in front of me, too; I would have had him with another ten meters but I didn't have another ten meters. I ran into him in the finish chute, then apologized; he was cool and slapped my hand. I accepted a piece of paper that had an "8" written on it - hey, this is just like high school! Eggers whooped my ass and I have to hand in a number. I had run my last mile in 5:28 and my last three miles in 17:27. I didn't even think I had that in me. What more could I have done?
I waited for Adrienne - despite claiming to not worry about time, she broke 36 minutes, and finished first in her age group! Kevin and Brian weren't quite as pleased with their performances, but each has had some minor setbacks recently. We will all be there in due time. There was some racking-up of awards and a jubilant post-race lunch, but I will have to save that for another post.
I hope you all enjoyed reading. 'Til next time.
