The Palmetto 200 is in its third year this year, and this is also the third year I’ve done this event. I first saw this race on the web back in 2009 when it was just getting organized. In a strange twist of fate, one of my forum friends from Runners World ended up being Brian Clyburn, who then recruited me to be a part of a team he was putting together for the 200. At the time, I had just done my first half marathon, and was a little scared of the mileage requirements, but I signed on anyway.  I went on to a big PR at the Palmetto Half that year  (a couple of weeks before the inaugural Palmetto 200) and that was enough to delude me into thinking I could handle big time miles. I went out like a bat out of hell on my first 8.8 miler that year in the 80+ degree heat and about ended up a medical casualty. I recovered enough to run a decent 7 miler in leg two, but had a total meltdown on my third leg, 7.5 miles at 4 something am. This bonk made my Richmond marathon disaster seem triumphant. I had a walk of shame and was seeing spots/hallucinations. I have no idea how I finished that particular leg other than a sheer determination to end the suffering. I swore I’d never this relay again many times during that 7.5 miles. However, a sausage biscuit at the Seewee outpost and a nap was apparently enough to have me ready to go in 2011 by the end of the day.  I was much better prepared the second time around, and Brian gave me less miles, knowing I have absolutely no sense of pacing. We had a great race as a team that year, finishing 2+ hours better than the year before and ended up being the first team to cross the finish, though not the overall winner. My 4th leg that year was laying waste to the free beer and mexican buffet at the finish, nearly resulting in a post race reversal.

For those unfamiliar, the Palmetto 200 is a relay based on the Hood to Coast relay in Oregon. The course is just over 200 miles divided into 36 parts or “legs” that range anywhere from 1.7 to 10 miles. Course runs from Columbia Motor Speedway in Cayce, SC to James Island County Park just south of Charleston.  Twelve people make up a standard full team, with each member running 3 legs.  Runners 1-6 are in one van, and 7-12 in the other. Each runner runs in order over the course of the next 24+ hours or so to complete the course.  Before the relay, every team captain submits a projected average pace of the entire team, and this determines your start time. The idea of the staggered start is to try and get everybody to finish at about the same time.  The slowest teams start at Friday 6 am, and the fastest at 1:30 pm. Finish times are supposed to be on Saturday afternoon.

As mentioned, Brian is our captain, and if there is anyone born to be a relay captain, it is him. Starting about 3 months out, we start getting emails about the relay, with pre-event runs and a team lunch. Utlimately this culminates in “THE SPREADSHEET”. This thing is color coded with projected start/end times, maps and your projected (expected?) pace.  Mine was 7 minutes flat this year, for 16 miles. El Capitan does not mess around.

This year Brian made some new recruits and divided us into “fast” (Van 1) and “older and extremely good looking” (Van 2).  Though I fit none of these criteria he put me in Van 1, where I was probably 4th or 5th in speed out of the group. Van 1 was Dan “Thunder Dan”, Andy “Nard Dog”, David “D-Mac”, Darrell “Code Brown”, Brandon “Mayfire” and myself. Van 2 included Brian “El Capitan”, Kori “Nrv-Flo”, Joel “Honey Badger”, Amanda “Cobra Kai” , Whitney “Soap Distant” and Ellen “A Pos”. Yes we were instructed to have nicknames and we all had team relay shirts with the names. Team “Van on the Run” does not do things halfway.

We got to Columbia Speedway about 11:15 in prep for our 12 noon start. The weather was inexplicably cool. All this past month I kept thinking how miserable this relay was going to be with the record heat we had been having, but you cant beat a high of 72 and sunny in April in SC.  We had two main competitors that were in our start wave by Brian’s calculations: Team Island Liquors and the Clemson Thundercats. The Thundercats  were the most evil given we were a group of mostly USC grads. Someone suggested we rename ourselves the Thundercocks, but that was deemed a bit too graphic.  We got a briefing from the race director and we were told we would be running 6 hours behind the main clock, which started at 6 am that morning with the first wave. There were actually a few even faster teams starting at 1:30. Our stated time was 7:45 pace that would have us finishing at 2 pm, but us relay vets knew el capitan would hold us to a higher standard.

The Code was our first runner and our 4 team wave started right at noon with a lap around the speedway. I already had to start trash talking Code in the first lap because he let some dude pass him right before the photo op as they left the speedway. We then jumped in the van and headed to the next exchange zone, where Brandon waited to run. We were excited to see Darrell rounding the finish  at the end of his 5.7 miles, pushing it at 6:30ish pace the whole way, though not too far ahead of a trailing group of two. Brandon took off and blasted his way through leg 2, a stretch mostly on dusty country roads. I don’t know his pace but he left the two behind him at least a couple of minutes back. Andy was our third runner and is a complete beast. His was 9.26 miles and almost completely out in the sun. This was the same leg (slightly different course) that completely wrecked me in 2010, but he just destroyed it in just over 6 flat pace.

Which led to my first leg, a very short 2.6 miler that i was set to tear up. The problem with relays is that you do a lot of waiting around stewing in your own pre-race anxiety before you run. On top of this, the pressure to do well for your team is definitely more intense than the individual pressure for a regular race. This was also put up or shut up time for me dating back to last year. Last year Trophy ran this leg and looked like he might need a medical tent afterwards. He then went on an on about his 2.6 miles, that I have dogged him about it every time the relay has come up since. Ask Tyler how he’s feeling so fly..like a two six. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvgJEznqtms.

Pic is me mocking Trophy after his 2.6 in 2011. So I’d better not blow it on this leg, right? As soon as I got the bracelet baton, I blasted out like a banshee, but then told myself to rein it in. I was supposed to hit an average of 7 minutes throughout, so I figured maybe I could go a little faster, say 6:45 for this little jaunt. I was feeling pretty good, especially since a lot of the first mile was a slight decline. I looked down when my Garmin beeped my one miles split…6:09. Way to pace yourself hero. Relay organizers say the best way to pace is 10 seconds slower per mile than your 10k…here I was doing a fast 5k split. Here is when I saw a hill, which is why Trophy said he was so gassed. I started to suck some wind on this thing, but was able to power up it pretty fast. Just as I was thinking Trophy was a complete wuss, I saw it. Turns out the reason for this only being 2.6 miles is the small mountain that arises out of nowhere for the last three quarters of a mile. I had already told myself to slow down, but Mt. Charleston highway was doing a good job for me. I kept having hallucinations that the other 2 teams were hunting me down, but it was just my flailing limbs and the rocks on the road. Second mile was at 6:45 and hurt a hundred times worse. To add insult to injury, the crest of the hill is the finish, so instead of my teammates seeing me rock out the first mile, they see me heaving like I’m on death’s door. I hit the last 0.6 at just over 7 minute pace and collapse on the grass.  17:02, 6:36 pace. OK Trophy…no more teasing.

David took the baton from here and despite stating he was in terrible shape still managed low 7 pace through some more seriously hilly exposed areas. Dan brought the thunder on leg 6 and had to face what had been David’s nemesis for the last two years. On leg 6, there is a half mile of a hill that looks like its straight out of the blue ridge. This is in the middle of an 8 miler, the majority of which is in the direct broiling sun. Ive seen most people walk most of it (yes we park on the side of the road in the middle just to watch the carnage). Dan was powering up it this year. Unfortunately, there was a 40ish woman behind him who had been tracking him down and blasting what was likely low 6 pace. Dan said he finally heard her at the top of the hill. I really expected her to pass Dan, but give him a challenge and he is going to pick it up a level. We saw both of them round the last turn a half mile from the finish of leg 6, with masters chick right on his tail. Dan brought the thunder though, and was able to hold her off.

We then handed off to van 2 and crashed out at Santee state park after refueling at the Cracker Barrel. We used to eat conservatively, fearing GI disasters with all the running, but it seems the best way to keep going is just to eat and eat a lot. No problem with that here. I tried to sleep some at Santee, but inevitably there will always be that someone that talks like the whole world needs to hear. Of course one of those dudes pulled up to the field with all the people crashed out in sleeping bags. I brought earplugs for this purpose, but I wasnt tired enough after my mini 5k to sleep anyway.

Van 2 finished at about 8 something at night and Darrell started us off from Santee State Park to Lone Star BBQ, blasting off 4 miles in low 6 pace. Island Liquors and the Thundercats had opened up a big lead over the afternoon but they were still on the same legs as us. Brandon then had the unenviable task of running right through the center of Santee on a Friday night. I had this leg last year. For the night parts of the relay they make us wear a headlamp , with a reflective vest and at least 2 blinking lights front and back.  Lets just say this attracts a lot of attention from the locals, who may or may not like this invasion by alien coal miners in white vans. It also gets dogs going, and apparently Brandon survived a near attack by Santee’s version of Cujo.  Luckily this year the race had a ton of police supervision, apparently with a cruiser every 5 miles during the night, which was awesome. Brandon finished his leg and got to push “the easy button” that one of the volunteer’s kids had. From the pace he was doing, it looked anything but easy. Andy then tore up the next leg, again at six flat pace, bringing us within a couple of minutes of the Liqours and Cats.

I then headed out into the pitch dark for a 5.6 mile romp straight through Holly Hill. It was a little after 11 pm. I was a little gimpy from my mini 5k up the mountain, but it was the coolest weather I’ve run in since February and flatter then anything in Columbia. I hit mile 1 at 6:49 and decided I could probably maintain this pace. It was a little scary at times – traffic was light but 55 mph cars coming at you keeps you on your toes. Luckily most gave me a wide berth with my crazy ass outfit. I went right through Holly Hill, which was pretty much deserted except for a Subway, where I got some interesting looks. Its not everyday Holly Hill sees an albino Sasquatch on the loose. As I reached the other side of Holly Hill, which is only a few blocks, I saw a glimmer of red. My first chance at ROADKILL. This is the term relayers use to describe passing other teams. Late in the relay you catch up with the slower teams and pass a lot of people, but I figured this was probably still someone in our start wave. I figured that based on being less than halfway done, but also by the fact this guy was proving tough to catch. I had thrown down 3 consecutive 6:47ish miles and I hadnt out much of a dent in his lead. At some point I figured less than a 5k to the finish and started to pick it up. As I started to near him, I think he sensed my presence and fought me off , but finally I caught up with him. He actually was very nice, was encouraging and even told me he was from the Liquors. I almost felt bad passing him. Almost.  I still had to burn it to keep him off my tail, when I saw dimly ANOTHER LIGHT.  The possibility of a double roadkill was too good to pass up, and I started to ramp it up past 10k pace. I think this girl might have been doing a brief walk of shame, but once she saw my light she started booking it. She was wearing a loose reflective vest and was carrying a flashlight, creating a dizzying strobe effect that was really disorienting on top of my own headlamp. I blasted into low 6 territory, knowing I had less than a mile to go. Finally passed her with about a half mile to go, and saw she was a Thundercat.  I continued 5k pace and even threw a mini blue shoes kick to end the leg in style. Last two splits were 6:30 (mile 5) and 6:16 (last 0.6).  So much for restraint. On the upside the weather and flatness made everything so much easier, so I figured I would be OK.  Nice for my teammates to do most of the work to set up the double pass on my leg. David then had his short 2.6er and held the lead. Dan then extended the lead by rocking out a 9.67 miler and started catching some of the slower teams from the earlier start waves.  St Paul Methodist (all the exchange zones are schools or churches) had a late night ham sandwich and chips sale at the end of Dan’s leg. I wolfed that thing down like it was nothing.  I think I may actually gain weight on relays.

I then drove the van down to the last van turnover site, Cordesville baptist church. I’ve driven the last two relays as my own personal penance for being a complete sloth in the 2010 relay, lying down in the wayback and basically just eating and sleeping. Cordesville has a huge field which is prime for sleeping. A bunch of sleeping bags and tents were laid out close, but I have to be far off from the parking lot to avoid homicidal rage toward loud talking ass clowns. My teammates actually all slept in the van, but beasts like myself just cant get comfortable. One thing about this night, it was FREAKING COLD. Low 40’s I think, but with a slight wind it felt way worse. Luckily the Strictly Running hoodie I have has supernatural heating properties and kept me pretty warm, as long as I formed a sleeping bag cocoon and pulled the hoodie over my face.  I positioned myself in view of the van and partially in the glow of a security light, as to avoid getting my internal organs crushed by a 15 passenger van. That wouldnt be a very dignified way to go. I initially had a hard time sleeping even with it being pretty quiet. I was near a shed with some empty barrels with possible shotgun holes, which I feared may be a good snake lair even if target practice wasnt currently in session. Whats worse, there were wolves. Wolves howling. Like right out of a movie. We were in the middle of Francis Marion forest, I guess. All these concerns apparently succumbed to overwhelming fatigue because the next thing I know Code is waking me up.

Code apparently snorted a line of coke because he is jacked up about this 330 am run, which is his last.  I am considerably less than enthusiastic and freezing my ass off to boot. My time out of the cocoon about killed me. After shivering in the van for awhile and cursing my recurrent bad judgement for entering these relays, I was able to defrost and take down a couple starbucks doubleshots.  Drove to the scariest exchange zone, a pitch dark Huger recreation area. Except this time apparently every van in the relay is parked there. They have one scary outhouse there that has become legendary. There’s no light in it, and when you turn on your headlamp, you are glad you cant really see anything. I call it the House of Horrors. With that as the only option, lets just say the surrounding pines are well fertilized.  Code finally finishes his 10 miler and I’m quite sure he’s done another line of coke, because dude is amped to be finished.  The rest of the van, who are still facing the roughest and worst leg, are not quite sharing his enthusiasm. I myself am facing a 7.5 miler on an hour and a half sleep, stomach churning with a melange of espresso, gatorade and nilla wafers. Brandon is lucky to have gotten his worst legs over and goes out and crushes his remaining 5k. Andy had the 7.5 miler that brought me to near death in 2010 and knocks it out in like 6:02 pace. Dude is a monster.

I pick up a roadkill in the first 10 yards of my 3rd and last leg. The slower groups have a lot of recreational runners, a lot of whom are hating life by this time.  They are out in force by this point, and I have to admire the 10 min + pace teams because these guys may be out here as much as 36 hours. I am fortunate to get to run at 6 am, so the sun is beginning to come up. This is spirit lifting, and with it still being cold with a flat course, the running is a little bit easier. I target 7 min pace, but end up doing mile 1 in 6:44. It doesnt feel that bad, so I just try and hold it. Gradually the sleepiness wears off and I’m able to feel a little better.  Liqours and Thundercats are back ahead again by a long shot, so I dont focus on trying to catch them. This leg has a lot of turns which help break it up. Some patches open up to the sun beginning to come up over the marsh, so its really beautiful, if only I wasnt dead tired. But I’m on a mission, and as Dan says about leg 3, the faster you go, the quicker its over. There are a few slower teams scattered on the course, so they also help give me something to run towards. I basically lock into a 6:40ish pace and zone out…taking one mile at a time and trying to think about anything than walking or sleep. After what seems like forever, I hear the roar of  highway 17 and this jolts me out of my daydream. Luckily I draw a break in the cars and can cross without stopping. I know I’m only a half mile to the finish after the mile 7 split (7th mile 6:43,  every mile had been 6:40-6:49, total metronome)  so I blast as much a blue shoes kick as I can, knowing its the end of the whole thing. Finish in 50:02 for 7.48 miles,  6:41 pace, very close to my 12k PR at Ray Tanner actually.

So glad to be done at this point.  The run actually energizes me and its good to see David and Dan tear up the last two legs in similar fashion, crushing it out. We pass the baton on to van 2 and have a celebratory breakfast at IHOP. Afterwards we go to James Island County Park and wait for our other van to finish.  Brian has kept us updated throughout the relay, and Van 2 has been faster than projected as well. Kori is our ringer, flown in from Minnesota and out there nailing sub 6 pace on every leg.  He even took one of Ellen’s night legs to save her from dodging the cars and local wildlife. We know Liqours and Wildcats are too consistently strong, but we continue to be on Van on the Run PR pace, with a chance at a sub 24 hour time. At the finish they have free draft beer which tastes so good..even if I’m dead tired and just finished off some french toast within the past 2 hours. We sit at the finish line with the clock nearing 30 hours (which minus 6 hours is our time). Finally, with the clock at 29:55, Brian comes sprinting onto the finish area field, and we all run across together – 23:55 and a huge team PR.

We’ll know the official results in the upcoming week, but we are probably top 10, most likely closer to top 5.  I’ll certainly be back again next year.  Next up: Blue Ridge Relay Part II??

http://www.palmetto200.com/

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168076213

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168076196

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168076179

The Fallen Heroes 5k is in its third year, with proceeds to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project. Somehow I had never done the race before, so I decided to run it, despite that my trophy hunting instincts felt the Resurrection Run might be a better opportunity for glory. Turns out this race had almost 500 runners, which is huge for a relatively new race.

Something unique about this race is the course – starts at the USC ROTC building at the corner of Pickens and Wheat, immediately climbs up the side of Mt. Saluda from the Columbia Marathon, does a loop through some area of Shandon that I’ve never seen before, then heads back down the mountain all the way to the finish. I thought this might be a good course for me since I’m a decent hill climber, and the screaming downhill at the end would only add some punch to the blue shoes kick.

I got there about 45 minutes early and did a mile out and back on the shared beginning and end of the course with the Code. The Code was already in depressive mode, having been dealt the ultimate shame of a blue shoes beatdown the week before. He said the shin splints were still acting up and “I might have to walk the downhills”. Right. Code’s grumblings aside, the first part of this course is brutal with a capital B. Unrelenting hill for three quarters of mile. To make things worse..something was going on with my shorts…

Which I finally figured out after 15+ minutes of some not so polite adjusting. Backwards. Nice. The time I made this discovery was exactly 2 minutes from the start, with nowhere to go to do a quick change. Fantastic. That’s what I get from getting up before the crack of dawn and dressing in the dark.

Start was pretty impressive – tons of people came out for this event – though relatively few regular racers, who were split between here, Resurrection and the Newberry race. Angel, Meg, Team Schmitz, Ted, Spence, J-Reeves, Team Lybrand, Barefoot John, Karen, and Eric M were all in attendance. Meg was trying to find a reason not to race – perhaps the fear of the blue shoes??

The start of 5ks are usually insane with everybody sprinting, but this one was actually more controlled, because the view from the bottom of Mt Saluda is pretty sobering.  Trying to power up this hill at 5k pace was as much fun as getting punched in the face. At least everybody else seemed to be feeling the pain too. I managed to pass Meg, but I kept noticing this woman ahead of me that was giving me the beatdown despite being dressed in a very casual outfit, like she might fit in with the 35 minute plus crowd. Either way she was leaving me for dead because I was sucking some serious wind by the time I reached the top. Luckily the Code wasnt too far ahead. I could even see Angel and a college kid in some battle royale right behind the pace car.  By the time I reached the mile mark, I didnt even look down at my split, because I knew it would be slow.

The next mile I tried to pick up the pace, though I really didnt do so until a quarter mile in with all the hill recovery. I finally started to make some headway on the field, passing a few guys in the loop in Shandon. I got completely turned around and realized I had absolutely no idea where I was going.   At one point I thought I was nearing the finishing hill when I made the painful realization I hadnt even got to the mile 2 mark. I guess I got distracted at this time, because all of a sudden I looked up and we were merging back into the oncoming stream of middle and back of the pack runners. I also realized that there appeared to be no one ahead of me anymore.  I had a moment of sheer panic but then turned around and saw others following me. My paranoia was heightened by some woman saying I was going the wrong way, which I think she meant as a joke since she was still heading out on the course, but really freaked me out.  I figured either I was on the right track or singlehandedly turning the rest of the race into chaos. To make things crazier, the field was so spread out toward the back that I was doing some Marcus Lattimore maneuvers to avoid strollers and walkers. I eventually just ran almost on the curb. I finally found volunteers directing me at a turn, so I guess I was on the right path after all. I had no idea what happened to the Code and the pack ahead of me, but they were nowhere in sight. Hit mile 2 in 6:20 despite all the slowdowns. I didnt know my mile 1 split, but I figured it was time to kick it hard to make up for that initial mountain climb. I finally hit the beginning of the long Saluda downslope, and tried to really blast it. This usually involves a lot of flopping arms and head in my case, since I apparently have limited control of my body on downhills. As I was flying down the hill I heard it…

Either a rogue tornado was approaching in the middle of a sunny spring morning or there was a train coming. Immediately I flashed back to the Fidler 5k , which uses a similar course, and how that race had been plagued by train stops. I knew I was close to the tracks though…maybe it was another railroad, or maybe I could blue shoe it and make it through. A volunteer was at the last turn before the straightaway to the finish. He saw me in full blue shoes kick blasting away and told me “Uh, you dont need to worry about it, there’s a freight in the way”. As I make the turn I see Angel and a few others standing around like its social hour and big tanker cars going by. After dropping some random obscenity I started to sprint, thinking it might be through by the time I get there, but then I realize the train is actually slowing down. So I stride up to the intersection and figure the race is over. After waiting around what seems like forever, the train is almost at a stop when Angel or somebody jumps up and starts climbing through the train. Suddenly the rest of us are up on the tanker cars and jumping off the other side. As soon as I hit the ground I’m sprinting like a freaking maniac, as though I’m still going to have a good time despite sitting around for 45 seconds. I see the clock change over to 20 minutes, and then we all slow down and basically line up in the order we reached the train.  Crossed in 20:15, 7th overall.

Then I realize Code isnt even at the finish. WTF? I look back and it looks like a scene from a disaster movie. Streams of people are coming out of every space in the train, which is now stopped. Some people, ahem… Karen, were even going UNDER the train – taking the phrase PR or ER quite literally. Finally someone starts directing runners around the train in some ditch up the road. Code shows up a few minutes later looking like he’s ready to kill someone. Apparently he and a few others got misdirected and ended up almost at Rosewood before turning around. I comforted him by taking a photo of his 22 minute finish and asking him how he could get blue shoed again.

One guy, a club runner at USC, apparently beat the train and finished in 18:02. The rest of the top 10 got held up but basically maintained our finish positions, minus Code and his expedition party. The woman on the hill, who is from Georgia, would have probably crushed a sub 19 and would be a great ringer for any wagering going on. Meg finished 2nd and Jennifer Lybrand finished 3rd overall in the women. Angel finished 3rd in the men. All the overall winners took home giant trophies, so I was extremely jealous. I may keep Angel’s since he had to leave before the awards ceremony.  Spence just missed out on the trophy action, finishing 4th. Crazy Legs won his first Masters age group, with Ted taking 2nd. I ended up in 2nd behind a guy I’ve never seen before. Team Holt also both won their age group.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/165789086

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/12FALLENHEROES.TXT

The Velocity Distance Project Get Your Speed On 5k is a first time race at Lake Carolina that looks like the 2nd event in a number of running/bike races set up by Dave Hale of the VDP. This race popped up on my radar about a month ago – it met Blue Shoes trophy hunting criteria with its first year status, competition from another major race, and being well outside of Columbia.  Of course, with the CRC presidential duties I promote the Tour de Columbia races, so I’m no longer able to stealth my way into these smaller events. I also knew the Code would be here anyway, so my chances at the overall win were slim. Slim to none as it turned out, because as you see above,  Plexico and Joe Tomlin showed up right away, followed by a stealth Brandenburg sighting. I’m thinking JB was headed out to take this race from me and the Code, but even his trophy hunting got foiled.

As expected, this was a small event, though 50 people ended up showing up. This was actually more than I had thought with the Bridge Run going on. Conditions were pretty nasty – warm and very humid, and the rain started well before the race. I got pretty soaked on a two mile warmup with the Code. Felt like crap on the warmup  – I’m thinking my body has become allergic to water after the extreme trauma suffered in the Blatt pool last Sunday.

I didnt get a chance to preview the whole course before the race, but I know Lake Carolina to be a veritable roller coaster of hills. My only hope was that this race managed to avoid some of the worst inclines that were on the other side of the neighborhood.  The course was mostly out and back, with a small loop in the Harborside subdivision. The website does note the course to be “fast” but I’m thinking Selwyn must of put that part in there. Its fast if a brutal half mile hill just before the finish makes you all speedy. This is the same course as last years Poochalooza 5k, Greg Howell’s shining trophy moment.

The start felt like a group run with the small crowd, and the immediate thing  I noticed after the gun was that this course was anything but closed. You’d think early Saturday morning would not be a big time for traffic, but suddenly everybody and their mom was out for a freaking joyride. Not more than a half mile in and some lady is drafting on me with her volvo and giving me little toots on her horn. WTF. Sorry to delay your Starbucks run. The rain starts really coming down soon after this, and I’m starting to wonder why I do this to myself every Saturday. The newest Blue Shoes (adizero Feathers) are amazingly light when dry. Not so much supersaturated with rain water.  Feet feel ridiculously heavy. On a good note, I’m able to separate from my small pack of guys who are obviously pacing themselves and calling out Garmin times.  The Code is not that far ahead,  and Brandenburg is about the same distance ahead of him. Plex and Tomlin are already in another zip code. Hit mile one in 6:21, and I’m already pretty gassed.

Right after the mile mark is a climb up to the main roundabout of Lake Carolina with the fountain. Some landscaping truck appears suddenly, as if its hellbent on getting that mulching done today. One of the volunteers luckily stops the truck, but soon its bearing down on me in the circle. I’m glad this means no one is near behind me, but also not so glad that I might become roadkill at any moment. I strike a Heisman pose as means of warning I’m going to throw myself across this truck’s path, and luckily he yields. As I barrel into Harborside, I notice myself inching closer to the Code, though JB is leaving us both for dead.  The Harborside loop is pretty short and mercifully flat, and by the time the course is headed back home I’m right behind the Code. The end of the loop is right at 2 miles, and its 6:34 or something. All that slogging in the rain is definitely slowing me down.  There’s a sharp decline right after the 2 mile mark and the Code suddenly stops at the bottom of the hill. I ask if he’s OK, but it appears either his shin splints are acting up or he’s suffered a severe pride injury from getting blue shoed. Perhaps both. Either way, I have no way of telling if he’s going to rest up and blast up the ensuing hill, so I’m trying to push it. There’s about zero motivation though, because I soon realize he’s stopped and possibly dropped out, and JB is too far away to catch. I’m running completely alone by this time. Alone, if you dont count the suburban moms texting in their SUV’s ready to take my life. The long hill is also doing a wonderful job of sucking any life spirit completely out of my body. I keep having finish line hallucinations, but Lake Carolina drive has so many turns, and another roundabout I completely forgot. Finally I hit the last straightaway and I’m already seeing 19:30’s. I try to kick it in, but I’m sucking wind like its the third lap of my swim at Blatt. I see my first 20 minute mark in months and cross in 20:04. 4th overall and first in age group. I’d normally be thrilled at the placement, but the over 20 min time and feeling like complete death kind of ruin the moment.  No one is in view for quite a while until I finally see Code, who crosses in 21:18, which is about his slowest time ever – but did include a brief walk in the park. He was real happy about that.

Plexico won easily in 17:14, followed by Tomlin in 17:57. JB was all alone in 3rd at 19:19. I dont know many of the other people in this race, but I believe Carolina Crossfit had a a team that did pretty well overall. Ted Hewitt did a successful trophy hunt, taking the overall masters, and Alex Ponamarev finished 3rd in masters at 62 years old!

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/12VDP.TXT

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/163390802

At the Columbia Marathon a few weeks ago, a woman standing next to me handed me a flyer for this race, the Columbia Downtown Triathlon. I initially disregarded it, because I’m strictly a runner. I used to bike and swim a lot as a kid and teenager, but nothing competitive. I hadnt ridden a bike in years, and I dont think I’ve ever really swam more than a few laps. Still, as I was holding on to this flyer, I thought – why not give this a try? The people I know who do tris absolutely love them, and I’ve always watched Ironman:Hawaii growing up. It looks like a lot of fun, and hey, I’m in good shape and surely could at least respectably complete the swim/bike of this event, since its a sprint distance (500 meter swim/ 10 mile bike/ 5k run). Right?? I’ll get back to that. One problem was that I don’t actually own a bike, but William Schmitz gladly loaned me his mountain bike. I made the plunge a week later and signed up.

Schmitz had me do a brick workout the weekend before the race and get acclimated to the bike and run course. Wasn’t too bad, though we were definitely doing a leisurely pace. The bike course basically encircles the USC campus, starting at Blatt, going up main to green to pickens, then plunging down Mt Gervais from the Columbia Marathon and into 5 points on Harden. Right on Blossom and then back to the PE Center. You do this 3 times to equal 10 miles.

Schmitz told me to get in the pool sometime that week and do a few swim workouts, but smart guy here decided to just completely wing it. I did sign up for a pretty slow swim time that put me 255th out of 276 in the swim order.

Another less than smart move was running the Rosewood 5kthe day before, but apparently my athletic grandiosity knows no bounds. Greg and Laura did give me some useful advice at Tigs wedding Sat night, and they agreed to help me with the prep/transition area the next day – which was awesome.

I woke up this morning pretty scared but excited. I had to go over logistics of the race a hundred times in my head, because I was deathly afraid I would forget something. I got there about an hour and a half early, and was immediately intimidated. These tri guys/girls were hardcore. People were milling about in spandex tri suits, hauling in their very expensive looking carbon fiber bikes and carrying all kinds of gear that I was completely clueless about. Almost everybody was pretty ripped, even my fellow novices in the back of the pack transition area. I struggled just to figure out how to reassemble the brake mechanism on my front tire – Schmitz showed me how but now I was freaking out about making sure it was right and working. One does not want to hit 30-40 mph on Gervais and not be able to brake.  Luckily Greg came later and fixed it so the front wheel actually moved freely. The last thing I needed was anything making me slower.

PART I – THE SWIM

I finally made it into the natatorium for the swim. I was almost at the back of a very long line, where people started the swim 10 seconds at a time. I had to wait what seemed like forever, stewing in my anxiety, watching basically the entire field start ahead of me. Some of these guys definitely fudged their  swim times – I saw a lot of people stopping and walking, and I was half worried I’d get stuck behind a whole pack of people. Turns out this was not a problem. Swim course was just 10 lengths of the Olympic sized pool, swum in a snake like pattern. Finally I got my chance and dove in. First 50 meters was great, though it did seem longer than I imagined. I got passed right off the bat on the second lap by the girl behind me, but hey, I was pacing myself, right? First sign of trouble was literally less than 100 meters into the race. This was getting WAY tougher REALLY fast. Apparently working your upper body in the gym means exactly jack squat in the pool. Third lap in and I’m getting passed like I’m standing still. The sheer magnitude of my suckage has begun to overwhelm me. I soon discover the pool has an 8 foot deep end, but gets  6 feet and shallower about half way.  I’ve resigned myself at lap 5 that I’m going to have to do some pool walking to get through this. My arms have turned into useless spaghetti like appendages. Google “Roby” from Yo Gabba Gabba and you have a basic idea. I start doing little pool walking jaunts in the shallow end, but feel obligated to move my arms like I’m swimming, as to avoid any unknown penalty. I don’t think I’m fooling anyone with my synchronized swimming routine .  I dont remember much about the last few laps. I did manage to pass the 82 year old with the snorkel, but even he looked like a stronger swimmer than me. A middle school girl passed me near the end, but by this time my ego was so completely out the window that it couldnt get any lower. The fastest pace may have been the last 25 meters, because I was so desperate for the torture to end.  I had a hard time even lifting myself out of the water. 16:

PART II – THE BIKE

As if my shame wasnt already complete, I realized that all that futile kicking in the pool had also turned my LEGS into quivering jello too. I tried to jog to T1 but I think it was a modified shuffle. I was already toast. I got to my bike and toweled off a bit, though Wes was already harassing me about this being a race or something. I was trying to maintain some semblance of urgency, but the  damn spaghetti arms made it tough just to tie my shoe. I finally jumped on the bike and of course the first part is straight up a hill. I’m actually feeling slightly better though, because I’m not having to employ my useless upper extremities. I grabbed my Garmin, but now realize I lack the coordination to put it on, so I just hold it against the handlebars. I’m thinking I’m going up the hill at a decent pace, but I’m soon being passed left and right by everybody. It doesnt help the gears cant seem to lock in and im pedaling about 1000 rpm to go like 10 mph. I realize near Sumter st I havent actually started the Garmin, so I push it here. I struggle a little until finally I get to Gervais and get to fly down the hill. I’m still getting passed, though. I hit the second loop and get a boost from the fam and friends but its getting harder this time. I do manage to pass one other guy when he actually gets off his bike and walks the hill. People are getting sparser by this time, but a group still passes me on the hill. A woman asks me which team I’m on, and then if I’m racing? Between my neon shirt , mountain bike and overall slowness, I think she thought I might be a race marshal or something? I give her a “yes, I’m racing, thanks for that”. Another struggle but then reprieve on Gervais. Third time its looking like a ghost town out there. I’m actually hoping the police dont open the course to traffic, thinking no one could be this slow. I pass one dude really struggling on the hill, but then ride the rest of the loop completely alone. I figure I must be almost last.

PART III – THE RUN

I finally finish lap 3 and I am wiped out. When I dismount the bike I’m just hit with some epic glute and hamstring soreness, like two king cobras jumped up and bit me in the ass simultaneously. I dont even bother to rack the bike, which Greg luckily does for me afterward to avoid the penalty. I do manage to take my helmet off and strap my number on but forget my hat. The start of the run is just brutal…so sore. Plus zero energy, so my race pace coming out of T2 is maybe 8 minutes/mile. What’s worse is having to run up that damn hill I just biked up 3 times. The course goes over the USC footbridges near Strom, out to the convention center, then back to Blatt, out to Bates West and a turn back to the field just below Blatt for the finish.  There’s no one in sight except for a steady stream of people coming back to the finish, and tons of people walking around, obviously already done.  As I head out on the course, I see a lot of people with higher numbers than me already heading back.  Some people are walking…but still a mile ahead of me. I personally feel like I’m crawling but jello legs are still not responding. Can’t believe my first mile is actually sub 8, 7:57. Finally, at the turnaround, some of the soreness starts to abate, and I’m able to pick up the pace on the ensuing downhill. To this point I havent seen a soul on my path, but suddenly I catch up to a bunch of people and start passing. Hey, I found something I’m actually good at! Yay for me. Hit mile 2 in 7:15, and looping back near the finish makes me really pick up the pace. Actually manage a 6:30 pace for the last 0.8 miles to save a shred of self respect, though being announced as the president of the Columbia Running Club and finishing near last is a little rough. At least Rudnicki told people it was my first tri. Finished the 2.8 miles in 20:23 officially. 174th male out of 196, 1:19:56 overall. Was 191st in the swim, 185th in the bike and 66th in the run.

Wow. All I can say is that I’ve gained a huge amount of respect for triathletes. This was just a sprint distance and I felt better after the marathon in Jacksonville. Major thanks to William for lending me the bike and the Howells for helping me with the logistics. Good to see the support of Jennifer Reeves, Wes Spratt and Katie Hines out there. Derek Gomez rocked 11th place and took home 2nd in his age group. Team Spaghettios/Hudgins finished 5th in the relay and way ahead of me.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161503005

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161503051

http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=2804

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3607687434727&set=p.3607687434727&type=2&theater

Many thanks to Laura and Greg for taking the pics below:

This is the second year of the Rosewood Eagles 5k, which is held to support Rosewood Elementary. Last year this race fit the Blue Shoes standards for trophy hunting – a first year race with limited publicity and competition from other races. Sure enough, the stars aligned and I was able to score a 3rd place overall. They had great awards, and my framed art from one of the Rosewood kids was probably my favorite piece of race bling last year.

This year the race was more publicized, and being a second year event was more well known to the running community. Still, March 24th appeared to be a day every race director in the city decided to have a race. Columbia is pretty unusual for a small city in that there’s basically a race every weekend. However, the 24th had no less than 5 races in the area. Lexington had the Colon cancer 8k, Swansea had the Special Olympics 5k (the one which Trophy won in 2010 and earned him his nickname), Riverfront park had “Where the Wild Things Run 5k”, Columbia High had the Healthy Capital 5k and Rosewood had this one. I had decided a while back to do Rosewood again because of my experience there last year, though some part of me wanted to go trophy hunting. My best guess would have been the Swansea race, given it was the most rural and not on any race series.

Showed up about an hour early and got in 2 warmup miles with the Code and Ted. Last year the Code was all psyched to win the race until Angel showed up last minute and crushed his hopes. This year Angel was there early and John Charlton was there, which completely wiped out anyone else thinking they would take this race. I was already sitting 3rd in my age group (behind Angel and the Code) even before the start, so my overall chances were definitely done. Eric Allers showed up with Tigs a little later (on their wedding day no less) , so it was doubtful Code could repeat his 2nd overall performance last year either.  Tigs and Amanda were the main competition on the women’s side.

Although this course is not certified, I do remember it being pretty accurate by Garmin at least. It has a 2 loop configuration – one big loop that is about 2 miles, then a smaller loop that shares part of the bigger loop but shortcuts back to the start/finish area. First mile is mostly downhill, 2nd is almost all uphill and the third rolls up, down then up again. Temps were warm, probably mid 60’s, and humid – not the best.

The start was fairly calm given the small size of the race. There was an immediate separation of John and Angel, then Code and Eric in a 2 person mini pack, then myself, Amanda and another guy . This other guy passed me about a half mile in, but I made sure he didnt get too far ahead.  My paranoid age group radar told me this  dude was probably one of those random sub 20 5k suburban 35-39 dads that just pop out of nowhere. After an initial bump, the course turned downhill for a half mile stretch. Amanda and I kept passing each other for most of the first mile, and we hit the marker a shade under 6 minutes, though my Garmin had the mile a little further at 6:07. I felt pretty good at this point, so I thought I would try to hold this pace as long as I could.  However, the second mile of this race just sucks. You take a right onto the road parallel to Owens Field airport, which you would suspect would be flat, but is actually a very long slight incline. I passed unknown guy but I started to hurt a little in this long slog out in the open. I could hear Amanda drafting behind me, which was probably a good plan for her since she’s half my size. Mile 2 ends in a right turn with a nastier incline. I felt I had maintained my pace pretty well, but I forgot to check my Garmin at the mile marker due to the kids cheering at this point. It should be noted that this assumption of constant pace turned out to be very, very wrong. Mile 3 continued with an even steeper hill, which felt like a kick in the stomach. Form went all to hell and it felt like I limped over the top. The second loop shares the half mile downhill of the first loop, and I was able to get the whole oxygen exchange thing working again. Picked up the pace here and I could see the Code and Eric starting to get reeled in a little. I was actually fairly close to the Code at the bottom of the downhill, but then the course turns right back up an incline and that pretty much neutralized the emerging blue shoes kick. I could tell Code was hurting, but he was just out of reach. As I crested the hill I expected to see some 18’s on the clock but was shocked to see 19:20’s. Here I was thinking I’m a total badass for most of the last mile, and just a shade behind two 18 min 5kers, and now I’m already slower than my less than great race last week. I mustered a mini kick over the crest of the hill and was just toast after crossing the line at 19:39. 5th overall,  2nd in age group (Angel took 2nd overall and took himself out of the AG). I immediately checked the Garmin to figure out what went on. Course was 3.10 miles, so not long. On further inspection, my mile 2, which I thought might have been 6:10, was actually 6:36.  Nice pacing by feel, hero.

John Charlton won easily in 16:41, Angel took 2nd in 18:18, while Eric and Code finished quite a bit off their usual times in 19:15 and 19:30 respectively. Amanda took 1st overall female in 20:03, which is relatively slow for her as well. Tigs is still in recovery mode and way less than 100 percent, but still managed 2nd overall. Sure enough the unknown guy (Kevin Croxton) was 35 and finished just over 20 minutes. Burgess and Ted both won their age group, along with Alex P and Rocky. 79 finishers. I think the warmth, humidity and that hillacious mile 2 contributed to the slower times . I ran 19:21 in 2011, but it was probably 20 degrees colder.

Got a sweet pic of me with the Rosewood Eagle after the race.  Almost as good as my classic Chick-Fil-A cow shot from the 2009 Going the Extra Mile:

Oh, and that Swansea race…20:12 won the thing. DOH!!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161046857

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/12ROSEWOOD.TXT

The Get to the Green is the ever expanding 5k associated with the St Patty’s Day festival in Five Points. This is the 10th anniversary of the race, and I see they originally had less than 300 participants in 2003. This year they had over 1800, and were billing themselves as the biggest road race in the Midlands.

This is my fourth year doing the race, and I decided to run it fairly last minute, since the Columbia marathon was a bust for me. The 37.50 was the most I’ve paid for a 5k in a long time, but at least you get a pint glass with the entry. It also included the $15 St Patty’s fest fee, so I guess it was a good deal is you went to the festival.

I considered not running the race though, because I’m not a big fan of huge races. As mentioned before, I usually seek out the smallest mom and pop events, because 1) Possible overall glory with potential trophy action! and 2) Considerably less stroller dodging. This race in particular has a bottleneck less than a quarter mile from the start, so unless you are up at the front there’s going to be serious traffic. On the other hand, the first few rows are going to be subject to a total stampede.

Last week’s illness decided to extend into the first half of this week too, so I had no idea how this race was going to turn out. My last speedwork was over 3 weeks ago , and everything had been pretty easy since, so I knew 5k race pace was going to be a smack in the face.

Got there about an hour early, did a mile warmup with Spencer and Greg. Felt kind of rough – humidity was high, temps were already high 60’s, and pollen was everywhere. Got to the start and there were noticeably less elite types there, maybe an aftereffect of the marathon last week? The Ashtons, Allerses, John Charlton, Alejandro Arreola, Drew Soltau, Frank Clark , Drew Williams and Kenzie Riddle made sure there was still no shortage of fast. I had to line up right behind these guys to assure I wouldnt get caught up in the impending quarter mile cluster. I was standing next to Greg, who I hoped to use as a pacer, and Will Brumbach was talking about pacing off me, though I told him this may not be a good idea today.

The start was delayed several minutes – I think they were still registering people at the last second. Finally Ben Tanner got the race going, and the start was crazy. I went out pretty hard but there were still people dodging me, then me returning the favor. After the bottleneck area (festival gates jut out into the road), I tried to keep up a strong pace, but this is where you begin a long climb from Five Points all the way to Hand Middle, more than half a mile. At the top of the first hill I was laboring pretty hard, and by the school I was really slowing. Greg and Spencer had left me for dead, and Will Brumbach, Whitney Keen and Amanda Charlton were a good bit ahead of me as well.  I usually use people I know as a gauge of pace, but this was hard with so many other people in the mix. I hit mile 1 at 6:26, one of my slowest first miles in a long time (25 sec slower than my last at Judicata). Started panicking because I felt pretty terrible despite the pace. Wanted to pick it up, but wasnt much there. My only solace was the fact the rest of the course was pretty flat. Mile 2 was through Shandon, using Duncan St, which has to be the common street for about 10 races since I know it like the back of my hand. A nice surprise was the turnaround, as it was a lot closer than I had thought. I think I finally acclimated to 5k race pace by the time I hit the Ott St turn back towards Devine, since I began to actually get some oxygen back in my lungs. It was also great to see Ken Lowden and company manning a water stop/inspiration station, and Teo going nuts. I looked down and saw a 6:21 split, so it was going to be tough to even get sub 20 at this point. Passed Whitney just before the 2 mile mark.  I hit Devine St and the Code comes blasting out of nowhere and starts verbally whipping me like Seabiscuit on the home stretch. So I kicked it in, hard…and probably way to early. The finish line is visible from a long, long way out, and this just sucks you in. I was going faster though – the field started rolling back towards me. I was able to pass Will,  Amanda and Greg, and Code kept giving me new targets. But i was dying..big time. Praying for that finish line that kept seeming farther. Wanted to crawl into the fetal position and die a sweet death.  By the time I hit mile 3 I was starting to worry about about falling off that fine line between pushing it and puking. Damn that Code. Finally made out the clock switch to 19’s , but really couldn’t muster a finishing blast. Crossed just under 19:30.

Not one of my best times but could of been much slower. After the race I finally looked at mile 3 and saw a 6:02. Code said he was trying to keep me under six. Finished in 33rd place, which is pretty good for me in this race. Ended up 5th in age group, won a “tubular cooler” for placing (they went 5 deep this year).  Official chip was 19:28.  Eric Ashton won overall 30 sec clear of the field in 15:47, and John Charlton completed the masters domination with a 3rd place 16:46. Second was Jonathan Eggert, whom I’ve actually never seen race before. Jourdain apprentices Frank Clark and Drew Soltau had strong races, finishing together in 18:09 and 18:17 respectively. Eric Allers and Drew Wiliams were just behind them in 18:21 and 18:25. The women’s race was super close with Ashley Evens beating out Kathryn Ashton by just a few seconds (18:30 -18:37) Kenzie Riddle finished a close third in 18:47. Brian Kistner, who finished 2nd in the marathon, came back and ran a sub 19. Nice. Spence continued his sub 19 streak with an 18:54.  Heather Brumbach, Will’s wife,  continued a comeback to racing and beat me at 19:15.  Amanda, Greg and Will all easily went sub 20 as well.  Whitney ran a strong race but just missed his sub 20 by four seconds – ouch. Other local age group winners were Rocky Soderberg, Henry Holt, Patti Lowden, Alex Ponamarev, Cheryl Outlaw, Mike Wainscott, Pete O’Boyle, Ken Sekley, Jeff Burgess, Shannon Iriel, Ken Cobb, Theresa Penney and Erin Howie. Tigs won her age group too, even though she was “just out for a jog”. Wish I could do that.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/158857902

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/12GTTG.TXT

The Columbia Marathon marks the return on the marathon to Columbia after an 11 year hiatus, finally giving the capital city a 26.2 again. I’m not sure about the history of the original race, but a recent State article said the race was run 1977-2001 and then scrapped because of other marathon competition and focus of the Carolina Marathon association on the Governors Cup and Heart and Sole. We also hosted the women’s olympic trials in 1996 and 2000. I lived in Columbia all the years of the race, but I have no memory of the original marathon, outside of a vague recollection of the olympic trials when I was in college. I was certainly not a runner then – my main running/walking exercise involved weekly trips down to five points and back. I was able to track down a 1999 carolina marathon results page. Winner was Eric Ashton. Complete shocker there. CarMar1999a

This edition of the marathon is the brainchild of Dan Hartley, who seems to have thrown his entire being into bringing this race back.  I always have  an admiration for race directors – they possess organization skills that far exceed my own. But putting on a 26.2 mile race through a city not used to an event this size is quite an undertaking. Major props to Dan for tackling this immense project.

I first signed up for this race about a year ago when the first rough draft of a website was up and the original point to point course was introduced. The course was originally set to start in Ballentine,  go near Irmo,  run across the dam into Lexington, and eventually into Columbia. There apparently was a major obstacle to the approval of this course with the Lexington police dept, who would not allow 378 to have a lane closure? I dont know the full details, but if NYC can shut down half the city for a morning, you’d think the metropolis of Lexington  could help us out.

Anyway, this resulted in the current 2 loop course which tours much of the same areas as the Governor’s Cup, though differs in the roads used. For a detailed course description, see the Cola marathon preview run post. I was less than thrilled with the course change, though this actually saved me on race day.  I had debated back and forth since the course change about dropping down to the half, since I really hate the 2 loopers – I’ve avoided Kiawah for this reason. However, I think I had eventually decided to go ahead and do the full at way less than 100 percent effort. I had trained hard and peaked for the Jacksonville marathon in December, but my focus in the spring has been back to improving speed in the 10k and 5k. I always do 10-15 mile long runs, but I hadnt done any of those critical 18-22 mile marathon specific workouts. I thought I could still wing it until this past week, when either my kids or patients decided to give me a nasty  cold virus. I was out of commission Tuesday night and Wednesday. Recovered some on Thursday, and felt pretty good on Friday. However, Friday night I felt more run down – so I was really in a panic about what to do on Saturday morning. I woke up about 2 am and eventually convinced myself just to throw in the towel and save it for another day. I might have drifted off for awhile, but the thought of missing out on this race was killing me. I finally decided to at least show up and see how far I could go, but to definitely go no further than one loop. I  knew there was no race day registration and there had been a 20 dollar fee to transfer races late, so I figured I’d just have to miss out on an official time and/or medal.

I got there about a half hour early. With a little tylenol and sudafed on board, I actually felt OK though nowhere near a hundred percent. My legs felt great – they hadn’t seen this much time off in months.  Really nice turnout for this event, and almost every Columbia area runner was there either running or spectating.

I lined up near the 3:45 pacer. Had no idea how this would go, so I figured I would do 8 minute pace and see how far I could go – pulling the plug if I felt bad. First mile I took it very easy, which is completely alien to me when I have  a bib on. There is a guy named John “the penguin” Bingham who writes for Runners World and encourages everyone to have fun while running , emphasizing slow but steady pacing. He seems like a nice guy, but my exact polar opposite. I’m all for having fun and taking it easy in group runs, that’s great. But once I pin that bib, I cant help but be a complete freak. I’m actually a pretty laid back person, but switch into complete “type A” mode when racing. My finish line photos should be ample evidence of that. Anyway, I hit mile one at the top of a huge hill (aka the reverse side of Gov Cup’s Mt. Blossom) in 7:56.  I thought I was doing 8:30.  I finally caught up to Trophy around this time.  Mile 2 involves flying down the other side of Mt Blossom and then scaling what is one of the toughest hills – Saluda Avenue. Not super steep but brutally long.  Just maintaining pace on this hill will cause you to pass a ton of people. Trophy loves hills , so he got dropped here.  To his credit, he was actually committed to the full, while I wasn’t even sure if I’d make it through one.  Mile two in 8:02. Next few miles were through Shandon and pretty easy. I was feeling OK, and glad to see I’d probably be able to make it through loop one. Logged a couple of low 8 miles.  Eric Mcmichael caught up with me then faded back a little. I think I was unconsciously speeding up when people started to pass, because my fragile ego cant take it. After about 4 miles, I was warmed up enough to settle into a slightly faster pace as we left Shandon and entered into Heathwood/Lake Katherine.  It felt like there was some pretty good crowd support out there until I finally realized I was in a small pack just behind local news celebrity Dawndy Mercer-Plank.  Fragile Ego came back into play as I couldnt let Dawndy beat me, but she was motoring, definitely sub 8 pace.  The half course cuts off some of the marathon course in this neighborhood, and she blue shoed me  into one of the cutoffs and I never saw her again.  I worked on maintaining a steady pace through the next few miles, felt very nice, which isnt surprising considering I was about 30 sec off my marathon pace.  Felt good to think this was the pace that left me in a ragged mess at the end of my first governors cup in 2009.  Luckily I wasnt racing, because I had yet another shoestring incident  ( when am I ever going to remember to tie my shoes tight enough?) and managed my first in-race potty break. For some reason I still felt the need to burst out of the porta-potty like a maniac – as if 30 seconds was going to matter at this point. Still managed 8:20’s for those miles. Next started the most brutal section – the long slog up Trenholm.  Like a war zone on that hill – some people were walking, others really struggling.   This would have been really tough if I had been racing.

Once I reached the top and turned onto Gervais in mile 10, I started to briefly flirt with the idea of going ahead on to loop two. Then I thought about Richmond again, and how good I felt at the same point in that race. That brought me back into reality and reaffirmed by previous one loop decision. I would have been really happy at the start to know i would be OK at 10 miles anyway. As if memories of my traumatic Richmond marathon experience weren’t enough to convince me to stick to the plan, Mt Gervais certianly helped. Just crazy steep. I passed a girl who looked like death walking up that thing. I turned to give her a word of encouragement, but the look I got back shut me up quick. Caught up with Schmitz  at the top of the hill, and he was really moving, despite the fact he was doing the full. Ran the rest of the way with him. Hit 13.1 at about 1:45. The downhill finish to this race is amazing, especially with the huge banner and chute at the end. Because of my orange bib,  no one believed I was setting the world record in the marathon, so I had to veer off from the finish and drop out off to the side. That was tough to do, but I knew it was the best decision on this particular day.

The good part about dropping out is that it allowed me to watch everybody behind me on the first loop and then see everyone finish. Really cool to see so many people from our running community out there.  The highlight for me was seeing Amy McDonaugh  winning the overall female in the marathon with a huge eruption of cheering from the crowd (see above pic). Frank Clark and Steven Johnson helped pace and guide her, which was really awesome on their part. Greg Howell also crushed this race – ran another 3:19, his same time from Myrtle Beach a month ago on a flat course. I hope to see him and Anton rock the NYC marathon later this year.  Half overall winners were from out of town, though I see Andrew Johnson from Columbia won 4th. I’ve never met Andrew, but apparently he’s yet another 35-39 yr old than can destroy me. Code did take home 3rd in AG in the half, which his first in like 15 years. Spence posted a strong 1:33, and Brian Clyburn PR’d with a 1:34 – which probably means he can cut 3-4 min off that on a flat course. Our Palmetto 200 team keeps getting faster! Plexico won the 10k,  and if my sources are correct, also won the March for Meals rescheduled 5k earlier that morning. Well played. Another Palmetto 200 team member won 3rd in the 10k, Andy McNiece. Burgess and Geary rocked top 10 in the 10k, and Bri Hartley (making the race director proud, no doubt) and Tigs took the top 2 females in the 10k.

http://www.columbiascmarathon.com/

http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=2020885&pubID=3

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/156787277

The Lexington Race Against Hunger 10k (http://www.lexrah.org/d/)  is one of the bigger races of the year and usually brings out a pretty competitive crowd. This was my 3rd time running the race, and it was one of my first 10ks ever back in 2010. I’ve usually shied away from the 10k distance. For some reason I have trouble with the pacing. My 5ks are easy – I basically just blast off like a scalded chicken and hope not to die in the ensuing 20 (or hopefully less) minutes. Half marathons are long enough to make you respect the distance and run a pace way under anything painful. Running a fast1ok, though, seems to require a period of prolonged suffering that I’m just not too keen on. It could also be my Dam Run 10k in 2010, where I had a brief psychotic episode in which I thought I was as fast as Amy or Megan, chased them for about a mile at 6:18, and then suffered one of the most epic death marches ever for the remaining 5 miles.  Just ask Tigs, who passed me in the last half mile and thought I might need medical attention. Total PTSD from that race, almost on par with that unmentionable race in Virginia’s capital.  This race  played out in a similar fashion in 2011, but not because I went out too fast. For whatever reason, my legs turned into cinder blocks during the hilly section (i.e. the entire miles 2-5), I got passed by about 50 people and was briefly Schmitzed, then recovered in time to blast out a decent last mile en route to a 43:32.

I had fairly high hopes of running a significantly faster race this year. Since ramping up my weekly miles to 40+ in the past 2-3 months, along with regular “Dr Pain’s  miles of smiles” speedwork sessions with Mobile Bar owner Jeff Burgess, I’ve set PRs in every distance from the 5k to the marathon. In any case, I hoped to definitely lower my course record (43:18) and maybe take out my fairly soft 10k PR (42:05 from this year’s Red Nose Run). I note a course record here because this little jaunt through Lexington is anything but flat. Sure, the first mile is a nice fairly level trip down highway 378, but it then turns left into about three quarters of a mile of rolling hills. Just before the mile 2 mark you will have your spirit crushed by a mountain that, while not the steepest, kills you slowly for the next half mile. After the sweet release of death seems like a viable option at the summit,  you get the distinct pleasure of slogging up a few more quad destroying inclines before a right turn on Roberts St, which finally starts bringing you back home. The worst of the hills are over by then, though there’s definitely still a slight incline going on. It wouldnt be that noticable, save for the fact your lower body is begging for mercy by then. After the mile 4 marker, the course finally levels out and mercifully gives you  a few declines. Last mile is that same stretch of 378, except more downhill, which gives a chance for a nice kick if you have any life left.

I got to the race about an hour early. Did a couple of slow miles with the Code. Trophy was nowhere to be seen, and the Howells were still in recovery mode, which apparently involves a steady intake of margaritas. Spencer was in Florida but still doing a 5k this morning. Anton was home devising more ways to torture Greg and making the Bodourov method even more evil. Diesel decided he would take this opportunity to shred his IT band a little more after Myrtle Beach. Schmitzes were there to do the 10k in the middle of a 20 miler, as was Rick. Geary, Amy, the two Drew W’s,  Flicker, J-Reeves and J-Cov (both doing the 5k with Jenn’s daughter)  and both Brandenburgs were all in attendance. Justin, the newest member of the Cola running scene, was one of the few people to show up who could win the race. Strictly Running had lot of their sponsored guys last year do this race, including Tim Jeffrey’s crazy fast sub 34, but none of them were there this time. It was a little sad as one of my memories from last years race was EK Tolley-Beeson finishing during my cooldown, with a big smile on her face. She passed away this week at age 75.

The start was at 8:20 and pretty cold, made worse by a nasty headwind. With the gun I quickly latched on to whoever I could find to get out of the wind. Unfortunately, save for Schmitz,  no one’s going to block all the wind for my sasquatch-sized self.  I was able to trail Flicker for a while but the dude was out on a mission and I couldnt hang. I figured I’d get him later – the age group was pretty wide open with all the top dogs sitting this one out. The Code said this was going to be a tempo run for him in prep for the Columbia Half, and he was going to try for 6:40 pace. He pulled up beside me and we hit the mile mark pretty close at 6:44. I was very glad at this point to get out of the wind, because, if youve ever seen me in person, you know I’m less than sleekly aerodynamic. We got to trade in the wind for hills at this point, and maintained a pretty good pace on the rollercoaster-eque next .75.  Stayed pretty constant with the field. Thomas Tapp and Geary were just behind us at this point. Brandenburg was in another zip code, and from what I could see from 378, Justin was going to make this race a walk in the park for him.

Then came the mountain. You know its bad when there’s cute motivational phrases written on the pavement by the organizers to try and get you through it. Code separated from me even though I was trying my best to keep up.  This hill is so freaking long, makes you want to cry. I could feel myself starting to unconsciously start to take on my 75 year old man posture, and a fair amount of head bobbing and wind sucking ensued. I did hit mile 2 at 6:32, which was encouraging, if I wasnt actually pulling about 7:32 or worse pace at that time. Finally made it to the top, and still had the Code fairly close. Flicker was still crushing it though. Although I always remember the mountain, I seem to block out the next section of more hills, perhaps because its more than my fragile psyche can take. These suck anyway, but once your quads are already taking a lactic acid bath from Mt Lexington, it really hurts. I swear I made the turn at Roberts St at like 10 minute pace, because my lower body was trying to dissociate from the quad burn that had been going on for the past mile and a half. Hit the 3 mile at 20:26 by the caller. I didnt want to look at my pace but the Garmin beeped and I instinctively saw the 6:52, which was mildly encouraging. Mile 4 was just rough. Its still slightly uphill, plus you run by the finish line of the Jailbreak 5k. This is typically where I have trouble in 10ks – I just lose focus and have a hard time maintaining pace. As I started to slack though, Geary comes up right beside me and starts to pass. My fragile ego cant take it, so I decide to latch on. I think this was probably key for both of us, since we both run almost the exact same times. He was definitely pushing it, but I was surprisingly able to match it. I think I finally processed some of the lactic acid bath. Unfortunately my let down led to a much slower 7:09 split for mile 4, but with the pickup I hit a 6:30 for the next mile with Geary just a step behind me. Like last year, I had a burst of energy at this point, knowing the rest of the course to be flat to downhill. Plus, there was Code for the taking, maybe 50 meters ahead. I started blasting it as hard as I could, passing by some suspiciously 35-39 looking gentlemen in the first quarter mile after the mile 5 marker. And there was Code. No way I could let him beat me when he was out for a freaking tempo, right?  I prepared for him to start racing once he heard my cattle stampede footfalls, but he just let me pass. Flicker was ahead and finally seemed to be slowing maybe, but I think it was just me basically sprinting. I hit mile 6 at 6:09 and I was sucking some serious wind. I ramped up the pace another notch but Flicker must of been crushing some pace of his own – I just wasnt making much headway even with some 5:30ish action going on.  I finally made out the clock turning over to 41 and was able to sprint out to a 41:24 finish. Ten seconds behind Flicker and eight behind the 3rd place female, who again was Theresa Penney (see Red Nose Run).  Ended up 17th overall and 3rd in age group, so pretty happy with that given this competitive field.  Chopped a whole 41 seconds off the 10k PR too, which was nice. Still have some work to do to get the 10k in the ballpark of what my 5k would predict, but I’ll take it on this tough course.

Justin, as I could see less than a mile in, crushed the field with a 34:47.  Amy won the female overall with a 39:55, beating out Theresa and the girl who chicked me at Race for the Cure, Claudia Nunez-Lopez. Brandenburg won masters in an impressive 39:09 – would have taken down Anton’s time from last year? Uh oh. Aubrey ran a 38:55 and only won his age group by 5 minutes. Slacker. He did get the shame of being named first female at the awards ceremony though. Doh!  Drew Williams took down JB en route to a sub 39 as well. Phil Midden won my age group finishing just under 40. Geary easily won his age group at 42:00, with Mike Ufford finishing 3rd.  Kristin won 2nd in age group on the tempo part of her 20 miler. Wish I could do that. Then again, maybe that’s why she’ll be in Boston in April.

My garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/152428635

2012 results: http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/12LRAH.txt

Strictly’s 2012 pics: http://www.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8422495

2011: http://sc.milesplit.com/meets/87612/results/149420

2010: http://sc.milesplit.com/meets/66846/results/113311

Race Judicata, flawed as it may be, has a special place in my heart for being the site of my first sub 20 5k. This was the maiden voyage of the original blue shoes, the 7 oz adizero adioses that cut 23 seconds off my PR and got the sub 20 monkey off my back. You could tell it wasnt that important to me by the pic below from that race (2010):

I say flawed, because this race always seems to be teetering on the edge of disaster. Its put together by Women in Law, a group of female law students at USC., This means the race always has different organizers/volunteers some of whom, shall we say, have limited road race experience. This was most evident in 2009, when a volunteer managed to direct the first 10 runners one way and most of the rest the other. A group of us ran all the way to Rosewood drive and finally realized we were way the hell off course. I doubled back and ended up running maybe an extra quarter to half mile in just under 26 minutes. I can’t criticize the law students too much though – my med school had a 5k until 2010 when there was a short course, no age group medals (except for paper certificates) and the race director ran and had to go to the ER for heat stroke. Common sense is a bit of rarity among the academically gifted, apparently.

I had hoped to make another sub 19 run at today’s race, because I have felt really strong recently with ramping up the weekly mileage (45) and being very regular again with speedwork. Unfortunately a cold struck late in the week and left me less than 100 percent, though these were the exact circumstances of my sub 20 breakthrough 2 years ago. Got there an hour early and did 1.5 mi warmup with JB, Burgess, Spence and Geary. I actually bailed on racing the new Brooks Connects – the high arch was causing some problems and I didnt want to mess with anything that might bring up some plantar fasciitis Temps were really nice, mid to high 50’s , slight wind. We ran part of the course, which, like last week, was in Shandon and mostly flat.

The first sign of trouble at this race was near the start – no one knew where to line up. The race organizers wanted us to start at the corner of king and duncan, though this was way off where we started the other years races. Strictly and a few of us were pleading for a start at the Hot Summers Night certified course (which is completely the same except for the start), but I guess it was too late. I pretty much knew this would result in a slightly short course.

Decent crowd for this race but not hugely competitive – a lot of the regular crew were up in Myrtle Beach doing the half and full marathon. Plexico and Angel were there to make sure none of us entertained any thoughts of winning or placing. JB, Amy, Spence, Geary and Burgess were the main ones that would be (hopefully) in my zip code.  With the start, JB, Amy and Spence took off at a pretty hard clip, but this time I vowed to keep them more in sight. I latched on the back about 10-15 meters back in the first mile. Angel was lagging just behind Plexico but he soon got dropped – Ryan was crushing it out there today. I felt pretty strong early. I was able to pass a guy that I feared was one of those rogue 35-39 year old guys that comes out once a year and crushes an 18 min 5k. Turns out he was like 26, but my race day paranoia is legendary.

I hit the mile at 6:02, which is pretty smoking for me, but I kept telling myself not to let that second mile pace fade like last week. Mile 2 was tough – it sucked mentally because we were still going away from the start, plus there was a slight headwind and a nasty gradual incline. I kept telling myself to push the pace, especially since there was absolutely no one around me. An interesting race was developing in front of me – I saw JB start to drop Spence a little, and Amy fell off the back some as we hit mile 2 just past the turnaround. Garmin showed 6:16. Better than last week but still significantly slower. I knew I was close to sub 19 though by the average of the two miles.

At about 2.25 miles in there’s a quarter mile loop that goes out and back in to provide the correct distance (this was the site of the 2009 disaster) . I could already see Plexico coming back in, so I figured he must be doing at least sub 17. I was starting to reel Amy in, but I was also starting to notice the sudden lack of oxygen in the Shandon area. Really sucking some wind and begging for the sweet release of death more like it. I was also noticing the completely open course at this point. Here I was blindly blasting away into each intersection when I realized I really needed to look both ways. The turn off that little loop puts you in a straightaway for just under a half mile. The sight of the finish, however distant, jolted me back to life and I tried to push it as hard as I could. I knew it was going to be close to my goal. I first made out the clock around 18:07 or so, but it was pretty far away. The gas tank was on E but that didnt stop the crazy headless chicken blue shoes kick. Amy had kicked it in too, and i was getting closer, but I knew I couldnt catch her. I did hear the Garmin chime at 3 miles a block or so from the finish, so it seemed to almost be a legit course. Blasted forth without a care for the inevitable hideous finish pic and crossed the line at 18:44, 6th OA.

Great, right? I looked down and saw 3.07, which is pretty close to 3.11, but agonizing when you’ve just run a PR race but wonder if you can count it. Some others had different distances, 3.02-.07 by informal survey. My general feeling is that it would have broken the 19:06 PR and probably the 19 min barrier if you used my garmin. Times across the board were definitely a bit speedy. Did I mention how much I hate uncertified courses?  Plex crushed a 16:27, Angel went sub 18, JB was at 18:11, Spence did 18:22 and Amy 18:37. Burgess crushed a 19:34 and Geary a 19:22. So basically all a good bit faster than usual.

Well, at least I placed in my age group. But that would assume a 35-39 age group. I heard rumors afterward they had larger AG this year. OK, so maybe they went to 10 year age groups, which they sometimes do for very small races. Still placed second in this (behind Angel), so fine. Nope, even better. 20 year age groups. Like everyone from a junior in college to aging dads all lumped together. Still would have gotten 3rd…but then they decided to go one deep. So I got nothing. This is the same race that gave out really nice gift certificates last year. Tigs even got a 25 dollar gift certificate to Flying Saucer, which she very generously gave to me, knowing my obsession with the place.

So between the short, poorly attended race course and the lousy awards I wasnt real happy. I cant be too judgemental given the proceeds go towards the womens shelter here in Columbia (which I utilize quite a bit for my patients), but this race needs some work to stay on the tour. John Gasque, who does an awesome job with organizing the TDC, will be talking with the faculty advisor to be sure the TDC standards (i.e. 3 deep, 5 year age groups) are met.

Got some awesome news about Myrtle Beach after the race – Greg Howell (3:19), Daniel Bliesner (3:05) and Anton Bodorouv (2:55) all qualified for Boston. Laura Howell and Jen Ward also finished their first marathons. Paul Reardon crushed a 1:26 half and Trophy (Tyler Mcgaha)/Ken Calcutt also had strong 1:34 halfs. Still waiting to hear from Drew Walker.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/150575383

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/12JUDICATA.TXT

http://www.photoreflect.com/store/thumbpage.aspx?e=8415107

Brooks Pure Connect. Hoping I can squeeze a sub 19 out of these…