This is the third year of this half, which now has a full marathon (2nd year) and a 5k (replacing the 10ks the first two years). The course is point -to-point, with the start in Downtown Charleston and the finish 13 miles away in North Charleston. I lived in Charleston for 2 years, and it was cool to return to the town whcih spawned the running obsession. Turns out the traffic is so bad in Charleston in the morning, that I would get up at 5 am and head to the gym instead of sitting in gridlock for an hour. Ten minutes on the treadmill at 5.5 turned into a 27:05 5k three months later, and I was hooked.

I dont usually do out of area races, except for the two marathons, but I got suckered into this race by Trophy and Greg. Both were doing the half and Greg was hoping to go sub 130 on the almost completely flat course.  I signed up on New Years Day on a whim and got the rest of the fam to come down, promising we’d make a weekend out of it down in Charleston.

Karen and Trophy met me at the hotel at 6:45 and we headed to the finish line to catch the bus to the start. What were spring-like temps last weekend had turned to a Siberian blast. Low thirties and windy. I showed up in hat, gloves, CRC jacket and long pants , still freezing my butt off waiting for the buses. Had a major core workout on the way to the start as I was the last one on my bus and had to stand, getting thrown around the whole time. We got there about a half hour before the start. Didnt really have time to do any warmup – had to balance dying from hypothermia with having enough time to get to the start after dropping my winter stuff at the drop bag site. Porta potties had ridiculous lines, so I had to risk an indecent exposure charge near a dumpster.

There were a few thousand runners in a pretty narrow road for the start, so I fought my way almost to the very front, about 2 rows back. Marathon and half were starting together. I was surprised to see a 1:30 pace group, as this wasnt advertised on the web site. There I was able to find Greg and his jedi master Anton, as well as Thunder Dan Bliesner from the Palmetto 200 team. Greg was shooting for a sub 130 not only to PR but for an automatic spot in the NYC marathon. I could do the same, provided I could swing a 1:19. Um… yeah. I did want a sub 130 though. I was on pace for one at Gov Cup before Kilbourne and Blossom made me their bitch, and ended up with a 1:31:40 PR.

The 1:29:59 meant 6:53 pace. Not exactly a stroll. Greg had said some crazy talk about 6:40 pace starting out, and holding it as long as possible. I decided I would just try and hang on to our neon shirted pace guys. Poor Sweet T had the sniffles this week and bailed to run with Karen.

As mentioned the course is a point to point, and virtually pancake flat. It has a nice route through the historic district starting out, but then has a very long stretch up to North Charleston. Spruill Avenue.  Familiar to Charlestonians everywhere as the land of strip clubs and drive bys. Way to feature the beauty of our historic city guys. Well, at least it wasnt one of those dreaded 2 loop courses.

http://charlestonmarathon.com/sites/default/files/pdf/course/Half-Marathon-Course.pdf

The gun went off and this literally was a stampede. Some dude bit it right behind me immediately, but I didnt dare turn around. Sprinted for my life for the first quarter than settled in with the pace group. I wasnt sure about these guys. They looked maybe college age and were crushing the pace while talking like they were out for a jog. I felt pretty good considering zero warmup, though my left foot was a little numb from the cold and having to balance in the bus. Sure enough the Speedy brothers had us in at mile  1 at 6:40. There was where I got to meet Robo-Timer. Instead of a smiling volunteer calling out times, or perhaps a clock, an androgynous computer voice on lend from a navigation system called out the time.  “Six minutes..forty-one…forty two…forty three..six minutes..forty four.” Greg was already gapping me and the pacers. Instead of running my own race, I tried to be a hero and crush the same pace as the neon duo. Second mile: 6:44, third: 6:36. Apparently this was the Race Suicide pace group. First 5k was in the books at around Sweet T pace, 20:30. I felt OK despite banking almost a minute against the 1:30 already.  A couple more 6:40ish miles and I could feel things starting to turn south. We left the historic area and headed into the lovely slums of north peninsular charleston.  The pace group that was helping me with the drafting gapped me, leaving my less than aerodynamic self into the teeth of a nasty 10 mph bitterly cold headwind. Pace started to suffer some, and seeing nothing but wide open dreary road ahead didnt help. Some of the locals offered “encouragement”, also known as heckling. Hit the 10k point at about 42 minutes, almost right at my PR for the distance. Nice pacing, stud. I had planned to take a GU at 5 miles, but between the crazy pace and wind I completely forgot. Managed to choke down some Espresso Love after about 2 minutes of frisking myself trying to pull the packet out of my rear facing belt.  Mile 7 was just brutal.  Greg and Thunder Dan had left me for dead, the wind had picked up, and  certain unmentionable areas seemed to be getting painfully cold. I started getting passed by some of the marathoners. I was about half convinced to bail on the race and jog the rest in, when I remembered the 75 dollar registration. That would make this one hell of an expensive training run. So I kept going. It did seem to get a little warmer. Logged two miles way over 7 minutes. Robotimer taunted me with her (his?) calm voice, letting me know how things were falling apart. ” Fifty  minutes…twenty three..twenty four…you’re starting to suck Alex..twenty five” . The course finally started to take some turns as we neared North Charleston. For a hundred yards or so, the course turned away from the wind and it was incredible how much easier it would be without getting blasted in the face for the past hour. By mile 10, Robo told me about 1:09:30, so I knew it would take another mid 20:xx 5k to give me a chance at 1:29:59. So I gathered whatever energy and/or motivation I had and bit the bullet. Suddenly the parade passing me stopped and reversed. Unfortunately this mostly meant people were starting to bonk. Mile 11 was still hemorraging precious seconds at 6:58. Finally I caught a bit of a second wind, but as soon as I did, the course really started winding through the Park Circle and Noisette areas. There were a few off road areas, and (gasp) maybe even an incline. Finally hit mile 12 at 1:23 something. I then threw down the hardest mile I could muster, which wasnt that impressive since I was sucking wind like no tomorrow and begging for the mercy of my own death. I started sprinting almost a quarter mile out. Evil Robo called out a 1:29:40ish at 13 miles, and even though I was pulling sub 6 pace at this point, I knew the sub 130 wasnt going to happen. Saw the 1:29’s disappear on the clock and hit the line at 1:30:27 (1:30:22 chip).  So close but so far away. Tough to lay it all out for an hour and a half and come up 22 seconds short, but this was still a big PR (by 1:18). Also felt better realizing I was 61st out of over 2000 half runners. I was also glad to have half-bonked and then recovered. The Team Schmitz approved GU every 5 miles worked so well at JAX, so I dont know why I slacked on this plan. Moving 195 pounds quickly through space burns a lot of energy. Go figure.

Greg rocked a 1:29 and punched his ticket to NYC – awesome. Thunder Dan blasted out a 1:28. Karen PR’d after Pring Jacksonville last month, finishing in 2:04 with Sweet T at her side.  Brian Purvis was crazy and ran the full less than 30 days after JAX and finished in 3:32 – an awesome time for the conditions. Drew Walker said he had a good race and finished in 3:52. Oh, and Anton crushed what he termed “a relaxed 1:22”,  18th overall and 2nd master. I think he was hoping for a sub 1:20 but there was no one there to push him, and no one to protect against the wind.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141557508

http://www.rmssports.com/results/12charlestonmar.txt

The Resolution Run is a trail 10k at Sesqui State Park, one of two trail races  Ginger Belka puts on to support her RNE cross country and track teams.  The Run Wild 5k in August is the other.  I’ve run the race all 3 years in its existence, as I live a mile away from the park and train on the trails there fairly often.

For whatever reason though, my “resolution” at this race has usually been to really, really suck. In 2010, I started out too fast and followed that up with a near epic face plant on one of the declines about a mile and a half in. I somehow didnt actually fall, but the trip essentially knocked the wind out of me and somehow forced my shoe almost off my foot. I had to literally sit down , readjust and retie my shoe, and try to keep going.  Schmitz was right behind me at the time of the disaster, and I tried in vain to track him down,  finishing a few seconds behind the  Crazy Legs in just under 49 minutes. Last year Greg and I had our standard epic battle, except we both went out too damn fast again and died in the middle. Somehow I was able to regain some momentum in that race and speed up again, but I still finished well over 45 minutes.

I did not have the best week leading up to the race. Larry and Frank led our significantly slower Longcreek group on a crazy low 7 pace 10 miler on Monday, and I tacked on another 5 miles to that. Add on another 6.2 the next day and my foot felt a little tight.  The slightest thought of plantar fasciitis sends me into a panic, so I shut it down completely the last 3 days to make sure this didnt recur.  I felt it necessary in those 3 days to make sure the newly opened world of beer did not go out of business.

Got there about an hour early. Code was already there of course, except he  sounded like he smoked a pack of marlboros, some cold he claimed he had. Highly questionable.  Much bigger crowd this year, probably because of the race’s inclusion on the Palmetto Grand Prix and Tour de Columbia.  Freight Train showed up with the same shirt so we were the worlds biggest distance running twins. Did 2 miles with the Code, Meg, Billy, and Spencer. Foot felt good.  It should be noted I left my trademark blue shoes at home, opting for my red trail adizeros. Probably a big mistake, since their last appearance helped me blast my slowest 5k in over a year this summer.

I’m very familiar with this course. Its nice going out for a leisurely easy run but pretty tough to race. A loop that starts and ends at the first parking area at Sesqui.  The 1st and 6th miles are on the wide open firebreak trail but the middle 4 miles are all twisting and turning single track.

At the start I lined up 2nd row and apparently abandoned all strategy immediately with the thought I could hang on with Meg , Billy or Geary. Not happening. First mile is mostly on the firebreak and I kept most of the field in sight up to the point where we entered the forest.  Volunteer was shouting out times near the mile marker and told me a 6:15, which pretty much confirmed the fact that I was a dead man.  If the time didnt tell me then my lungs certainly were relaying the message.  Whats worse is a gap formed with me completely in no mans land. I could see one guy ahead of me and couldnt hear anyone behind me, so I basically felt like I was dead last. My pace started dropping off and there wasnt a whole lot I could do about it. Turns out that muscles need oxygen, go figure. I did manage to avoid wiping out on the decline in the middle of mile 2. The time guy at mile 2 told me 13:50 something, so I was hemorrhaging pace big time – over a minute slower (7:30ish per garmin).  The rest of the forest is honestly pretty much a blur. Did my best not to fall. I did pass the one guy ahead of me, but some other dude returned the favor. I saw Geary once and realized he was probably almost a quarter mile ahead 3 miles in. The trail doubles back quite a bit and I could start to see the rest of the pack ready to catch me. Spencer, from my mud run team in 2010, was definitely tracking me down.  Mile 4 bottomed me out with an 8:04. Um, didn’t I  just run a 7:39 pace marathon 3 weeks ago? WTH?  Finally reached the top of the hill after mile 4 and was able to pick up some pace on mile 5.  I was able to reconnect visually with the dude that passed me, though he kept maintaining the gap. Lots of suffering going on by this point, and I was just trying to distract myself from the death march in progress. Pretty sure Scarlet Johannsen and beer, possibly both at the same time, were involved at one point.

Finally, mercifully, the trail opened back onto the firebreak. I could make out a tall guy in the distance and tried to track him down. Unfortunately some very enthusiastic volunteers gave away my stealth move and I think he pushed it a bit more.  Got pretty close to him at one point, but the final stretch is a virtual beach and every bit of momentum was getting sucked away by the sand.  Checked my watch at just over 44 minutes, and then mustered a weak kick to break 45, crossing the line in 44:52.  JB was there at the finish line, and congratulated me with something along the lines of “why did you suck so bad?”.  Must be those damn red shoes.  The time was actually better than 2011, though I think there was less absolute torture involved in that effort. Turns out, of course, that tall guy (44:38) finished 3rd in my age group.  Fan-freakingtastic.

Omar Sharif (36:26) was a beast in this race and took down OJ, who won the last 2 resolution runs. Aubrey Johnson and Ricky Deshaw  also broke  40, Angel finished 40 on the nose and got 1st in my AG. JB and the Code pulled sub 41s. Megan took 1st female by about 4 minutes. She finished in a pack with Ken Sekley and Billy Tisdale. Geary finished a minute later, just over 42 minutes, about where I thought I’d be. Other age group winners included Freight Train, Mrs Diesel, JC, Laura, Ted, Rocky, Valerie Selby. Essentially everybody but me. The Brandenburgs took both masters titles and 100 bucks for their work.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/12resolution.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/139780272

2011 comparison:

http://sc.milesplit.com/meets/82621/results/146281

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/63680788

2010:

http://sc.milesplit.com/meets/61827/results/110599

Photos are mine and the Diesel’s.

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Cold Winters Day is the year end 5k put on by Strictly Running, a companion race to their Hot Summer Night race in August.  I guess because its a race “for runners by runners” that it brings out some hardcore competetion. The prize money probably helps too. I always think of this race as a benchmark for my racing, since its the last race of the year and was my first 5k in Columbia back in December 2008.  I PR’d in that race with a 23:59 (my 4th race ever and first in over a year after my shin splint nightmare of ’08)  and about died in the process. I saw a turn in the distance and kicked it in hard, thinking it was the finish line. Turns out it was the last turn…about  three quarters of a mile from the finish line though. So handsome:

The second time in 2009 I was out to break 20 minutes, went out fast, and again died, finishing in 20:53. Watch out ladies:

Part three was last year, still in the wake of Richmond and in driving sleet. I was less than happy with the time (19:47) but glad to vindicate the ugly finishes of the last two years. Thug life:

Which brings us to race #4, this year.  My legs are still a bit flat from JAX, but I felt I could at least beat the 19:47 and hopefully go sub 19:30. Temps were crazy warm, low 60’s at 10 am. No need for my thug hat this year. Everybody and their mom decided to run this race – place was packed. Packed and stacked, actually, like a proverbial all-star game for distance running in SC. Beasts in every direction. Some guys in singlets that looked like they might suit up in London this summer.

I should mention this course is billed by Selwyn as “flat and fast”.  This is perhaps the most delusional statement I’ve ever heard, and in my line of work, thats saying something. There is a bridge over a dam that is flat for a few tenths of a mile. The rest is constantly rolling hills. The start has a nasty quarter mile incline which sucks the life out of you, and then the roller coaster begins. There is a nice screaming downhill finish though, which would help you kick, if you happen to have any life in your lower extremities or anything resembling the efficient exchange of oxygen for CO2.

I lined up at least 4-5 rows back in an attempt not to get run over by the sub 17 crowd at the front. There was a start mat, which made this OK.  New bibs with a disposable chip on the back were being used instead of the usual plastic shoe chips. The start was insane. Very herd of cattle-esque. Did some dodging and almost got run over by some overzealous dude who im sure finished like 5 minutes behind me. But hey, lets all sprint from the start like a pack of first graders. The first stretch is uphill on Trenholm Rd and I was trying my best to keep up with Tigs and Greg. Billy Tisdale had already gapped me by probably 15 sec a quarter of a mile in.  Suddenly Tigs slowed and she said she was already feeling bad. The most of the next half mile is downhill, and I tried my best to power down it.  You’d think the potential energy of my 195 pound Sasquatch self would be significant, like an 18 wheeler among a bunch of Corollas, but whatever Im doing on the downgrades isnt quite being transmitted into speed. Its probably all the head flopping and arm flailing. I was able to make up some ground on the ensuing uphill and had the feeling like I was pushing an almost 6 flat mile.  But, when I looked for the mile clock it was already at 6:09, and I didnt cross the marker until 6:26. This pretty much started my usual siege of thoughts of wanting to drop out in the first mile if everything isnt going my way. It didnt help that Greg and Billy were absolutely, positively kicking my ass.  Another downhill in mile 2, and I decided to attack it, incorporating some race whispering that Geary had given me about the declines. He’s had plenty of chance to observe my form since he’s always either right in front or back of me. After a flat stretch over the dam comes the most brutal hill, a long slow quarter mile slog.  Derek Gomez, who is back from tri season, comes blowing past like he’d missed the start. Geary apparently also got tired of observing my headless chicken form and also passed me at the bottom of the hill.  I just latched on Geary and Derek and tried to keep up. I finally figured out that the other guy drafting on me was Will Brumbach, who doesnt race that much but is always right around the same 5k time. Having someone to pace against seemed to settle my earlier negative nancy grumblings and settled my breathing a little. I apparently zoned out because I was startled by the 2 mile clock that was at 12:20ish. Hold the phone.  Garmin spit back a 6:00 split and confirmed the half-delirious math I was trying to do in my head. So my race wasnt completely in the can. With a mile to go I tried to ramp up the pace some, but the lungs and legs were not really having it. I had a little bit of a lift though when I reached my 2008 faux finish and knew it was straight to the end. I had made up some ground on Greg, and basically a pack had formed with him, Geary, Billy, Derek…and wait a second. Is that the freaking Code?? Was this was my chance to outkick the man responsible for taking away my precious TDC agre group title?? Just when I was in striking distance, the “E” light comes on my gas tank.  Engine was starting to fail. Just no kick left this time. Plus the Code seemed to sense the aura of the blue shoes, or could perhaps hear the sound of my footsteps, reminiscent of the zombie apocalypse.  Whatever the case the whole pack finished ahead of me, and some random joker blue shoed me in the final 50 meters. Ouch. A taste of my own medicine. Crossed in 19:25 or something. Not a bad time for me. I knew I would be nowhere in the same zip code of an age group placement. It was a 20 second course record for me.  Greg is learning well from his Jedi master Anton and crushed a 30 second PR. That is just insane. Most of us are just chipping away at seconds by the time you get sub 20. The Bodourov method is strong with this one.

There was a problem with the bib chips, so a lot of us, including myself, didnt initially get times. They do have some results up now – I got a 19:28 officially, though this is probably a gun time.  Tenacious J and J-Reeves had some of the most impressive individual times, both crushing big PR’s. The womens race was crazy close, with Amy, Kathryn Ashton, Sunday Davis and Christina Sliepka all finishing within 3 seconds. The top 56 went sub 20. Absolutely nuts. I finished 18th last year with a 19:47, my faster time this year finished 51st.

Best part of the race – nice tech tee, color…royal blue. Love it.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/11Cold.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/137961828  (Hit the button by mistake after my cooldown)

Yes, I’m aware that Cold Winters Day is still on the schedule for 2011, but the State gave us 5 days off and I figure I should put them to “good use”. The following is completely unscientific and biased, based purely on my experience.

Best Overall Race:

1) Ray Tanner Home Run 5k/12k – I’ve never done the 5k, but the 12k is a great course in downtown Columbia, going over both bridges and ending in the baseball stadium. Awesome shirts and great crowd support. Ken Lowden does a great job with this race.

2) Governor’s Cup 8k/half – Again a cool and memorable course, if not the best to PR on.  It was a nice tune up for my December marathon. Nice swag with a hat, long sleeve tech tee and finisher’s medal.  3 free preview runs. Kudos to Naomi Haley for making this race even better.

3) Hammer the Hills 10k – Much smaller than the other two – has a crazy hilly course that is challenging but fun.  No shirt but great post-race breakfast and some of the most memorable awards – hammers and other hardware. Yet another great race director job by a fellow runner, Jenn Covington.

Honorable mention: Palmetto Half, Lexington RAH 10k, Snowman 8k, March for Meals 5k

Flattest, most PR friendly course

1) Colonial Cup 5k – pancake-esque.

2) Jingle Bell 5k in Lugoff – pool table, with one bump.

3)  Runway Run 5k – Ironing board flat, but the wind is a factor

Hilliest, most brutal course: (Removing the Blue Ridge Relay)

1) Hammer the Hills 10k – Three words: Saluda. River. Drive. Learn to fear these.

2) March for Meals 5k – Like Colonial Cup with Mt. Everest thrown in the middle.

3) Governor’s Cup – You dont see many 1:30 half marathoners walking, but I saw some on Blossom St this year.  Don’t forget Kilbourne either.

Best shirt:

I like tech shirts. I have enough white cotton tees to build a bonfire in my backyard.  I’d prefer a nice design and hopefully without a million logos on the back.

1) Ray Tanner – Same tech shirt as the USC baseball players wear, and a women’s version as well.

2) Cold Winter’s Day – Really nice tech shirt, different colors.

3) Gov Cup – High quality long sleeve tech shirt

Honorable mention: Hot Summer Night and Born in the USA have the best designed cotton tees.

Best Awards:

1) Snowman 8k – Original artwork by the “Chicken Man”

2) Hammer the Hills – hardware. I got an awesome hammer.

3) Rosewood Eagles 5k – Age groups got regular medals, but the 3rd place framed kids picture is my favorite.

Honorable mention: Race for the Place – ceramic painted tiles

I dont call out races about doing things wrong, because even if they suck, I’m probably going to run them. I know, I have a problem. That being said, here are the things that races didn’t always do right this year:

1) Extremely well marked courses: This should be the absolute number 1  thing on a race directors list, yet there are always a few misdirects every year. I’d prefer USATF certified,  and posted on a website. At the very least, put up a sign or a volunteer at anything even resembling a possible wrong turn.

2) Cost – Look at what other races charge. And please dont ask me to sign up 6 months in advance to get a discount. 5ks in columbia should be 25 bucks, 30 for 10ks. I like “no T shirt options too – helps slow down the white tee bonfire pile.

3) Bathrooms, anyone? – Runners have GI and urinary systems like a 75 year old guy with an enlarged prostate on vacation in Mexico.  Consider a reasonable amount of portapotties for normal people  and then probably double it.

4) Online registration: Its not 1985 anymore. People use this thing called the internet now.

5) Chip timing: See above. Unless its a small mom-and-pop style race, its going to take forever to sort out the awards with bib tags.

6) Results: See above. Post the results online, quickly. Its not that hard. People want to look at what they did, and not a week later when someone gets around to it.

7) Awards – I have a bunch of generic medals that have nothing on them, so I now have no idea where I got them. I really like something creative and memorable like the races mentioned above.  People are used to three deep in every category, preferably every 5 years. If youre not doing this, at least state it so people wont be disappointed.  Overall winners dont double dip into the age groups.  Large races should have separate masters (40+) overall, or even grandmasters (50+).   Get somebody who’s familiar with running to announce the awards, and try to get them out as soon as possible after the last runner crosses the line.

Bayler’s Birthday Bash 5k in Bishopville,SC  is in its second year, and now on the Palmetto Grand Prix. It started in 2010 to honor Bayler Teal, a 7 year old with neuroblastoma who became an unofficial rallying point for the USC baseball team in their run to the national championship. See here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/sports/bayler-teal-was-south-carolinas-talisman.html. Proceeds from the race go to benefit Palmetto Children’s Hospital.

I ran the race last year, as its pretty hard to find any race going on Christmas weekend. I’m also a huge USC sports fan, and remember Bayler from the news coverage of the Gamecocks that year. Plus, Bishopville is less than an hour away, and home to the legendary OG. Last year had a pretty decent crowd, but was almost all local and mostly noncompetitive.  Since the race was a first year event then, relatively rural, and on a holiday, it fit the Blue Shoes race profile for a possible overall placement. Sure enough, I eked out a 3rd place by throwing down a ridiculous sub 4 kick in the last tenth, as a local kid threatened to take my glory away. I dont think I was real popular in Bishopville that day. I got a nice trophy though.

This year the race made the Grand Prix, and was advertised pretty heavily on the SR website, so I knew there would be no chance of a second trophy. Kevin Kelley, Paul Reardon , Angel Manuel were there, so I knew at the start line the best I could manage would be 4th overall and 2nd in AG.  Billy,Geary, Teo and Jay also made appearances.  I’m usually between Billy and Geary in 5ks, so this would provide a decent gauge of pace. Race was at 9 am, weather was pretty much perfect – sunny, not much wind, and high 40’s. Just short of 200 total runners.

I guess it ‘s worth noting that this is day 6 post marathon for me, so probably not the best training week leading up to this race. I had originally signed up to run it with my brother again, but he bailed yesterday, leaving me “forced” to run it all out.  Monday I could barely walk, Tuesday I was slightly less sore and walked a half mile on the dreadmill, Wednesday I did a very slow 3 miles on the indoor track at Golds, Thursday was the first day back over 75 percent – did 6.5 miles at 9 min pace with the Code.  Friday off except for a walk at Riverfront with the fam.  Today I was feeling pretty good, maybe 85 percent. I debated about how I should run the race for a second, until I put the bib on, and then I knew I’d be race facing it.

I jogged the whole course solo to warm up, around 10 min pace. As I remembered, this thing is flat with a capital F. Total pool table. Similar to Camden, which is the flattest 5k in the midlands.  Basically a nice loop starting and ending on the main street of Bishopville.  Came back from the run and had to wait forever at the one port-a-potty, which is exactly one more than last year. My only gripe about this race.

Start was like Fitness Zone, basically we got called to the line and they blew the horn the second we all got there. The police were caught napping, as the lead car just sat there for a few seconds until we were all blasting around it.  The leaders almost missed the first turn until the cop car pulled a Dukes of Hazzard and peeled out to the left. Leaders were going out crazy fast – Angel later said they were blasting 520ish pace in the first mile. It was kind of a shock to my system after 26 miles of 7:30’s to suddenly go plummeting back into low 6 pace. Ran with Eric M and drafted behind the OG for the first .75,  before passing him on the turn onto Baskin. Hit mile 1 at 6:19, which I couldn’t believe, because I thought were at like 6:05. I guess legs werent liking the abuse so much. Mile 2 was very uneventful, basically maintained pace though all the turns slowed me down a little. Passed 2 guys. Hit mile 2 at 6:24, which I really didnt like. Legs and lungs felt a little better after the initial shock of the marathon to 5k transition, so I ramped up the effort a little. I passed a guy who looked like he might be an age grouper, who apparently didnt like it much, because he then flew past me. I returned the favor after the next turn onto Heyward. I then saw Billy in my sights and started gaining on him. Unfortunately he looked back at the turnaround on Cedar, and I knew I was toast. Sure enough, he blasted a surge and I did not have the oxygen or the motivation to match it. The last straightaway is nice, right down main st with the finish line in sight. Hit mile 3 at 6:14 pretty far from the finish, and knew it would be a little long by Garmin. Made one look back to make sure I wasnt getting a dose of my own blue shoes and cruised in to a 19:44. Good enough for 2nd in age group, 10 year groups. Not my fastest but I’ll take it given I’m still in recovery. Angel luckily placed 3rd overall and kindly removed himself from the AG, with a giant trophy to boot.

A kid I dont know won the  race, followed by Kevin Kelley and Angel.  With all the masters powerhouses in attendance, no one placing in the 40-60 age groups ran slower than 21 minutes – Geary, Billy, Paul, OG all placed. Some guy I’ve never seen before won 1st in my AG. I think the 3rd place guy was the one I was leapfrogging in the last mile. Awards were huge trophies and nice medals. Great race!

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/11Bayler.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136170395

Jacksonville is this year’s marathon, the distance I’m sure I swore I’d never do again. I’m a short tracker, overperforming in 5ks and doing a lot worse as the distance gets longer. This was never more evident in 2010, when I decided that marathons are what runners do, and that I would try one. I threw myself into training that fall, cranking up my mileage until my IT band decided it was tired of being beat into submission. I hobbled around for most of a week after I did an 8k PR Saturday/26.2 mile training run Sunday, raced a 5k the next weekend and headed to Richmond with a gimpy knee. What followed was a bonk so epic that it makes Chernobyl sound like a minor mishap. Guarded the knee the whole race until mile 17 initiated a death march so painful and humbling that I thought I’d never recover. Whats worse is that the Strictly Running organized, 2 busload trip made the implosion a very public event. Trophy dropped me like a bad habit. I got ass slapped by Team Schmitz and was a spectator to most of my running peers (i.e. Rob, Brad, Jeff B, etc.) passing me the rest of the way.

Thus, this years training for JAX was basically to think of what I did for Richmond, and do the exact, polar opposite. I ramped up the miles more slowly, started earlier, backed off the speedwork, emphasized easy distance over pace. Tapered better. Took 3 whole days off my feet leading up to the race. Decided to follow the Team Schmitz GU/hydration plan.

The Longcreek training group (myself, trophy + K, captain marathon, buckleup, purvis, Mr/Mrs Diesel, Charley, Freight Train) traveled down to Jacksonville on Friday and Saturday. Captain did Boston this year and Purvis has done sub 3:20, so they really had nothing to prove, but the rest of us had some marathon demons to exorcise. Trophy may have left me for dead in Richmond, but fell apart 5 miles later himself. Diesel imploded into a tearful mess in Kiawah in 2010 and missed a sub 4 by less than a minute. Buckleup was running his first marathon but admittedly hadnt run in the past 3 weeks since our last long run. Jen, Charley, Freight Train and Karen were more wisely doing the half. We had a chance to tour the course ahead of time (except for the Diesels and their shopping addiction) , which proved that the race would be completely pancake flat. Almost literally no hills. I started worrying even about this, fearing the never changing terrain would wear out the same muscles…plus it was almost 80 degrees on Saturday. Luckily a cold front was moving in that night.

Sure enough, when we got to the start area about 6:30, it was about mid 40’s and windy. There were probably about 2000 people doing the full, half and 5k. I lined up with Trophy, Ken and Freight Train right next to the 3:30 pace group. Ken hadnt trained much for this race, so he was predicting super slow for him,despite his 3:07 PR. Sub 330 was my goal, and I was going to make doubly sure I didnt go out too fast, which was also a problem at Richmond. Course started with a 5k loop north of the start, then a huge out and back loop for the remaining 37k going south. The start was fairly congested, and it took almost 20 seconds to get to the start mat. Pretty chaotic in the early going, had to dodge quite a few people. I tried my best to keep things slow, and managed an 8:09 first mile, fairly close to what I wanted to do though a little speedy. I instantly started picking up the pace, and Trophy and I separated a bit from the others. We started hitting splits just under 7:50, which we thought was fast but OK, figuring we might need to bank some time early against the 8 minute pace we needed for the 330. I was hitting the water stops hard, because dehydration with cramps and nausea had destroyed me in last years debacle. It didnt help they were giving out half filled shot glasses of fluids. I took my Team Schmitz every-5-mile  prescribed GU right on schedule. Felt OK in the early going, and pace started drifting slightly faster. I was starting to panic slightly though, because my left arch started to rub a bit. This escalated to what I knew was a blister by mile 9. Not a good sign, but I was probably willing to leave my foot a bloody mess to avoid a Richmond Part II. Started getting thirsty as mile 10 hit, and I was fearing a dehydration meltdown. Then,  perhaps from some bizarrre divine intervention, a guy was at one of the houses on mile 10 giving out full water bottles. I thanked this hydration fairy profusely and chugged most of it down with some mandarin orange GU. Disaster averted. Trophy and I continued to drift down into the 7:30’s as we neared the halfway point. Crossed the 13.1 timing mat just under 1:42, which is actually 3 minutes faster than our Richmond half split (before wheels came off). It was a bit of a boost to get past halfway, and by mile 14 I had a strange surge of energy. Trophy asked how I was feeling, I told him “good”, he grumbled something less than good, and then I showed my empathy by abruptly dropping him.  This was a critical point for me, as the first signs of my Richmond death march started on mile 14 as well. But this time I felt good..great really. I had to hold back a little as my pace picked up further into the 7:20’s. Others started dying near me, which added to the sense of speed. I was a little afraid, untrustful of when this burst was going to suddenly bonk out and leave me a crippled mass on the side of the road. As I hit mile 19 or so, I started to feel the fatigue in my quads, but also a glimmer of euphoria that this was going to be very different from last year. Passed Purvis at about 19.5 – he later said he had gone out too fast and paid for it. As I approached mile 20, I realized there was “just” a 10k to go, and Tig’s mantra that “the race starts at 20”.  I was definitely laboring harder by this time, but was still holding pretty good 730ish pace. I had dedicated the last miles last year to family members, but really this had just made me want to cry and wish I was home (especially when youre cramping and doing a walk of shame). So this years mantra was decidedly more vulgar but definitely more empowering: F ___ Richmond.  F the cramping, the pain, the walking, the embarrassment, the near puking, the shredded IT band… because it was absolutely, positively not happening again. It worked. Not that it didnt hurt. I was begging for each mile marker the rest of the way out. My legs were practically numb cinder blocks, but had become so locked in this pacing that they were churning out 7:35s like a metronome. Just maintaing pace made me feel like a champ, because the last 6 miles of a marathon is like a proverbial trail of tears. People walking left and right. My only disappointment was that I was vaguely aware in my end race fog that a sub 3:20 was possible if I picked up the pace. But that wasnt happening. My pace was miraculously staying the same, but my effort had increased 10 fold.  The course takes a very cruel 1.5 mile loop right near the finish, and it took every ounce of mental fortitude to keep going by this point. Finally made it out of the loop and made it to the 26 mile mark just outside the finish line at the stadium, at just under 3:20. Threw down a very weak blue shoes kick, finally going sub 7 pace if even for just a few tenths. Hit the line at a gun time of 3:21:05, chip of 3:20:40. A PR by almost 32 minutes, 115th overall. Totally thrilled with this race, and such a redemption of my first marathon.

Trophy kept up the pace pretty well, and said he only lost sight of me after mile 19. He also finished way under goal, blasting a 3:25. Purvis recovered enough on a tough day to still get 3:32. Captain was just behind him in 3:35. We waited anxiously for Diesel for about 20 minutes until he came flying in at 3:55, meeting his sub 4 goal. Buckleup, despite running once in a blue moon, can still throw down a decent time, and finished his first marathon in 4:05. PRs all around for our half marathoners, Charley by a minute in 1:3x, Freight Train rolled into the station in 1:46, J-Ward rocked a sub 2 with a 1:59, and K crushed a 20 min PR with a 2:09.

http://runningjacksonville.com/search.php?action=search&q=&city=Columbia&gender=0&age=0&raceid%5B%5D=58&year=2011&Submit.x=82&Submit.y=11&Submit=Submit

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135276639

Photos courtesy of Jennifer Ward

This is my third year doing the Jingle Bell, which is a small 5k held by the Fitness Zone in Lugoff. Its been on the Palmetto Grand Prix since its inception and this year its on the Tour de Columbia courtesy of some lobbying by Mrs. Diesel. The best thing about the race is that its flat – probably 2nd flattest of all the 5ks in the Columbia area behind the Colonial Cup in Camden. That being said,  it seems to be a touch long, despite its certified course status. This is based on my highly scientific method of asking a few people what’s on their Garmin. Basically a loop, first half very slightly uphill, and the reverse on the way back.

http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=SC08033BS

I thought I would make a PR attempt here last year and ended up with a bonkapalooza, coming absolutely nowhere close. I will say the 2010 race came in the wake of me shredding my IT band at the Richmond marathon a month earlier.  I cant talk about Richmond due to my PTSD about that race, but just ask Trophy or Team Schmitz, they’d be glad to tell you about it.

I have been fighting a nasty cold all week, which has already led to me catastrophizing about being sick at the Jacksonville Marathon next weekend. I even thought about bailing on this race last night,  and would have, had I not already registered. Luckily I woke up feeling OK and decided to run it as a race. I thought about possibly running it at tempo pace, but my ego cant handle being Trophied.

Got there an hour early and ran 2 miles warmup with Trophy and the Code. Diesel did the last  bit with us before exiting to Chernobylize the Fitness Zone bathroom.  Anton, Greg, Geary, Teo, J-Reeves, Buckleup, Team Diesel, Karen and her Sweet T, Ted, Billy Tisdale and Team Howell were all present. I think the start was running a little late because the RD shouted go about a microsecond after we all toed the line.  Kevin Kelley missed the start and blasted past me about a quarter mile in. Pace was nuts in the first half mile – a bunch of kids went out in sub 5 pace and then crashed and burned, but all us old folks had too much pride not to follow. I hung on to Greg and Billy like a fungus, and I saw Billy keep looking back to see what wild animal they allowed in the race. Hit mile 1 in 6:17, which is a little slower than I thought, but the whole way is slightly uphill. After mile 1 Greg started to give me a case of the dropsies, and Billy surged ahead too. This was too much for my fragile ego to take, so I surged ahead against my better judgement.  I caught back up to Billy, who by this time was probably really tired of being harassed by a panting grizzly bear. Greg blasted even further ahead. There is one decent hill at the turnaround, and I was able to pass Billy, but he passed me back on the ensuing straightaway. They dont close the roads on the backside of the loop so I had to carefully calculate curve tangents and potential death from speeding pickups into my race strategy. Hit mile 2 in 6:26, which is about 20 flat pace, so I knew I had to pick it up to hit my low 19 goal. At this point the course starts a very slight decline, so that helped. Passed Billy again right after mile 2. Greg was remaining strong despite the fact I was started to throw in a dash of early blue shoes. Finally at about 2.5 miles in, I started to gain on him some, which was all the motivation I needed to blast the kick. I had 2 days off leading up to the race because of the cold, and the legs were feeling very strong despite my lungs begging for mercy. I then threw down one of the most vicious kicks unleashed in blue shoes history. Passed Greg with about a quarter to go,  and was running like a headless chicken all the way home, scared to death of Billy coming back, since he usually beats me. Made out the clock at 19 flat at the last turn and crossed in 19:27,  6th overall, 2nd in age group behind the Code. Garmin had 3.16, informal garmin survery all had 3.16-3.18 miles, so probably a shade long.

Jaz Greene, a 15 year old kid who won Springdale, took 1st overall with Anton a mere 7 seconds behind. K. Kelley ended up 3rd despite the late start (18:24) Code took 5th in 18:59. Greg had a big PR with a 19:41, with Billy 10 seconds behind him. Geary finished a shade over 20 and Trophy is on the comeback with a 20:15. Sharon Cole took overall female and Mrs. Diesel managed a 2nd overall, just short of a PR.

Awards were a little chaotic, as they initially excluded the 2nd and 3rd overall male and female winners completely. Diesel must have threatened to break some legs because they eventually corrected themselves and got Anton and J-Ward their medals. I did have them pose for their “first losers” championship picture though.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/11jingle.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/133693336

Next week: JACKSONVILLE!

The Jingle All the Way 5k is a race held in conjunction with the Carolina Carilon parade, where you essentially lead off the parade through the first mile. This race, for whatever reason, has not been one of my best. My first try in 2009 led to my first “shoelace incident”. I was on PR pace when my shoelace and car key started flopping loose, making me have to stop, hold the key and quickly tie the laces back up. I made a valiant effort to regain lost ground and caught up with the pack I was with in the final stretch, only to get a taste of my own blue shoe medicine by Eric McMichael. The guy completely obliterated my kick. This was of course before I knew he could lay down a 54 sec quarter like he was out for a jog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8tezHE9nyE  Last year I ran what I thought was a strong race, overtaking Amy and Greg with the kick, but still finishing way over 20 minutes (20:15 I think). Its worthy of mention this race has a hill…a long, first gradual, then lung-blasting, lactic-acid-producing, and spirit-crushingly steep incline.  I used to hate it in undergrad, when I had a class at the coliseum and had to hike back to my dorm on top of that mountain. Losing the backpack and about 20 pounds hasnt made it any less painful, unfortunately.

Other than the killer hill, the course is not too bad. You start with about a half mile little loop around main street where all the parade crowd is, reminiscent of the Ray Tanner start. Read: you will go out way too fast. After the loop you plunge down Gervais st into the vista. You will continue to go too fast. Flat stretch on Lincoln St where you will start to feel the ridiculously fast mile you just did, then make a left turn. At that turn, any hope of having a good time or otherwise enjoying your race will be instantly gone. A half mile of pain and suffering awaits, where you will either actually will or will at least contemplate the walk of shame. Course never seems to level out until the Russell House, after which there are some rolling hills that loops you back into downtown and the finish. Oh wait, maybe it is kind of bad.

Got there an hour early, did just under 3 miles warmup with the Code and JB – had to orient JB to Mt Greene St. Start time was 9:45 – which the flyer states is “9:45- sharp!”. Just in case you thought about moseying up there 9:45″-ish”. Temps were 40’s, some wind, not too bad. Even Trophy didnt complain. Fairly sizable crowd, including a trash talking Tigs, who had her sights on taking down the blue shoes after her 19:15 last week.  Code, Trophy/Lady McGaha/Sweet T , JB, Greg, Jen with a race whisperer who looked awfully familiar, Team Allers, Meg, Teo, Geary were all in attendance. Derek Gomez was back from tri season to make the 35-39 AG even more brutal.

The start was bollocks fast, totally pants. I hadnt done any speedwork this week, having twisted my back a little last Sunday, so it felt like I was getting beat down from step one. I was instantly getting gapped by Greg, Tigs, Meg and Derek, and I was trying my psychiatrist best not to switch into panic mode. The crowd seemed a little more subdued than last year, but it still got crazy as we completed the short downtown loop and went flying down into the Vista. My goal was just to hang on to my position on the downhill, because for some paradoxical reason I cant transmit the potential energy of my gorilla physique into any speed on the decline. Finally got to the flat part and hit mile 1 in 6:09 by the almighty Garmin. Wasnt until after mile 1 that I finally caught up with Teo, who must of done just over 6 flat, and was still talking in full sentences. Greg and Tigs were still ahead but closer. I have delusions of grandeur that I’m a good hill climber, having developed Ask Naomi style defined quads from carrying around my sasquatch self, so I hit the hill hard. I started passing people but Greg and Tigs were maintaining pace pretty well. Then we got to the steep part and the hill hit me back..even harder. I havent looked closely at the garmin graph, but by the top of greene I was at a virtual walk. Legs were cooperating OK but that whole oxygen exchange thing wasnt working so well. I did catch up to Greg, who then latched on to me and chased me like a rabid dog. I was sucking wind for about a quarter mile after the hill, in a delirium past the Russell House and my old dorm (Woodrow), lungs begging for mercy. Finally started breathing again on the downslope to Pickens, where Greg had started to gap me again and a nasty 640 split came up on the Garmin. The turn on to Pickens gave me some more motivation, as I could see almost the whole field ahead of me. I started an early blue shoes, as I knew Id have to make up some serious time to even go sub 20. Managed to pass Tigs and caught up to Greg, who was matching the kick pretty well this time. Suddenly I saw the Code who was looking wounded up ahead, with Meg and Derek leaving him behind. Managed to gap Greg right before the turn to the last straightaway and  was painfully close to Code/Meg/Derek, but they were all throwing down pretty hard with the finish clock in sight. Whats worse is that my Garmin had beeped the 3 mile just after the turn, and it seemed like an endless stretch to the finish. Clock was already at 19:40ish when I could make it out, and I just didnt have enough to really crush it at the end. Fell short of the pack in front of me and crossed the line in 20:06, a full minute slower than my last 5k.

Looked at my Garmin, which showed a 6:11 mile 3 split and a 3.20 mile total distance. I know this course is certified, but this thing has got to be long based on my informal Garmin survey and just the slow times in general.  There is obviously the hill to slow things down, but the times are way slower than even that could account for. The bitterness got worse when I realized I placed 4th in age group, missing 3rd by 7th seconds and 1st by 16 seconds. Bummer. Got 13th overall. The guy that won my age group (Brad Bell) also won the AG at gov cup, and must be commuting on weekends from Solon, Ohio. Gotta figure that one out. Plexico easily won by over a minute. Two kids, including a 13 year old, took the 2-3 spots, followed closely by Mr Allers. An out-of-towner won the women’s race, with Meg and Tigs taking the next two spots.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/11JINGLEALLTHEWAY.TXT

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/images/11jinglealltheway.pdf      Sharp.

http://www.carolinacarillon.com/RaceRoute.pdf    Course Map.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/132734988  Garmin plot.

This race is the third one in Columbia this week, following the Shandon Turkey Trot 8k and the Sleigh Bell Trot 5k in Saluda Shoals. I did the first two last year and decided to sit this race out so this was my first time at this event. Its not on the Tour de Columbia, but is on the Palmetto Grand Prix, so it draws a big, very competitive crowd.

This race was the first chance for my brother Ben and I to run a race together, as he made a goal of doing this race after coming back from years of back trouble preventing his running. He was a pretty good cross country runner for Dutch Fork back in the mid nineties, with a 16:45 PR I think. I’m pretty sure he could beat me then, with my grueling training regimen of quiz team practice and working on the school newspaper.  That and eating a lot. He was my unofficial coach when I was starting running,  and he’d usually be the first person I’d text with each new PR.  So the least I could do is help pace him to a 21 min 5k. He has been training pretty faithfully since he started again when we had our family vacation at Folly Beach back in July, though he has to be careful with the back trouble. I knew he was getting back in form because he raced a trail 5k  a few weeks back and managed to run 22 minutes and place 2nd overall.

A 21 minute 5k is 6:46 pace, but this course would be difficult to pace with its big hill taking up a good part of the first mile, and the same crashing downhill 3rd mile.  The course is mostly an out and back starting at the Colonial Center, going up the hill into the USC campus on Pendleton St, turning around just before 5 points then heading back on Senate. There’s a little loop that takes you by Longstreet Theater, Hunter Gatherer and the old Nickelodeon before heading back downhill to the Colonial Center again.  I knew even pace wouldnt work out with the change in elevation, so I figured a good 21 minute estimate would be halfway between Lady McGaha and Crazy Legs Schmitz.  Shoes were triple knotted this time around to avoid last Saturday’s fiasco.

The start was crazy at this race.  Ben and I were just standing around when all of a sudden Selwyn says go and the pack takes off.  I usually start first or second row, and rarely do races of this size (650 runners) so the first quarter mile felt pretty chaotic. I was dodging kids, strollers and the median and trying not to lose Ben behind me. Luckily the hill started to thin out the pack a little, especially the brutal stretch leading up to Assembly.  I knew Ben was laboring a little so I tried to rein in my tendency to blast up hills as quickly as possible to shorten the pain. Schmitz was just ahead and I told Ben that we would try to catch him and hold his pace for a majority of the race. He also is the only person large enough to provide a draft for us two saquatches.  As we approached the first mile, I panicked a little, as I saw we were way off the  7 minute split I had hoped for. Had to pick it up just to hit 7:17.  Guess Crazy Legs was slacking. The course finally leveled out and I could tell Ben was feeling better, so I tried to gently press the pace a bit.  The turnaround had a quick steep hill, where we finally caught William.  I had lost track of Trophy. Heading back on Senate was rolling but slightly downhill and Ben was able to keep right on my heels.  Thought we were back on pace at mile 2, but saw a disappointing 6:56 split. Told Ben we were going to have to crush it to get 21, to which he surpisingly said OK. I really started to ramp it up on the first part of the loop down sumter st, and Ben faded a bit, but as I turned the corner he was right by my side, and dude started throwing down a brutal kick.  He started surging ahead and I really had to lay the hammer down to pace ahead of him.  We were picking off roadkill left and right, and  by the time we hit the downhill stretch I was basically pulling my 5k race pace. I could see Trophy and he was in danger of getting blue and yellow shoed for awhile, though he did respond with his own kick to prevent this. Near the arena I caught the garmin split at 6:17, which I honestly thought I misread. The finish seemed to be a bit far away though, and as we rounded the last turn, 21:10’s were on the clock. I tried to time an exact simultaneous finish, but it seemed Ben wanted to give me the glory, so we crossed at 21:22 and 21:23. Ben was happy with the time, which was the goal. My Garmin had the certified course at 3.16, and exactly 6:46 pace.  The race was a lot of fun for me, and it also felt great not to feel like I was going to pass out or puke at the end.

Ben’s wife Cindy also ran this race, and ran a strong sub 36 just 5 weeks out from giving birth. Crazy. Code was very proud of not getting chicked by Amy for once, though both of their times suggested a slightly long course. Greg didnt care about the long course and rocked his first sub 20, finishing in 19:59 and taking his age group also by a single second.  This was after 10 Bodourov style miles yesterday, I believe. Anton took 1st easily in his age group with an 18:10.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/results/11BGCM.txt

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/130642156

The Shandon Turkey Trot is a combined 4k/8k that is one of the oldest races in Columbia, celebrating its 30th year this year. It has prize money and usually attracts a pretty competitive crowd.  Looking back in the results, the 4k has usually been a walk with only a handful of people actually racing it, and the 8k has had some super fast winning times – the race actually offers a 100 dollar bonus for anyone beating the course record (held by both Selwyn Blake and Eric Ashton) of 24:15.  Thats  4:50ish pace, so I think their money is safe.

I’ve done this race only once before (in 2009), as last year it conflicted with the Colonial Cup. It was my first 8k then, and it was one of my better races at the time with a 34:05. I had only tried to break seven minute pace, but the course is so PR friendly I had done a lot better than I thought. I do distinctly remember, however, getting outkicked in that race by a guy pushing a stroller and talking in full sentences to his toddler. Running has a way of reminding you that “fast” is a very relative term.

This is definitely a “fast” course – a simple rectangle in the relatively flat Shandon neighborhood that is repeated twice for the 8k. Start and finish is next to Hand Middle School, the same finish line that is shared by about 6 other races. It is a sacred place for the blue shoes, as this is where the first pair made its debut in Feb. 2010 and instantly produced my first sub 20 5k. That being said, this is not my favorite type of course. I just cant stand the “two loops”.  Psychologically this makes me feel like the first loop is just a way of tiring you out before the race really begins, and it definitely sucks to pass a finish line youre not allowed to cross yet. Its one of the main reasons I havent been excited about trying the Kiawah marathon, which is also a two looper.

Race time was 8 am, got there my traditional hour in advance, and did a warmup with Amy, who used to run the same times as  me but now has become a blazing machine of speed. Temps were chilly but had warmed up into the 40’s by race time, no real wind. This is the first race that I’ve done in forever without the Code, which actually left the age group a little more open, though Angel showed up to make sure I had no hope of taking first.  I usually become Angel’s and Code’s biggest supporter during their races, because if they can take an overall 1-2-3 placement than I can get my consolation prize age group win. A critical award factor is that the top 2 age group finishers get a much-coveted turkey trophy, while 3rd place gets you a tiny “running man” one. I still have the running man from my 2009 3rd place. A lot of people showed up this year, but I was surprised to see no super elite guys (i.e. Ashton or Striggles, or even Plexico or Dimery). I figured Angel or Brandenburg actually had the best chances of winning this race when I was at the start.  Women’s side was easily Amy for the win and Megan, Amanda and Tigs fighting it out for the rest.   My goal in this race was to PR and possibly pull a sub 32 (equivalent to a sub 20 5k pace through 8k).

Race starts are always crazy fast, but this one seemed particularly ridiculous. I paced with Greg ,Tigs and Geary, and the Amanda/Megan tandem was already leaving me for dead. There were a lot of strong age groupers in this race, and I felt a lot more back in the pack then my ego liked. At about a half mile in, disaster struck – I felt a loosening of my left shoe and sure enough the  long, thin, hard-t0-tie laces were completely undone. I immediately thought I would have to stop to re-tie, but given the competition in this race, and my goal to PR, I might as well have dropped out, so I kept going. The constant whipping of the laces on both my ankles sucked and made me wish I wasnt so ridiculously, maniacally competitive. Hit the first split at 6:19, which, as Greg would and did say, was “a little loud”. I was thinking of 6:30, negative splitting to 6:20 and hitting 32 on the mark, but as usual all strategy went to hell with the starting gun. I tried to keep up with my pack, but the second mile saw Geary and Greg start to gap me. I dont know if it was the laces or not, or whether that’s a convenient excuse, but just wasnt feeling it like last week.  Second mile was about 6:34, which wasnt too bad. The loop is roughly 2.5 miles, and as I came upon the end of the first loop, I saw the clock turn over to 16 and probably hit the 1st loop split at about 16:20ish, certainly well over the sub 32 goal and a little worse than my PR. Tigs was still at my side, and I thought she was laboring a bit, but as soon as the first turn of the second loop ended, she threw down a burst of speed and abandoned me on the side of the road. It suddenly got very quiet, and I could tell there must of been a huge gap behind me, which made me feel like I was in last place. The sag wagon of the age groupers. Hit mile 3 in 6:30 something, and I was hurting pretty bad, trying to get over the mental hump that this was not a 5k. It was approximately a mile and a quarter left as I circled back toward the finish line, and I could see the whole group ahead of me – Some unknown guy who seemed very late 30ish a few meters ahead, Greg about 20 meters ahead of him, followed in succession by Tigs, Geary, Megamanda, and the same dude (Matt) who latched on to me on Devine St at Gov Cup (also in my age group. By mile 4, 630ish again, I had pretty much given up on my goal, my PR, or really even passing anyone else. Stopping to tie my shoe was reentering my mind as a nice excuse instead of the reality of just getting beat down. After a brief incline, the road shifted and gave way to a distant view of the finish. Somewhere back in my obsessive race memory, I remembered this as the same finish to Race Judicata, where Blue Shoes 1.0 debuted, a 0.37 mile straightaway to glory. So I threw down. Not a surge, not even a kick, but a balls-out, lung blasting, headless chicken blast off. Burned past age grouper dude, and caught Greg just before the last cross street. Anton’s going to ride him even harder this week. Then I saw Tigs just ahead and the clock came into focus at 32:20ish. Pace went into the 4:30’s as I saw a PR and roadkill possibility in the last 20 meters. Went flying past Tigs, who blurted out some English curse or something, with maybe all of 10 feet remaining, and hit the finish mat right at 32:34. PR by 3 seconds. Had to suck wind for at least half a minute to breathe again and not to give up my breakfast, a classic blue shoes finish. Pictures on Strictly running’s photo site preserves the moment for posterity:

http://www.photoreflect.com/store/Orderpage.aspx?pi=1K1000BS000107&po=107&pc=546

Not a pretty finish, but then mine never are. Thanks to Angel winning the whole thing (in an awesome 29:59) , I managed 2nd in age group and got my turkey trophy. Matt took first. Turns out the other guy near me was like 50 and I was just having 35-39 hallucinations.  Aubrey Johnson, a kid who finished behind me in 2009, took 2nd, and Eric Allers took 3rd. JB took 8th and 1st in AG. Amy took the womens race and chicked Brandenburg, finishing 6th. Meg apparently outkicked Amanda and they finished 3 seconds apart. Geary had a very strong race and gapped me just enough to fend off the blue shoeing. I took 14th overall, followed by Tigs and Greg, who took 1st and 2nd in thier age groups, Sarah by over 10 minutes.

http://www.strictlyrunning.com/RESULTS/11SHANDON.TXT