Friday night before the race, I tried to go to bed a little early to get a good night sleep. I woke up at midnight after my first dream. I dreamed that the marathon was in a house. Each lap around the house was a mile. I started strong and finished my 26 laps. When I looked up at the microwave, which was the mile marker, I had run 3.1 miles. A 5K! I felt so defeated, I quit and didn't finish. You can obviously tell that no matter how positive I was trying to be, subconsciously, I was not feeling too good.
I woke up around 6, thanks to the boys. I got dressed and ate a banana. I was contemplating if I should bring my fuel belt or not. I eventually figured that there were enough stops that I wouldn't need my own, so I stuffed one pocket full of Gu's and the other with my cell and a baggy of peanut butter crackers. I grabbed 2 cereal bars and headed out the a little before 7. I thought it would be good to be around the other runner and get my adrenaline going. I ate the cereal bars on the way to the starting area, which was only a couple of blocks from my hotel.
The 8K started right on time at 7, but I didn't see them off. The half marathon runners lined up. I was looking around for the pre-race water stop, but I couldn't find it. In hindsight, I don't think I had enough fluids to start the race. The half started right on time at 7:30. It took well over 6 minutes for the last of the runners in the back to cross the start. I knew I'd be starting pretty far back, so I'm not even going to consider my gun time. I'm just going to care about my watch and chip time. For the mile split times, I'll be going by watch time.
The marathon started right on time at 8am. I didn't actually cross the start until at least 3-4 minutes after, which I thought was pretty good. I was expecting more. The first few miles went by pretty quickly. The first 2 weren't that pretty, but there were lots of people cheering, so it made for a good time. At the beginning of mile 3 was the turn onto Monument Ave, which was a really pretty street with old houses and statues at some of the intersections. This part of the course was flat and very hard to keep slow. Miles 5-7 went through some residential areas. Lots of cheering people lined the course. I think mile 7 was where the first party zone was. It's hard to tell where the official party zones were, since there were only 3, but I saw at least 6 or 7 bands throughout the day, not to mention 4-5 dj stations along the way. Mile 8 was the first of the two bridges. This was the easier of the 2. I honestly can't remember hitting many hills to this point. There were a couple, but they were over so quickly, I really can't say any were difficult. That's the beauty of training on the hills of Umstead. Mile 9 and part of 10 ran on River Road along the James River. People were commenting on how high the river was. The news in the morning was reporting that there might a detour if the river rose too much. We made it fine, but the water was rough and dirty looking, and there were no cheering people here, so this mile+ was boring. There were a number of runners here using the woods on the side for bathroom breaks. I contemplated it myself, but I tried to hold it out. In hindsight, I should have stopped here. Miles 11-15 were on a major street and were pretty uneventful except for the people lining the streets. The one thing to note here is that my bladder finally got the best of me. I think it was just after the mile 14 marker. Looking at my mile 15 split shows I wasted more than a minute of my time here. It was probably more, but I ran faster to make some time up. I have to say up to this point, I was feeling great. Mile 16 was the infamous Lee Bridge, and the whole time going up it, I kept thinking to myself that it wasn't bad. It was not steep at all. I know there was an incline, but it was so gradual that I'd describe it as a false flat. I think the thing that made the bridge easy, was that there was only a light wind. The next two miles, 17 and 18 were a little harder than 16. They were each a steady incline, so this last stretch was pretty much a 3 mile hill. All in all, I'm still feeling good, though I am starting to feel tired. Night and day between this and last year's two marathons where my quads were cramping at mile 16. Miles 19 and 20 continue through different types of neighborhoods. I'm pretty sure we've gone through everything from low-income to upscale neighborhoods, and throughout each one the locals have been really supportive. Mile 21 is where I think I started to feel like I was wearing down. It was all starting to get blurry. I remember passing the old Richmond Braves baseball stadium, Virginia Commonwealth University and some other school, but I couldn't tell you where at this point. Just as I started mile 25, I felt my quads starting to cramp. I thought to myself that's a lot better than mile 16, and I kept pushing. The only thing that has stopped me so far was fuel stops, and I wasn't about to give up now. I was determined to finish this running the whole way, even though I was starting to realize that I might miss my 4:45 goal. It was going to be close, so I needed to push if I had any chance. Mile 25 and 26 had a couple of rolling parts, but I only noticed because it was mile 25 and 26. If it was mile 1 and 2, it wouldn't have felt like anything. There was a point toward the end of mile 25 that my quads were cramping so bad that I slowed to a walking pace with high steps to try and loosen them up a bit. I didn't walk for more than 30 seconds though and started to run again. At about the 25.5 mark, you make a few turns then the last turn leads you to the final .5 mile downhill finish. This was my favorite part of the race. I just let gravity take me and sprinted down the hill. One of the coolest things about this marathon is that they have your first name printed on your race bib, just below your number. Throughout the day, I got a lot of "way to go, Frank" type cheers, but the whole half mile, person after person yells, "Go Frank" the whole way down and adrenaline takes over. My sprint was great. I think one person passed me, but I passed a bunch more people. Right before the finish I caught the site of Jen and the boys on my left and hearing them yell out go daddy broke me down. I was fighting back tears as I came into through the finish. I stopped over to the side to pretend to stretch, because I didn't want anyone see me getting teared up. The emotion got me more this time because I actually felt really proud of myself this time that I didn't quit. I fought through all my physical and emotional crap and finished as strong as I could.
Here are my splits according to my watch.
Mile 1 - 10:45
Mile 2 - 10:40
Mile 3 - 10:44
Mile 4 - 10:32
Mile 5 - 10:39
Mile 6 - 11:00
Mile 7 - 10:29
Mile 8 - 10:45
Mile 9 - 10:44
Mile 10 - 10:55
Mile 11 - 11:08
Mile 12 - 10:40
Mile 13 - 10:48
Mile 14 - 10:34
Mile 15 - 12:09
Mile 16 - 10:51
Mile 17 - 11:18
Mile 18 - 10:38
Mile 19 - 10:30
Mile 20 - 10:45
Mile 21 - 10:58
Mile 22 - 10:55
Mile 23 - 11:06
Mile 24 - 11:02
Mile 25 - 11:18
Mile 26 - 11:12
Remaining .43 - 3:56 (9:13 pace)
Official times were:
Half split - 2:22:11
20 mile split - 3:38:07
Finish - 4:46:58
Gun time - 4:50:48
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Cary Road Race 10K Race Report
When I first moved to Cary two years ago, I was trying to get my runner's legs back, and my shape, since I had gained about 30 pounds at my stressful NYC job, so I decided I'd ease back in with a 5K. Just about two months into living here came the Cary Road Race. They have a 5K and a 10K. There was no way I was ready for a 10K, but a 5K was doable. I finished that race in 30:31 for a 9:49 pace. Nothing ground breaking, but ok considering my shape at the time.
I missed this race last year, but I decided to do the 10K this year, especially since SAS sponsors employees for it. That means they pay $10, so it only cost me $8. Can beat that for a 10K. I forgot the course, but basically, the 10K is the 5K twice. It's a pretty nice course. It starts at the Kokobooth Amphitheater. You run up onto a road lined with large businesses and communities. It's actually a fairly nice tree lined street. This is, however, where the one major challenging hill is. It's not killer, but very solid.
Prior to race, I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to run. I did something to my right hamstring on Thursday's run. It didn't bother much on Thursday, but by Friday, my hamstring was very tight and sore. It didn't feel like a pull, but then again, I've never pulled a hamstring, so it may very well have been a pull. It just felt like it was really tight. I decided to go and see if I can warm up and loosen it up. If not, then I would not run. I tried some light jogging in the parking lot, followed by stretching. I did this a few times. At first it hurt to extend my leg, but as I stretched, I started feeling much better. By the start of the race, I felt great and decided to stay. The pre-race crowd observations were fun. Usually for anything more than a 5K you see mostly runners. This crowd was still mixed. You had the serious runners and the "I run, but I'm not going to win" runners. But strangely, you had the "I'm in shape, so I'm going to run, but look at me with all my make up and matching clothes" kind of people. Not the mention the "I'm big an muscular and fit, so I can run even though I've never run" kind of people. I usually only note seeing them at 5Ks, but here they are.
Anyway, the race starts pretty flat for a bit along side of the amphitheatre parking lot. It's pretty uneventful until about the .5 mile mark when you hit the pseudo-big hill. I had forgotten about it, so I hit it in stride and handled it pretty well. After the hill, you get a stretch of light rolling to the turnaround point, and the light rolling back to the hill, which is of course now a nice downhill until you get to the lake. The course then turns onto the trail that goes around the lake and behind the amphitheater. This is probably a little more than a mile stretch. It's fairly flat around the lake and it's really pretty. Once off the lake trail, you head back toward the starting line and a turnaround to repeat the course again. The only problem with this is that now I'm thinking about the hill. Again, it wasn't killer, but definitely tough. I unfortunately let it get me mentally, and I took a walking break about half way up the hill. I only stopped for about 30 seconds and started up again. Once I got up the hill, I knew I was in the clear. I was feeling good to the turn around and back down the hill. The lake trail was surprising hard the second time around. It felt flatter the first time, but now I'm thinking it might have been a false flat. I was passed the 5 mile mark now and starting to feel tired, but I kept pushing. The race finishes back toward the start line, but then turns into the parking lot and then turns onto a trail that finishes just inside the amphitheatre grounds. I was running out of steam at this point, but I pushed as hard as I could to get to the finish strong.
My official time was 59:51 (9:37 pace,) which wasn't great, but considering how my year started with my heart stuff, I'd have to say, I'm pretty satisfied. I didn't go in with a goal, but I'd say a 9:37 pace would have been a pretty good one.
The best part of this race, though, is that my favorite bread place, Great Harvest, is a sponsor and has a table. I grabbed a piece of their cinnimon bread with some honey. That was definitely the best part ;)
I missed this race last year, but I decided to do the 10K this year, especially since SAS sponsors employees for it. That means they pay $10, so it only cost me $8. Can beat that for a 10K. I forgot the course, but basically, the 10K is the 5K twice. It's a pretty nice course. It starts at the Kokobooth Amphitheater. You run up onto a road lined with large businesses and communities. It's actually a fairly nice tree lined street. This is, however, where the one major challenging hill is. It's not killer, but very solid.
Prior to race, I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to run. I did something to my right hamstring on Thursday's run. It didn't bother much on Thursday, but by Friday, my hamstring was very tight and sore. It didn't feel like a pull, but then again, I've never pulled a hamstring, so it may very well have been a pull. It just felt like it was really tight. I decided to go and see if I can warm up and loosen it up. If not, then I would not run. I tried some light jogging in the parking lot, followed by stretching. I did this a few times. At first it hurt to extend my leg, but as I stretched, I started feeling much better. By the start of the race, I felt great and decided to stay. The pre-race crowd observations were fun. Usually for anything more than a 5K you see mostly runners. This crowd was still mixed. You had the serious runners and the "I run, but I'm not going to win" runners. But strangely, you had the "I'm in shape, so I'm going to run, but look at me with all my make up and matching clothes" kind of people. Not the mention the "I'm big an muscular and fit, so I can run even though I've never run" kind of people. I usually only note seeing them at 5Ks, but here they are.
Anyway, the race starts pretty flat for a bit along side of the amphitheatre parking lot. It's pretty uneventful until about the .5 mile mark when you hit the pseudo-big hill. I had forgotten about it, so I hit it in stride and handled it pretty well. After the hill, you get a stretch of light rolling to the turnaround point, and the light rolling back to the hill, which is of course now a nice downhill until you get to the lake. The course then turns onto the trail that goes around the lake and behind the amphitheater. This is probably a little more than a mile stretch. It's fairly flat around the lake and it's really pretty. Once off the lake trail, you head back toward the starting line and a turnaround to repeat the course again. The only problem with this is that now I'm thinking about the hill. Again, it wasn't killer, but definitely tough. I unfortunately let it get me mentally, and I took a walking break about half way up the hill. I only stopped for about 30 seconds and started up again. Once I got up the hill, I knew I was in the clear. I was feeling good to the turn around and back down the hill. The lake trail was surprising hard the second time around. It felt flatter the first time, but now I'm thinking it might have been a false flat. I was passed the 5 mile mark now and starting to feel tired, but I kept pushing. The race finishes back toward the start line, but then turns into the parking lot and then turns onto a trail that finishes just inside the amphitheatre grounds. I was running out of steam at this point, but I pushed as hard as I could to get to the finish strong.
My official time was 59:51 (9:37 pace,) which wasn't great, but considering how my year started with my heart stuff, I'd have to say, I'm pretty satisfied. I didn't go in with a goal, but I'd say a 9:37 pace would have been a pretty good one.
The best part of this race, though, is that my favorite bread place, Great Harvest, is a sponsor and has a table. I grabbed a piece of their cinnimon bread with some honey. That was definitely the best part ;)
Saturday, January 24, 2009
I miss running
Since I had my procedure this week, I haven't been able to run for obvious reasons. The hardest thing about all this is that I won't be able to run for the next two weeks. I can start exercising on Monday, but I'll have to limit it to the elliptical trainer and spin bike for a bit.
I'm going to have to put off Coach Bubba, but I'm going to see what spring half marathons there are in the area that I can start training for once my hiatus is over...
I'm going to have to put off Coach Bubba, but I'm going to see what spring half marathons there are in the area that I can start training for once my hiatus is over...
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