beer 302
Footballguy
Charlotte Thunder Road Half Marathon
Great race, weather was perfect, chilly this morning before the start @ 37 degree's but the wind chill had it around 30. Went out to the start line and it was like the Gods smiled down on us and stopped the wind, clear day so full sun made it just right. Myself & another guy from work had planned to run together but ole boy had other plans starting out and left me in the dust at mile two. I just couldn't keep the pace he was at and realized early on if I wanted to simply finish I had to dial it back. Course itself was a mother. Seemed like it was just one uphill after another. The part of the course I was most worried about was actually the easier half. I should have focused on the back half cause it kicked my butt. All those hills I've been running helped but two words. . .NOT ENOUGH! We don't have anything comparable to the length of uphills I ran today around here. Here's the Runkeeper link if you are interested.
Miles 1-3: 8:07/8:33/8:42 - Too fast for my fat ###. Not sure what the pace dude was thinking since we were shooting for 9:00 but whatever. Just glad I realized early on to cut loose and just run. I think he was wanting to bank time but I don't have that kind pace for this distance. He finished right at 1:59:55 so goal accomplished but I just couldn't hang with him.
Miles 4-6: 8:56/9:43/9:19 - First big hill that had me worried. Ran it a few weeks ago so I felt good about making it and when I crested felt good. Unfortunately that is where I stopped a few weeks ago so I didn't realize that we turn and keep going uphill for another 1/2 mile or so. Still felt ok because there was finally a downhill coming up to gain some time and rest a little. It was one of only a few that I distinctly remember on the course.
Miles 7-9: 9:01/9:38/9:12 - And now I'm into the part of the course I've driven but never run. Bunny hills through the neighborhoods of Charlotte. Lot harder than I anticipated but was still churning it out. The folks along the route came out in force and continued to encourage all of us. That was pretty cool considering how early & cold it was out. Big ups to all of them.
Miles 10-12: 8:45/9:22/9:34 - Figured I was right at or around my pace time, which I was (9:08) so I also knew that if I was running at pace now I was going to be behind by the finish. My body didn't seem to care. I tried to push as much as I could to compensate but it wasn't enough in the end. Again, I underestimated the hills at the end of this course, they were pretty tough to finish on.
Mile 13: 9:54 - The ##### in the box told me I was still right on my pace so I was feeling encouraged but mile 12 sapped any kick I had so it was a matter of just finishing at this point. Gave it all I had and finished with legs feeling like molten lead. Crossed the line at 2:03:36. Runkeeper had me at 2:03:37 with a distance of 13.56 (apparently I took the scenic route). Funny thing was Runkeeper has me at my pace I wanted to hit 9:07 so something is screwy but overall, given the course, I'm happy with the results. Went in wanting to finish under 2 but it was not to be today and frankly, don't think I would have had it in me regardless of the training I put in. Next year probably but this year, don't think it was in the cards.
Great race, weather was perfect, chilly this morning before the start @ 37 degree's but the wind chill had it around 30. Went out to the start line and it was like the Gods smiled down on us and stopped the wind, clear day so full sun made it just right. Myself & another guy from work had planned to run together but ole boy had other plans starting out and left me in the dust at mile two. I just couldn't keep the pace he was at and realized early on if I wanted to simply finish I had to dial it back. Course itself was a mother. Seemed like it was just one uphill after another. The part of the course I was most worried about was actually the easier half. I should have focused on the back half cause it kicked my butt. All those hills I've been running helped but two words. . .NOT ENOUGH! We don't have anything comparable to the length of uphills I ran today around here. Here's the Runkeeper link if you are interested.
Miles 1-3: 8:07/8:33/8:42 - Too fast for my fat ###. Not sure what the pace dude was thinking since we were shooting for 9:00 but whatever. Just glad I realized early on to cut loose and just run. I think he was wanting to bank time but I don't have that kind pace for this distance. He finished right at 1:59:55 so goal accomplished but I just couldn't hang with him.
Miles 4-6: 8:56/9:43/9:19 - First big hill that had me worried. Ran it a few weeks ago so I felt good about making it and when I crested felt good. Unfortunately that is where I stopped a few weeks ago so I didn't realize that we turn and keep going uphill for another 1/2 mile or so. Still felt ok because there was finally a downhill coming up to gain some time and rest a little. It was one of only a few that I distinctly remember on the course.
Miles 7-9: 9:01/9:38/9:12 - And now I'm into the part of the course I've driven but never run. Bunny hills through the neighborhoods of Charlotte. Lot harder than I anticipated but was still churning it out. The folks along the route came out in force and continued to encourage all of us. That was pretty cool considering how early & cold it was out. Big ups to all of them.
Miles 10-12: 8:45/9:22/9:34 - Figured I was right at or around my pace time, which I was (9:08) so I also knew that if I was running at pace now I was going to be behind by the finish. My body didn't seem to care. I tried to push as much as I could to compensate but it wasn't enough in the end. Again, I underestimated the hills at the end of this course, they were pretty tough to finish on.
Mile 13: 9:54 - The ##### in the box told me I was still right on my pace so I was feeling encouraged but mile 12 sapped any kick I had so it was a matter of just finishing at this point. Gave it all I had and finished with legs feeling like molten lead. Crossed the line at 2:03:36. Runkeeper had me at 2:03:37 with a distance of 13.56 (apparently I took the scenic route). Funny thing was Runkeeper has me at my pace I wanted to hit 9:07 so something is screwy but overall, given the course, I'm happy with the results. Went in wanting to finish under 2 but it was not to be today and frankly, don't think I would have had it in me regardless of the training I put in. Next year probably but this year, don't think it was in the cards.
to your pacer. Even if he was trying to bank a little time, that's way too fast and he basically smoked his group.
. For someone that only had one ten miler under his belt, I'm impressed with that time. Stick with it and you'll be a speedster, CN. 
That area is right near our summer cottage (I grew up in G.R.). The start is 5 miles away, and the bike course passes a 1/2 mile from our cottage. I just ran the main portion of the run course as part of an 18 mile training run this summer, and I've biked much of the course already. Well, I guess I know what my mid-range goal is (once I finish my dissertation in 15 months and can get back to the tri's in 2014 or 2015). ---
---On my end just another day out there - 10 miles at roughly 9 minute pace. That gives me 5 hours for the weekend. Good enough.
I just came back from our kindergartner's parent/teacher conference. Waddling through the school was humbling. My quads and hips are shredded. :X 
I was going to post almost everything between my waist and knee's is in pain but it's gotten better today. Workout in the gym this morning helped, probably put in a nice slow run tomorrow.
Mile 19 was the start of the Manyunk section which had some good hills to it. Somewhere around here SC pulled away. I tried staying with him on the hill, but I had no answer so I tried to stay smart and fell back. It was here that I looked down and saw my HRM showing - - -. Well crap. We were running off of his HRM the whole way. That spooked me a bit. Was I pushing too hard the whole way? Nahhhhhh, I felt fantastic up to this point. Screw it. It's too late to worry about that now.
GB. Well done. We waddled our way back to the gear check to get his stuff. He checks his phone to see our times (he had signed up for the text updates). He gets this look on his face like he just saw a ghost and showed me the update from CN's race. He had a 2:09 HM split and was on target for a 4:2x marathon. WTF?!?! Did he miss the split?!?!?! Nah, that's nearly impossible! Come to find out SC signed up for the wrong CN. Whew! I was freaking out thinking he was stuck on the marathon course. 
