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Ran a 10k - Official Thread (24 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ned
- Start date
JShare87
Footballguy
Quick race report.
1st Annual Sugar Plum 5K/10K
As I said before, i signed up for this before my hamstring/back issue (still have no clue what’s wrong with me). I didn’t want to back out, because 10K is my favorite distance and this is my home turf. I literally drive my car to this neighborhood just to run most of the time because it is a really nice area.
On to the race.....
I see a bunch of high school kids that I’ve came in 2nd to multiple times. I ask them if they’re running the 5 or 10 and they all respond 5 (early victory for me). The race starts and i slip into about 10th. The high schoolers are in front. I settle behind an older man that runs flat 20s in the 5K no matter what. We start picking people off and then we get to the split. I am in 5th at this point directly behind the 5K winners. 3 our of 4 head home for the 5K and i am chasing one man for the 10K. He looks strong, and in my mind i say, “here comes another 2nd.”
So i end up passing the guy at about mile 4. As i passed him, he seemed to be laboring. I was hurting but could easily maintain the pace. At the 5 mile mark, i put some serious distance between me and him. The last mile, a man on a bike followed me into the home stretch. It was dark and the finish line was lit up pretty good. The man on the bike began announcing 1st place 10K to the crowd. It was really cool to come into the home stretch like that. Also, my entire family was there (about 12 total people).
Overall, i was really happy with the 1st place overall. I was a bit disappointed with my time, but considering i haven’t really been running, I’ll take it. The weather was 74 with 90% humidity. My leg was in pain most of the race but i was able to keep going. I have one more race and then i am going to shut it down until my back/leg heals up. One thing i want to mention is that my fitness is at an all-time high. Based on my training, i know i am capable of so much more on race days. However, i get pretty bad anxiety before races and can’t calm myself down. My HR is always way higher than it should be and that hurts me during these races. Anyone else experience this?
Also, sorry about my lowercase i letters throughout this post. I have that iPhone issue where it turns them into question marks. Have a great night everyone!
Hang10, go out there and represent! You got this! Best of luck, sir!
1st Annual Sugar Plum 5K/10K
As I said before, i signed up for this before my hamstring/back issue (still have no clue what’s wrong with me). I didn’t want to back out, because 10K is my favorite distance and this is my home turf. I literally drive my car to this neighborhood just to run most of the time because it is a really nice area.
On to the race.....
I see a bunch of high school kids that I’ve came in 2nd to multiple times. I ask them if they’re running the 5 or 10 and they all respond 5 (early victory for me). The race starts and i slip into about 10th. The high schoolers are in front. I settle behind an older man that runs flat 20s in the 5K no matter what. We start picking people off and then we get to the split. I am in 5th at this point directly behind the 5K winners. 3 our of 4 head home for the 5K and i am chasing one man for the 10K. He looks strong, and in my mind i say, “here comes another 2nd.”
So i end up passing the guy at about mile 4. As i passed him, he seemed to be laboring. I was hurting but could easily maintain the pace. At the 5 mile mark, i put some serious distance between me and him. The last mile, a man on a bike followed me into the home stretch. It was dark and the finish line was lit up pretty good. The man on the bike began announcing 1st place 10K to the crowd. It was really cool to come into the home stretch like that. Also, my entire family was there (about 12 total people).
Overall, i was really happy with the 1st place overall. I was a bit disappointed with my time, but considering i haven’t really been running, I’ll take it. The weather was 74 with 90% humidity. My leg was in pain most of the race but i was able to keep going. I have one more race and then i am going to shut it down until my back/leg heals up. One thing i want to mention is that my fitness is at an all-time high. Based on my training, i know i am capable of so much more on race days. However, i get pretty bad anxiety before races and can’t calm myself down. My HR is always way higher than it should be and that hurts me during these races. Anyone else experience this?
Also, sorry about my lowercase i letters throughout this post. I have that iPhone issue where it turns them into question marks. Have a great night everyone!
Hang10, go out there and represent! You got this! Best of luck, sir!
ChiefD
Footballguy
So, um, I tried this tonight. You might want to tell all these folks you are like 6'5", so your stride can actually do this.
I looked like a 2 legged rabbit trying to hop from sidewalk square to sidewalk square. I stopped when I saw two squirrels laughing at me.
ThreeThousand
Footballguy
Rumor on Slowtwitch is that a properly paced IM is about equivalent to a 50M. So you're doubly more impressive than me!
tri-man 47
Footballguy
Duck has stories of ultra guys who deal with unbearable chafing by wrapping the man parts in a plastic bag. Maybe you should carry one in case the temps dip into the 20s! #winning
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
bushdocda
Footballguy
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
tri-man 47
Footballguy
-OZ-
Footballguy
IvanKaramazov
Footballguy
That's some serious speed. Nice job Hang10!
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
gianmarco
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
Yeah, I was looking at your pacing on strava last night, and it's clear you came out hard and held it for a pretty long time. Saw a bit of a fade but then you kicked it into another gear to try and get it back. That takes some serious internal fortitude to pull that off at mile 19.
Can't wait to read this report and see what you were thinking. That is one hell of a great race you ran.
Last edited by a moderator:
gruecd
Footballguy
Congrats, dude! If all goes well next spring hopefully I'll be seeing you guys there, too!
ChiefD
Footballguy
Went out this morning on a beautiful 48 degree day. Plan was to just run, with an outside goal of 11-12 miles. Just a nice, slow, fat burning run.
I decided to run a local paved trail here that snakes through a corporate park. Lo and behold they were holding a race today that was going the direction I was going! They had a 1/2 and a full going, so I just merged into the race and off I went.
Crowd support was sparse, but I happily soaked it in as the bandit of the group.
I came on after the race had been going for an hour or so. I see the 2:55 pace group for the 1/2 marathon ahead, so I decided to pick them off with my smokin 9:40 pace. Totally blew by them like they were standing still. Or as if they were walking. Which they were.
Set my sights on the 2:50 pace group next. I knew if I just kept moving forward in a positive direction I would mow them down shortly. I did. Once again, totally blew by them.
You know what's next. Yep, the 2:45 pacer. She was alone, an older woman who clearly was too fast for the people running this race. She was probably 63 or so, but I didn't care. She was the next victim on my list. At this point I'm cookin' - maybe a 9:30 pace or so. Totally dusted her.
At about mile 7, the course turned a direction I didnt want to go, so I turned for home. Ended up finishing 12 miles, which felt really smooth and normal for once. I wish my heart rate monitor was working on the watch. I would have loved to see what it was - it had to be low 150's or high 148's, which would be really efficient for me. I was just expending a nice, even, slow fat burning effort. Which was my goal going into this run.
A good day.
On a side note, I have been in communication with Tom Tom support about the heart rate monitor for my watch, and they informed me on Friday they will send me a replacement watch. All I have to do is send mine off to them, so they will swap it out. I will be doing that tomorrow. So kudos to Tom Tom for standing behind their equipment (though me mentioning buying a Garmin may have tipped the scales to my favor
)
I decided to run a local paved trail here that snakes through a corporate park. Lo and behold they were holding a race today that was going the direction I was going! They had a 1/2 and a full going, so I just merged into the race and off I went.
Crowd support was sparse, but I happily soaked it in as the bandit of the group.
I came on after the race had been going for an hour or so. I see the 2:55 pace group for the 1/2 marathon ahead, so I decided to pick them off with my smokin 9:40 pace. Totally blew by them like they were standing still. Or as if they were walking. Which they were.
Set my sights on the 2:50 pace group next. I knew if I just kept moving forward in a positive direction I would mow them down shortly. I did. Once again, totally blew by them.
You know what's next. Yep, the 2:45 pacer. She was alone, an older woman who clearly was too fast for the people running this race. She was probably 63 or so, but I didn't care. She was the next victim on my list. At this point I'm cookin' - maybe a 9:30 pace or so. Totally dusted her.
At about mile 7, the course turned a direction I didnt want to go, so I turned for home. Ended up finishing 12 miles, which felt really smooth and normal for once. I wish my heart rate monitor was working on the watch. I would have loved to see what it was - it had to be low 150's or high 148's, which would be really efficient for me. I was just expending a nice, even, slow fat burning effort. Which was my goal going into this run.
A good day.
On a side note, I have been in communication with Tom Tom support about the heart rate monitor for my watch, and they informed me on Friday they will send me a replacement watch. All I have to do is send mine off to them, so they will swap it out. I will be doing that tomorrow. So kudos to Tom Tom for standing behind their equipment (though me mentioning buying a Garmin may have tipped the scales to my favor
)
Last edited by a moderator:
JShare87
Footballguy
Pretty cool. Glad you stuck with this running thing.Went out this morning on a beautiful 48 degree day. Plan was to just run, with an outside goal of 11-12 miles. Just a nice, slow, fat burning run.
I decided to run a local paved trail here that snakes through a corporate park. Lo and behold they were holding a race today that was going the direction I was going! They had a 1/2 and a full going, so I just merged into the race and off I went.
Crowd support was sparse, but I happily soaked it in as the bandit of the group.
I came on after the race had been going for an hour or so. I see the 2:55 pace group for the 1/2 marathon ahead, so I decided to pick them off with my smokin 9:40 pace. Totally blew by them like they were standing still. Or as if they were walking. Which they were.
Set my sights on the 2:50 pace group next. I knew if I just kept moving forward in a positive direction I would mow them down shortly. I did. Once again, totally blew by them.
You know what's next. Yep, the 2:45 pacer. She was alone, an older woman who clearly was too fast for the people running this race. She was probably 63 or so, but I didn't care. She was the next victim on my list. At this point I'm cookin' - maybe a 9:30 pace or so. Totally dusted her.
At about mile 7, the course turned a direction I didnt want to go, so I turned for home. Ended up finishing 12 miles, which felt really smooth and normal for once. I wish my heart rate monitor was working on the watch. I would have loved to see what it was - it had to be low 150's or high 148's, which would be really efficient for me. I was just expending a nice, even, slow fat burning effort. Which was my goal going into this run.
A good day.
On a side note, I have been in communication with Tom Tom support about the heart rate monitor for my watch, and they informed me on Friday they will send me a replacement watch. All I have to do is send mine off to them, so they will swap it out. I will be doing that tomorrow. So kudos to Tom Tom for standing behind their equipment (though me mentioning buying a Garmin may have tipped the scales to my favor
mr. furley
Footballguy
i'm dying thinking of the people trailing you watching you turn in a totally different direction than the race course
gianmarco
Footballguy
And following him....
ChiefD
Footballguy
Yeah, I had several people try and point me in different directions on the course. There were a couple spots where the trail forked but met up again later.
ChiefD
Footballguy
Wow, that's awesome. Congrats to Oz Jr!
Coco for kids 5k, my 9yo got 15th overall and 1st under 10broke his time from last year by 3:45 (26:34)
#prouddadmoments
Oh, and apparently 26:35 wins the 40-44 male age group ?
Hang 10
Footballguy
Richmond Marathon
Love this race. 2 Years ago I ran one of the most complete races I've ever done top to bottom when I ran 3:08:44. I wasn't even mad when I DNF'd there last year. It's just a great course. Lots of variety. It's hilly compared to Va Beach (everywhere has more hills than VB). It's got great crowd support. The weather is generally pretty good. It's got plenty of excellent runners, so rarely are you running alone. Logistics are good too. You can get a hotel right by the start or finish no problem. You can hop into the corral at the last second. It's great.
Anyway, it's a Saturday race. So the wife and I head up from VB Friday night. Get there right at dark, head straight to the packet pickup and then right to dinner. Met some friends. Had a boring dinner and 1 beer. Get to the hotel, check in and try to get settled in. I'm feeling pretty tired and thinking maybe...just maybe I'll actually get a decent night's sleep. At that point, I make a critical error and start checking my phone. Facebook, text messages, instagram, etc. all blowing me up reminding me of the race. But I gotta say the thing that really got me was checking FFA and seeing the new thread title (2:59)...a wave of terror washed over me at that moment. Yeah, I'm not sleeping...
After a pretty crappy night of sleep I wake up at 5ish take care of business and then start to gather my kit. Figuring out what to wear for this race was something most of us were struggling with. It was going to be cold as balls. Colder than I've ever raced in. The previous 2 years the weather was perfect. High 30's rising to high 40's by the finish. That was easy. Singlet and shorts. This is year it was going to be mid to low 20's with it only rising to about 35-36 by the finish. Luckily it was going to be a sunny day and not super windy. So I decided to stick with shorts, singlet but add arm sleeves, gloves and thin beanie. At the last minute I decided to throw on a long sleeve tech to ditch after I got warm. Headed down to the lobby to meet with some friends that were running the half and then meeting a few others that were running the marathon.
The coach wanted me to do my pre run drills and then a mile warmup. I decided against the mile warmup. It was just way too cold. So I did my drills for 10 min and then jogged around the start line area to avoid standing still in the cold for too long. 2 min to the gun I hopped the barricade into the corral and then ditched my throw away sweat suit.
Gun goes off and the plan is to start off around 6:55 pace for the first mile and then find a rhythm between 6:45-6:50. First split is 6:56 and feeling very comfortable. Pick it up ever so slightly and I’m cruising at 6:48ish pace. Feeling good. Then wouldn’t ####### know it but I feel my shoelace flapping and look down…
What a complete amateur move. I guess in all the excitement and meeting friends you can forget the little things. So like a complete idiot I’m stopping to tie my shoe. Only I realize after the 3rd try that it was going to be impossible with my gloves on. Finally get the ******* tied and take back off and of course I’m pressing to catch back up and then it hits me that I didn’t check to see if the other one was double knotted. So here I am looking down for like a mile to try to see if there’s fat knot...let me just tell you that it’s impossible to tell whilst running. I even contemplate stopping to check but I press on and hope for the best…luckily it was double knotted because it stayed tied. Anyway that little pit stop cost me around 40 seconds.
I try to forget about it and keep positive thoughts. Next 3 miles or so I’m cruising a long slightly ahead of sub 3 pace. I’ve got a decent group around me and the some chatter about people trying to break 3 hours for the first time. Guess I should probably hang here. Around this point I ditch my long sleeve shirt (even though I was in no way too hot) and we hit our first significant downhill. I try to run loose down the hill and clock a 6:29. At the point I pop my first gel and keep on rolling.
Miles 7-10 run along the river. Really scenic…probably the best part of the course but this is when the pack starts to thin a bit and I start to feel like I may be in no man’s land if I don’t try to pick up the pace. I started to feel like I was pressing but I still wasn’t keeping up. In retrospect I probably should have try to find a more comfortable pace here but I was going for it and hoped that it was just kind of funk that would pass.
Miles 10-13 has a bunch of rolling hills and my quads started to feel the burn a bit when I tried to keep pace here. I also noticed that it was windier then the forecast called for…I remember thinking that I still kinda cold…especially when we hit shaded spots. Again, in retrospect I was pressing through here holding sub 7 min pace.
Hit the halfway mark at 1:30:30…I was trying to remain positive but in my heart of hearts it was hard to imagine a negative split. But I popped my second gel and felt pretty good. Ran 2 splits in the 6:40’s and thought…maybe.
Miles 15-18 is a pretty steady climb and there’s a long unprotected bridge you have to cross. Of course there was a steady head wind and of course there was no one to block the wind for me here. Ran a 7:09 here and I felt like I was running faster than that but it is what is. I knew that my wife would be waiting to see me at mile 17 and that did give me a bit of lift. One more mile up hill and the worst stretch of the course was done. This is when I knew I was in a bit of trouble. Steady head wind, a shaded part of the course and I was feeling cold. My hands started to feel partially numb. I was working hard and only hitting 7 flat.
Mile 18 is where I would pop my first gel with 50mg of caffeine (my rocket fuel) and I definitely needed a pick me up. But it never really came. Instead it kinda just upset my stomach. Next mile has a slight decline and I run my last sub 7 split of the day.
The original plan was to pick it up if I could at 20 and when I tried there just wasn’t anything there. Ran hard and 7 flat was all I could muster at 21. Miles 22-25 were just going into survival mode. Don’t give back too much time. The problem was that I had sick stomach and my hamstrings had tightened to the point where my stride lost a lot of length. I’m hurting. My real time pace on my watch is showing 7:40’s. I’m discouraged. I’m doing math in my head for worst case scenario paces and just want to limit the damage. I had one more gel left with 25mg of caffeine and I weighed the options not taking it because I thought it might make me puke or just taking it and hoping for the best. #### it. I take it and it does give me a bit of lift. Or maybe it was just getting close to the end.
The last mile I feel dead inside but I’m not going to leave any more time out on the course than I have to. Hit a few downhills and then get to the last stretch of straight downhill. I throw caution to the wind and just let my legs roll down this hill as fast as they will go. Close the race out with some sub 6 min pace. Hit the line @ 3:03:29.
I knew when I decided to go for sub 3 that there was a good chance I’d fade hard and I did. I also knew it might be leaving a minute or 2 out on the course if this happened. It happened. At the end of the day, I had to take the shot. What else are we doing this for? Sub 3 is the challenge that I needed to push me this year, just like it was a BQ 2 years ago. With that being said, it’s impossible for me not to dissect and second guess everything. I guess it’s just the way I am. I’m happy but I’m not satisfied.
But hey, it is still a time to be proud of(even though it would have been 3:02 with tight laces <_< ) and it is exciting that I’ll be running the Boston marathon in 2019! That’s awesome that it sounds like we might have group here going. I can’t wait! Actually, I can…can’t wait to recover and just run again. Get back to training for 5k to half marathons!
120/4238 OA & 22/269 AG
Love this race. 2 Years ago I ran one of the most complete races I've ever done top to bottom when I ran 3:08:44. I wasn't even mad when I DNF'd there last year. It's just a great course. Lots of variety. It's hilly compared to Va Beach (everywhere has more hills than VB). It's got great crowd support. The weather is generally pretty good. It's got plenty of excellent runners, so rarely are you running alone. Logistics are good too. You can get a hotel right by the start or finish no problem. You can hop into the corral at the last second. It's great.
Anyway, it's a Saturday race. So the wife and I head up from VB Friday night. Get there right at dark, head straight to the packet pickup and then right to dinner. Met some friends. Had a boring dinner and 1 beer. Get to the hotel, check in and try to get settled in. I'm feeling pretty tired and thinking maybe...just maybe I'll actually get a decent night's sleep. At that point, I make a critical error and start checking my phone. Facebook, text messages, instagram, etc. all blowing me up reminding me of the race. But I gotta say the thing that really got me was checking FFA and seeing the new thread title (2:59)...a wave of terror washed over me at that moment.
Yeah, I'm not sleeping...After a pretty crappy night of sleep I wake up at 5ish take care of business and then start to gather my kit. Figuring out what to wear for this race was something most of us were struggling with. It was going to be cold as balls. Colder than I've ever raced in. The previous 2 years the weather was perfect. High 30's rising to high 40's by the finish. That was easy. Singlet and shorts. This is year it was going to be mid to low 20's with it only rising to about 35-36 by the finish. Luckily it was going to be a sunny day and not super windy. So I decided to stick with shorts, singlet but add arm sleeves, gloves and thin beanie. At the last minute I decided to throw on a long sleeve tech to ditch after I got warm. Headed down to the lobby to meet with some friends that were running the half and then meeting a few others that were running the marathon.
The coach wanted me to do my pre run drills and then a mile warmup. I decided against the mile warmup. It was just way too cold. So I did my drills for 10 min and then jogged around the start line area to avoid standing still in the cold for too long. 2 min to the gun I hopped the barricade into the corral and then ditched my throw away sweat suit.
Gun goes off and the plan is to start off around 6:55 pace for the first mile and then find a rhythm between 6:45-6:50. First split is 6:56 and feeling very comfortable. Pick it up ever so slightly and I’m cruising at 6:48ish pace. Feeling good. Then wouldn’t ####### know it but I feel my shoelace flapping and look down…
What a complete amateur move. I guess in all the excitement and meeting friends you can forget the little things. So like a complete idiot I’m stopping to tie my shoe. Only I realize after the 3rd try that it was going to be impossible with my gloves on. Finally get the ******* tied and take back off and of course I’m pressing to catch back up and then it hits me that I didn’t check to see if the other one was double knotted. So here I am looking down for like a mile to try to see if there’s fat knot...let me just tell you that it’s impossible to tell whilst running. I even contemplate stopping to check but I press on and hope for the best…luckily it was double knotted because it stayed tied. Anyway that little pit stop cost me around 40 seconds.I try to forget about it and keep positive thoughts. Next 3 miles or so I’m cruising a long slightly ahead of sub 3 pace. I’ve got a decent group around me and the some chatter about people trying to break 3 hours for the first time. Guess I should probably hang here. Around this point I ditch my long sleeve shirt (even though I was in no way too hot) and we hit our first significant downhill. I try to run loose down the hill and clock a 6:29. At the point I pop my first gel and keep on rolling.
Miles 7-10 run along the river. Really scenic…probably the best part of the course but this is when the pack starts to thin a bit and I start to feel like I may be in no man’s land if I don’t try to pick up the pace. I started to feel like I was pressing but I still wasn’t keeping up. In retrospect I probably should have try to find a more comfortable pace here but I was going for it and hoped that it was just kind of funk that would pass.
Miles 10-13 has a bunch of rolling hills and my quads started to feel the burn a bit when I tried to keep pace here. I also noticed that it was windier then the forecast called for…I remember thinking that I still kinda cold…especially when we hit shaded spots. Again, in retrospect I was pressing through here holding sub 7 min pace.
Hit the halfway mark at 1:30:30…I was trying to remain positive but in my heart of hearts it was hard to imagine a negative split. But I popped my second gel and felt pretty good. Ran 2 splits in the 6:40’s and thought…maybe.
Miles 15-18 is a pretty steady climb and there’s a long unprotected bridge you have to cross. Of course there was a steady head wind and of course there was no one to block the wind for me here. Ran a 7:09 here and I felt like I was running faster than that but it is what is. I knew that my wife would be waiting to see me at mile 17 and that did give me a bit of lift. One more mile up hill and the worst stretch of the course was done. This is when I knew I was in a bit of trouble. Steady head wind, a shaded part of the course and I was feeling cold. My hands started to feel partially numb. I was working hard and only hitting 7 flat.
Mile 18 is where I would pop my first gel with 50mg of caffeine (my rocket fuel) and I definitely needed a pick me up. But it never really came. Instead it kinda just upset my stomach. Next mile has a slight decline and I run my last sub 7 split of the day.
The original plan was to pick it up if I could at 20 and when I tried there just wasn’t anything there. Ran hard and 7 flat was all I could muster at 21. Miles 22-25 were just going into survival mode. Don’t give back too much time. The problem was that I had sick stomach and my hamstrings had tightened to the point where my stride lost a lot of length. I’m hurting. My real time pace on my watch is showing 7:40’s. I’m discouraged. I’m doing math in my head for worst case scenario paces and just want to limit the damage. I had one more gel left with 25mg of caffeine and I weighed the options not taking it because I thought it might make me puke or just taking it and hoping for the best. #### it. I take it and it does give me a bit of lift. Or maybe it was just getting close to the end.
The last mile I feel dead inside but I’m not going to leave any more time out on the course than I have to. Hit a few downhills and then get to the last stretch of straight downhill. I throw caution to the wind and just let my legs roll down this hill as fast as they will go. Close the race out with some sub 6 min pace. Hit the line @ 3:03:29.
I knew when I decided to go for sub 3 that there was a good chance I’d fade hard and I did. I also knew it might be leaving a minute or 2 out on the course if this happened. It happened. At the end of the day, I had to take the shot. What else are we doing this for? Sub 3 is the challenge that I needed to push me this year, just like it was a BQ 2 years ago. With that being said, it’s impossible for me not to dissect and second guess everything. I guess it’s just the way I am. I’m happy but I’m not satisfied.
But hey, it is still a time to be proud of(even though it would have been 3:02 with tight laces <_< ) and it is exciting that I’ll be running the Boston marathon in 2019! That’s awesome that it sounds like we might have group here going. I can’t wait! Actually, I can…can’t wait to recover and just run again. Get back to training for 5k to half marathons!
120/4238 OA & 22/269 AG
Last edited by a moderator:
JShare87
Footballguy
Congrats.Richmond Marathon
Love this race. 2 Years ago I ran one of the most complete races I've ever done top to bottom when I ran 3:08:44. I wasn't even mad when I DNF'd there last year. It's just a great course. Lots of variety. It's hilly compared to Va Beach (everywhere has more hills than VB). It's got great crowd support. The weather is generally pretty good. It's got plenty of excellent runners, so rarely are you running alone. Logistics are good too. You can get a hotel right by the start or finish no problem. You can hop into the corral at the last second. It's great.
Anyway, it's a Saturday race. So the wife and I head up from VB Friday night. Get there right at dark, head straight to the packet pickup and then right to dinner. Met some friends. Had a boring dinner and 1 beer. Get to the hotel, check in and try to get settled in. I'm feeling pretty tired and thinking maybe...just maybe I'll actually get a decent night's sleep. At that point, I make a critical error and start checking my phone. Facebook, text messages, instagram, etc. all blowing me up reminding me of the race. But I gotta say the thing that really got me was checking FFA and seeing the new thread title (2:59)...a wave of terror washed over me at that moment.
After a pretty crappy night of sleep I wake up at 5ish take care of business and then start to gather my kit. Figuring out what to wear for this race was something most of us were struggling with. It was going to be cold as balls. Colder than I've ever raced in. The previous 2 years the weather was perfect. High 30's rising to high 40's by the finish. That was easy. Singlet and shorts. This is year it was going to be mid to low 20's with it only rising to about 35-36 by the finish. Luckily it was going to be a sunny day and not super windy. So I decided to stick with shorts, singlet but add arm sleeves, gloves and thin beanie. At the last minute I decided to throw on a long sleeve tech to ditch after I got warm. Headed down to the lobby to meet with some friends that were running the half and then meeting a few others that were running the marathon.
The coach wanted me to do my pre run drills and then a mile warmup. I decided against the mile warmup. It was just way too cold. So I did my drills for 10 min and then jogged around the start line area to avoid standing still in the cold for too long. 2 min to the gun I hopped the barricade into the corral and then ditched my throw away sweat suit.
Gun goes off and the plan is to start off around 6:55 pace for the first mile and then find a rhythm between 6:45-6:50. First split is 6:56 and feeling very comfortable. Pick it up ever so slightly and I’m cruising at 6:48ish pace. Feeling good. Then wouldn’t ####### know it but I feel my shoelace flapping and look down…
I try to forget about it and keep positive thoughts. Next 3 miles or so I’m cruising a long slightly ahead of sub 3 pace. I’ve got a decent group around me and the some chatter about people trying to break 3 hours for the first time. Guess I should probably hang here. Around this point I ditch my long sleeve shirt (even though I was in no way too hot) and we hit our first significant downhill. I try to run loose down the hill and clock a 6:29. At the point I pop my first gel and keep on rolling.
Miles 7-10 run along the river. Really scenic…probably the best part of the course but this is when the pack starts to thin a bit and I start to feel like I may be in no man’s land if I don’t try to pick up the pace. I started to feel like I was pressing but I still wasn’t keeping up. In retrospect I probably should have try to find a more comfortable pace here but I was going for it and hoped that it was just kind of funk that would pass.
Miles 10-13 has a bunch of rolling hills and my quads started to feel the burn a bit when I tried to keep pace here. I also noticed that it was windier then the forecast called for…I remember thinking that I still kinda cold…especially when we hit shaded spots. Again, in retrospect I was pressing through here holding sub 7 min pace.
Hit the halfway mark at 1:30:30…I was trying to remain positive but in my heart of hearts it was hard to imagine a negative split. But I popped my second gel and felt pretty good. Ran 2 splits in the 6:40’s and thought…maybe.
Miles 15-18 is a pretty steady climb and there’s a long unprotected bridge you have to cross. Of course there was a steady head wind and of course there was no one to block the wind for me here. Ran a 7:09 here and I felt like I was running faster than that but it is what is. I knew that my wife would be waiting to see me at mile 17 and that did give me a bit of lift. One more mile up hill and the worst stretch of the course was done. This is when I knew I was in a bit of trouble. Steady head wind, a shaded part of the course and I was feeling cold. My hands started to feel partially numb. I was working hard and only hitting 7 flat.
Mile 18 is where I would pop my first gel with 50mg of caffeine (my rocket fuel) and I definitely needed a pick me up. But it never really came. Instead it kinda just upset my stomach. Next mile has a slight decline and I run my last sub 7 split of the day.
The original plan was to pick it up if I could at 20 and when I tried there just wasn’t anything there. Ran hard and 7 flat was all I could muster at 21. Miles 22-25 were just going into survival mode. Don’t give back too much time. The problem was that I had sick stomach and my hamstrings had tightened to the point where my stride lost a lot of length. I’m hurting. My real time pace on my watch is showing 7:40’s. I’m discouraged. I’m doing math in my head for worst case scenario paces and just want to limit the damage. I had one more gel left with 25mg of caffeine and I weighed the options not taking it because I thought it might make me puke or just taking it and hoping for the best. #### it. I take it and it does give me a bit of lift. Or maybe it was just getting close to the end.
The last mile I feel dead inside but I’m not going to leave any more time out on the course than I have to. Hit a few downhills and then get to the last stretch of straight downhill. I throw caution to the wind and just let my legs roll down this hill as fast as they will go. Close the race out with some sub 6 min pace. Hit the line @ 3:03:29.
I knew when I decided to go for sub 3 that there was a good chance I’d fade hard and I did. I also knew it might be leaving a minute or 2 out on the course if this happened. It happened. At the end of the day, I had to take the shot. What else are we doing this for? Sub 3 is the challenge that I needed to push me this year, just like it was a BQ 2 years ago. With that being said, it’s impossible for me not to dissect and second guess everything. I guess it’s just the way I am. I’m happy but I’m not satisfied.
But hey, it is still a time to be proud of(even though it would have been 3:02 with tight laces <_< ) and it is exciting that I’ll be running the Boston marathon in 2019! That’s awesome that it sounds like we might have group here going. I can’t wait! Actually, I can…can’t wait to recover and just run again. Get back to training for 5k to half marathons!
120/4238 OA & 22/269 AG
Hang 10
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
Great report Hang10. Thank you for indulging all the race creepers around here.Richmond Marathon
This is year it was going to be mid to low 20's with it only rising to about 35-36 by the finish. Luckily it was going to be a sunny day and not super windy. So I decided to stick with shorts, singlet but add arm sleeves, gloves and thin beanie. So YOU'RE one of those nuts dressed like its a 70 degree day. I'd be in pants, long sleeves, gloves, hat....
Then wouldn’t ####### know it but I feel my shoelace flapping and look down…
Miles 15-18 is a pretty steady climb and there’s a long unprotected bridge you have to cross. Of course there was a steady head wind and of course there was no one to block the wind for me here. Ran a 7:09 here and I felt like I was running faster than that but it is what is. I knew that my wife would be waiting to see me at mile 17 and that did give me a bit of lift. One more mile up hill and the worst stretch of the course was done. This is when I knew I was in a bit of trouble. Steady head wind, a shaded part of the course and I was feeling cold. My hands started to feel partially numb. I was working hard and only hitting 7 flat. Just curious - have you ever thought about keeping a pair of those throwaway gloves in your pockets for moments such as this? I will typically do that if I start with gloves and them take them off. But then again, your running shorts may not have pockets.
Mile 18 is where I would pop my first gel with 50mg of caffeine (my rocket fuel). May need to try gels with caffeine. The one I use now does NOT have caffeine, and never thought of the possibility of an energy boost.
I knew when I decided to go for sub 3 that there was a good chance I’d fade hard and I did. I also knew it might be leaving a minute or 2 out on the course if this happened. It happened. At the end of the day, I had to take the shot. What else are we doing this for? Sub 3 is the challenge that I needed to push me this year, just like it was a BQ 2 years ago. With that being said, it’s impossible for me not to dissect and second guess everything. I guess it’s just the way I am. I’m happy but I’m not satisfied. You gave it one hell of a go. Nice work and a PR.
But hey, it is still a time to be proud of(even though it would have been 3:02 with tight laces <_< ) and it is exciting that I’ll be running the Boston marathon in 2019! That’s awesome that it sounds like we might have group here going. I can’t wait! Actually, I can…can’t wait to recover and just run again. Get back to training for 5k to half marathons!
120/4238 OA & 22/269 AG
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