Cooper River Bridge Run

with a light week of training between the books ends of March's last weekend Half Marathon Trail race and April's first of the CRBR 10k yielded a light week of basketball Monday, 45 mins easy running Tuesday and then full body massage to get the soreness out, 30 mins light running Wednesday, and off on Thursday. Friday was also an off day from running, but was a good night of Pasta, beer, and chilling with Josh Brewer down in James Island, SC. 

never being a morning person, Saturday's wake up came harsh and fast. Was feeling very full from the night before's diet, so didn't attempt any food - which proved to be non detrimental. Legs felt pretty fresh during the shake out - but being in the first wave, i was nervous i was going to go out too fast and not be able to hold a steady pace, so i over protected and regulated myself to comfort that first mile. Still, the shock of not being inside a race for more than an hour seemed to take a while for me to get the notice that i had to start moving. That notice came basically the second half of the race.

How the course lays out - you have that first mile which can be hard with the crowds in general, and where i wanted to go slow (i wanted 630 split and 630 split is what i got)-then the second mile you are just trying to gear up for the bridge so you don't really drop it too much - at least i didn't. i tried to maintain but basically with the split coming just a little bit into the bridge's climb,  i ticked off a 640 mile so was behind the ideal race plan already. The third mile ( the uphill bridge climb) came with a strong left to right wind that really slowed things down. I realized my legs were obviously groomed to make the distance, but the pace was already taxing me, and the hill i started to drift mentally at times. When that happens it's sure to spell a slowdown. and it did, so i rattled off my worst mile of the day at 720 and just trying to hold on and crest the bridge. The bridge is a lot of ways is it's own entity. It's why i love the race. It impacts the first 2 miles, the 3 and 4th mile are all on the bridge basically, and with it's hill, wind, and energy it's a complete obstacle that must be dealt with. 

I think also the long distance marathon training hasn't prepared me well to mentally engage in a race in the first couple of miles, like you have to in the 10k. So once i got over the bridge hill and crossed my 5k split in 21.15 i knew i had sacrificed so much time that i wouldn't be able to get it all back. Those seconds and minutes were gone at the expense of not being ready mentally from the gun, and handling the bridge climb poorly that day. However, i had a lot of running left in me and started to lock in with my mind. 

the 4th mile we started to descend the bridge and i was able to start staying on pace with the people around me rather than get passed like i had been the previous mile. as i started to get in a groove, we hit the 4th mile mark where i brought it down to about a 650, and mentally was starting to get competitive with only 2 miles to go. I thought about having 2 miles to go last week in the trail race and how i was at that point really treating it like the final push, so i did the same here. I started to pass people and quicken my stride to combat some extra heaviness i felt in my non-thinking stride. the shorter pace and wearing my road flats made me feel light, and so did coming up on people's shoulder and passing them by. And yet, from the top of the bridge where a tall large young man in american flag bandanna and american flag racing shorts had strode out past me, he and i remained in sight and near each other the rest of the way. 

The music on the course would give me surges, and i knew i was starting to feel that old familiar boost of adrenaline coming into the last mile. i was excited to run that last mile because that 5th mile i was bringing down the pace even more to a 635 and feeling the vibes as the last mile is lined with loud spectators as you round into King street for the peak of the pageantry and energy. This is where the race feels like Boston (or i'm sure NY or Chicago-  but i just haven't done those...yet). with 40k people the crowds of runners and fans are huge, and it's like you are running down a hall way of straight flat ground where your vision becomes tunnel and your thoughts are just flying down as fast as you can until the end. The last mile .2 of the race ends with two quick turns, by which time i was already in 5th gear, so i used the previous experience to keep up the pace, and put in a good kick on the last straight to the finish, where here a young early 20s looking woman came up with me and went stride for stride with me in one of the fastest finishes i have ever done. i wouldn't let her take it so we just ended up going all out, like we were racing a 100m dash. It sure feels good to have that much in the tank at the end and finish so strong. it's like birding the 18th hole after a not so good round overall, that keeps you coming back. i clocked about a 545 last mile.

All the splits were done off recalling the time clocks on the course. I still don't wear a watch when i run, and that includes racing. 

Time: 41.03--6:36 pace

first 5k 21:15--6:30, 6:40, 7:20---6:49 pace

last 5k 19:47--6:50, 6;30, 5:50---6:22 pace

http://results.xacte.com/?kw=crb#

Cooper River Bridge Run 10k

I heard about this race since Highschool, but with track meet conflicts during the season and in college, I never got around to it until I was back in Charlotte after graduation, in 2007. That year, I was not in great shape and managed 44 minutes. In 2008 I was so far back from the starting line, and not being in shape, I ran north of 50 minutes. 2009 I was out of town, and last year I was injured. Needless to say, I was expecting a big PR.

Perhaps my goal was a little optomistic, but having just ran under 18 mins for a 5k, I was hoping I would be able to run something near 37 mins or faster.

I was successfull in getting in the top Corral - the seeded zone, by way of registering as a sub 40 min 10k runner...despite not turning in any verification. David assured me I would get in, and sure enough he was right. Once the gun went off, I was basically out there free to run at my own desires...something very nice from the previous CR runs I've done. David and I quickly settled on going out at 6 minute pace, and when I noticed that I was well slower the first mile - (6.18 even though David says we were at 6.05), I decided to go. I passed David, and tried to bring the pace down and stay comfortable before climbing the bridge. I guess the bridge starts about a mile and a half into the race, and once we hit it - the wind was really whipping around. The third mile marker split my watch with a 5.25, and that was all climb...so I know that is not right.

Going up the bridge, I didn't really loose ground to people, so I think I stayed on pace. I never really was able to tuck in behind a throng of people. After seeing the 5.25 3rd mile at the time I was very pumped, and I think I had a nice surge down the bridge - despite the strong head wind. I was brough back to reality and also the notion that the markers were indeed off, as my 4th mile (almost all downhill) split 6.45. However my total running time at that point was right at 25 mins. I quickly realized that I was way off pace to run 37 mins. But I knew I could get under 40 easily and wanted to make sure I finished strong. I didn't feel like I was out of gas.

As we got off the bridge, I felt my legs tighten up, and my turnover begin to slow. I was battling fatigue and the effort from the bridge. I was also mentally getting drained as people started to pass, and I knew my pace wasn't where I wanted it to be. As we started to pass more people and music though, I was able to find surges. I also was able to change gears when I felt my form was slacking. It was a constant intentional battle to fight poor form, and to think to lean forward, stay on my toes, and quickin my pace...but when I did it, it helped. My 5th mile split was approx 6.15, and I felt like that was pretty right on. The last mile seemed to go by pretty quickly, and also the crowds thickened and I was able to dig deep telling my self it was only a matter of minutes until I would be finished.

I hit 37.09 for the 6th mile mark, and my watch said 5.53. At that point I realized I wasn't going to break 37, but I was pumped that I just had my fastest mile. I threw all I had into my final .2 and passed probably a dozen people or so with a very nice kick. I ran 1.09 for the final .2, hitting the finish in 38.18.

Not exactly what I thought I should do, but I raced well and finished well. Looking back on my training - 10 weeks with nothing higher than 27 miles, and just a few workouts, I can't be too disappointed. Also, I raced the last 2 weekends before this with the Shamrock and the 5k on the track, so I'll take it.

After the race, I am very pumped to take this as a building block to grow and up the training and get faster. I'm already looking forward to getting over 30 miles next week, and starting some speed work after a week "rest" of recovery runs and a couple long runs.