Hog Jog 5k

Time: 57:51
Distance: 8.77 miles

W/u: 24:04 for 3.32 miles
Race: 15:52
C/d: 17:55 for 2.35 miles

I was up bright and early this morning to get down to the start line of the 2nd Annual Hog Jog. The race was in conjunction a bbq festival here in downtown "uptown" Charlotte. I tried to make a routine that I could use for the following week up in Providence but it was a little scattered as I searched for where the race started. The warm up was done along the course except for the last 800 meters that weren't marked clearly.

As I got back to the start of the race, Meagan (my own personal sherpa) met me with my gear for the race. I suited up and went to the front of the crowd. She was sure to tell me that "nobody looked too good, so I had nothing to worry about." Great. Well, her recon skills were on on par with the previous administration's hunt for Bin Laden. I immediately spotted a 6'4" Middle Eastern man with a beard and turban. Rather, I spotted a tall, slight of frame athlete with a goatee wearing a red Zap Fitness singlet. Thomas Morgan had driven down from Blowing Rock, NC to stake his claim at the $250 purse. FML.

I started the race running behind Morgan and went through the mile in 4:35 according to the clock. I would later find out that the clock was about 17 seconds off meaning I was really 4:53. That little bit of misinformation threw me off as I continued to press but didn't really get after it. At one point I was catching up to Morgan but by two miles the lead had opened back up to its original distance. The final mile was really slow as it was mostly uphill, not the really steep kind but the long and drawn out kind that makes a split really slow.

There would be no winnings for me today unfortunately, but I did get to cool down with Morgan and talk about the upcoming trip to Japan. I don't feel great about the race itself because it went from being a good test of what sub-4:40 at the start feels like (really easy because the clock was wrong) to being disappointed at how I should have run harder. Either way I'm getting to taper next week and freshen up for a trip up to Providence.

Since I stole all of Meagan's fun and games last week, I'll let her tell you about dancing homeless men.