Blue Points 5k Recap

Time: 72:24
Distance: 11.27 miles
Race: 15:18, 1st

W/u: 22:54 for 3.02 miles
Meagan's Workout: 18:55 for 3.14 miles (6:06, 6:15, 5:49)
C/d: 15:17 for 2.01 miles

I thought today might have been the morning for a sub-15 effort, but in the end I came up well short.

My day started off dark and early with a cup of coffee and some internet browsing. I was out the door with Meagan around 6:00 am because I knew parking might be an issue. We found a spot at the Dowd YMCA and walked the half mile to the Bank of America Stadium. There weren't too many people in attendance yet which made registering and picking up my chip pretty easy. Dr. Greenapple has been kind enough to cover my entry fees for the remainder of the Grand Prix Series. He's been a great (Dr. Duffy and Dr. Clay too) contact since moving to Charlotte and really helped Meagan stay healthy this spring during track.

I warmed up a full 3 miles on the race course. I wanted to see just how bad the final mile was going to be. All week I heard about the climb past the Y. Jogging the hill didn't intimidate me too much and given the cooler temps I had thoughts of running fast. The humidity was still off the charts and the oh so lovely dew point hovered in the low 70s.

Race time was a couple of minutes after the wheelchairs and babyjogging crew were released. I was told that Rocky Falcone would be one to go out hard and he didn't disappoint. I was also sizing up a couple of college kids that made an appearance in Charlotte. I was out fast, but Rocky was out even faster. He charged around the first turn and continued to up the pace. I followed about 10 meters behind and didn't completely close the gap until about 800 meters. We ran together to about 1,000-1200 meters and then I gained a bit of an advantage.

I knew the mile split would be quick and saw the clock tick off 4:43 or so. The downhill continued onto Kenilworth and I tried to maintain my momentum. I know the pace slowed going up to Morehead where I finally passed the lead babyjogger. He would definitely give Mike Beigay a run for his money as he finished in 17:45. I didn't catch the lead wheelchair until just before the two mile mark which I crossed in 9:40-9:41 (4:58 split). He also came back on me just before the final climb up to the Dowd YMCA.

After hitting the split for two miles I was still convinced I could go under 15:00. With a good final mile I'd have things locked up. Wrong. I started to struggle about a quarter mile beyond McDowell. I had a bad 3 minute stretch of running. It wasn't really a loss of focus, but a loss of strength. I just couldn't power my way up the hill and maintain pace. I took a good long look back about 50 meters from the top of the hill and could see the neon green singlet of Matthew Elliot (Winthrop grad with 3:43 1500m credentials). I felt the crosshairs on my back and I knew that the downhill needed to be quick.

Cresting the hill I tried to get a response out of the legs but they were slow to react. I never really got rolling on the descent and crossed 3 miles in 14:43 (5:02 split). I had little motivation to sprint to the line since I looked over my should and saw things were locked up. I brought things home in 15:18 which means my final 200m was a dismal 35 seconds. I think Meagan closed faster than me.

I was pleased to get the win and a little disappointed I couldn't sniff 15:00 today. After the race Meagan had to run another loop as part of a workout. I tagged along and dragged her through the course. Our splits were 6:06 (weaved through finish line traffic), 6:15 and 5:49 (as fast as Meagan's final mile split during the race).

The prizes were decent as I received a signed Panthers mini-helmet. I can't really read the signature but I think it's Matt Moore's. If the Panthers do well this year that thing is going up on E-bay. I also received some sort of bag that Leonard Hilliard joked with me about wanting a prize. I politely passed along the bag and hope it's used well by him.

There were good performances turned in by Jay Holder, Alice Rogers, Paul Mainwaring and Mr. Spada. Big congrats to Billy Shue who cracked 17-flat for the first time ever.

My cool down didn't occur until much later as I couldn't find a ride back home so I walked about a mile over to Inside-Out Sports and stashed my bag. I then ran two miles to Run For Your Life where I waited for Meagan to arrive so that I could drive the rest of the way home.