LungStrong 15k Recap

Time: 93:09
Distance: ~14.5 miles

W/u: 22:26 for ~2.5 miles
Race: 48:49 for 15k
C/d: 21:54 for ~2.5 miles

I wouldn't have believed running sub-49 minutes would have gotten me rolled by over a minute, but Ryan Bender took it to me for the second time at a distance over 10k. I do think I was working under a bit of a handicap having just returned from Japan, but to see Bender press the last 5k was impressive.

Last night I didn't sleep much having gone to bed around 11:30 pm not feeling tired and waking up at 2:15 am even more alert. I couldn't fall back into a slumber so I got up and satiated my hunger. I was starving and put down crackers, cheese, my leftover pasta, trail mix and some water. I still couldn't sleep so I pulled out my mini laptop and watched the 2010 Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20km Qualifying Road Race. During the video race coverage I followed Brett Larner's twitter feed that explained what was going on in English. To put things in perspective of how I was to race later in the day, the leaders went through 15k of their race in 43:30 and the chase pack was just over 45 minutes. The guys who split just under 49 minutes would go on to place 250th or above. Yikes! I realized what I was watching was a group of legit athletes running desperately to qualify their university for the biggest race in Japan. It was great fun, I just wish it wasn't at 3:30 am.

I tried to catch some sleep after the race, but still wasn't able to do so. I headed up to Cornelius around 6:00 am and got myself situated for the Lungstrong 15k. I felt a little sluggish on the warm up and was starting to get a little sleepy. I combated this with a bit of coffee and geared up to run hard. My goal was to run between 5:10s and 5:15s as comfortably as possible. If I felt good once finish, I considered doing a second loop as a long tempo.

When we were lining up for the race I noticed Bender was in the field and figured he was fit. I've only raced him twice in the past and he seems to only show up when he's ready to hit it hard. Hit it hard we did as our opening mile was sub-5. I was content to let him control the pace and in the second mile he managed to gap me by a few strides. I maintained my race target splits for the first three miles and let Bender do his own thing up ahead hoping he would come back around 10k.

I kept clicking off respectable splits through 6 miles, but Ryan was still hammering away 50-70 meters ahead. The gap never closed and he never tired. By 7 miles I was starting to slow and my 8th mile was terrible. Aerobically I felt very comfortable, but the legs just didn't have the strength in them. On the rolling hills I struggled to climb with any sort of efficiency.

Splits:
4:58, 5:08, 5:08, 5:13, 5:16, 5:16 (31:00 at 6 miles), 5:20, 5:31, 5:20, 1:44 for 48:56 according to my watch. ~5:15 average

Post race I was not in a place to run the course again as a tempo. My stomach was feeling the 3:00 am snack and I was lucky to shuffle a few miles with Compton who closed really well the final 5k. Rocky Falcone and Paul Mainwaring also had good days on the course that everyone seem to measure a little long.

The Grand Prix Series has come to a close which is a bit of a relief. It's difficult to race 10 times consistently and still fit in workouts, other races and work. The series is great, but I'll have to reevaluate it's benefits next year before signing on. I am both happy and surprised that I was able to race all 10. I would have put money down in March that I would have missed at least one to travel, injury or illness. Further, the longer race today gives me the motivation to really put in the miles this fall. My body feels healthy and I'm ready to start logging bigger mileage in preparation for racing 10k and above. Seeing and hearing how the Japanese train has me almost convinced that it's necessary to run above 170k per week.

After the race I drove to Birkdale Village where I was able to visit Fleet Feet Huntersville and have lunch at Red Rocks Cafe. I was starting to feel really tired by the time lunch came so my social mood was not the best. It was a good group of Charlotte Running Club members in attendance including Allen Strickland, Scott Helms, Compton, Jay Holder, Paul, and more.