Folly Beach 10 Miler Recap

Time: 98:50
Distance: 15.37 miles
Race: 51:35, 1st

W/u: 27:06 for 3.42 miles
Race: 10 Miles with first 3 hard, middle 4 at marathon pace, last 3 hard
C/d: 20:09 for ~2.1 miles

Early this week I put in a call to one of my accounts about coming to visit. I needed to mend a poor start to our business relationship and wanted to see when they would be available to meet. I learned that a race was being hosted in Folly Beach just outside of Charleston this weekend. I was torn between attending the 10 mile race or going to a new event called the Conway Racefest that was doling out prize money. Last night I went on the website only to see that a number of other good runners would be in attendance including Bobby Mack (NC State grad, 14:20s on the road this summer) and Felix Kiboiywo (Auburn, 13th at NCAA xc last fall). There were others and I had no problem pulling a Geb by ducking these athletes.

I was in bed somewhat early and up for the drive to Folly Beach waaay to early. I left Charlotte at 3:30 am for an arrival time of about 7:00 am. I stopped once to grab coffee at Starbucks once I was close and knew that I would be on time. Registration went smoothly and I started my warm up along the course around 7:20 am.

My plan was to run hard for 3 miles, back off the throttle and settle in to marathon pace, and then hopefully throw down the final 3 miles. I wasn't sure how everything was going to work considering the number of miles on the legs (already at 90 for the week), the drive and the colder weather. Everything ended up working great as I felt good executing my race plan.

Splits according to Mr. Garmin:
5:00, 4:59, 5:04, 5:23, 5:24 (25:50 at 5 miles)
5:26, 5:25, 5:15, 5:15, 4:22 for .85 miles (5:10 pace)
51:37 total for 9.85 miles

Splits according to Nike watch and mile markers:
5:03, 4:50 (9:54), 5:04 (14:58), 5:15 (20:13), 5:16 (25:29)
5:29 (30:59), 5:18 (36:17), 5:11 (41:29), 5:02 (46:31), 5:03 (51:35)

When the race started I jumped off the line and was immediately in front. I nearly caught the lead bike too. I pressed into a breeze along a perfectly straight and flat road that was about 1.5 miles long. My split through the mile was solid and there would only be 10 more minutes of struggle before I could settle. After getting through the first couple of turns I had the wind at my back and was able to rattle off some efficient running. I know the course was about 200 meters short and it probably was in the second mile as I split 4:50. There wasn't any way I was running that quick, but it kept me motivated to keep rolling. The third mile marker came and I steadily caught my breath with some easier running.

Around mile three is where the Garmin and mile markers really started deviating. I am wearing my Garmin in a Fuel Belt wrist pocket which doesn't allow me to see the actual screen. I was using my Nike watch as my guide that was being clicked when I came to the course mile markers. I was shocked when miles 4 and 5 went by in 5:15 and 5:16 because they felt so easy, but really I was running closer to 5:25 pace. I came through the first 5 miles on the two loop course right at 25:30 and two of those miles felt like a crawl!

The next mile was physically the toughest. The wind had picked up slightly and I started to think there was a slight grade to the direction we were running. My split according to the Nike showed that I had indeed slowed. But it was to an acceptably relaxed pace that I wanted to run prior to the race. There was one more easy mile of running and then it was go time.

When I hit mile 7, I attempted to grab a cup of water but the hand off from the high schooler was bad. My frustration in dropping the cup meant that I surged hard. When I came to the next mile marker I was grew even more frustrated when my effort was only rewarded with a 5:11. I took off again. I was pleased that I was even able to pick up the pace this late in the race, being way out in front and on tired legs. I pressed all the way to the finish line and crossed around 51:35 several minutes in front of the next runner. Results still aren't posted and won't be available until Monday afternoon.

With some further reflection, I'm really pleased at the race this morning. My training the past few weeks has been solely about miles, pure quantity. Despite the number of miles, I found my legs to be quite responsive to the mind telling them to get rolling. Aerobically I felt amazing and my form seemed much more efficient. I remember at one point during race, I saw my shadow and noticed my arms were positioned correctly leading to proper motion forward. With many more weeks of solid aerobic based training and high mileage, I might start to think running 5:18 pace for 26.2 miles is possible.