Chucktown run

Time: 75:54

Distance: 16.02k

Avg: 4:44

Map

If I'm going to start running seriously in July, I might as well start posting regularly. Meagan, her family and I were in Charleston for a few days visiting the Holy City and playing tourist. Charleston is known for it's food, churches and heat. I guess they should be credited with starting the Civil War too. Or so I'm told.

This morning Meagan, her dad and I went on a run from our hotel to through the battery, straight up King St. and around some of the sketchier neighborhoods near the Citadel. Remember the Citadel? I was only planning on running about an hour but the body was feeling good so I continued on a little more. Before I knew it, I was approaching Meagan's goal of 10 miles and we called it a day with some post-run stretching in the park near our hotel.

Lightning Workout

Time: 69:11
Distance: 10.75 miles

W/u: 24:20 for 3 miles
W/o: 12 x 400m w/ 100m jog
C/d: 21:29 for ~3 miles

This morning I woke up to hear the wind howling outside and pushing garbage cans up the street. I had agreed to meet, Irv Batten, the owner of On The Run for a workout. I asked if I could join his Tuesday morning workout crew that goes off at 6:00 am from a track across the street from his store. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of such an early morning, but needed to get my training headed in the right direction.

I first hit the Starbucks near the store and as I was getting out of the car I saw a great flash of light in the sky. I paid it little attention until I was sipping my coffee at the track. The flashes continued and I realized I was in for a classic southeast storm. The rain, wind and lightning were headed our way and I still have 15 minutes to kill before the others would show up. I waited in my car and saw another guy drive up just as the rain started. It poured and eventually the other guy left right around the time that Irv rolled up. I through on my rain gear and had a quick chat with Irv about the weather. We decided to get in a warm up and make a game time decision on whether or not to workout.

During our warm up around the neighborhoods the skies dump water on us. The lightning was still off in the distance, though one strike seemed terribly close. Fortunately it was still in the upper 60s so we were comfortable in shorts and a light jacket. Upon returning to the track we ran one loop to see about the footing and opted to man up.

Splits:
78.8 (35), 78.8 (42), 79.8 (37), 77.8 (60),
78.2 (36), 78.2 (42), 76.0 (38), 75.8 (42),
76.3 (39), 76.3 (58), 74.8 (41), 71.8 for 23:15 total and 4.75 miles.

Irv led all of the odd splits and I took the even ones. The rain stopped by the third interval and the storm seemed to have passed. The lightning still illuminated the sky off in the far distance as the worse part had been avoided. I fell into a groove clicking off 5:00 to 5:08 pace for most of the intervals. It was fun being the only ones on the track as the rest of Irv's crew chickened out. He was already drafting the email in his head making fun of those wimps who didn't brave the weather. I'm pleased with the effort and glad the achilles held up.

College of Charleston

Time: 28:37
Distance: ~3.5 miles

After a solid day of visits which included Affordabike, Half-moon Outfitters, TrySports, On The Run, another Half-moon Outfitters and The Charleston Bicycle Company, it was time to lace up the shoes again. I headed out the door with Alex for a run through the College of Charleston over to a small lake. After a couple laps around the 600m loop it was time to head back to the house. The pace was slow and we had to cross a lot of streets but it was good to catch up with Alex and see some other parts of the city.

Charleston Running

Time: 48:05
Distance: ~7 miles

I put in some miles prior to visiting a bunch of accounts in Charleston. I ran down King St. and cut over through some of the older neighborhoods near Waterfront Park. I eventually made it to the water and ran along the bike path/sidewalk. It was incredibly windy for the stretch near the water but I enjoyed being out with the other runners. I turned around when I came to some shipping yard and headed back to my buddy Alex's house.

Five Guys Short

Time: 34:11

Distance: ~4.5 miles

I probably could have run a full five miles had I not eaten Five Guys this afternoon with Mike. I was still feeling full when I started the run from a couple blocks of King Street in Charleston. I ran through the ghetto trying to find the waterfront. It took me about 2 miles to get down close to Waterfront Park and the old US Customs House. I've been to Charleston a couple of times but never had the chance to explore. It was fun running in the old neighborhoods on the narrow one way streets. By the end of the run the pace had quickened and I was starting to feel good. It was the perfect way to end a Sunday double.

Ghost or Smurf Run

Time: 58:34

Distance: ~8 miles

I thought about getting up earlier and running in Myrtle Beach again, but I never found a great spot to put in miles. Instead I hung out with family and packed up all my stuff for the drive to Charleston. I found a state park between MB and Chucktown that I thought would be an ideal location to get in a long run. However, on the drive I reached out to Mike Moran who was still in Charleston for the Cooper River Bridge Run. He has a pretty good night out at the Windjammer and was willing to go 5-8 miles. It was a little shorter than I wanted but it would be good to catch up.

We ran from the rental property right on the beach to the Wild Dunes side of the Isles of Palms. It wasn't a particularly fantastic course, but it was fun to be so close to the beach. Mike aka Ghost had to excuse aspects of our running costumes. I wore a pair of the Brooks Adrenaline 11 and he sported a blue on blue New Balance short/shirt combo. I was being lame for wearing one of the most popular shoes in the business and he looked like a smurf.

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.