I did the Joe Davis 10K two years ago. It's a local race that is right near my house, so I wanted to support it. I really didn't like the course, so I didn't run it last year. I did come out last year to support my wife running the 10K. The course seemed a lot better, so I thought I would give it a whirl this year. They also have a 5K
It's obviously cooler in January, but this time it was much cooler than usual. The average low temp in January in Fort Mill is 32 degrees. On this balmy morning it was 11. But it was plus 11, so we had that going for us. I debated what to wear, but finally went with compression sleeves, shorts, long sleeve t-shirt under my BSR jersey, gloves and head warmer. I considered a short sleeve t-shirt, but decided to err on warmth. Just cause I'm old, I guess.
The race start is 1 mile from my house, and I could take a paved trail all the way there. But considering the temperature, I decided to drive over. I parked at the top of the hill. I jogged around for a bit just to check everything out. At this point, I had long pants and a pullover, as it was pretty freaking cold.
I saw one of my friends, CarolAnn, doing a little warmup as well. We jogged for a little bit, and I got a good 2 mile warmup in. I went back to the car to strip down to my race clothes. I headed back down to the start and did some pickups while everyone was assembling. They played the national anthem and the Boyd's talked about their brother and Keystone Recovery Center. We all just kinda huddled and listened, trying to stay warm.
They let the wheelchair people go first. Several people started running as well and had to be called back. I recognized Ethan, Fort Mill High School's top cross country runner, at the front. I asked him if he was doing the 5K, and he was. I think I could probably take him in a 10K, but definitely not a 5K.
I put myself near the front as well. As we took off I felt pretty good. The first 3/4 of a mile is flat and downhill, so that's nice. I hit the first mile in 6:07 and was pleased with that, as I felt I wasn't pushing too hard. Several guys were quite well ahead of me already. You really couldn't tell who was running the 5K or the 10K at this point.
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| Heart Rate and Elevation |
I wasn't really running with a lot of people. There was one guy at the start that dropped back by 1.5 miles. Then another guy who dropped back by 2.5 miles. Other than that I was pretty alone. The climb for mile 3 wasn't as bad as I thought. 90 feet of gain in that mile, but I split a 6:30. Originally my goal for the entire race was to average 6:30. So suddenly I'm thinking I can blow that out of the water.
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| Walter Elisha Park |
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| Pace and Cadence |
At about the 2.8 mile mark, the 5K people split off. At this point, I really can't see anyone at all. I was truly in no man's land and had no idea what place I was in. I just tried to keep it smooth. Just past the 3 mile mark, you go back through the start and begin the second lap. My miles 4 and 5 were not nearly as fast as on the first lap with a 6:22 and a 6:14. Definitely wasn't dying and was pleased with the 6:14 for sure.
Now we come to the final mile and the final climb. 100 feet of gain in the last mile. I really tried to push and I was passing a lot of the walkers that were doing the 5K. I was warm enough that I took my gloves off at that point. I started doing the old math equations in my head, like what do I have to run here in the last 1.2 miles to break 40 minutes. Confident I had it in the bag, I just relaxed and went.
After really doing a lot of hill repeats in training the last few years, and then still really sucking on running hills in races, I have embarked on a new strategy. Hills are mental. You wanna run hard up a hill? Run hard and don't be a namby-pamby about it. It's all in your head.
That training strategy seemed to pay off as my second time up that hill was only 0.8 seconds slower than the first time. As I got to the top, I just tried to push the final 1/2 mile to the finish. I felt good, not great, but still kept the turnover going. The course is a little short at 6.1 instead of 6.2 miles. The last 0.1 mile I had a 5:46 avg pace, so pretty good finish.
Right after I crossed the finish line, a woman asked my bib number. I think she was with the timing crew. I felt pretty warm at the finish, and walked around some. I wasn't really hungry and didn't grab any food. I talked with some of the tri guys Keith (who won the 5K) and Matt from Fort Mill. I did grab some coffee and that tasted really good. I just hung out and talked for a while. Being a local race, I knew quite a few people there.
I saw CarolAnn finish and talked to her and her husband. Then they announced there would be no awards because the computers were all frozen up. That was a new one on me. They did announce the top overall male and female for both races. Not top 3, just the overall winner for each. So I just headed home to warm up.
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| 3rd Overall Twinsies |
They did have the results posted that afternoon. That's when I found out I was 3rd Overall. I gotta say I didn't think I could hold that pace for the entire race. Maybe that 2 months I took off after Chattanooga Worlds to heal my hamstring actually did some good. Maybe letting my body recover some was a good thing. Anyways, glad to support a local race, especially one that is on trails and roads that I run every week. Always happy to make the Overall Podium, because, well, #iheartpodiums
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| Me in the middle, snuggly |
