I had been looking forward to September
28 for quite some time. Not only would it be my second ever running
of the Virginia 10 Miler, it was my target race for my post-surgery
training. I had spent the past two month building up my weekly
running totals, as well as my running distances in order to be able
to finish this tough and hilly course.
I found out a couple weeks before the
race, that I would be without my favorite cheerleader. Anna was going
to Baltimore with a friend to see the Orioles play the Red Sox. I was
glad she was getting to have a girls’ weekend. As much time and
energy she spends taking care of her three boys, she was well
deserving of a weekend retreat. Her absence was going to throw some
few logistical issues in the race weekend though.
With Anna leaving town Friday
afternoon, I was going to have to keep the boys by myself for the
first time over night. Since I had needed to leave the house before 7
a.m. on Saturday morning, I recruited some help. Grandma and Papa
were eager to lend a helping hand. My Mom and Dad came up to the
house Friday afternoon and watched the boys until I got home from
work. After eating dinner and taking part in our normal weekend
“Movie Night”, I laid down with the boys.
The morning came around very quickly
and it was a good thing I had my parents over. I sleep very soundly
and Anna is usually my alarm clock. Since I had to rely on an actual
electronic device, I decided to set my phone as well as the normal bedside
clock. My phone’s alarm when off around 5:50 a.m. and it woke my
parents up a few doors down the hallway before I ever heard it. I am
sure I would have heard the second alarm because it was set much
louder (at least I hope I would have). My Dad woke me up after my
phone had been going off for a few minutes.
The original plan was that I would
leave early and my parents would bring the boys to Lynchburg a couple
hours later. I gave them the option of just staying at home and
playing with Grandma and Papa, but Eli really wanted to come to the
race. I know how difficult it is to get the boys up, fed, and out the
door. I felt bad about putting that burden on my parents. So we ended
up waking the boys up just after 6 a.m. and in the car. We had to
drive separate cars because we could fit in one. So they were going
to McDonald’s to eat breakfast and I was off to the starting line.
I thought I had left with plenty of
time to spare, but I didn’t account for some traffic in Lynchburg.
Traffic stopped dead on Lakeside Drive, well before Lynchburg
College. I had planned to park at the Plaza, so I had about another
mile to go. By the time I got to the Plaza and found a parking place,
I had about 15 minutes before the start of the race. I decided that I
would warm up by running from the car to the porta-john farm near
E.C. Glass. I always like emptying the tank before I run. I found
myself about 30 people deep in a line for a stinky portable toilet.
After waiting in line for about 10 minutes, I was half way to the
front of the line when they started making the countdown to start the
race. I had to make the executive decision to postpone my prerace
ritual.
I knew there were going to be a lot of
porta-johns along the race path and I really didn’t need to go that
bad. So, I was able to make it to the starting area just as the gun
went off. Since there were several thousand runners and walkers at
the event, it took me around 3 minutes to make it to the actual
starting line. With no time to wait around for the race and get
nervous, I was off. My prerace plan was to take the first few miles
very easy. I was going to run at a very comfortable pace and not pay
any attention to my watch. Having the weave around slower runners for
the first couple miles, I really didn’t have a lot of time to look
at my watch anyway. I made myself take the time to look around at the
scenery. It is not every day that you get to run straight down
Linkhorne with no traffic.
With all the adrenaline flowing early
in the race and with the first two miles being downhill, it is very
easy to start this race too fast. I made myself look around at the
scenery and take the in the sights, as an attempt to slow myself down
some too. It is not every day that you get to run straight down
Linkhorne without the threat of being hit by a car. It was during
this portion of the race that I saw several friends and a cousin too
(great job Jennifer!).
After the two mile downhill portion of
the race, we had made it to the rolling hill section of the course.
This is the 1.5 mile section that goes “up” and “down” on its
way from the Farm Basket to Rivermont Avenue. I think this is one of
the more difficult sections of the race. The constant changing of
elevation can really do a number on your legs. I have been doing a
lot of training on hilly Lynchburg streets in 2013 and I really think
it has paid off. This section ended up not being as bad as I had
remembered from last year. By the time I made it to top of the last
hill approaching Rivermont, I could feel my legs tightening, but I
still had a lot of energy.
The 1.5 miles up to the turnaround in
Riverside Park was not too bad. There is a slight uphill climb, but
the elevation gain is very gradual and not too noticeable. It was
also during this section of the course that I started seeing all the
leaders heading back to the start line. It is amazing seeing how fast
those men and women are. They are definitely blessed with running
great running ability.
It was also this section of the race
were you really start to realize how many race “cheerleaders”
there are at the 10 Miler. There were tons of volunteers stretching
the entire race path and each one did a great job of cheering the
runners on as they passed. I believe a lot of them were college
students and I greatly appreciated them getting up early on a
Saturday morning to give us some extra boost. I am sad to say that I
don’t think the college aged Ryan would have been getting up at 7am
to cheer a bunch of running strangers.
Once I had made it to the Riverside
Park turnaround, I felt great. My pace had steadily improved over the
first half of the race and it was then that I realized that I could
still finish with a pretty decent time. I couldn’t remember my
exact finishing time from 2012, but I thought it was somewhere in the
1:26 range. Doing some quick math in my head, if I pushed it harder
in the second half of the race I could possibly beat that time.
After 50 minutes into the race with
about 4 miles to go, I grabbed my Gu gel packet out of my pocket and
began to slowly consume some extra calories. I have found in the past
that any runs under 50 minutes; I don’t usually need any other than
water. But anything over 50 minutes, my body reacted better to
getting a shot of gel. It was about this time in the race that I
started contemplating about using a porta-john. I decided to wait as
long as possible and hopefully wait until after I ate my gel packet
(they upset my stomach sometimes). I decided that I would just
keeping running until I really, really, really needed to go.
During the return section of the
rolling hills, I was still feeling pretty strong. But in the back of
my mind, I was still second guessing my current pace. I was
definitely running faster than I had the entire race and I knew the
last 2 miles were going to be that awful hill climb back to E.C.
Glass. Those thought consumed my mind during this section of the
race. By the time I got to the base of the hill, just by the Farm
Basket store, my legs still felt pretty strong. I tried to attack the
hill with everything I had left. After about ¾ of a mile, the hill
starts to decline in slope some. But by that time, my legs were
pretty tired. I found a comfortable pace and tried to think happy
thoughts for the last mile.
As I got close to the finish line, I
could see my time was close to 1:29. So subtracting 3 minutes for my
chip time, I knew I was going to be close to last year’s time. I
crossed the line at 1:26:18. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I
spotted my Mom and Dad with Eli and Coy. It was great to see them. I
felt great for just finishing the race and I immediately knew I could
have done better. But that was not my goal for today. This was a race
that I had picked out two months before, when I had to start running
all over again. My thoughts drifted back to those early days of July.
I was struggling to simply walk laps around the backyard without
getting dizzy. My body had done its job healing my wounds and I put
in the time training for this race.
This feeling of satisfaction is the
reason I love to run in races. I love setting a goal and working
towards that goal. It is really good for my self-esteem to be able to
accomplish goals. My parents, the boys, and I hung around the
post-race area for a while after the race. We got some food to eat
and relaxed for a little while. I was able to catch up with a few
friends afterwards too. I was nice seeing Jennifer, Catherine, Missy,
Samantha, Coach Cutler, Kevin, Travis, Holly, Shannon, and Mary
Carter. I hope I didn’t forget anyone.
After a quick visit to Bedford’s
Centerfest and eating a yummy jiro, I was able to go home and look up
my previous year’s time. I found that I had actually run 13 second
slower than last year. I was pretty happy to finish so close without
really trying this year. I felt much stronger during and after the
race this year. I know, God willing, I will really be able to push
for a PR next year. I was really pleased when I looked at my splits
from this year’s race. My slowest 3 miles were miles 1, 2, and 3. My fastest 2 miles were miles 8 and 9. I had finally stuck to a
race strategy and it had actually paid off.
My 2012 Splits
(ignore my final time, I forgot to stop my watch)
My 2013 Splits
Since I felt so good running this
difficult 10 mile course, I think I am going to try and get a half
marathon in before the end of the year. I can just keep on training
until then, so that I don’t lose my current level of endurance.
Other than that, I am just planning to run in a few 5k races to close
out an interesting 2013. I am sorry it took so long to post my race
recap, but sometimes I get too busy living life (and watching
Breaking Bad on Netflix!).
We made it to the Wasena City Tap room with plenty of time to spare. The run didn't start at exactly 6pm, so we had a few minutes to relax before we ran. A very nice gentleman saw my Mountain Junkies shirt and came over to talk with Anna and me. He was friends with the Mountain Junkies' organizers and actually takes pictures at their races. He asked if I was going to take part in the Into the Darkness race this coming weekend, which I am. So he told me to make sure to not look at the camera when I am running. Since the race is at night and flash will temporarily blind you! Meeting new people is what these pub runs are all about. It is nice to get outside and enjoy the beautiful evening while getting some exercise with people who also enjoy running.
The run went by really quick. It always love running on the Greenway. Not only were there a lot of people taking part in the Pub Run, but there were a ton of other people out running, walking, and biking. It is so night to see resource like the Greenway getting so heavily used. The people of Roanoke are blessed with beautiful scenery and wonderful parks to enjoy the outdoors!
