The Hat-trick

Having recently moved to Charleston, SC, finally recovering from plantar fasciitis in both feet, and revising a number of training plans for various racing goals, my 2011 racing season has begun. With little room to ride a bike between the traffic and the gutter in the low country, I’ve decided to forgo triathlons for the time being and concentrate on running. And being married to an accomplished ultra-runner helps a lot too… So for 2011 I’ve targeted a few races, the first of which was the Gate River Run 15k in Jacksonville, FL. Both Jordan and I had done this race twice before, running fairly competitive times when you consider the 15,000 starters. I’d placed in the top 10% the two previous times I’d raced (for which finishers are awarded a special hat), so my goal was to score a ‘hat-trick,’ placing top 10% for the third time in a row.

Having focused on more mileage with less intensity since rehabbing my feet, I had no idea what sort of performance I could put together. The distance wasn’t a worry, but I hadn’t run fast for this distance in over a year. Also, our recent move to the low-country has limited our hill training opportunities (though running the Ravenel Bridge is one of my favorite things about Charleston), so the Hart Bridge (locally known as ‘the Green Monster’) at mile 8 made me especially nervous.

The weather on race day was perfect: though we had to scrape ice off our windshield, the temperature and humidity were low enough to allow a fast race. My finishing time from last year allowed me to be seeded in the front most corral, right behind the pros, but my anxiety over starting out too hard pushed me to the back of the section. If my racing history was any indication, I would start out too hard, suffer in the middle, then finally calm down and gain some control over my pace for the last few miles.

After the ‘cannon’ (plagued with technical difficulties, the race director just said ‘go’), I tried to run smooth, keep control of my breathing, and not worry about the people passing me or pulling away. My split at mile 1 was 6:45, a full minute faster than I’d planned. I made a conscious decision to relax and slow down, and mile 2 was a 6:47. Not enough. Mile 3 was a 7:10; better, but my stomach was acting up and I’m sure the sounds I was making led fellow runners to believe I was about to lose my breakfast. In miles 4 to 7, I found a comfortable and consistent pace, clocking miles between 7:10 and 7:15. After that, the ‘Green Monster’ started to loom bigger, both in my mind and in the distance. My form was falling apart, and I planned to take a short walking break through the last aid station at the base of the bridge (an ultra-running trick I learned from Jordan), then again half-way up the incline. These brief pauses helped both mentally and physically, and I crossed the finish line less than minute slower than my two previous times, which was still fast enough for the prized ‘top 10% percent’ hat.

Now it remains to be seen how quickly I can recover from this effort; Jordan and I are planning to run a 50k together in late June, and if all goes well and I stay un-injured, my next goal is to better my marathon time this winter. We’ll see…