Notes
COMMENTS: RACE
Cold enough to wear a jacket this morning. Got up at 6 to leave at 6:30 so I could find a place to park in downtown Charlotte. Had a Clif bar and coffee for breakfast. Got parked at 6:45, found the Port-a-Johns in an ally, picked up my chip, and walked down the finishing end of the course a little. Closer to the start I went back to the car and put my jacket up. Got ready for the start and checked my watch one last time and off we went. The first two turns were crowded and it seemed I was just shuffling for a couple of blocks. The crowd thinned and I settled into a pace. Glanced at my watch and saw the HR at over 200 bpm. That?s wrong. I think the sensors in the chest strap weren?t wet enough. Crossed the first mile about 5 seconds ahead of my planned pace. The second mile had a long uphill and I was about 10 seconds behind at this point. I was feeling really strong at the halfway point but was 15 seconds behind. Knowing there were 2 more long hills I wasn't sure I would finish in less than 55 minutes. Picked up the pace a little and almost missed the 4 mile mark. It was on the sidewalk and I spotted it between parked cars. Here I was still about 15 secs behind but 2.2 miles is too far to for an all out effort. Splashed some water in my mouth which made me feel much better. Wasn't thirsty, my mouth was just dry. At the 5 mile mark my time was about 45 minutes so I had less than 10 minutes to cover the last 1.2 miles. I picked up the pace a little but there just wasn't much left at this point. I looked at my watch again and had 3 minutes to get to the finish line so I decided to go all out. Rounded the last turn and just kept going. Crossed the line and stopped my watch and walked a little while catching my breath and my watch said 55:02. Oh well, I felt like I gave it my best effort. I managed an 8:20 pace for the last mile which was all I could do. I really can't think of a time during the race that I thought I could have gone faster. I was going down the hills faster that I usually do and my quads will remind me of this tomorrow. I tried not to slow too much going up the hills. I'm still happy with a 55 minute time. The race was a lot of fun. I feel a big sense of accomplishment knowing it was only 9 weeks ago I did my first 6 mile run in 1 hour 3 minutes and now I'm racing that far 8 minutes faster. A prediction calculator said based on my best 5k I should have run a 55:20. So all told this is my best race yet.
Coached Leila's soccer game today at noon. That gave me a chance to stay on my feet and work out some of the soreness. A little stiff but it's a good feeling.
HR over 165 bpm- 19:34
Cal- 963