Notes
Only ran Falmouth once before, and that was back in 2007 when I wasnt really running. Crawled through back then at 53:31 (7:38 pace) after maybe getting in a handful of training runs. Goal for this year was much different, with a target pace between 5:25 and 5:30.
Despite having 13,000 runnings crammed into Woods Hole, the starting area was actually pretty well organized. Porta-potties with less than 3 minute waits (right up until the start of the race even), the ability to jump into the corral from the front just before the start without being sardined for half an hour, being one row back from the Kenyans - it was a pretty fun experience after dealing with 1.5 hours of traffic (and that was with already being on the Cape that morning).
Did a warmup with Lindsay Willard and hung around with a few BAA folks pre-race. Spotted Joe Navas in the starting area and decided I would aim to run with him today. He finished right where my goal was for Carver and figured having a familiar face to work with would help. Gun went off and went out to a quick start clocking through mile 1 around 5:20. I could tell I was working trying to maintain this pace which quickly gave me the realization I wasnt going to be able to hold on to this for the whole 7 miles.
The first 2-3 miles have a lot of rollers. No major hills, but enough ups and downs that it keeps you from an easy cruising race pace. By mile 2 I lost Joe on the hills and the fading began. Was still working with another group that and pushing where I could on the hills, but the earlier pace was not sustainable. Mile 2 split was 5:30, which wasnt bad considering the hills.
Mile 3, 4, 5, and 6 were fairly consistent pacing but not quite where I wanted to be. The latter 3 of those miles were relatively flat and should have been a good spot to bear down and make up some ground. Instead I was being passed by a few college runners and I just didnt have the energy to go with them. Normally I run strong in the second half and avoid getting passed, disappointing to watch runners pass and pull away.
For mile 7 I was able to summon a little energy to push into the finish. I wasnt too familiar with the course and with the last race being 5 years ago, that prior experience didnt really help. I knew there was a hill near the finish, with maybe a short stretch right after. I also heard there was a downhill. Well with about 1/2 mile to go, I came across a small hill, then a downhill and figured that was the downhill people were talking about. I saw the bigger hill around the bend and figured that it was just a matter of doing the climb then maybe 100 yards to the finish. I made a good push up the hill passing a few runners, got to the top looking for the finish and saw nothing but open road followed by a bend. Ok, maybe the finish is around that bend so I keep pushing only to see the downhill still off in the distance with the finish line maybe 200 meters away. I must have been off by a 1/4 mile in my estimate from where the finish is in relation to that hill. By the time I reached the downhill towards the finishing line, my kick was exhausted / defeated and one of the runners I had passed just moments ago (an HFC guy) blows by me into the finish.
Crossed the line at 38:58. Not quite where I wanted to be but still a 15 minute PR from 5 years ago. I also need to remember that I didnt taper for the race and came off my third consecutive 80+ week, so didnt exactly run this fresh. I did manage to break my 10K PR (assuming the marking on the course was in the right spot) though.
Not quite sure what my pace actually came out to be. Assuming this is really a 7 mile race, the pace probably comes out closer to 5:34. The timing company has me at 5:30. Not sure if there is a discrepency on the distance. Falmouth website has 7 as the distance, but a few other websites talk about the race being 11K or 7.1 miles. Garmin had me at 7.06, which leads me to believe the 7 miles is accurate. So, would have liked to have been around 30+ seconds faster on the day, but was still a fun race.
Liz also ran and got a PR as well, breaking 60 minutes with a 58:37!