Location: Greenville, SC
Date: March 6, 2010
Placing: 17th Overall, 4th Master
Race Photos
Results: Click Here

I'm happy. I'm mad. I'm happy. I'm mad. OK - I'm really happy with a little bit of 'mad for fun' sprinkled in. Here's the conundrum: I PR'd again. 5 races so far this year...3 PR's. What do you mean you don't see the conundrum?! Well, if getting older means I'm supposed to be getting slower - but all my times are now faster - then that means if I had applied my new strategy for training and racing 5 years ago I would have been much faster. According to age-grading physics, I calculated that a 35:05 10k at age 45 is the equivalent of a...let's see...divide by pi...carry the 3...a 26:17 at age 25. Damn. Well, maybe my math is a little wrong somewhere but it's hard to deny that my times 5 years ago would've been faster than they are today. Apparently, I used to think I was good - but I really sucked (or at least that's how Janis likes to phrase it ;-). OK, maybe not 'sucked' but I'm just a little mad when I think about how fast I 'might have been'. I'm just glad I found out well before I was trying to explain what a 10k was to all the other guys at the bridge tournament...

It was quite an eventful week leading up to the race this time. The prior weekend I came down with a horrible cold and my thoughts immediately turned to my history with the Reedy River Run (more on that in a minute). I shut my body down so fast - and pumped it full of vitamin C and Sudafed - that by Monday my self-impossed science experiment worked and I had it whipped. Janis would then catch the bug on Monday night and carry it for the entire week (she always has to 'one-up' me). Aside from building my energy back up over the following days, it was a great week. I received word that I was ranked first in the country in Duathlon for my age group for 2009. On Thursday night, I got to socialize and celebrate the accomplishment of fellow runner John Johnson who recently completed 50 marathons in 50 states. On Friday, I had the opportunity to be on Blog Talk Radio to talk about working towards negative-split running (which you can listen to by clicking HERE). On Friday night, Janis and I volunteered to help out at the Reedy River Kid's Run and Fun Run. I love watching kids do this stuff. If you've never seen it, you need to. You will get a cramp in your face from smiling. I got to lead the "fun run" and let me tell you what: little kids are FAST. And they have very little concept of distance...nothing is "too far to run to". One boy told me he could run "all the way to the North Pole". I didn't doubt him for a second.

Fun run? FUN RUN?! I had to haul ass to stay ahead as I lead the group on a quater-mile run at Linky Stone Park.

After helping out at the run, we picked up my race packet. Normally, my Fleet Feet team would cover my entry at this event, but this one was free courtesy of a raffle at a Greenville Track Club meeting (another great reason to show up at the meetings!). Thanks, GTC. Then to top off the week, The Living Pixel event photography had used my image on their Reedy River poster and cards. That was kinda cool. Although what looked like a 'little' pain at 600 x 400 pixels, looked excrutiating at 5000 x 3000 pixels...if I had known, I would have trimmed my ear hairs...

The Reedy River Poster child; courtesy of The Living Pixel. Some would say I'm photo-genic...other would say I'm photo-degenerate.

Saturday. Race morning. Four days earlier, it snowed here all day. Today it was gorgeous and Spring is sticking it's neck out. Let's jump into the G-Man time machine and take a trip back one year. Reedy River Race, 2009. A beautiful Spring day - and only a week earlier we had a snow storm. Sound familiar? Well I remember it all too well. It was THE day that my allergy-induced asthma awakened and was really pissed off. The asthma had only just developed the prior year but I had never gone through a Spring season with it. Before that day, a 6:00 pace was an effort. On that day, I turned a 6:13 pace and for the next 6 weeks, running under a 7:30 was nearly impossible. It blind-sided me like Sarah Palin's nomination...I never saw it coming. [Back to present day] After a year of getting my asthma under control, I expect this month to be the real test. So far, so good. But keep in mind that I felt no different when I started last year's race. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men - or in the pollen of flowers...only the shadow knows. And if that reference means nothing to you then you're probably ready for bed after a bottle of warm milk.

Now I'll admit, after soooo many years of racing, I'm not one of those people who believes that you can "do anything you set your mind to". As a matter of fact, I can be a pretty big skeptic at times. But don't let that fool you. I don't have to believe that I can or can't do something. All I have to believe is that I can go hard. Real hard. I may not believe that I CAN do anything but I also don't believe that I CAN'T do something. Don't get me wrong, the mental aspect is HUGE and plays an unbelievable part in your performance. But to really tell it like it is, what I believe is that my body can do amazing things. On the start line, my teammate Steven Pearce asked me what my "plan" was for the race. Without a flinch, I responded "150 max heartrate the first 2 miles, 155 the next 2 miles and anything goes the last 2 miles". He sorta chuckled and said what he meant was what time was I shooting for. I told him that I don't really race that way, but when forced I broke down and said that I was hoping to set a PR by a few seconds - maybe a 35:40. Now he really chuckled and told me "Seriously? C'mon, you can break 35:00". I was glad to see Steven had that much faith in me. Turns out, sometimes the people watching you have a better idea about your ability than you do. I didn't even give it a second thought. If going hard produced a 30:00 then that's what I believe I can do.

A great shot of teammate Matt Pryor as he gathers his wits before the start.

It was really awesome having nearly the entire Fleet Feet team at the race today in our new team singlets. I'm such a cold-weenie that I normally would have worn an extra shirt today but I was bound and determined to finally wear just my singlet. I am 100% sure that I look like a dork when I have to wear a shirt under my singlet. To set the record straight - contrary to what you might have heard, it IS how good you look and NOT how good you are. A singlet it was. I still opted for my Fleet Feet gloves because my hands remain cold. And because they match my ensemble so nicely.

It may have been a bit chilly out but it was obvious that each year, the race brings more 'heat'. Let me show you some 'race math'. Good race => fast guys. Good race + prize money => REALLY fast guys. And when I say 'guys', I mean runners. The 4 men and 1 women racing for Zap Fitness stuck out like a sore thumb in their bright orange racing attire and coach on the start line. Zap Fitness is basically a camp for Olympic+ level runners. The camp is typically in North Carolina but the runners are now spending time training in the Greenville area. Not a big concern for me - they are not my competition. But they did manage to take 4 of the top 5 places and push me 4 placings further down. In case you're wondering, their one woman also won the wonen's race. In case you're wondering more...no, she did not beat me (whew!). But just to make matters worse for little ole' me, the promoters also invited 2 elite Master runners. Thanks, promoters.

I'm just behind teammates Matt Pryor and Brandon Southern...teammate Jeff Gibbs is leading us out.

We bolted off the line precisely at 9am. Somehow, once again, I mysteriously went from being in the second row to being in about the 5th row without even moving. It's a scientific enigma. I spent the first hundred yards or so passing the children, baby strollers, dogs and fish who somehow started ahead of me. Now I'm not a hypocrit; if the fish can prove he has a reasonable shot at breaking a time of 40:00, then I would not begrudge him a spot on the front line. Hell, if a fish could break an hour I'd run with him just to see it.

After a brief, shallow uphill we shot downward. I constantly kept glancing at my HR as it slowly caught up to my effort. Running down in the first mile was pretty wide open but as soon as we bottomed out and headed up, I found myself backing down to stay under 150. Some runners who seemed to be keying on me began to pass me. I'm sure one or two of them thought "what is he doing?". I would've thought the same thing of myself a few months ago. 5:29 at mile 1; faster than I might expect but not harder. Until mile 6, this would be the only time I even noticed the mile clocks. Just after mile 1, I found myself enveloped in a group of runners containing three of my teammates (Matt, Jeff, Steven), Tim Stewart and several others. We ran nearly the entire second mile together but for a little advantage I gained running down to the start of mile 3. The start of mile 3 instantly rose upward; sharply at first and then gradual for a half-mile. I was allowed to jump into my next HR zone and this mile was to be very different.

Not this year. This year, I was all good. I put it into 2nd gear at the top of this hill and away I went.

Since I was able to jump HR zones - but the road was up - it appeared that I was keeping an even tempo. A couple of runners came around me and had a few seconds as we crested the top. And then it was 'game on'. Just like in weeks past where I haven't been maxed out, I did not need time to recover at the top. As a matter of fact, I went into nearly a sprint down the half-mile desecnt in order to keep my HR close to 155. I shot past 5 runners in that half mile and passed Janis with a big grin and a solid thumbs up. I locked into this pace as I ran into Cleveland Park and started to slowly reel in some more runners...but I didn't get too excited. I knew at the end of mile 4, I would drop it into my last gear. I was like a little kid as I watched the banners marking the end of mile 4 get closer. I had passed no runners during mile 4 and remained in no-man's land. The course doubled back on itself at this point and I wondered just how many runners ahead of me I could still catch once I let it all hang out. Racing had always been fun, but this was like 'video game' fun.

The gap that I was slowly closing in mile 4 blew shut in mile 5. One, two, three, four, five runners down. Mile 6 was a wicked mile. Not as bad as it used to be several years ago when we climbed straight up for over a half-mile, but it still had 2 good-sized hills - one at the beginning of the mile and one at the end. I worked hard to pass one more runner as I started up the first part. I noticed that my HR would not go higher than 158. In an instant I wondered if this was still a bit of backlash from my sickness last weekend. I had no clue what my time was but I knew I had left behind some pretty fast guys. I held it together through the middle of mile 6. I was deserately chasing 2 more runners and one of them looked as though they could be Masters age. I couldn't do it. My HR peaked at 159 and that made the very end of this race just a little different than my last few events where I was able to empty my tank in the finishing stretch. As a matter of fact, the runner I passed at the beginning of mile 6 passed me in the finish stretch the way I had expected to pass others.

The top of the hill marked mile 6 and left us just about a minute's worth of downhill to run. I finally noticed the race clock positioned at mile 6...33:53. My brain screwed up the math; I thought "wow, if I can do the last .2 miles in just over a minute, I'll break 36:00". In fact, I DID do the last .2 miles in just over a minute and almost broke 35:00! My 35:05 was a PR by over 40 seconds. I coughed a good bit when I was done, but not like last year. I managed to escape any allergy catastrophies...and I live to run another day.

Finally! ...with this glass my place setting is complete!

It was hard to imagine that with a 17th overall finish and a time of 35:05 that I would be the 4th runner over the age of 40 to finish. As I mentioned early on, 2 of those runners were invited elite runners. The other runner was from Georgia so that did mean that I was 3rd in the state. As a matter of fact, the fastest master took 7th overall which put him into the overall placings and I ended up with the 3rd place Master's award. As for my age group (45-49)...let's just say that things are looking really good for my bid at the Master's National Marathon in Minneapolis this October.

I have no idea who this guy is, but I'm guessing if you can make that face at the end of a race - you've got yourself a PR.

Race Notes:
* As always, thanks to Fleet Feet, TeamKattouf, Rudy Project and my wife...
* Congrats to my Fleet Feet teammates: Jon Stoehr (8th overall, 1st 25-29), Tim Briles (11th overall, 2nd 30-35...Tim is nursing an injury and just ran for training!), Jeff Gibbs (4th 30-34), Matt Pryor (3rd 35-39), Brandon Southern (2nd 15-19), Steven Pearce (4th 25-29), Mark Wilson (8th 35-39...Mark helped set pace for Susi Smith to annihilate the Master's Women), Kelly Boone (2nd 25-29) .
* Benjamin Stoner took 14th in the 5k event. I have no idea who Ben is but that is just a great last name.
* There were lots of impressive performances out there today but the one that I happened upon that got me was 64-year old Bart Smith who turned a 40:03, destroyed his age group and beat everyone over the age of 50 except for 3 guys. If Bart had been 1 year older, he would have won his age group by nearly 13 minutes.
* A huge shoutout to my fellow ScanSource employees. When I started there 10 years ago there were a couple of us that 'did this stuff'. We had a huge contingent out at Reedy this year!
* I hadn't planned to run the Cooper River Bridge Run in a few weeks but I'm running well so I'm hoping that it works out.
* To finish off a great week, I got to spend a beautiful Saturday and Sunday afternoon with Janis; a great party on Saturday night, and an awesome training ride with Gail Kattouf on Sunday.

Next Up: Either the Cooper River Bridge Run (10k) or my first Triathlon of the year - Downtown Columbia Triathlon...

Hanging out with Fleet Feet owner Sheila McCullough before the masses of people realize she has Mimosas at her tent.