Monday, December 31, 2012

Wrapping up 2012

I haven't written any race recaps recently, but that doesn't mean I haven't been racing. For a full summary of my results this year, see the "2012 Results" tab at the top of the page.

After my average performance at the SECTC Championship race at Rev3 South Carolina, I shifted my focus back to running intending to shoot for a new marathon PR at the Kiawah Island Marathon on December 8th. In preparation for that race I ran the Richmond Half-Marathon on November 10th and the Pequot 5 Mile Thanksgiving Day race (for the 6th consecutive year).

Richmond Half-Marathon

In Richmond I wanted to run fast, and felt that I was in reasonable shape but it was just not my day. After running a good pace (at way too high of a HR) for the first 6 miles or so I began to struggle. For only the second time ever I stopped to use a porta-potty in a race when my stomach rebelled against me. From there it was a struggle over the remaining miles but I eventually stopped the clock at a shade under 1:24:00 for a reasonable time. If you took off the 1:23 of my bathroom stop I would have run faster than my half PR as of 12 months ago.

Pequot Thanksgiving 5-Miler

After Richmond came the Thanksgiving 5 Mile race that I have run every year since 2007. I felt like I would have a reasonable shot at a course PR (29:07, 2010) and went out hard shooting for a sub-29 time. In the end I came up just a little shy of 29 minutes but stopped the clock at 29:03 for 29th place, which is considered an "Elite Finisher" (top 30) due to the strength of the field the race attracts. For reference, the overall winner was a varsity runner at Villanova, the runner-up is a New England HS mile champion, and various other elite finishers ran for good NCAA programs.

Kiawah Island Marathon

The Kiawah Island Marathon came too soon, and I was seriously undertrained, but I gave it my best shot anyway. Unlike in Erie in September, I was never really on pace for my PR of 2:51:03 but I was certainly on sub-2:55 pace through the first 18 miles. At that point I began to lose contact with the group with which I had been running most of the race and started to slow slightly. I kept it together with mid-7 minute miles until the final mile where I picked off a few extra places to make it back to 20th overall. With a huge kick - my last quarter mile in 1:29 I broke 2:58 for the third time ever, and for the second time in the last 4 months!

Holiday Run for Toys 5k

The weekend following the Kiawah Island Marathon I arrived home from Clemson for winter break. I decided on the long drive home that I would run a local 5k the following morning. The morning looked cold and slightly rainy, but I made it to the race ready to run. After taking off hard in the first mile I settled in to a steady tempo for the second mile with all the confidence that I could out-kick the one runner with me. Hitting the 2 mile mark under 11:30 I proceeded to blitz the remaining 1.1 miles in 6:10 with an ever-increasing tempo. I hit the line in 17:37 for the win by 14 seconds, my narrowest of my 4 victories this year.


Overall 2012 was a very good year for me. I succeeded on my mission to win more races including 2 incredible victories at the 2-20-2 Duathlon back in February and the Lightfoot 11-miler in August, and I also became significantly more confident about my running. In all 4 of my victories, I never doubted I would be successful, even in my 2 close wins where it took some outstanding last miles in both races.

To be successful given my goals for 2013, I will need to use all of that confidence and be far more diligent with training, something I've done very well over the past few weeks being home. I'll write a post with my 2013 goals following this, but it could be a big year!

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