A few days ago I was entirely thinking that my next race would be the Boston Marathon. In a way it was, is, and will be but yesterday I participated in the Race to the Rock on Clemson's campus to benefit the library. Now you may be wondering how it could possibly not really count as a race. It's quite simple, I ran the 5k as miles 14, 15, and 16 of my 20 mile long run.
The race began at 8:30 am. My plan was initially to run 15 miles before the race and just over 2 miles as a cool down afterwards. I figured that meant I'd be heading out from my apartment at around 6:20 am. I ended up starting my run at 6:48 am, so it's rather impressive I managed to get the 12.7 miles in that I did before the race started.
It was still dark out when I hit the roads and it seemed as though the overnight rain had just stopped. I was thankful for the cooler weather, though, and cruised along at a nice pace for the first part of my long run. There's something about knowing you have 18 more miles of running to do that makes those first miles fly by. By 6 miles I had almost completed a large loop that I'd do again before the race, but I wanted to be sure to check in at the start. I filled out my paperwork, pinned on my number, and attached the timing chip to my shoe and took off again for my second pre-race loop. The timing for the second loop had to be spot on for me to make it to the race in time. I was constantly calculating how far I had to go and how much time I had. After I had run 10 miles on the day my stomach decided it wanted to throw another wrench into the situation. I "shortened" my second loop to get to the bathroom in the student union with time to get to the start. I'm not actually sure how much shorter my alternative route was, but it meant I took a more gradual way up the hill.
I arrived at the start as the pre-race briefing was being given and made my way up the side of the start corral before jumping in about 3 rows from the front. I knew I didn't really have a goal for the race and it was just a way to simulate the later miles in a marathon so I started out more reserved than I can remember ever doing in a 5k. By the first mile mark I had made my way up to 5th place but had a few folks around me running about the same pace. Our first mile; 6:20, however that was rather uphill. The second mile took us straight down Old Greenville Hwy, past Sikes Hall and Tillman Hall, and down to the Fike Recreation Center. Mile two; 6:12. Now it seemed to be down to myself and two or three others for the battle for 5th place. The front four were well clear by now but I had confidence that my superior speed and endurance would make it very hard for the others to challenge for 5th.
As we hit Old Greenville Hwy one more time to pass the Esso Club I made my move. I cruised by the runner ahead and made the short climb up Perimeter Rd to the Avenue of Champions. Picking up the effort slightly I made my way past Memorial Stadium and made the turn to the finish line. Mile 3 came by in 6:02 and shortly thereafter I crossed the finish line. My Garmin had the course at 3.03 miles so I question the validity of the measurement as I was running on the left side of the road for the shortest line a lot of the time. I wouldn't be surprised if the course was measured using only the right side of the road in which case there should be cones to keep us on that side during the race.
Nevertheless, I finished with a time of 18:44 having run 12.7 miles before the race. Now I just had to run the 4.3 miles that I had left to get to 20 miles for the morning. Unfortunately, those 4 miles were mostly uphill, and anyone who has run more than 16 miles can attest to how painful they can be. Eventually I made it home and felt great having accomplished my final long training run before Boston. 20.04 miles in 2:21:00.
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